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.