Check out this incredible, 100% original, one-owner, almost time-capsule quality Kenwood KD-500 direct drive turntable I’ve just serviced and listed for sale!

This stunning one-owner Kenwood KD-500 direct drive turntable comes complete with its as-purchased SME-3009 tonearm and the mega-bonus: a rare Fidelity Research FR-101 moving magnet cartridge!

UPDATE: Four requests to purchase received within 2 hours. Reserved with a deposit, pending full payment!

This incredible vintage deck sounds fantastic, check it out below. My apologies for the colour rendition in some of these shots BTW, it doesn’t look yellow in person, as you’ll see in many images.

This sale is a collaboration between Liquid Audio and Addicted to Audio, one of Perth’s best hi-fi stores. This is something we occasionally do and it works well for everyone. Thank you to Dan for finding this beauty!

Kenwood KD-500 Specifications

Courtesy of Vinyl Engine

Drive: direct-drive system
Motor: 8-pole 24 slot brushless DC servo motor
Platter: 30cm, 1.5kg aluminium alloy die-cast
Speeds: 33.33 and 45rpm
Wow and flutter: less than 0.03% WRMS
Signal to noise ratio: more than 60dB
Tonearm: static-balance type, s-shaped pipe arm, eia plug-in connector
Effective length: 237mm
Overhang: 15mm
Stylus pressure range: 0 to 4g
Usable cartridge range: 5 to 12g
Dimensions: 502 x 382 x 162mm
Weight: 14.9kg (that’s right, not 5kg, 15kg!)

Service

In terms of service, you’ll know that a Liquid Audio service is a far cry from your ‘regular’ turntable service. I’ve cleaned and carefully serviced the motor, a delicate operation utilising a special synthetic bearing oil. Many people destroy these motors just by opening them and they are often ignored, because ‘too hard’.

I’ve serviced the switches and speed verniers, reset the master running speeds, and adjusted all the tonearm parameters including lateral balance, azimuth and VTA, arm geometry adjustments that many have no idea exist, let alone how to complete!

I’ve written a ton about the Kenwood KD-500 over the years, so check out a couple of these articles for more. Let me say though that you rarely find a KD-500 in this condition, and with the valuable SME-3009 and even rarer FR-101, it’s a killer combo.

To say that a deck of this quality crushes new $2,000 turntables is a dramatic understatement. It crushes new $4,000 turntables! You only have to see and feel a deck like this to know that, and then listen to it for confirmation. A high-end deck and arm like these will extract the most from a quality cartridge, far beyond what’s fitted here.

Why? Well, The KD-500 and other turntables like it was built at a time when manufacturers weren’t yet scrimping and saving every penny. They were competing strongly with one another in a rich field of technical and engineering creativity and best practise that yielded turntables like the KD-500/550, and many others.

This fully serviced, perfect-running, 100% original Kenwood KD-500/SME-3009 combo is ready for her next owner. The SME-3009 tonearm alone would normally sell for around $1,000 and the cartridge another few hundred.

I’m asking for $1950 for this complete Kenwood KD-500 turntable package including KD-500, SME-3009, original SME tonearm cable and Fidelity Research FR-101 moving magnet cart, precision set-up and serviced.

Naturally, this turntable comes with a 3-month warranty for peace of mind, likely the only KD-500 sold with a warranty in Australia. This is how we roll: no surprises, no nonsense, no time-wasting or silly stories, just straightforward business and exceptional equipment for loyal customers who appreciate the difference and don’t want their time wasted either.

If you’re interested in this lovely machine, let me know as I’m sure it won’t hang around (sure enough it didn’t). Local sales only.

UPDATE: Four requests to purchase received within 2 hours. Reserved with a deposit, pending full payment!