Kenwood L07D turntable and control unit

Once in a while you can find the L07J tonearm for sale on eBay or elsewhere. Unless you're lucky, that can take a year or so, but I do believe you'd find one eventually. I have never seen a Power Supply for sale separately. However, the schematic is shown in the Service Manual which can be obtained from Vinyl Engine or from the L07D lovers website. In addition to supplying DC voltages to run the motor, the PS also seems to contain important elements of the servo mechanism. So duplicating it is a job for a pro or a very knowledgable hobbyist.

NOS deck is very very rare but in this situation I would say not more than US$2000, but it depends upon how badly you want it. I do love my L07D for sure. One critical factor that you do not make clear: Is the large heavy brass and stainless steel insert that holds the L07J tonearm included? That piece is indispensable for creating the special sound of the L07D, IMO, and does not generally come with the tonearm as a separate purchase. Duplicating it would be virtually impossible. You would end up buying a second L07D just to get that part, if you don't already have it. If you DO have that piece, then yes, any tonearm with the same pivot to spindle distance and the same vertical shaft diameter as the L07J could be used. The collar in the tonearm mount would accept such a tonearm.

Dave, I always thought the tonearm had a family resemblance to the TOTL Micro Seiki tonearms. I cannot recall their model designations, but the bearing housing on those tonearms appears very similar to that seen on the L07J.

Chakster, IMO, Dave got a steal if he paid only $2700 for a good L07D. I paid around $3500 for each of two that I have owned. After living with the first one I bought for a few years, I bought the second because it was so unbelievably "like new" and because it included the correct original Kenwood peripheral ring and record weight. After owning two for a while, I sold the one that was in lesser condition, but it was still very nice and ran perfectly, having been fully restored electrically by Howard Stearn (the L07D guru). Based on performance, even $5000 is well below the cost-effective price point. But you don't have to pay that much, which is the beauty of it.

I'll stick with $2000 as being a very fair price for what you're looking at, if it is indeed NOS.

Chakster, Dr. Stearn is no longer refurbishing L07Ds. (He is an orthopedic surgeon in real life.) Bill Thalmann of Music Technology in Springfield, VA, would work on it, but I do not know that Bill would want to build a PS from scratch. And if he did, it would be expensive.