Kondo G70 / M7 Heritage / M77 owners

[Uk Paul]

Any comparative thoughts on the above Kondo pre's would be good to hear about, and more specifically how the original Kondo M77 (designed by Mr Kondo himself) compares to the newer versions such as the G70 and M7 Heritage, by Kondo's son. If anyone has first hand experience or long term ownership of any of these your thought's would be very much appreciated..

Also, how does the fitted phono section sound in comparison to any other top flight standalone stage, preferably using a SUT.

Best Regards,
Paul

 

[gian60]

I had a M7 KSL and i brought to my friend home,5 km from my home,to compare with his ANJ M7 Silver and with his M 77 ANJ
He has also M10 in an other system.

M7 KSL was much better of old M7 Silver in every parameter,really another pre,more natural and transparent
I prefer my KSL to the old M77,too dark and little slow in comparison.

I never listen M77 KSL

I had at home to compare also Ongaku KSL vs the old Ongaku,and also here the KSL version much better in transparency and more natural.

G 70 never listen,but another friend told me was better than M7 KSL and bought G70

Some people like the charm to have an Audio Note build by Kondo,and also i like,but the new generation KSL,FOR ME,is better.

 

[Fineito]

I've owned a KSL M77, KSL DAC, and a KSL 2A3 Neiro amp since around 2006, purchased pre-loved from a known and reliable seller. Never any problems with any of the components, though one time I had an issue with the Neiro that I eventually traced to a driver tube. This has been a one-and-done purchase for me; I'm sure the charm and nostalgia of the Kondo-san build has a lot to do with it. Nonetheless, I am very pleased with the sound. I don't typically swap out my components very frequently. I tend to be happy with things once I reach a certain level of excellence in cars and audio. Sorry that I can't offer a comparison to the newer Kondo products. I'm responding from the perspective of long-term ownership experience. Tom.

 

[Uk Paul]

Gian and Tom, thank you for your input, much appreciated as always..
Certainly the Kondo has a sound, and a very beguiling one at that, confirmed using loan G70 into Concert Fidelity ZL200 amplifier, a truly engrossing partnership already, but we wonder how other Kondo option's would fare in this system.
Gian, good to hear you like newer design, over original as this demonstrates the company is in good hands still, at least design wise!

 

[gian60]

Of ANJ i had M10,Neiro,Neiro Silver,Kageki,Baransu,2 Ongaku and Gakuon and listen from a friend Gakuon II(Shinden)little better.

I never liked Gakuon,little roll off and too full in mid bass,and bass little dirty.

I had also 2 Souga in biamp,that is the new Kageki,SE Parallel 2A3 with silver transformer and 2 silver capacitors,and Souga was much much better than Kageki in everything

 

[Zeotrope]

To clarify a few things:
- Kondo is not currently run by the founder’s son
- there is a massive difference between Kondo Japan and Audio Note UK Kondo. The latter is somewhat of a (bad) copy of Kondo Japan, in my opinion. In any case, they are completely separate companies. AN UK at one point was the distributor for Kondo Japan, and as part of that deal, they had a right to KJ’s IP — Kondo Japan should have never signed such a deal! When the partnership was dissolved, AN UK continued with the IP they acquired from KJ and started developing their own products, or derivations of Japan‘s. But they are not nearly as well executed — one look at the fit and finish and internals will tell you that.
AN UK sounds great, I’m sure — I just haven’t bothered with it, as I don’t like how they kind of copied Kondo Japan.

 

[Birdwatcher]

Any other opinions on the differences between
- line section of M7 Heritage and G70i line preamps and
- phono section of M7 Heritage and M7 Phono as standalone phono stage or other, newer phono stages like GE-7? And the step to the GE-10 is big, really?

 

[dionisofun]

The Kondo Japan website makes very little mention of the M7/KSL. Not even a photo of the rear connections. I also didn't find more consistent reviews or information on other sites.
Is it a phono stage with or without an internal sut?

 

[Birdwatcher]

Kondo doesn’t have any integrated SUT in any of their phono stages or phono stages that are integrated in a preamp (M7 Heritage) or integrated amp (Overture). The SUTs are a standalone unit, as it were in the whole history of Kondo.

The M7 Phono is just a MM phono stage with one RCA input and one RCA output. It is an older design, on the market for about 15 years, maybe in the near future it should be discontinued. Here you find it:

KSL-M7/PHONO | AUDIO NOTE

www.audionote.co.jp

 

[mtemur]

The Kondo Japan website makes very little mention of the M7/KSL. Not even a photo of the rear connections. I also didn't find more consistent reviews or information on other sites.
Is it a phono stage with or without an internal sut?

Without internal SUT. 46dB gain but usually measures 48dB. Two 12AX7 and two 12AU7 tubes.

 

[mtemur]

Any other opinions on the differences between
- line section of M7 Heritage and G70i line preamps and

Line section of M7 Heritage is much better than G-70. Apart from single power supply for both channels G-700 is almost identical to G-1000 but stepped attenuator is better in G-1000. At least that’s what Masaki San told me during my visit to Kondo factory. I heard them all, IMHO G-1000 is in another league. G-700 is very close G-70 is a little behind but maybe better than any other preamp I ever heard. M7 Heritage sounds more romantic to my ears while others being exotic.

- phono section of M7 Heritage and M7 Phono as standalone phono stage or other, newer phono stages like GE-7? And the step to the GE-10 is big, really?

M7 phono has an easy flowing, lush sound, M7 Heritage’s phono is not too different but more detailed, more dynamic and better to my preference. It’s around 38dB against 46dB M7. GE-10 is in another league. I never heard anything close to that. GE-7 is very very close and GE-1 is a little behind.

 

[Zeotrope]

What did Masaki-san say about the M77, which I recall at one point he said was the best preamp Kondo has ever made.

KSL-M77 | AUDIO NOTE

www.audionote.co.jp

[odd that they removed the link to this page, even from the “historic” products section…

And did he say anything about the the Souga?

SOUGA | AUDIO NOTE

www.audionote.co.jp

 

[mtemur]

What did Masaki-san say about the M77, which I recall at one point he said was the best preamp Kondo has ever made.

KSL-M77 | AUDIO NOTE

www.audionote.co.jp

[odd that they removed the link to this page, even from the “historic” products section…

And did he say anything about the the Souga?

SOUGA | AUDIO NOTE

www.audionote.co.jp

Well we didn’t discuss M77 but M7 Heritage is it’s successor in my opinion. M-1000 - the old flagship- also sounds great.

He (Masaki San) said Souga can easily drive B&W 801 speakers in the listening room with a big smile on his face. Obviously he likes it a lot but we didn’t listen the Souga.

 

[bonzo75]

Well we didn’t discuss M77 but M7 Heritage is it’s successor in my opinion. M-1000 - the old flagship- also sounds great.

He (Masaki San) said Souga can easily drive B&W 801 speakers in the listening room with a big smile on his face. Obviously he likes it a lot but we didn’t listen the Souga.

The Souga did not even drive Diesis well. It need the Gakuon mk2 and the Kagura.

 

[Zeotrope]

Well we didn’t discuss M77 but M7 Heritage is it’s successor in my opinion. M-1000 - the old flagship- also sounds great.

He (Masaki San) said Souga can easily drive B&W 801 speakers in the listening room with a big smile on his face. Obviously he likes it a lot but we didn’t listen the Souga.

B&W 801 is like 89dB, right? 8W from Souga is sufficient? Wow.

 

[Zeotrope]

I heard from a Kondo distributor that the M77 was “too good”. They couldn’t double the price so they had to discontinue it so they could justify a massive cost increase.
The M7 was the predecessor to the M77, not the successor, so it won’t sound better.

 

[mtemur]

The Souga did not even drive Diesis well. It need the Gakuon mk2 and the Kagura.

How good was the AC line? There should be an uninterrupted, dedicated AC line without any transformer based filter feeding low powered SETs to perform as they designed. Actually for all kinds of amps. I haven’t used Souga at home so I don’t know and I’m not sure if it’s powerful enough.

 

[mtemur]

I heard from a Kondo distributor that the M77 was “too good”. They couldn’t double the price so they had to discontinue it so they could justify a massive cost increase.
The M7 was the predecessor to the M77, not the successor, so it won’t sound better.

I very well know M7 is the lower model and not the predecessor of M77. but I mentioned M7 Heritage not M7. M7 Heritage could be the successor of M77 in my opinion. There are a lot of M7 models but M7 Heritage is very different from them both physically and electrically.

 

[gian60]

Souga is the best power amp Kondo never did
Limited at 8 watt power but with big transformer seems has 20/30 watt
I had 2 Souga,also had Neiro,Neiro Silver,Neiro KSL,Shinri,Baransu,Kageki,Ongaku,Ongaku Ksl and Gakuon.

Gaucho could be the worst's don't likely 4 fired had and sold.

Preamp M7 KSl with phono is good,G70I much better,M 77 I don't like, always founded little dark,M7 Heritage never listened but I think better not buy because will not well considered in future market,
Ge 1 nothing special,M7 phono very good,G 7 and GE 10 top

 

[gian60]

The new Ongaku,with black power trasformer hand made by Kondo like output transformer, while the previous grey become from Tango,but Tango stop the production, is fantastic because has the natural sound of the old but with transparency ,power and dynamic much better then the older and no roll off in the high
Really impressive

My friend has G1000 and GE 10.
He had Kagura and then sold to keep Ongaku,to take back some money, and 5 of his friends,3 preferred Ongaku and 2 preferred Kagura,in his system