Lafayette LA-600 (circa 1960–1961)
Little is documented about the Lafayette LA-600. What is known comes almost entirely from a brief run of period advertisements, not full reviews. The LA-600 appears to have been a Professional Stereo Control Center - a stereo preamplifier - sold both as a wired unit (the LA-600A, at $134.50) and as a kit (the KT-600A, at $79.50). Audio (January 1961, p.66) carried an advertisement listing its frequency response as “540,000 cps ± 1 db”. That is almost certainly a typographical artifact, likely 20-20,000 cps or similar, though the original copy reads as given. The same ad touted a “Precise ‘Null’ Balancing System” for channel adjustment.
An earlier Audio (April 1961, p.82) ad repeated the pricing and described the unit as a “Professional Stereo Control Center,” which suggests it was positioned as a step up from Lafayette’s entry-level integrated amplifiers like the KT-250. A HiFi-Stereo (March 1960, p.28) mention places the model in Lafayette’s early-1960s push into competitive stereo preamp kits. Beyond these ad snippets, no service manual, schematic, or third-party test report is known to survive in the Archive’s records. The LA-600’s circuit topology, controls, and actual measured performance remain undocumented.
Known facts, such as they are:
- Model designation: LA-600 (wired) / KT-600A (kit) / LA-600A (wired, later variant)
- Type: Stereo preamplifier / control center
- Period: Advertised from at least March 1960 through April 1961
- Original prices: Kit $79.50; Wired $134.50 (with $5.00 down available)
- Claimed spec: Response “540,000 cps ± 1 db”
- Feature: “Precise ‘Null’ Balancing System” for stereo channel balance
The record is thin. If you own an LA-600 or have a manual, schematic, or period review, the Archive would welcome a contribution.
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