Kenwood DC-20

The Kenwood DC-20 (also called El Poco), was a very unique and high-quality portable stereo. The service manual is dated October 1981. The system includes the DC-20P power amplifier, the DC-20X tape deck & tuner combo, and the DC-20S speakers. Together, the entire system measures 21.5" wide, 12-5/32" tall, and 5-29/32" deep. It weighs about 27 lbs. You can power it with AC, D-cell batteries, or with the AD-15 car battery adapter.

Power output is a healthy (for a portable) 2x20W minimum RMS into 8 ohms from 40Hz to 20KHz, with no more than 0.1% THD. 2x24W max RMS at 1kHz. The tape deck is a very nice full-logic affair with direct interchange between drive modes. It offers Dolby, music search, repeat, auto rec mute, and timer standby.

The speakers are constructed of particle board, and covered with aluminum sheet. They are 8 ohms and 87 dB/w sensitivity. They contain a 4" woofer, a 4" passive radiator, and a 1" dome tweeter. The crossover frequency is 3kHz. They sound very good for a portable (although the bass doesn't go very deep). You can connect different speakers to it. The system allows you to switch between A, B, or A+B speakers.

There were 3 carry-case options, shown below: The CC-20T hard case (fully enclosed), the CC-20K hard case (which only covered the sides, leaving the front and rear exposed), and the CC-20S soft vinyl case that held just the DC-20X tape deck/tuner module. Interestingly, the tape deck/tuner module had its own internal speaker, a 5"x3" cone powered by 3.4 watts into 8 ohms at 1% THD.

This unit can be considered a home hi-fi compact shelf system, or it could be considered as a boombox (portable carry away set). Both descriptions would be accurate. What is unique about this set is that the amplifier (sits below the main unit) can remain a permanent home fixture, along with the 2 speakers which are connected to the amplifier. The main control unit in placed on top of the amp and by simply plugging in the power cord and RCAs (to tether to the amp), everything is now connected together and it is a high power home system. But to be portable, just lift the main center unit off (it has handle) and it is now a portable unit, as it has built in stereo speakers (on both sides). A slide switch on the rear of the main unit can turn the internal speakers on or off.

Although it is small(ish), it is by no means of cheap construction. In fact, compared to most boomboxes, this is among the highest build quality, if not the best. A more accurate description is that it has home-stereo type build. Design wise, it is virtually all solid state down to the controls except for the main volume control. Why this is important is because standard resistor type of controls are prone to oxidation and over time, develops very staticy controls. In fact, the volume control is the only control prone to static. All the rest including the bass/treble control are solid state and adjusted via up/down buttons and LED position indicators. Operationally, I have found every example I've had the opportunity to operate, operate silently, except of course, for the volume control which like most boomboxes, need deoxidation solvent to resolve. The volume control itself, is itself another high-end type of feature for it's age as it is spring loaded and can be pushed in to be virtually flush with the faceplate, and another push causes it to protrude for adjustment. Although this type of feature is common today, it would not be common 30-40 years ago. The tape deck itself is a full solenoid type deck and can play metal tapes, has dolby noise reduction and has timer features. All the controls has very nice metal look/feel common with higher quality home stereo components. The main unit has the following jacks: pre-amp out, rec-in/out for additional deck or external equalizer connection, and AUX/Phono inputs, and dual mic jacks (separate L/R), and of course it also has a headphone jack for monitoring in private. Functions include FM, AM, Tape, AUX, and Phono.

The main and amp components are clearly high quality, but the speakers themselves are also extremely high quality, being heavy wood construction wrapped in metal sheet. Even the speaker terminals feel like they are every so slightly better quality than most boomboxes but perhaps that's just perception because everything else seems to be high quality. The woofer is only 4" but they can and do get loud. The tweeters look like they came right off of Polk tower speakers. I haven't removed them to inspect them from behind but they do look like a cut above what you would expect from most boomboxes. They also typically don't seem to have the foam rot issue with many speakers of similar age. The bass is improved by the 4" passive radiators compared to what a typical 4" driver might be able to muster. Overall, the sound is about what I would expect from a home shelf system. However, the amplifier has two speaker connections available. You can play A, or B or A+B and the amp has enough power to drive a decent set of home stereo speakers. The smallish size of the matched speakers suggest they are intended for office or shelf use which it does admirably. For bigger sound, I would suggest connecting them to larger speakers. The amp can handle it.

Many boomboxes have empty shells, hardly anything inside. If you need to repair the take deck due to degraded belts, be prepared for a fairly difficult job. Internally, virtually every inch is spoken for and it's definitely not an empty shell. Significant disassembly needs to take place for most repairs so it's not a beginner-fix. Given how rare this set is, it's not likely that many DIYer's are going to be doing their own repairs however.

Overall, for boombox collectors, I would rate this a very desirable must-have type of unit. There's just something about home-quality design and controls, and seductive about VFDs (vacuum flourescent displays) that I find extremely alluring. It is not your typical boombox or portable stereo, but is that all that you want in your life? Some variety certainly doesn't hurt and I find these types of sets extremely hard to pass up.

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