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Kenwood KD-500 Turntable Tonearm Identity

Balifly said:
Kenwood J91-0078-08
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Oh as a spare part. Sure. Second hand, maybe it was purchased as a part or was a take off from a 550, either way, I don't see those as Kenwood actively selling the arm for that table separately. It is good arm and performs well as does the arm on the 650.
 
I bought my KD500 new in 1980 (it was marketed as the Trio KD500 in the UK). I don't recall any arm bring offered as an option or even as a recommendation. I fitted an SME 3 Series, together with Audio Technica Signet MK111 moving coil cartridge.

I'm pleased I didn't follow the trend of the time for belt drives, the VERY heavy and solid direct-drive KD500 being precise and reliable throughout its 36 years.

I don't expect to ever part with that combination. It was a definite 'Best Buy'!
 
Multimode said:
I bought my KD500 new in 1980 (it was marketed as the Trio KD500 in the UK). I don't recall any arm bring offered as an option or even as a recommendation. I fitted an SME 3 Series, together with Audio Technica Signet MK111 moving coil cartridge.

I'm pleased I didn't follow the trend of the time for belt drives, the VERY heavy and solid direct-drive KD500 being precise and reliable throughout its 36 years.

I don't expect to ever part with that combination. It was a definite 'Best Buy'!
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The trend at that time was Direct Drive in almost all tables. Higher end tables from Kenwood and other Japanese manufacturers were DD. The belt drives were the lesser tables from these companies. But there was the Thornes contingent and of course Linn was busy back then, too, and you showing a UK location would have been overwhelmed by those names and more. Fortunately, you made a great choice. Just think of all the money you have saved not needing to get every little upgrade Linn came out with over the decades since you bought your table. Yes, a Best Buy for sure.
 
The Swiss-built Thorens were (and still are) fine belt-drive turntables, but I decided on a top-end direct drive table as I wanted to more-or-less 'fit and forget'. For the same reason, of the two new cars on my final shortlist in 2003 I went for the one with chain rather than belt drive to the camshaft, and it's still trouble-free.

The Linn LP12 received glowing reports, especially from owners, and a friend's example seemed to give an improved musical performance over his replaced table (noticeable particularly with solo violin pieces, I recall). But he was forever worrying about it and checking for the latest of the many upgrades. Linn said the (often very expensive) upgrades made sure the turntable was always up to date, but I suspect some of them were to correct design/build weaknesses. They should be an excellent turntable after all those years of development, and they do look handsome, but still not for me.
 
Multimode said:
The Swiss-built Thorens were (and still are) fine belt-drive turntables, but I decided on a top-end direct drive table as I wanted to more-or-less 'fit and forget'. For the same reason, of the two new cars on my final shortlist in 2003 I went for the one with chain rather than belt drive to the camshaft, and it's still trouble-free.

The Linn LP12 received glowing reports, especially from owners, and a friend's example seemed to give an improved musical performance over his replaced table (noticeable particularly with solo violin pieces, I recall). But he was forever worrying about it and checking for the latest of the many upgrades. Linn said the (often very expensive) upgrades made sure the turntable was always up to date, but I suspect some of them were to correct design/build weaknesses. They should be an excellent turntable after all those years of development, and they do look handsome, but still not for me.
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Bought my Thorens for $90 in rough shape but spent a bit more to get it to this point:bigok:
The Kenwood, had I got it, would have merely played second fiddle to this in my basement study vs this one up in my media room - I love love love the sound of my Thorens;)

IMG_3757.jpg
 
And it looks great, too.

I have a TD-125, recently acquired, because I liked the one I had years ago. It fiddles just fine right next to a KD-600, both sporting the same tonearm. The 125 does look more traditional (and I guess I like the looks better, too) with the SME on it. But hey, we're just listening to stuff.
 
Blue Shadow said:
And it looks great, too.

I have a TD-125, recently acquired, because I liked the one I had years ago. It fiddles just fine right next to a KD-600, both sporting the same tonearm. The 125 does look more traditional (and I guess I like the looks better, too) with the SME on it. But hey, we're just listening to stuff.
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The Thorens and Linns are certainly not for the faint of heart given the amount of tweaking it takes to get them sounding nice when a real good DD like the over-cooked SL-1200's can sound pretty darn nice right out of the box (Ok a little tweaking for the cart/tonearm to be optimal). I toyed with this unique table in my setup for a while before letting it go:

 
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Hi,
I'm looking for the dust cover for a Kenwood KD3070, original head shell, and rubber isolation feet. Can anyone help with this?
 
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