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Kenwood KD-750

Childof60

Childof60

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Picked up a Kenwood KD-750 this morning. Very dirty, without the head shell, but intact with very nice dust cover. I have powered it up but the motor does not start. I will take a look in detail over the holiday. It will look gorgeous with a little cleaning. Any thoughts on the overall desirability and quality of this turn table? Thx
 
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Childof60 said:
Picked up a Kenwood KD-750 this morning. Very dirty, without the head shell, but intact with very nice dust cover. I have powered it up but the motor does not start. I will take a look in detail over the holiday. It will look gorgeous with a little cleaning. Any thoughts on the overall desirability and quality of this turn table? Thx
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My brother bought a KD750 back in the day when I sold hi-fi (I got it for him for half off). He stopped using it around 30+ years ago. It is still in a cabinet at my parents house (they are both 90).

About 12 years ago I went over there to try to fire it up and it wouldn't turn. I pushed it by hand and it started to turn on its own, but sluggishly. Once I got it going I just let it run for a few hours and it got to where it performed like new.

Something similar happened with my KD500. It had not sat so long, but speed was very rough. I let it burn in and twisted the speed controls back and forth. Eventually it too got to where it locked on to whatever speed I set and it's been rock solid now for almost 20 years. It's still my main turntable.

i.e. give the above a try.
 
You probably already know the head shell is a standard type. They are a simple part, easily replaced by a plethora of choices on Amazon, but finding the original style may be a challenge if that is what you insist on. :)
 
Childof60 said:
Picked up a Kenwood KD-750 this morning. Very dirty, without the head shell, but intact with very nice dust cover. I have powered it up but the motor does not start. I will take a look in detail over the holiday. It will look gorgeous with a little cleaning. Any thoughts on the overall desirability and quality of this turn table? Thx
Click to expand...
Regarding your question at the end, I covet my brother's. Frankly, it is one of my favorite turntables ever built. The quality is as good as I need and the looks are so good, well, If I could only have one cassette deck and one tt, that would be the TT and the cassette deck would be the Pioneer CT-F1250. I have the latter, and I want my brothers' tt. :)
 
Thx for the insight. I have tried spinning the platter with no success. I will likely start by replacing the capacitors this weekend, I just completed restoring s Sony DD turntable and this one looks to be of the same level of difficulty. Picture below is after an initial dusting. Looks better than I expected.
upload_2019-12-20_12-30-29.jpeg
 
Childof60 said:
Thx for the insight. I have tried spinning the platter with no success. I will likely start by replacing the capacitors this weekend, I just completed restoring s Sony DD turntable and this one looks to be of the same level of difficulty. Picture below is after an initial dusting. Looks better than I expected.
View attachment 1704967
Click to expand...
The wood on those is so dark that it looks black at a glance. Nowadays a well placed small LED would really highlight the wood grain. I consider the design of those turntables to be pure art. The oversized platter is just way too cool as well. And that rubber mat is really thick and heavy. The only negative is that there is no speed adjustment. It's always "quarts locked" on one of the two available speeds, But so what? :) Does the orange quarts lock light come on when you fire it up? Try taking the platter off and giving the spindle a turn with your finger and see what it tries to do.
 
RobRoy said:
Try taking the platter off and giving the spindle a turn with your finger and see what it tries to do.
Click to expand...

Careful when removing a plater from a DD and powering up, many depending on circuitry will take a hairy fit
and can damage speed controls.
 
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Just finished the initial inspection.
The good:
- great condition of the platter, plinth, and dust cover. Very easy to remove surface dirt with very minor scratches. The feet are intact.

Not so good:
- tone arm gimble suspension will need work
- the DIN phono cable is missing
- the controls are inoperable

This looks to be an interesting project. Based on the comments I will restore the turntable. I will add some internal pictures as this moves along.
 
totem said:
Careful when removing a plater from a DD and powering up, many depending on circuitry will take a hairy fit
and can damage speed controls.
Click to expand...
I used to do it all the time for customers. Part of the motor is the platter itself in all cases. Sometimes just as a weight and without it, they "bounce' in one direction rather than actually turn correctly, and in some cases, part of the motor is literally attached to the platter. I don't know what part of the speed control would be damaged by doing this, though.

But this is why I suggested it. If the motor tries to respond at all it probably just needs to be allowed to turn for a while with the platter on.
 
RobRoy said:
I used to do it all the time for customers
Click to expand...

My post was a warning to anyone reading this post that running DD tables without a plater can lead to serious
damage as stated in the owners manuals.
If it does not apply in this case all is good then.

 
totem said:
My post was a warning to anyone reading this post that running DD tables without a plater can lead to serious
damage as stated in the owners manuals.
If it does not apply in this case all is good then.
Click to expand...
I never took the warnings seriously. Unless they explain how it can damage it... That said, I suppose if you took the platter off and just let it try to run for hours, it could wear stuff out that is not designed for radical cogging and speed, but for a brief duration, meh...
 
If the controls are not responding, I would start by checking IC5.

The great thing about this turntable is that its logic circuit consists of standard 74 series chips, no unobtanium custom ICs there.
 
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Yes, I think IC5 is a good place to start. Fortunately (as you mentioned) it is not rare and I have several someplace (have to find them). The power switch (ALPS TV-3) will need to be replaced. Not a big deal. The gimbal suspension was easy to fix. I do not see any obvious blown caps but will replace them all given the age of the turntable. It is a very nice layout relatively easy to repair for a direct drive.
 
I have admired the Kenwood range of TTs and would love to own one but it would mean selling my Thorens TD 160 that is upgraded, I don't know much about the Kenwoods, does anyone think the Kenwood would be an upgrade.
 
So, an update. After taking the main board out it is apparent one capacitor has vented - C404 - that is coupled to the rectifier. It is not clear if this capacitor may be the case of the problem or in its failure damaged other things. At this point I will recap before I replace IC 5 and hope this solves the problem. Does anyone have experience with this kind of failure?
 
More work without success. Per the trouble shooting guide I replaced IC-3 and IC-5 with no luck in returning the unit to operation. So, I returned to my usual process of checking the power supply and found the voltage regulator was toast. Likely waisted effort on replacing the IC's. Anyway I am awaiting the replacement voltage regulator. This is a journey. I may write a troubleshooting guide to this turntable when (if) I get it working again. It is a unique design - compared to the Sony's I have fixed previously.
 
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