I'll be very interested in your thoughts.
www.audioantiquary.com
The one that was on Spring Air recently was absolutely mint. Looked like brand new, better than this one for sure. Too bad dealing with that company was horrible, thought about buying it. Didn’t last long though.Hi All,
I have long admired the L-O7 D from afar and was very tempted by the one for sale in the link below (no relation to seller or sale). So, I took the dog for a long walk and came to my senses, but thought another WBF member, especially in Europe, would like to know about it.
Best,
Evan
Error
similar quality level, but different in sonic DNA. Technics more neutral to analytic, Kenwood more mid bass energy , a little warmer.
Interesting as my thoughts with my SP10 vs L07d are almost opposite.similar quality level, but different in sonic DNA. Technics more neutral to analytic, Kenwood more mid bass energy , a little warmer.
Preference depending on personal bias
Technics EPA 100 Tonearm only good, if Cartridge / Headshell weight is below 20g,
Kenwood tonearm will work with heavier combinations as well.
I know the effect from my DDX 1500. @DDX 1500 this is a function of proper grounding of the turntable and the PSU/control unit.
Never been an issue in my years of ownership, nor have I heard of the issue outside of a number of caps falling out of spec. Easy to fix.
Great TT. The later Kenwood KD9010 is also a very nice TT...very good motor and control design...not nearly as much mass though. There is an upgrade you can do to your L-07 and that has to do with putting Mu metal underneath the platter. Apparently, the partial magnetic levitation can interfere with the cartridge and degrade the sound. Putting the Mu metal makes a barrier to this.During the last years I spent my time mostly with Belt Drive turntables, but whenever I had contact to a proper Direct Drive, I am fascinated.
Currently I do use the Micro Seiki DQX 1000 and the DDX 1500 direct drive , at my friends home I can listen to Technics SP10 MkII and the Brinkmann Bardo.
All of this Direct Drives have something in common, they play piano with brute force and crazy dynamics while having a very clear tone.
I am using the Japanese Three Blind Mice Jazz records to compare, as nearly everyone I am visiting has this records in his collection.
4 weeks ago I was invited to a shoot out, some actual turntables in the 20k region, some vintage turntables, belt drive and direct drive.
As all of the turntables have their own fan boy culture, I am not going to list them up. But important for me was, that I was familiar with the different turntables,
but not with my personal "winner" of the shoot out. The former reference product from Trio / Kenwood:
Kenwood L-07 D
The Kenwood played the different Three Blind Mice Jazz records in a way, that I had to listen to them again and again, finally I made to the owner an offer and
went home with the Kenwood L-07D in my car
At home I started the google research about this turntable. Nearly all and everything is documented on this page, which was very helpful :
I learned, that I have an early version of the turntable and that the optional accessory kit was missing.
Finally I found the matching
Kenwood DS 20
outer Ring (in the Netherlands) , and the related
Kenwood DS 21
platter weight (in Hongkong)
and finally the
Kenwood TS-10
Ceramic Platter sheet (in Germany).
Still missing is the centering tool to better place the outer ring, if used on top of a record.
Placing the L-07D was easy , as I still have the HRS M3x platform , originally designed for a Brinkmann balance, which fits the L-07D like designed for this turntable.
As the Kenwood list of accessories shows thick rubber feet to be placed underneath the turntable feet as well, I used the GRS Nimbus feet under the Kenwood original feet.
The 7 Kenwood engineers involved in the Kenwood 07 project did a lot of basic research to design this turntable, so the heavy plinth is made from different materials.
View attachment 76888View attachment 76889
The tonearm
Kenwood TA-07 J
as such is similar complex, but easy to handle. VTA can be adjusted during playback.
View attachment 76890View attachment 76892View attachment 76891
The standard Platte sheet is from Stainless steel, the optional from Ceramic.
On vinyl Engine a link to the manual can be found, showing some measurements as well.
Kenwood TS-10 Ceramic Sheet Turntable Mat | Vinyl Engine
www.vinylengine.com
same for the outer ring
Kenwood DS-20 Disc stabiliser Vibration Suppressor | Vinyl Engine
It is possible to use the steel and the Ceramic platter sheet as a composite, so I tried different set ups.
My current "best" looks like the following sandwich:
baseplatter, than ceramic platter. centered by the ceramic platte the outer ring is placed. On top of the ceramic platter comes the steel platter.
And the last add on is the thin brown Micro Seiki Leather topper , which I like on steel platters.
But maybe this set up will change, as the platter weight is not yet arrived and I am using a different weight.
To get a start on this vintage table, I am using the
Acoustical Systems Fideles
6mv output cartridge. The heavy Titanium body fits nicely into the over all Design of the Kenwood turntable, but finally I will fit a contemporary cartridge into the L-07D.
Now I am listening and enjoying music with the new member of my turntable collection
The first impression matches my listening experience at my friends home, now I understand better, why you can find reports from other shoot outs,
seeing the Kenwood L-07D far ahead over the Nakamichi TX 1000 , another nice example of Japanese engineering quality of this decades.
Looking about market pricing, the Kenwood L-07D had a factor of 5x in market price increase over the last 10 to 15 years (in Europe),
which is still a conservative curve compared with Micro Seiki RX 5000 or SX 8000 residual value development.
If you are looking for such a turntable, you should know, that in some markets the L-07D was sold as "Trio L-07D" and not as "Kenwood L-07D"
as example in the UK.
The SP10 (old ones...not new models) used an inferior motor that used iron poles, so it had issues with cogging and torque ripple. I also don't think the motor control system was nearly as advanced as those that came later (like the L-07D or the JVC bi-directional servo). The L-07D had one of the most advanced motor designs (coreless, brushless and slotless) with the coils in a star pattern. The Exclusive P3 and P10 also have very advanced motors as does the Yamaha GT-2000 (which also has a high mass platter and JVC's bi-directional servo control).
Here in germany
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