Opinions: Best Kenwood HF rig around $2000, new

[ExitThirteen]

Howdy folks! I have a buddy that recently got his ham ticket, and he wants to purchase a nice HF rig, but he only is after a Kenwood, and since I know little about Kenwoods, I figured I'd pop in here and get some opinions. He's going to want plenty of bells and whistles, and he wants to buy brand new. He might entertain up to $3000, but I'd suspect he'd probably want to keep it around $2000 or so. I'd say all band/all mode, but he would consider HF/6M. Thoughts or suggestions? Thank you in advance!


~Cheers~

 

[Enterprise312ok]

I dont know about brand new but a good freind of mine runs a kenwood ts-2000 and really likes it. It is one of the best sounding ssb rigs I have talked to.

 

[groundwire]

On that budget all there is from kenwood is the Ts-590sg. Kenwood doesn't cater to the guy on a budget lol. Have you seen their rigs lately? Wooooow, $$$$$$$$. For elite operators and very nice indeed.

 

[BJ radionut]

Howdy folks! I have a buddy that recently got his ham ticket, and he wants to purchase a nice HF rig, but he only is after a Kenwood, and since I know little about Kenwoods, I figured I'd pop in here and get some opinions. He's going to want plenty of bells and whistles, and he wants to buy brand new. He might entertain up to $3000, but I'd suspect he'd probably want to keep it around $2000 or so. I'd say all band/all mode, but he would consider HF/6M. Thoughts or suggestions? Thank you in advance!


~Cheers~

Exit: Kenwood has VERY Little HF to offer and don't expect much either...They are concentrating on Trunking/Milspec/Public safety gear (HT's/repeaters/mobile rigs) and have been doing that for about last 5-7++ years...
TS-590SG late version ONLY rig in that price quote.
NO shack inabox rigs....TS-2000 15 years old+++ tech radio...even the last versions built are almost 10 years old now...IMHO one of the WORST ergonomics for radios built.
I owned a couple, and the RX on HF was mediocre at best...VHF/UHF pretty good...but otherwise, I thought the RX was marginal...their best RX, IMHO for resent production was the TS-480S/HX series (but again ergonomics with remote head was poor) ...but even those have been out of production 5 years or so.... Kenwood 890/990series are great rigs. However, $$$$$ and not much has been done to either in regard to update wise in 4-5 years.

Best I got to offer...That Price Range is Yaesu/ICOM presently...no other choices out there.
ALL Band /ALL mode choices are slim...ICOM has nothing but the IC-7100 (which I would not recommend for first radio/ and certainly NOT for base operation!)

The FT991A only option (SHACK IN A BOX) First and ONLY radio IMHO shack inabox type radio is questionable choice for new Ham....Anything goes wrong you lose your whole shack!
All the Best
Gary

PS: This time next year or earlier look for both the FT-991A and the IC-7100 to go out of production...with no real replacements on the drawing board from my understanding. (?)

 

[ExitThirteen]

Thanks for the responses! I'm not very up to date on HF rigs these days, as I've been out of the ham scene for quite some time. I didn't think Kenwood had much to offer in that price range, but that's why I came here. Personally, I feel like he should go with the good old solid Kenwood TS-430S and use that as his first rig, but he wants ALL the bells and whistles.... he wants super fancy. He says money is no object (which, to be fair, he has PLENTY of money), but I really don't think he grasps how much a new "top of the line" Kenwood rig would run him...

Anyhow, I do appreciate the input! Thank you.

~Cheers~

 

[BJ radionut]

Store – Jahnke Electronics

jahnkeelectronics.com

He wants KW rig, he knows is ready to go in top condition...See above!!!! TS-870 FB... so are TS-450/TS-850 in restored A+

 

[Wire Weasel]

Yer friend is probably attached to Kenwood from his consumer stereo days. If he just has to go that way, then the 590SG. I'd tell him to get an Icom 7300 but that's just me. The older KW 2000's are deaf on VHF & UHF - poor receive

 

[338_MtRushmore]

PS: This time next year or earlier look for both the FT-991A and the IC-7100 to go out of production...

Is this just speculation, or is there info to back it up?

 

[Moleculo]

TS-2000 15 years old+++ tech radio...even the last versions built are almost 10 years old now

The Kenwood TS-2000 was introduced in the year 2000 (thus the name) and Kenwood didn't update it much over the years it was produced so it's 20+ year old tech at this point. They had a lot of features but I never thought they performed all that well - especially on the RX end.

Gigaparts has some open box Icom IC-7610's in stock for just over $2K. I'd seriously consider that option: https://www.gigaparts.com/icom-ic-7610-hf-50mhz-100w-transceiver.html