Kenwood KT-1100 (1983–1984)

The Kenwood KT-1100 is a quartz-synthesized FM/AM tuner built in Japan around 1983-1984. The surviving record is thinner than the engineering. What we know comes mostly from a single Japanese database entry and a handful of marketplace listings. There are no period reviews, no owner forums with deep modding threads, no service bulletins. The specs that do survive point to a serious, carefully built reference-grade component.

Period sellers call the KT-1100 Kenwood's "former reference tuner," and the numbers fit. The FM section is very quiet. Signal-to-noise ratio is rated at 100dB in mono and 92dB in stereo, with harmonic distortion as low as 0.005% at 1kHz in wide mode. Stereo separation is 71dB at 1kHz wide. It has wide/narrow IF bandwidth switching, which is meant to pull in weak stations while keeping strong local signals clean. Effective selectivity is rated at 70dB wide and 100dB narrow. The front end uses Kenwood's "direct linear reception circuit," and the detector is a "direct linear loop" design. The company's "Pentacle Circuit" layout was adopted to deal with grounding and stage-interference problems that plague tuner design.

The AM section gets a 30dB wide / 50dB narrow selectivity rating and a 55dB signal-to-noise ratio at 1mV input. The tuner has a 16-station random preset mechanism, auto-tuning on FM, a three-station program timer for recording, a Rec calibrator, and a modulation level meter. It also has an RF selector for switching between strong-field and distance reception, which helps on crowded urban bands.

One oddity: the model shows up in sources as both "KT-1100" and "KT-1100D," and the "D" version is the one documented in the service literature. A separate "KT-1100 black" variant also exists. The unit was sold in both silver and black finishes, with a digital display alongside an analog one.

Known specifications:

• FM range: 76–90 MHz (Japanese band); AM: 531–1602 kHz
• FM sensitivity: 0.95 µV / 10.8 dBf (distance, 75Ω)
• FM S/N: 100dB mono / 92dB stereo
• FM distortion: 0.005% (1kHz, wide, mono)
• Stereo separation: 71dB (1kHz, wide)
• Output: 0.6V / 1.7kΩ (FM, 1kHz, 100% mod)
• Dimensions: 440 × 88 × 331 mm (W×H×D)
• Weight: 4.6 kg
• Power consumption: 18W (100VAC, 50/60Hz)
• Original price: ¥74,800 (around 1987)

It's worth noting that the KT-1100 should not be confused with the later KT-1100SD, which Tuner Information Center covered with modification notes — those mods don't apply here. And while a diyAudio thread titled "Kenwood KT-1100" exists, the opening post actually mentions a "Kenwood ST-1100," so the details there are murky. The honest summary: this is a technically impressive early-'80s tuner that deserves more documentation than it has. If you own one, the Archive would love to hear from you.

eBay Listings

Kenwood KT-1100D FM AM Stereo Tuner Fully Serviced Japan Exc

$317

KENWOOD KT-1100D Quartz Synthesizer AM FM Stereo Tuner Servi

$300

Kenwood KT-1100D FM AM Stereo Tuner serviced Works Well Test

$299

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