View Full Version : Kenwood KD-990
Ammonite Audio
12-04-2015, 13:58
My new (old) Kenwood KD-990 turntable sounds very decent indeed. I have a strong feeling that its signal cabling is letting things down quite a bit, but it's still rather good. The deck's silence, compared with the TD-124, is startling. Arm setup is easy (at least with a Clearaudio alignment jig) and the solenoid operated lift/lower device is a joy to use. So far, so good!
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/hugocass/KD-990/IMGP1483_zpshml7xf4r.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/hugocass/KD-990/IMGP1486_zps0gsapffi.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/hugocass/KD-990/IMGP1484_zpshn5gd0n3.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/hugocass/KD-990/IMGP1485_zpsc4d6uews.jpg
One of my jobs for the coming week is to replace the external signal cabling with Van Damme Pro-Patch. I'll then know whether it's going to be worth re-wiring the arm (or rather sending it to Johnnie for re-wiring).
A very tidy deck Hugo. arm looks to be worth the rewiring if cable is aging
Nice one Hugo, it arrived all in one piece, it's a great deck.
Ammonite Audio
12-04-2015, 17:53
I've removed the base board to take a look inside, and all seems well. There's no sign of any bulging electrolytic capacitors, but I'll probably change the two PSU smoothing caps, as a precaution. Following on from Neal's advice to ditch the stock Kenwood feet, a set of threaded Stillpoints have brought about a considerable improvement in bass quality and definition; indeed the KD-990 is now performing very well indeed. I still reckon that the signal cables need to go, so maybe I'll get around to replacing them tomorrow.
So far, this buy has been an outstanding success. And the arm lifts off at the end of the record!
Ammonite Audio
13-04-2015, 07:58
Here's the underside - clean and tidy.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/hugocass/KD-990/IMG-20150412-00160_zpsjipstxfu.jpg
It's interesting to see that the ply/chipboard plinth structure is actually firmly attached to the cast alloy chassis at 4 points, towards the end of each leg. I did rather expect some sort of decoupling. Simply out of curiosity, I will remove the plinth and run the KD-990 'naked' to find out if the plinth contributes anything to the deck's sound characteristics. All harmless fun, but it will revert to standard fettle.
(Apologies for the poor phone camera shot)
Paulie72
03-01-2019, 18:41
Sorry for the reply on annold topic. But i have an KD990 also and i am curious if uf you did the wire ugrades? If so did it give you an upgrade in SQ? Which cables did you use?
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Ammonite Audio
04-01-2019, 06:36
No arm internal wiring upgrades - I replaced the tonearm entirely (the lift/lower solenoid stopped working). My KD-990 has worked beautifully with FR-64S, Jelco 10” and Reed 3P 12” arms. The stock Kenwood arm is actually very good, but I would replace the external signal cabling with something better, such as Van Damme Pro Patch balanced microphone cable. I did that before changing the arm and it was definitely worth the modest cost.
Paulie72
05-01-2019, 15:11
No arm internal wiring upgrades - I replaced the tonearm entirely (the lift/lower solenoid stopped working). My KD-990 has worked beautifully with FR-64S, Jelco 10” and Reed 3P 12” arms. The stock Kenwood arm is actually very good, but I would replace the external signal cabling with something better, such as Van Damme Pro Patch balanced microphone cable. I did that before changing the arm and it was definitely worth the modest cost.
Why did you decide to use the Van Damme Pro Patch Balanced microphone and not the unbalanced version? Is that because you use an balanced Phono Pre?
Or do you use the extra wire for grounding?
Ammonite Audio
06-01-2019, 08:02
Mainly because it’s what Johnnie at Audio Origami uses, and I have followed suit for years, but the two signal wires are also much easier to solder into the tag board under the tonearm, than the coaxial cable. It also means that the chassis ground wire is just that, and nothing to do with signal ground. There is very little cost difference between the two cable types.
I'd be really interested to know how the Kenwood KD990 (un-modified) would stack up against these newer Technics 1200g/gr's. I assume you are still using your Kenwood Hugo.
Ammonite Audio
08-01-2019, 17:36
On and off, but it is the SL-1200GR that sits permanently in my system. My feeling is that the KD-990 is possibly a very tiny bit better in terms of musical insight, even if I use the same tonearm to compare both (my Phonomac serviced FR-64S fits both decks). The GR is such a handly little thing that does not demand much space, and it’s quite attractive too - the KD-990 is not exactly ugly, but it’s much bigger.
If we are talking about unmodified decks, the KD-990 would be miles ahead of the new SL-1200G and GR, but only because those decks have pretty indifferent tonearms and the stock Kenwood arm is way better than it looks; however I would point out that the KD-990’s plinth is largely cosmetic and is poorly decoupled from the alloy chassis, and that’s probably why I feel the deck is better run ‘naked’. I think the new Technics decks’ direct drive motors are pretty much on par with the KD-990’s but the KD-990’s exotic cast alloy chassis does make it very stiff and quite special. The Kenwood was an expensive turntable in its day and would cost a small fortune to make now.
Thank you very much for your appraisal.
Paulie72
08-01-2019, 18:46
Thanks for the comparison. What would be an sonical upgrade over the KD990 if looking for an vintage table?
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Ammonite Audio
09-01-2019, 10:22
Thanks for the comparison. What would be an sonical upgrade over the KD990 if looking for an vintage table?
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Maybe a Sony TTS-8000 or a Technics SP-10 but for a complete vintage turntable that is genuinely better I think you’d have to look towards the Trio/Kenwood L-07D but they are rare as hen’s teeth and potentially troublesome to maintain. One vintage deck that is no match technically for the KD-990 but in spite of that plays music beautifully is the old Pioneer PL-71 (an early direct drive design that pre-dates aggressive and musically intrusive quartz servo controls etc).
Paulie72
09-01-2019, 18:11
Maybe a Sony TTS-8000 or a Technics SP-10 but for a complete vintage turntable that is genuinely better I think you’d have to look towards the Trio/Kenwood L-07D but they are rare as hen’s teeth and potentially troublesome to maintain. One vintage deck that is no match technically for the KD-990 but in spite of that plays music beautifully is the old Pioneer PL-71 (an early direct drive design that pre-dates aggressive and musically intrusive quartz servo controls etc).Ok good to know that an upgrade is costly. The more reason to modify the KD990.
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Paulie72
11-01-2019, 09:44
Is it an idea to use sound deadening material inside the plinth to make it less resonance?
I still have some ALU ANTI-DRUMMING SHEETS which can be used inside the pinth (https://www.easy-noisecontrol.com/product/easydemp-alu-anti-drumming-sheets/).
I ordered some Van-Damme-XKE-Microphone-Balanced-Pro-Patch-Cable and some RCA plugs for an new interlink.
Ammonite Audio
11-01-2019, 10:08
Absolutely not. I had a KD-770D and thought that its cheap chipboard plinth needed to go, so I got Russ Collinson to make up a heavy layered ply replacement. Looked lovely, sounded awful. The cheap chipboard may look crummy but acoustically it’s actually a rather benign material (unlike MDF) so my advice is to leave the similarly cheap looking chipboard plinth of the KD-990 well alone.
The only thing that I would recommend with the KD-990 plinth is to release the mains transformer, which is hung on rubber mounts from the underside of the plinth, and then suspend it in the same place but much more loosely using rubber bands. Quite a lot of mechanical hum does get passed into the plinth from the transformer, and since the plinth is quite poorly decoupled from the chassis much of that hum goes into the chassis and therefore the platter and tonearm.
Is it an idea to use sound deadening material inside the plinth to make it less resonance?
I still have some ALU ANTI-DRUMMING SHEETS which can be used inside the pinth (https://www.easy-noisecontrol.com/product/easydemp-alu-anti-drumming-sheets/).
I ordered some Van-Damme-XKE-Microphone-Balanced-Pro-Patch-Cable and some RCA plugs for an new interlink.
Why not take the transformer out and put it in a separate box?
I have read that people have done this before.
Looking at the deck I wondered how it would sound if a thick smoked perspex plinth was made.
I have seen the pictures of the deck 'naked' and think that seeing it through tinted perspex may look a lot better, as long as the sound is not messed up.
I have seen one for sale and may be interested myself, especially with reference to it possibly being better than a TD124.
Regarding chipboard, I have heard that it can sound much better than MDF, but I am surprised that it was better than plywood.
Perhaps the ply was over damped, when light damping and bracing may have worked better.
Ian
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