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My new to me vintage turntable - Kenwood KD-550

I bought the table last night. It sounded fantastic at his place. This thing is a rock and must weigh 25lbs at least. He actually had another KD-5070 that needed repair and he ended up giving me the dust cover from that one which is in good shape and is an original one with the original hinges. It has one small crack in the back that was repaired and otherwise no problem. I will get it set up today and report back later. Thanks for all the help guy's.
 
If not mistaken I believe it's in the neighborhood of 14.5 kilograms, or about 32lbs according to its specs, never actually weighed mine, LOL.

Do yourself a big favor and order a set of Vibrapods, about $25 for a set of four.
 
cartop said:
I bought the table last night. It sounded fantastic at his place. This thing is a rock and must weigh 25lbs at least. He actually had another KD-5070 that needed repair and he ended up giving me the dust cover from that one which is in good shape and is an original one with the original hinges. It has one small crack in the back that was repaired and otherwise no problem. I will get it set up today and report back later. Thanks for all the help guy's.
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Sounds like you got a ncie table. Congratulations! I bet you will enjoy it.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
Kingshead said:
If not mistaken I believe it's in the neighborhood of 14.5 kilograms, or about 32lbs according to its specs, never actually weighed mine, LOL.

Wow, Even heavier than I thought. :eek:

Do yourself a big favor and order a set of Vibrapods, about $25 for a set of four.
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I will check them out. :)

revox-b77 said:
That is a score! Congratulations.
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Thanks, It sounds great. :rockon:

Mister Pig said:
Sounds like you got a ncie table. Congratulations! I bet you will enjoy it.

Regards
Mister Pig
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I got it all set up and it sounds fantastic. :thumbsup:
 
I have it set up with my Mitsubishi dual monaraul DA-P20 pre-amp and my B+K ST-2140 2 channel amp. Here are some pics.

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OK, I have been listening for awhile now and just turned the table off. I noticed that with the switch in the off position the table stops turning but the needle is still live. I don't think that is normal or is it normal for that table?
 
All four of my tables are like that, the same with every table I've ever owned. As long as the input selector is on phono it's connected, best to move the selector when cleaning the stylus, or turn down the volume first.
 
Kingshead said:
All four of my tables are like that, the same with every table I've ever owned. As long as the input selector is on phono it's connected, best to move the selector when cleaning the stylus, or turn down the volume first.
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That is the first time I ever noticed that. Strange??? Thanks.
 
I'm sure there are tables that disconnect the line out when turned off but I would think an unbroken link would be best.
 
Most of the old changers broke the circuit during cycling and when off, but manual tables rarely, if ever, do.
You scored with the dustcover. I suggest checking the screws in the hinge mechanism while the cover is down and making sure they are snug. Do not - repeat, do not - crank down on them since they screw into a plastic stub which is not excessively thick and is probably a little brittle at this point. But loose, the screws may put more shearing force into the stubs, which isn't good.
 
I checked the hinges and they seem fine. OK, Now the stylus, which is a QLM 30 MKIII, that came with it seems BOTL so what stylus would be a good replacement? Something in the $50-100 range.
 
You could put a higher end stylus on the cartridge, but as the stylii improves, their compliances goes up, and the arm really isn't suited to very high compliance cartridges -- you could probably get away with it, but it wouldn't be the synergistic match the table merits. And the QLMs aren't that bad, so you could use it for awhile and save up for a Denon 103 or some other less compliant cartridge, or you could elicit suggestions about low to mid compliance moving magnets, of which there are many -- people (me included) are reconsidering cartridges that seemed beneath us when high, higher, and highest compliances seemed the goal, and then when it seemed that moving coils were the way to go. I've been surprised by how good some of the mid level cartridges of the past sound. This started first for me with a Stanton 500, but has subsequently included Pickerings, Neat/Excels and Elacs. The lower compliance Shures have lots of fans, as do Grados, and others.
The good news, of course, is that you don't necessarily need to spend a whole bunch to get very satisfying sound, and that some of the replacement stylii from other makers, not just Jico and SAS and the other premium makers, but even the Pfanstiels and EVGs can be very good. (Of course some aren't, but at least you haven't spend a lot.)
 
If I'm not mistaken it looks like from the pics the dust cover from the other table fits the 500 / 550 as the OEM cover? That's a sweet deal, with set on covers going for $179 that cover alone would most likely be worth $200 or more.

As for cart or stylus, these tables are good enough to deserve whatever your wallet can bear.
 
I actually thought the stylus that came with it was an aftermarket but I just talked to the guy I bought it from and he said it is an ADC original NOS stylus so I guess I should be happy with that for now.
 
cartop said:
OK, I have been listening for awhile now and just turned the table off. I noticed that with the switch in the off position the table stops turning but the needle is still live. I don't think that is normal or is it normal for that table?
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It's normal, there's no muting or internal amplifier.
 
I have been all over the net looking for a manual for the KD in english and the only manual I can find are on Vinylengine but they dont have it in english. And for some reason I can't get google translate to work.....:(
 
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