The Kenwood KR-4070 is a great no frills receiver the Kenwood made from 1978 until about 1981. It retailed for $300 and produces 40 watts per channel with 0.1% THD. It has the classic late 1970’s Kenwood styling.

A well laid out control panel, fluted knobs and amber backlighting give it a great look day or night. Options included the CB-7K Walnut veneer cabinet, the B-7 walnut veneer side panels and/or D-7 carrying handles.

Features include:

• FM Auto Muting
• Connections for 2-pairs of speakers
• Natural low-boost only loudness control
• Tape monitor
• Shock noise elimination circuit
• Center-off tone controls
• FET low noise FM front end with 3 gang tuning capacitor
• Center tune FM meters

Of course, Kenwood is known for their quality tuners and the KR-4070’s tuning is no exception. The Loudness control is also very good and contours the sound perfectly for low level listening.

If you run across a KR-4070 you will probably find that some or all of the dial lamps have gone out. These are fairly easy to replace and are basic 8V 300mA fuse type bulbs and can readily be found on eBay.

Listings from eBay

Another issue that is common to Kenwood receivers of this era is the power switch. Despite the good build quality of the Kenwood line the power switch was, for some reason, an exception. It tends to fail over time and many Kenwoods you’ll find today have an issue with it. There are a few fixes that can be found online that include cleaning the switch and replacing the wiper or installing a relay. The KR-4070 measures 5 7/8″ x 18 1/2″ x 11 13/16″ and weighs just under 21 pounds

Despite its minor issues the Kenwood KR-4070 is a great receiver. As mentioned previously it is a no frills stereo but it is built well and performs fantastically. You can find them for about $80 to $200 depending upon condition which is a bargain relative to other similarly rated receivers.

Listings from eBay