Kenwood 21 Series Hifi

...two front speakers. Basically, Kenwood designed the system to avoid loss of sound if one-or-more speakers became broken… not that this has ever happened.

Traditionally separates systems have been for the true audiophile, an auditory perfectionist looking for the ability to replace individual components as they become outdated by newer technology. Well, the Series 21 traversed this philosophy by incorporating top-of-the-range equipment ...
...within minutes.

Kenwood pushed everything into the Concept Series 21 to make it 'future-proof' - voice activation, Dolby™ noise reduction, DVD/CD/VCD/MD/CD-RW playback, and the experimental SRS surround circle technology that converts a stereo source (e.g. FM radio) into surround sound, a technique that after a decade is still ahead of today's poor second-rate surround sound conversion attempts. The enhancements in 1999 [SE-A701 + SE-A901] ... more

This concept system [SE-A700 + SE-A900] created in the late 1990's still holds very well against today's current crop of hifi systems. The control centre [C-V301 + C-V350] is the brains of the separate system allowing one-touch source control from DVD, to LD, to radio, to CD (or whatever else you have plugged in!). The amplifier [M-A300] can deliver 600W of output power across six shielded 2-way speakers to create a range of bass and treble that even mid-range systems a decade later cannot replicate. The front speakers can replicate the surround speakers. The front speakers come with built-in subs to avoid the dependency on a dedicated subwoofer. The subwoofer can act as a bass center speaker. The centre speaker can act as two front speakers. Basically, Kenwood designed the system to avoid loss of sound if one-or-more speakers became broken… not that this has ever happened.

Traditionally separates systems have been for the true audiophile, an auditory perfectionist looking for the ability to replace individual components as they become outdated by newer technology. Well, the Series 21 traversed this philosophy by incorporating top-of-the-range equipment without the need to ever purchase an upgrade. The system was also built with "control cables" for connection to reduce the number of physical cables allowing even a hifi virgin to connect the components and get the system functional within minutes.

Kenwood pushed everything into the Concept Series 21 to make it 'future-proof' - voice activation, Dolby™ noise reduction, DVD/CD/VCD/MD/CD-RW playback, and the experimental SRS surround circle technology that converts a stereo source (e.g. FM radio) into surround sound, a technique that after a decade is still ahead of today's poor second-rate surround sound conversion attempts. The enhancements in 1999 [SE-A701 + SE-A901] included the brand-new and untested DD5.1 and DTS decoding and an optical input into the control centre [C-V351 + C-V751].

The dual stereo tape deck [X-W320] came with 'One Touch Editing' allowing for immediate recording from any source with Dolby™ B and C noise reduction as standard. Also a new function added was CCRS that would work out the length of each CD track to maximize the number of music tracks per cassette (and never 'cut' a track at the end of a tape!). It sounds so archaic nowadays but a decade ago having a dual-direction cassette recording facility that would re-order your CD to maximize the space on your expensive 60-minute cassette for your expensive Walkman™ was wonderful. It even incorporated the DPSS (Direct Program Search System) that would automatically find the start of a track on a cassette during playback!

The tape deck was soon replaced during the 1999 enhancements with the minidisk media [DM-S500] recorder. This component has a built-in sampling rate converter to allow audio copying upto 48kHz (today's DAB radio signals). MD allows high-quality recording from analogue or digital source compressed via ATRAC encoding, and has amazing playback via the high-performance 1-bit DAC processor that is memory-resident to allow for what we call 'shock/impact resistance' nowadays. The convenient editing facilities of the minidisk recorder and CD-TEXT copy / title registration allow for automatic track re-ordering, dividing, and merging. Minidisk is a very specialist area that was hindered by the simultaneous mass-availability of compressed audio on the internet (MP3), yet is still a higher-quality audio recording and playback format that is still very highly regarded by enthusiasts.

The Series 21 will accept six channels of input so hooking-up your DVD player or games console is a doddle, and you will automatically be immersed in true 6-channel surround sound. When hooked-up to my PC and XBOX playing Doom3 and 'Silent Hill' all those years ago meant I heard every opponent and zombie before they heard me! And yes, when hooked-up to the TV you can hear every single bullet pinging off the metal during the Normandy landing in 'Saving Private Ryan', and you literally feel the White House explode in 'Independence Day', and 'The Matrix' lobby scene is truly outstanding. Any hifi system can mimic bass at high volume levels - that's nothing special - but at low volume levels usually bass becomes either non-existent or 'tinny'… not so with the Series 21… the powerful 600W speakers deliver true bass thru the dedicated subwoofer or thru the subs built-into the front speakers so even when the kids are asleep upstairs you can still be immersed in sound at a low volume level!

The 5-disk CD player was also a new concept. All CD's placed onto the same carousel but uniquely you can change one disc whilst another continues to play! I tend to copy all my MP3's onto a CD-RW and with 5 discs into the player that works out at a little over 300 tracks, all at high MP3 quality (256kBps), all with CD-TEXT, and all can be auto-sorted via my MD player into categories. If I want some classical music I hear no tracks of rock/pop (will play only classical tracks off any of the 5 discs, randomly)! If the kids want to listen to 'High School Musical' only those are played from any of the 5 discs. Gimmicky yes, necessary no, not having to listen to the wife/kids saying "I don't like this one" - priceless!

The bi-directional remote control [GRC-150] was probably designed as a gimmick but I believe it became a master-stroke. A remote control unit that tells you which track is playing, that will display the CD-TEXT, that will display the radio channel can honestly only be described as a gimmick, but to also use it as your TV/DVD/gaming remote control was 5 years ahead of the time. As a by-product, the bi-directional functionality allows for the control centre to accept IR commands from a range of today's devices. Imagine the look on your visitors face when you control your hifi volume via your mobile phone or change the track via your PSP - yes that is possible!

Just try to purchase a hifi system today that has inbuilt SRS, DD5.1/DTS decoder, CD-TEXT reader, VCD/LD/MD/DVD/CD-RW playback, WAV/WMA/MP3/DAB conversion, bi-directional control commands, and has shielded speakers that deliver 600W of power and comes with a universal remote control. Well, I did purchase one and it was called the Concept Series 21 made by Kenwood and it has delivered faultless true surround sound from stereo or digital sources faultlessly for a decade.

PRO1: Surround sound quality is outstanding, SRS to deliver surround sound from a stereo source!

PRO2: Magnetically shielded speakers to avoid degradation/contamination of sound quality: 600W of power that delivers bass even at low volume level.

PRO3: CD player will play CD-RW and DVD-Audio (a format that never really took off).

PRO4: Faultless in a decade, quality components built to last.

PRO5: An easy-to-install separates system - who would have thought that possible!

CON1: Kenwood should have released an upgrade to the radio during the 1999 enhancements just as DAB was being developed to supplement the minidisk release. I have to hide my DAB radio behind the system as it spoils the expensive look-and-feel having an out-of-place component.

CON2: Price - a decade ago the price tag was a grand. Today the price is still over 500GBP second hand.

CON3: Kenwood not including the very rare and highly sought-after Series 21 gold-and-glass stand as part of the package.

PDF versions of the manuals: http://www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk/support/manuals/home/systems

SE-A700 + SE-A900: Series 21 concept system (1997 release) - small 100W speakers with stands.
SE-A701 + SE-A901: Series 21 concept system (1999 release) - tall 100W speakers floor-standing.

C-V150: 1997 release control centre (standard [RC-S0506] remote control).
C-V301: 1997 release control centre (C-V150 including bi-directional [GRC-150] remote control).
C-V350: 1997 release control centre (C-V301 including digital optical input).
C-V351: 1999 release control centre (C-V301 including SRS and [GRC-151] improved icons on remote control).
C-V751: 1999 release control centre (C-V350 including SRS, DD5.1, DTS and [GRC-151] improved icons on remote control).

M-A300: 6x 100W power amplifier
X-W320: Stereo cassette dual tape deck
D-R350: 5-disk CD player
G-EQ300: Graphic equalizer
DV-S701: DVD/VCD/CD player
DM-S500: Minidisk player/recorder 

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