Join me as we repair and service a gorgeous Kenwood KP-990 / KD-990 direct drive turntable.

The Kenwood KP-990, also known as the Kenwood KD-990 in many markets, is almost the last serious turntable Kenwood made. This is sad, but a reflection of the arrival of CD, which, for many, spelled the end of vinyl. It ultimately wasn’t, of course, but it certainly was for a while. Anyway, Kenwood did a great job with the KP-990 / KD-990, so today we are going to dig into it a little. Welcome back, everyone.

Background

The KP-990 / KD-990 was close to the last in a line of turntables that started with the KD-600/650, a deck many will be familiar with if you’ve followed me over the years. I was a very happy KD-600 owner for many years and added a lovely Jelco tone arm to mine, to replace the SME Series 3 I still own. Here is a link to my KD-600/650 article archive.

The KD-600/650 were followed by the KD-700, then the KD-750, the KD-770, the KD-850, the KD-990 and maybe last, the KD/KP-9010. There may have been others, but there’s a lot to keep track of, and this is from my memory, so my apologies if I’ve missed any! Feel free to mention any I’ve missed, or if you own any of these lovely turntables, in the comments.

This series of heavy, well-constructed turntables from Kenwood all feature direct drive. Some are fully manual in operation, like the original KD-600/650, others, like the KD-850, are fully automatic, whilst the KD/KD-990 we are talking about today is auto arm lift only, a nice compromise.

These decks all feature proper quartz lock servo control of platter speed, unlike some direct drive decks that lack a quartz reference. Why is this important? Well, without getting too far into the weeds, quartz crystals generally have lower phase noise (jitter) than the other frequency reference turntables use – the AC mains. Lower phase noise and improved long-term stability translate to better short and long-term speed accuracy, immunity from weird line frequency fluctuations, etc.

These decks also all use the same 2.6kg platter that was originally developed for the KD-600/650, as far as I am aware. The KP-990 certainly does, and likewise, the mat is very similar in terms of size and high quality. This means that accessories developed for the KD-600/650, like the incredible Kenwood TS-10 ceramic turntable sheet, will fit perfectly.

Unlike the original KD-600/650 decks, this KP-990 features a wooden plinth with an internal die-cast aluminium subchassis. This is a nice way to do things and gives enhanced rigidity over, say, a simple wooden chassis like we saw with the similar era NOS Sansui XR-Q7 I unboxed a few months ago.

Additionally, the KP-990 features tactile buttons rather than the capacitive touch sensor of the earlier KD-600/650 machines. I prefer the touch sensor, but that is a technically more complex solution, and the sensors must be kept clean or they have a tendency to misbehave. One of those tact buttons operates a lovely motor-driven arm lift/lower device, giving the smoothest, quietest arm lift and lower I’ve seen in a while. Very nice.

Oh, and the lid and hinges might also be the same as the others in this series, for those chasing lids and hinges. Don’t forget that some parts are being re-manufactured by a small business in Australia – read this to learn more.

Kenwood KP-990 / KD-990 Specifications

Courtesy of Vinyl Engine and HiFi Wiki, adapted by Liquid Mike

Drive system: direct drive

Motor: quartz PLL coreless and slotless DC servo motor

Platter: 330mm aluminium alloy die-cast

Speeds: 33 and 45rpm

Wow and flutter: less than 0.02% WRMS

Rumble: better than -80dB (weighted)

Tonearm: static balance type, J-shape tube

Effective length: 245mm

Overhang: 15mm

Tracking force range: 0 to 3g

Usable cartridge range: 2 to 12g

Dimensions: 490 x 182 x 410mm

Weight: 13.7kg

Supplied accessories: 45rpm adaptor, phono cable, hexagon bar wrench

Year: 1986 – 1987

Original retail price: 890 DM / $499 USD / $800 AUD

Service

This Kenwood KP-990 came to me almost straight from Japan, recently purchased by one of my customers. He was worried that there might be problems with this one, and there were a couple, but they were minor and easily resolved. The deck lacked a cartridge but came with its original Kenwood headshell. I suggested a nice Audio Technica AT-OC9 moving coil cartridge as a great option here.

Let’s dive into this one!

Results

Vladan, the owner of this beautiful Kenwood KP-990, was thrilled to hear the good news about his turntable, and he deserves that good news. I’ve been helping Vladan acquire some Accuphase equipment, and he now has an Accuphase A-60 and a C-280L, which he loves. I’ve also been helping him recover from a notorious equipment butcher…

Vladan used to live on the East Coast and, like many, Vladan sadly fell victim to an ACT business and ‘technician’ we’ll call ‘Mr Frampton’. Cramp… ah, I mean Frampton is infamous for case #4, the Krell KRC preamp, in the Hall of Shame, and case #17 involving a Marantz 2270, which belonged to Vladan. *

I was able to rescue the Marantz 2270, a Framptoned Marantz 2330, and a couple of other ruined pieces for him, with the result that he was able to sell them to happy customers, with a clean conscience. Knowing this, you’ll understand why I’m especially happy to be able to give Vladan good news, like I could here, with this lovely KP-990.

The KP-990 sounds taught, rhythmic, quiet and relaxed as all good direct drive turntables should. Pitch is dead-nuts on and stable, another DD trait. No, “She’s within 1% of the correct running speed”, which is considered normal with some audiophile brands, and I use the term audiophile loosely.

Resolution of fine detail is really decent with this AT OC9 MC cart, but obviously a more expensive variant, such as my favourite OC9XSL is what I would recommend here as a step up from where we are, and really as a starting point if one can afford it.

So that’s another lovely Japanese turntable saved and another happy customer – my ideal clean sweep and what I aim for with Liquid Audio. As a turntable for those looking for a steop up from the usual entry level machines, I highly recommend anything in this Kenwood direct drive series from the KD-600, right the way through to the KD/KP-990 we see here.

Blood Incantation…

I know, I know, three of you want to know how the Perth Blood Incantation show was. In a word – EPIC! If you dig heavy music or are interested in music more broadly, and have an opportunity to see this great metal band from the USA, I highly recommend it.

Thanks!

As always, thank you for visiting, I hope you enjoyed this article and found it informative. If you’d like me to look at your Kenwood KP-990, KD-600, 650 or any other lovely Kenwood turntable for you, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Sidenote: As you know, very little original, quality content like this exists, which is partly why I go to the effort of creating it. I was recently asked: “Who pays you to write these articles?” My surprised reply was “Nobody!”, though that would be nice!

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* Should we protect these businesses, or name and shame them? I believe people have a right to know the truth.