Hi everyone, a quick vinyl-focussed article today to update you on some news, including purchases and equipment I’ve worked on recently.

To anyone who has equipment with me or is waiting to book equipment in, thanks for your patience, as always. There’s just one of me doing all this and we dig pretty deeply here, so I have quite a bit to do!

New Records

I grabbed three new records recently, two of which came from The Vinyl Store here in Australia. The other one is from Discrepancy Records and is a pre-release order. I’m pleased to say that the two I’ve received are excellent, dead flat, nice and quiet, and really good pressings when many these days are not.

Of Skins And Heart is the first album released by one of my favourite bands, The Church. I was lucky enough to see The Church in their Heyday (pardon the pun Church fans) at the Perth Concert Hall, and it was a memorable experience. This new white vinyl release of their debut album is well worth grabbing for fans and those who perhaps want to get into this amazing band, and you should.

The second record I purchased is another Aus-music classic, this time from INXS, back in their heyday and their second album release, Underneath The Colours. Another killer record from an amazing band in their prime. Again, this one is perfectly flat, though there are a few scuffs and scratches on this remastered 180G record, thanks to some sloppy handling when this was pressed and bagged. It sounds great though.

Anyway, thanks The Vinyl Store. If readers are interested, this was my first experience with this store and I can recommend them based on that experience: fast shipping, flat discs and reasonable pricing.

Kenwood L-07D

That’s right folks, the DADDY of turntables and for all who know about or own one of these statement machines, the Kenwood L-07D is right up there in the upper echelons of the very best turntables ever made, and I mean that. I’ve owned an even rarer L-07DII since around 2010.

This L-07D one belongs to my customer and friend Tim, who I’ve often chatted with about these decks and who finally bit the bullet and bought not just one, but two! Madness, but who dares wins as they say, so well done Tim.

I’ve advised Tim about the advantages of the L-07D over his undoubtedly lovely Technics SP-10 Mk2 / SL-1000 over the years and he finally wanted to take the plunge. He tells me this L-07D crushes his SP-10, so it’s good to feel vindicated for knowing this. How did I know? I studied, understood, purchased and listened, a long time ago.

I’ll be writing a long-overdue series on these astounding turntables in the coming months, and you’ll find out why you’ve not seen mine in articles for around a decade and why this still traumatises me. All that coming up, but for now though, let’s enjoy the incredible beauty of a turntable that is built like no other and even now, in 2024, some 45 years on, still looks futuristic. Oh, and it’s a two-man lift, trust me on this.

Kenwood KD-650

Folks who’ve been with me for a few years will know how fond I am of these great decks from Kenwood, and that I owned a KD-600 for about a decade and have likely worked on most of the KD-600s and 650s in Perth. Let’s not forget of course that ex-Kenwood engineers started Accuphase, and you know how much I love that company.

This KD-650 belongs to another wonderful and long-term customer who recently had a cartridge accident and decided to move up the line. After some advice, he decided on the fabulous Ortofon MC Cadenza Black moving coil cartridge, which I supplied and fitted for him. I was also able to arrange a nice discount on the price of this one by sending his broken cart back to Ortofon. Hit me up if you’d like me to arrange that for you.

As always, thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment, especially if you own these records or one of these gorgeous turntables. Get in touch too, if you’d like me to take care of yours.