Pioneer KP-5500 (c. 1980–1981)
Little is documented about the Pioneer KP-5500. What survives is a spec-table entry in a period car-tape buyer's guide, plus the brand context of Pioneer's heavily advertised Supertuner era. The KP-5500 was evidently one of Pioneer's in-dash cassette/tuner units of the early 1980s. Beyond that, the record is thin.
The 1981 HiFi/Stereo Buyers Guide (p.234) listed it at $190 with a display, separate bass and treble controls, a tone control, and LED stereo and tape indicators. Dolby noise reduction was onboard. Power was modest, even for a car unit: 2.9 watts per channel continuous into 4 ohms from 50 to 15,000 Hz with 5.0% THD (HiFi/Stereo, 1981, p.234). The FM section was quoted at 19.2 dBf sensitivity for 50 dB quieting, with 74 dB selectivity. The dimensions given, about 2 inches high by 7.5 inches wide, fit the standard in-dash footprint of the day.
Pioneer's own advertising around then hammered on its "Supertuner" FM front-end. It claimed usable sensitivity of 1.1 µV and muting that blanked interstation noise (HiFi/Stereo Review, June 1980, p.41). That ad never names the KP-5500, but the set's selectivity figure and Supertuner-era positioning are consistent with that family. Production dates, installation quirks, and how it actually behaved in a car are all undocumented as far as the archive currently knows.
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