Islander21
Active Member
What's the market value of a Kenwood KD-750 these days in good working order and cosmetically an 8 out of 10? I can't find much info on it other than its's a fairly decent table. Not a lot of sales on the bay either.
Kenwood KD-750 value
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Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
A bit more than the similar KD-650. It is one of the many top quality tables from the end of the 70s to the mid-80s. Manual, no auto functions might keep the price below those thousand dollar models from that era but when a TD-160 asks 500 the 750 is closer to a grand.
you can edit your title. Drop down menu top right of your post has that option.
you can edit your title. Drop down menu top right of your post has that option.
Islander21
Active Member
Thanks for the heads up on the title typo. I may be able to land this 750 for about $300. It's missing the headshell, which is very rare, but there are other Kenwood headshells that can be used that are readily available. I know it's prone to some quartz lock issues due to faulty ICs but they too are readily available and fairly inexpensive.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Yes, that’s a subscriber benefit, enjoy!
The choice of headshell, sure we all have enough ocd to want the original, but there are lots of options and the mass of the headshell can help tune the cartridge compliance/tonearm effective mass equation, if needed. 3 is a buy it now price if in nice shape and the hinges are not broken, yet. If not broken and they are the plastic ones like on the very similar KD-650, I’d not use them until reinforced. I did that, both not use and reinforce, the hinges on my 600 and very glad I did.
The choice of headshell, sure we all have enough ocd to want the original, but there are lots of options and the mass of the headshell can help tune the cartridge compliance/tonearm effective mass equation, if needed. 3 is a buy it now price if in nice shape and the hinges are not broken, yet. If not broken and they are the plastic ones like on the very similar KD-650, I’d not use them until reinforced. I did that, both not use and reinforce, the hinges on my 600 and very glad I did.
Islander21
Active Member
This one is local to me, I get to inspect it!
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Although that is a valid point, more importantly you get to keep it out of the hands of the shipping companies after a poor packing job. Properly transported from seller’s to your home and you’ll have a fine keeper t unless you need one of those newer over $5k jobs from different vendors or the expensive direct drive.
Islander21
Active Member
If it passes inspection I'm taking it home, it's a half hour drive in the friendly confines of my vehicle.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Proper turntable riding in car etiquette when you bring it home.
Remove platter, twist tie tonearm in place, remove counterweight and blue tape the lid down and it will enjoy the friendly confines, too.
Remove platter, twist tie tonearm in place, remove counterweight and blue tape the lid down and it will enjoy the friendly confines, too.
Islander21
Active Member
That's a very nice looking table. I would not keep the one I'm checking out as I prefer fully automatic TTs, but I would clean it up, check for functionality and change any ICs or caps that needed replacing, lube it and certainly polish the dust cover. It may end up being a 9 out of 10. I would need to get a headshell for it and may put a Pickering XV-15 D1200 on it. Plenty of Kenwood headshell choices out there for it, just not the original one. The auction site shows one 750 sale in the last 3 months for $870, a couple are for sale now but neither are complete - one's got no cover, the other no headshell.
Islander21
Active Member
OK, I inspected the KD-750 and only found a defective foot so I took it home. I'll look for an original foot in good working order (anyone know what other Kenwood turntables use the same feet?) and if I can't find one or it's crazy expensive I'll opt for a new set of aluminum/sorbothane upgraded ones. I can see why these rubber feet tend to fail, this guy is heavy - almost 40 lbs!! I plugged it in and put my Pickering headshell and XV-15 D1200 on it and it sounds fantastic, discernably better than my Technics SL-1600 MK1 and my Pioneer PL-530. I've had Boston playing for the last half hour, Mr. Delp has never sounded better. No issues with speed or the quartz light flickering. She needs a good cleaning and polishing, however I can't send her out with the Pickering headshell because the headshell arm hits the cover, the OEM headshell had a flat arm. I need to find a suitable Kenwood replacement from that era, the OEM magnesium headhsell in good shape is pretty much unobtanium these days. Here are some pics, she's gonna make someone happy when she's all prettied up.
I'll look for an original foot in good working order (anyone know what other Kenwood turntables use the same feet?) and if I can't find one or it's crazy expensive I'll opt for a new set of aluminum/sorbothane upgraded ones. I can see why these rubber feet tend to fail, this guy is heavy - almost 40 lbs!! I plugged it in and put my Pickering headshell and XV-15 D1200 on it and it sounds fantastic, discernably better than my Technics SL-1600 MK1 and my Pioneer PL-530. I've had Boston playing for the last half hour, Mr. Delp has never sounded better. No issues with speed or the quartz light flickering. She needs a good cleaning and polishing, however I can't send her out with the Pickering headshell because the headshell arm hits the cover, the OEM headshell had a flat arm. I need to find a suitable Kenwood replacement from that era, the OEM magnesium headhsell in good shape is pretty much unobtanium these days. Here are some pics, she's gonna make someone happy when she's all prettied up.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Isn’t that someone going to be you when you pocket the multiple hundreds of dollars over your purchase price? It is fun cleaning up nice tables and have them perform like new again.
I’d have a hard time selling a table that is sonically better than the ones already in regular use.
Islander21
Active Member
Interesting that you mention that. I already have two fully automatic tables. I'm keeping my PL-530 and may actually sell the Technics SL-1600 and keep this Kenwood.
Islander21
Active Member
Update: I kept the KD-750 and sold my Technics SL-1600. I serviced and polished it - looks, works and sounds fantastic. Now my OCD is driving me bonkers looking for the original headshell. I also kept my Pioneer PL-530, it's a full auto and matches my other Pioneer equipment.
Islander21
Active Member
Yup, I've been looking. I saw a Trio branded one on fleabay but it was very corroded so I let it go.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
I understand. That’s nuts. Spend the same on an ultra high performance headshell and admire the great looks of the non-matching headshell. I like the looks of the Orsonic but hard the find real/avoid counterfeits. Your choice of high end shell may be different.
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Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
You chose correctly. The 750 is a sweet table, the SL, fine and many love it but the 750 looks better, performs better. Keeping a semi/full auto is also right. I have a few manual tables and a 1600II. I had to give the Sony PS-X7 that I gave my brother to use to my nephew even though I preferred the Sony.
Islander21
Active Member
Update: I found a mint original Kenwood (not Trio) branded headshell on FB Marketplace of all places. It cost a pretty penny but compared to the sad looking or pitted ones I've seen on eBay recently, it was worth it. I paired it with my Pickering XV-15 1200E cartridge, sounds amazing.
