Kenwood KD-750

[Ammonite Audio]

As requested, here are some photos of my newly acquired Kenwood KD-750 record player. The unsightly blobs at the top/front of the plinth are the remains of rubber bits from the lid. The rear shot of the arm shows the rubber decoupling element and the cunning adjustable position mass ring for the counterweight. Sadly the arm has a wiring fault, so off to Audio Origami it goes!

http://i35.tinypic.com/dpg706.jpg

http://i36.tinypic.com/1q27gj.jpg

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[Techno Commander]

Very nice. I do like Japanese heavyweight turntables. As well as looking superb, they have an air of authority about them.

[Marco]

Looks quite 'serious', Hugo. I look forward to reading of how this project develops :)

How does it compare in terms of build with your 770?

Marco.

[Ammonite Audio]

The plinth is a more solid construction than the KD-770D's, being made of quite thick plywood, with an additional heavy block bolted in underneath the tonearm, shown below.

http://i34.tinypic.com/256w9qd.jpg

All of that said, solid build does not necessarily mean better musical reproduction, which is where the KD-770D does so well! I think that the tonearm, once Johnny has done his thing with it, will turn out to be rather good; certainly the engineering that I can see is good quality and of sensible design.

I did a bit of measurement earlier to see how easy it would be to fit a Jelco collar. It would only involve a few minutes' work with a router to mount the collar where it needs to be, eg around 15mm closer to the spindle, but the downside would be visible butchery to the top of the plinth when the original arm is put back. I have a feeling in my water that the Kenwood arm (model TA-71) might just be better than the Jelco anyway!

[DSJR]

Hugo, your counterweight tie has broken I think. if you're not careful, the rubber decoupling bushing will split and the stub will fall off..... If the tie wire has broken, I'm sure Johnnie can fit a bolt and washer to make it more conventional. Like I said, the full tonearm description is in the VE service manual download. If you're not a member, I can send it to you.

[Ammonite Audio]

Thanks, I had the Service Manual long before I found the deck!

The stub does sag a bit under the not inconsiderable mass of the counterweight, but as far as I can tell (feel), the tie wire is very much there and limiting the movement to what you see in the photo. There has to be compliance in the rubber for the decoupling (eg isolation) to have any effect at useful frequencies, so the sag looks normal to me. the rubber itself is not perished in any way either.

[DSJR]

Mine isn't so happy, sadly, as the arm was dismantled prior to fettling and quickly re-assembled when sent to me. The rubber split almost in two and I had to glue it back together (there's more than enough there to retain some "give"). Johnnie should know, but there seems to be a screw type adjustment internally, so it may be possible to tighten the tie a tad, enough to bring everything back into line.

From what I read about all these Kenwood decks, decent support is essential for correct bass reproduction (even with the resin/stone-chip plinths). If the Spacedeck comes to fruition, I'd like to use the 750 tonearm in one of the collets, but it'll have to go to Johnnie first as there's at least one ball missing from the horizontal ball-races and no wires.

[Ammonite Audio]

From what I read about all these Kenwood decks, decent support is essential for correct bass reproduction (even with the resin/stone-chip plinths)..............

I think that goes for any deck that's not fully suspended (maybe for those too?). I shall try my Stillpoints on the 750 in due course. They work wonders under the 770D, so it' a fair bet that they'll be as beneficial in the 750.