Any information on Kenwood 550 DD

[handysteel]

Hi all,
What is the quality of the kenwood 550 DD TT, Low,Mid or High?
And what is a fair price to pay for this model. How does it compare to the denon DP 1200. As i am looking to purchase one of these models.
Any other brand recommendations at a similar level will be welcome.


Thanks
handysteel.

 

[bolly]

good question! I'd guess ebay price would be about $250+ depending on arm and accessories

 

[Tedrick]

The KD-550 is an excellent 'table. I have a KD-500 (essentially the same 'table, but sold either without 'arm, or with aftermarket 'arm) that compares very favorably to my much more expensive VPI 'table. These seem to sell anywhere from $100 to over $300, depending on condition.

Can't offer any comparison against the Denon you mention.

 

[majick47]

Kenwood KD-550 TT Info

I also have a KD-500 with Sumiko MMT tonearm. The KD-550 came with a Kenwood tonearm installed, the KD-500 was armless and you chose a tonearm to install on it, SME/MMT/Infinity Black Widow were some of the popular arms at the time. Without doing a search for the specifics the arm on the KD-550 was mfg by a very reputable Japanese tonearm mfg and was no slouch. The KD-500 table itself was considered higher end at the time and many were sold and is still quite popular. A sample in very good condition with dustcover etc and a decent cartridge would be well worth $200+. I'd consider either model an over achiever in its price range. If you can find a sample of either model it will way outclass anything new today selling for the same money. If you have time do a search here and vinyl engine of old posts re the KD-550 and you should be able to come up with info on the KD-550 tonearm.

 

[majick47]

Kd-550

Re compareing the KD-550 to the Denon 1200 I would say both were close design wise/sound wise and probably in competition for the same customer. Havn't heard a Denon 1200 but it should sound decent if everything is equal. Other manual Denon TT models with aftermarket tonearms had to be competeing with Kenwood KD-500 for that share of the market. From what I'v read about the only thing to look out for is the TT not holding the correct speed, if it isn't it might just need a cleaning of the speed pots.