The Official Kenwood KD 500/550 and 600/650 Owner's Thread

[Kit Carson]

Snovosel a reliable indicator of what a KD-600 might be worth is Ebay sold items. You might have to adjust for shipping and tax. If there are multiple examples try to get an average between high and low. As mentioned the tonearm can have a significant influence on the final figure. Best appraisers will be on AKs D&S.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Best appraisers will be on AKs D&S.

Exactly, if someone posts about the tt instead of saying hifishark or ebay sold as so many do. It is the place to ask, I don't understand why those early responders are offering those two instead of a number or range especially if the person looking for info is a newbie.

Range is ≤300≥2000 so what he has, 650/600/which tonearm is needed to get the right value.

 

[snovosel]

Spoke too soon and without my glasses. Cover does have two blems but not terribly bad. I don't know what arm make that is.

 

[snovosel]

But, wow, this is HEAVY!

 

[Blue Shadow]

Are the hinges on the cover in good shape? The spring inside them breaks free making them useless, cover drops and won’t stay up. I reinforced mine before that happened.

Donyou have the headshell and counterweight? The headshell is special but easily substituted with something that will work. The counterweight is mandatory to have a properly functioning arm. I don’t know if the arm will allow other weights to work, diameter of the shaft issue. Without something to replace these two parts, you have a table needing an arm and spare parts, still worth something.

 

[Kit Carson]

Other question does the table power up and platter spin? Also did the tonearm have a cable? From picture unsure if it is the power cord or tonearm cable.

 

[snovosel]

Are the hinges on the cover in good shape? The spring inside them breaks free making them useless, cover drops and won’t stay up. I reinforced mine before that happened.

Donyou have the headshell and counterweight? The headshell is special but easily substituted with something that will work. The counterweight is mandatory to have a properly functioning arm. I don’t know if the arm will allow other weights to work, diameter of the shaft issue. Without something to replace these two parts, you have a table needing an arm and spare parts, still worth something.

Yes, I have the counterweight. I left it off for the pic. I'd have to check the box for the headshell.

 

[snovosel]

Other question does the table power up and platter spin? Also did the tonearm have a cable? From picture unsure if it is the power cord or tonearm cable.

Yes, spins up. Yes, tonearm has the cable.

 

[snovosel]

Are the hinges on the cover in good shape? The spring inside them breaks free making them useless, cover drops and won’t stay up. I reinforced mine before that happened.

Donyou have the headshell and counterweight? The headshell is special but easily substituted with something that will work. The counterweight is mandatory to have a properly functioning arm. I don’t know if the arm will allow other weights to work, diameter of the shaft issue. Without something to replace these two parts, you have a table needing an arm and spare parts, still worth something.

If I remember from when looking at it yesterday, the cover did not stay up. I'm guessing that seriously affects resale value?

 

[Blue Shadow]

If I remember from when looking at it yesterday, the cover did not stay up. I'm guessing that seriously affects resale value?

We have talked about most things vintage audio here on ak. KD-600 Hinges brings this thread:

Saving KD-600 hinges before they break.

Even though I saw a black or some other dark colored KD-600 like table on audio-database, really liked it, my KD-600 has been an occasional turntable for years. I have a pair of working hinges on the dust cover and don't want them to break, which they will. I have a pair of broken hinges I...

audiokarma.org

which shows how I reinforced the unbroken hinge as well as a pic of a broken hinge. You will be able to evaluate your hinges with the info/pics in the thread. The value of the table must be discussed in the $&¢ forum so post the condition of the hinges with your question about value in this forum:
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?forums/dollars-and-sense.128/ and you should get some good solid numbers.

 

[snovosel]

We have talked about most things vintage audio here on ak. KD-600 Hinges brings this thread:

Saving KD-600 hinges before they break.

Even though I saw a black or some other dark colored KD-600 like table on audio-database, really liked it, my KD-600 has been an occasional turntable for years. I have a pair of working hinges on the dust cover and don't want them to break, which they will. I have a pair of broken hinges I...

audiokarma.org

which shows how I reinforced the unbroken hinge as well as a pic of a broken hinge. You will be able to evaluate your hinges with the info/pics in the thread.

Awesome. Thank you! I'll evaluate those hinges before posting for sale. My VPI gets all the use these days, and has for quite some time. This 600 is simply taking up space and so if it brings in a few pennies while giving someone else enjoyment, then double-awesome.

 

[Kit Carson]

Snovosel I gather you want the KD-600 to go to a good home at a fair price for both you and the buyer, this can be accomplished in AKs D&S by experienced and knowledgeable AK members familiar with the KD-600. When posting make sure you submit good sharp photos of EVERYTHING. If you have the original shipping box/packing material and literature this will be of added value. In it's day the KD-600 was not a cheap table and today if in good shape will probably sell for more than a few pennies.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Snovosel I gather you want the KD-600 to go to a good home at a fair price for both you and the buyer, this can be accomplished in AKs D&S by experienced and knowledgeable AK members familiar with the KD-600.

This isn't quite accurate. D&S is not a for sale forum, it is a "how much is it worth" forum. Mentioning a unit for sale while asking about pricing will get moderated. The for sale section of ak is behind 'subscription' doors which cost $25 per year and has a number of forums and allows buy, sell, ask for and such posts by subscribers.

This table is a KD-650, with the Kenwood tonearm that table had on it when new and it was spendy back in the day, similar to a better full automatic at $400. It's value today can be discussed in the $&¢ as stated above.

 

[Kit Carson]

Blue Shadow my intent for referring to D&S was for appraisal ONLY not sale.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Blue Shadow my intent for referring to D&S was for appraisal ONLY not sale.

That is why I said isn't quite accurate as it read like post it there with pics and someone will buy it. no problem

 

[snovosel]

That is why I said isn't quite accurate as it read like post it there with pics and someone will buy it. no problem

Will do, once I get the time to pull everything out of the cubby. Many thanks, All!

 

[Ecjenkins]

Hi. I have a compete kd650 tonearm for sale. Works great and can send to us or Europe or Australia. I have a speed control issue and am sadly parting the deck out. It’s listed on reverb also for verification.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Hi.

HI. You cannot offer for sale in the open forums. Mods will edit your post when they find it. As stated above, you need to subscribe to open the Barter Town forums for the sales and such. Sorry about the speed problems in your 650

 

[MotherSauce1]

Have spent some time getting acquainted with my Kenwood KD500. Originally bought a Grace G707 and ended up using a Garrott P77 cartridge after selling my Ortofon Quintet Blue MC with my Rega TT. Not happy with the sound and, decided i wanted a removable headshell, so bought a Grace G840 arm, i made a anti skate wire as it was missing, fitting the arm, it didn't sit right, took it off and removed the armboard, previous owner made a mess of the underside, routed an even surface and enlarged the the countersunk area to accept the washer with room to move to get the correct pivot to spindle distance. The previous owner made the hole for the arm rest too close to the platter, was ok for the 707 but modified it for the 840.View attachment 3326454View attachment 3326453View attachment 3326452View attachment 3326450 In the meantime bought an Audio Technica OC9XSH MC cartridge. the arm was sitting right now, attached the AT cartridge and set it to defined settings. Have about 6hrs on the cartridge and sounding very good. One issue that was noticeable was the setup didn't sound as alive as the Rega, the pitch of the sound was different. Reason being that my Rega was running at 33.63RPM when tested with an electronic stroboscope. The more i listen to the Kenwood it now sounds more natural, happy with the effort to set it up right. Bought from Germany a user manual and a service manual, have come in very handy.

What arm rest are you using? I've never liked the one mine came with and would love to replace it with a solid recommend.

 

[wenfet]

Sorry for the late reply,@MotherSauce1 using a standard Grace tone arm rest, had to modify it as the previous owner had the hole for the rest very close to the platter.
Have since put the G707 arm back on, after extensive listening to the 840, prefer the 707. Now the arm is parallel with the side.see