Kenwood KD 2070

[Dead Head]

Hello, I’m a new member and just getting into vinyl again but need a decent TT. I’ve got an appointment with someone conducting an estate sale tomorrow to look at a VERY reasonably priced Kenwood KD 2070. From what I am being told, it is in pristine condition and was owned by an “audiophile” father in law of the person running the sale. Does anyone have much experience with these TT’s? What possible issues would I need to look for when checking it out? The person conducting the sale says they don’t have a receiver or speakers to hook up to it, so I’m going to bring my own. Thanks in advance for any input you can provide

 

[Montycat]

Welcom DH!

It's a nice table. Good luck with it.

It's Direct Drive so no belt to worry about. If it spins when plugged in and holds speed as verified by the strobe that's good. If the speed jumps around a bit, esp when turning the controls, it will likely be fixed up by some cleaning with Deoxit or similar. Easy to do.

Check the tonearm for bearings that are loose or tight. Try to manipulate at the pivot to see what degree of deflection happens. Smoothness and no deflection is good, a tiny smidge is not necessarily bad.

If it has a cartridge and headshell don't assume the stylus is good, or even there. Until you get a good chance to inspect, assume the worse. If you have a beater record to put on, go ahead and test it.

There's a sticky thread with a turntable setup video you might want to watch before you go. It will show you how to check the tonearm tracking force and other things.

If it looks as good as they imply it is, it probably is pretty good. How long has is sat unused?

 

[Dead Head]

If it looks as good as they imply it is, it probably is pretty good. How long has is sat unused?

Thanks for the info Montycat! I am not sure how long it has been sitting unused, and neither does the family of the original owner. I’ll report back once I get to see it in a few hours. I still have no idea what type of cartridge it has on it or if the stylus is any good, but I’m excited to say the least.

 

[cgutz]

As described above, check it out for functionality.

If in good shape, you will enjoy it. The Kenwood KDx070 series were very nice tables.

Owners manual here: https://www.vinylengine.com/library/kenwood/kd-2070.shtml (you will need to create a free account)

 

[Dead Head]

Well, to my surprise, it wasn’t a KD-2070 but actually a KD-3070. Everything seems to be in fine working order, so I’m the new owner. It has what looks like a Shure 3x cartridge on it and the stylus is actually in decent shape. They even threw in a Shure traceability test record for a grand total of $50. Should I replace the cart, or keep it?

 

[cgutz]

Instead of replacing the cartridge, you could buy a new stylus to get started, since you don't know where that current stylus has been...you can't tell by looking at a stylus if it is worn or damaged, only if it is clean.

Nice score.

 

[Dead Head]

Here are some pics. It’s a bit dusty and not quite pristine condition, but it’s in better shape than I am for it’s age, and all functions work well. Today is a good day

 

[Blue Shadow]

I don't even know what a Shure 3X cartridge is. But then Shure is leaving the cartridge market soon. If the records sound great with no distortion especially as you get to the inner grooves rock that stylus while you save up some coin for a new cartridge. Can we get a close up of a link to a pic of the cartridge? That table is well equipped to handle a cartridge of multiple hundreds of bucks so there is a very large upside in its abilities. What other gear do you have in the system? No reason spending on stuff you won't hear. a few hundred to over a million, all these systems can sound very good, indeed.

Have you gotten the manual and redone the cartridge set up procedure to verify everything is right?

Oh, very well bought. A nice table for sure.

 

[dander]

Nice table especially for how little they can go for. Mine works well.

 

[Dead Head]

I don't even know what a Shure 3X cartridge is. But then Shure is leaving the cartridge market soon. If the records sound great with no distortion especially as you get to the inner grooves rock that stylus while you save up some coin for a new cartridge. Can we get a close up of a link to a pic of the cartridge? That table is well equipped to handle a cartridge of multiple hundreds of bucks so there is a very large upside in its abilities. What other gear do you have in the system? No reason spending on stuff you won't hear.

Sorry, it’s a Shure M19E cart with a Shure 3x stylus. Told you I was a noob, lol. As for the system, I have a Yamaha RXV659 receiver with a pair of paradigm 9se floor speakers for the front. I’ve got a Polk RM6752 for the center, two Polk RM6751’s for the rears, and a Polk RM6750 sub. It’s a Frankenstein setup, but I’m looking forward to setting it all up.