Kenwood KD-990 Quartz Direct Drive?
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hakaplan
Needs professional help
Probably direct competition. The Denon has slightly better specs, but I have no idea how they compare sonically. The Kenwood only came with an s-arm and uses traditional, static setting of tracking force with the counterweight and an anti-skate weight. The Denon uses dynamic setting of TF/AS and has a servo controlled arm which is supposed to provide constant feedback to minimize resonance. Both manuals over at vinylengine.com, but Kenwood is in German.
hakaplan
Needs professional help
What are they asking?
zeplin43
Well-Known Member
400€ TT complete with dust arm + original stabilizing ring + Ortofon OMB cart
Congrats on your purchase, the 990 is a gorgeous 'table. Now, to ensure it gets to you in one piece, if the seller does not have the original box you need to make sure the seller will pack it correctly for shipping, i.e. secure the tonearm, remove the counterweight and wrap separately, remove the platter and carefully package/pad so it can't move around during shipping, and package the dust cover in a separate sub-box so it can't get scratched. And styrofoam peanuts are NOT an acceptable packing material for a turntable...or any other audio equipment for that matter.
redcoates7
still learning...
+1 on Tedrick's comment. A bit of attention paid by the shipper will go a long way towards making sure that 'table arrives in one piece!
Would love to hear one of those...Kenwood only brought the KD-770D into the North America as far as I know, and it's a far cry from the 990! With the DS-10 stabilizer that's a very capable rig. Enjoy!
Would love to hear one of those...Kenwood only brought the KD-770D into the North America as far as I know, and it's a far cry from the 990! With the DS-10 stabilizer that's a very capable rig. Enjoy!
zeplin43
Well-Known Member
Thks for positive comments guys.Ive been on the alert since i 1st saw the looks of this TT.I have put a link on TT packing instructions to the seller.Lets see.
I did a bit of googling and found some inf in German and then the 3 expert replies(hakaplan,Lini,and balifly) made me shure to pull the trigger.
A word of apreciation to this wondefull forum and its users,a welth of inf keep up the good work!!!
I did a bit of googling and found some inf in German and then the 3 expert replies(hakaplan,Lini,and balifly) made me shure to pull the trigger.
A word of apreciation to this wondefull forum and its users,a welth of inf keep up the good work!!!
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zeplin43
Well-Known Member
Well Guys the Kenwood has arrived sometime ago,was packed to survive a earthquake like the seller said.
Its in Excelent condition and working smoothly.
It was fitted with a Ortofon OM5 that played a couple of hours just to test all funtions,but once again the ortofon entry level stylus did not convince me to invest on a better 20 or 30 stylus.
Looking at my cart selection a thought i would try the Shure M97 xe but soon found out the arm hight adjustment of this turntable is not enough to get the cart level with the platter making it stay slightly head up.
My next obvious choise Was the Shure V15 IV nos that i won a couple of months ago
and was keeping like a precious gem
Now after +- 50 hours and with a setting of 1.g tracking pressure and antiskate 52mm from tip of the diamond and square to the headshell im ready to go.
Since i dont have any tecnical equipment for this review i have to give my opinion on this TT based on what my ears are hearing and the recordings that i choose to play.
So here we go Saturday night in the company of a nice glass o Porto wine lit up a nice fag,and closed the door.I was ready to atend a double concert.
i fired up the Yaqin MS 12B valve preamp, Yamaha 7.1 Receiver + JBL woofer and sat in the middle of the speakers facing my new Magnat 607 - 3 way towers(delicious) with the JBl towers on the side and back.
I choose 2 brand new triple lps that arrived this week for this audition.
Yes Live from the house of blues(audiofile)
whitesnake live in donington 1983
When this was all over i came to the conclution that this Kenwood KD 990 + Shure V15 IV are an excelent piece of equipment and match beautifully (i know that ther is better stuff but this is what i can afford)
Thinking back to when i heard my lps on the Pionner PL990(plastic box)all i hoped for was not to have IGD and all the lps sounded more or less the same
but at this level i can clearly distinguish between the quality of the sound that has been pressed on the vinyl and that the recording is the most important element in the chain.
The Yes recording is brilliant,a must for all yes fans.
It sounds real, Soundstage feels as if i was in the room.Perfect
On The whitesnake recording it seemed that i had arrived late for the show and was at the back of the crowd only on some acoustic parts and encore the soundstage moved a little forward but a dissapointment.
So if i can feel these diferences on the same gear i beleive that this is an excelent Turntable (grab one if you can). was worth every penny it cost. considering it came with an Original Kenwood Record Stabilizing Ring and Record cleaning brush all in new condition for 430€ this was a nice deal.
Pictures i will have to post later my camera has been highjacked for sons holidays.
Its in Excelent condition and working smoothly.
It was fitted with a Ortofon OM5 that played a couple of hours just to test all funtions,but once again the ortofon entry level stylus did not convince me to invest on a better 20 or 30 stylus.
Looking at my cart selection a thought i would try the Shure M97 xe but soon found out the arm hight adjustment of this turntable is not enough to get the cart level with the platter making it stay slightly head up.
My next obvious choise Was the Shure V15 IV nos that i won a couple of months ago
and was keeping like a precious gem
Now after +- 50 hours and with a setting of 1.g tracking pressure and antiskate 52mm from tip of the diamond and square to the headshell im ready to go.
Since i dont have any tecnical equipment for this review i have to give my opinion on this TT based on what my ears are hearing and the recordings that i choose to play.
So here we go Saturday night in the company of a nice glass o Porto wine lit up a nice fag,and closed the door.I was ready to atend a double concert.
i fired up the Yaqin MS 12B valve preamp, Yamaha 7.1 Receiver + JBL woofer and sat in the middle of the speakers facing my new Magnat 607 - 3 way towers(delicious) with the JBl towers on the side and back.
I choose 2 brand new triple lps that arrived this week for this audition.
Yes Live from the house of blues(audiofile)
whitesnake live in donington 1983
When this was all over i came to the conclution that this Kenwood KD 990 + Shure V15 IV are an excelent piece of equipment and match beautifully (i know that ther is better stuff but this is what i can afford)
Thinking back to when i heard my lps on the Pionner PL990(plastic box)all i hoped for was not to have IGD and all the lps sounded more or less the same
but at this level i can clearly distinguish between the quality of the sound that has been pressed on the vinyl and that the recording is the most important element in the chain.
The Yes recording is brilliant,a must for all yes fans.
It sounds real, Soundstage feels as if i was in the room.Perfect
On The whitesnake recording it seemed that i had arrived late for the show and was at the back of the crowd only on some acoustic parts and encore the soundstage moved a little forward but a dissapointment.
So if i can feel these diferences on the same gear i beleive that this is an excelent Turntable (grab one if you can). was worth every penny it cost. considering it came with an Original Kenwood Record Stabilizing Ring and Record cleaning brush all in new condition for 430€ this was a nice deal.
Pictures i will have to post later my camera has been highjacked for sons holidays.
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Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Do you have a model number of the stabilizer? VE has information on the center weight, ring weight and platter mat, DS-10/DS-20 or something. I remember using them and they made a nice difference.
Now when you get some wear on that stylus, step up to a cartridge that costs more than the table. A friend has done that, Shure V15 II with SAS €, AT 440 MLa € and now a Benz Micro €€€. He has also tried my 30 year old lightly used Ortofon MC-20 and was way impressed. He is using a Kenwood KD-650. This table will resolve the differences in cartridges. Finding the Company Sound, Ortofon, Benz Micro, Shure, all sound different and good.
Now when you get some wear on that stylus, step up to a cartridge that costs more than the table. A friend has done that, Shure V15 II with SAS €, AT 440 MLa € and now a Benz Micro €€€. He has also tried my 30 year old lightly used Ortofon MC-20 and was way impressed. He is using a Kenwood KD-650. This table will resolve the differences in cartridges. Finding the Company Sound, Ortofon, Benz Micro, Shure, all sound different and good.
zeplin43
Well-Known Member
Yes the Ring does make a difference and its nice and heavy for warped lps.
Here is a link to VE.
http://www.vinylengine.com/library/kenwood/ds-20-disc-stabiliser.shtml
Here is a link to VE.
http://www.vinylengine.com/library/kenwood/ds-20-disc-stabiliser.shtml
