Maintenance and repair tips for KD-1033

Dan Young

Active Member
Hi I am new to AK and also to the world of vinyl, well for listening anyhow, i dabbled in some dj stuff whilst a student.

I have just purchased a KD-1033 and would like to know what i should do to get it in the best possible state before introducing it to the rest of my system. I would also be good to know of any upgrades which can be made to improve the sound, that are reasonably priced.

My system at present is:

Trio KD-1033
NAD 3130
Micromega Stage 4
Ruark Epilogue R Speakers
Silver plated OFC speaker and RCA cables.
Pure silver jumpers for birewire posts and pre - power of NAD Amp.

Cheers,

Dan.
 
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Go to www.vinylengine.com and download a user manual. It's free but you will have to register.

Lubricate the platter and motor bearings.

Put on a new belt of the proper specification.

Put a good cartridge on it and make sure that cartridge is correctly aligned and set for the right tracking weight and antiskate.

Always play clean records - they sound better and will help the stylus last longer.

Lining the inside of the base with Dynamat or similar acoustic damping material is a fairly cheap and easy tweak.
 
Assuming your DJ (scratching) days are over. Everything danj said, also put the turntable on a stable piece of furniture. In addition, aquire something similar to a butcher block (3/4" mdf will work) and set the table on that. Put a piece of honeycomb shelf liner inbetween the board and what you set it on. Take the bottom plate off the turntable, remove the feet and set the TT on some short wood plugs. Make sure the table is dead level. All that is at most $10.
You didn't mention anything about a cartridge, but if the TT holds a steady speed and the cartridge is of so-so quality, buy a new one. Preferably one with 5+ mv output if your using the NAD for the phonostage. Plenty of good options at or below $100. While on vinyl engine printing out your manual, also download a cartridge alignment template and a speed strobe disc. Take your time and get your VTA/VTF correct, enjoy.
I had seen a guy do this to the exact TT and was surprised how good playback was.
 
Hi Thanks for the advice, i bought it from ebay and it has not yet arrived, but i believe the cartridge is a realistic made by shure possibly the RXT-4. the case is a little bit tatty and was thinking that i may transplant it in to a home made box, but will see when it arrives. is there any benefit to be had by replacing the cabling? for instance replacing rca leads with sheilded equivelents?
 
I have just purchased a KD-1033 and would like to know what i should do to get it in the best possible state before introducing it to the rest of my system. I would also be good to know of any upgrades which can be made to improve the sound, that are reasonably priced.

This turntable has a very bad tonearm geometry

http://www.vinylengine.com/library/kenwood/kd-1033.shtml

With an effective length of 215mm, and overhang of 9.5mm, the best possible alignment

http://www.vinylengine.com/tonearm_...5&m_oh=9.5&m_oa=19&compare=i&submit=calculate

gives ONLY ONE null point, with an offset angle of 19 degrees. This is approximately the offset angle I've measured on a KD-2033 tonearm. This alignment gives more than twice the distortion of a Baerwald alignment. Unbelievable, from a major manufacturer!

You will need to enlarge the grooves on the headshell to move the cartridge forward, by as much as 7 or 8mm, and twist the cartridge (or bent the tonearm) by +5 degrees. You will need a protractor to perform the final adjustment.

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-alignment-protractors.shtml

It will cost you nothing but 2 to 3 hours...

Good luck!
 
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