Kenwood KD 22R (1982)

Little is documented about the Kenwood KD 22R. It is a modest, late-production auto-return deck that Kenwood itself designated an "Automatic Return Turntable," and past that the surviving information gets thin fast. The service manual is dated 1982, which is the only firm date attached to the model. No production years, no original price, no wow-and-flutter or rumble figures survive in the material we could find.

The drive system is the confusing part. The service documentation includes a "DD Motor Speed Adjustment" procedure - adjust VR1 for the 33-1/3 rpm strobe pattern and VR2 for 45 - which reads like direct drive. But replacement belts are sold for the KD-22R and its cartridge-equipped sibling the KD-22RC, and parts sellers consistently list the model as belt-driven. The manual wording may simply be boilerplate carried across Kenwood's turntable line. We're flagging the conflict rather than pretending it's resolved.

What the manual does confirm: a 364 mm (14-11/32") platter, oil-damped cueing, a tracking-force direct-readout counter, an anti-skating device, built-in isolators, and a 45 rpm adaptor with its own stand. The deck weighs 4.3 kg (9.5 lb). The KD-22RC was the version sold in the USA with a cartridge fitted. The KD-22R itself was most often paired with the Kenwood V-50 cartridge and N-50 stylus, though U.S. and Canadian models were not equipped with the V-50A. Kenwood points anyone needing the mechanism or circuit description to the KD-33F service manual, so the two decks shared their auto-return design. Belt-fit lists group the KD-22R with the KD-22RC, KD-33F, KD-33FC, and KD-47F.

Period coverage is just as sparse. Audio (October 1982, p.55) carried a turntable listing, but the OCR text is too garbled to extract reliable details, and whether it actually describes the KD 22R is unclear. The parts supply is decent - belts, styli, tonearms, even the Omron motor relay turn up - but very little documentation sits behind the deck.

• Type: automatic return turntable (cue manually; arm lifts and returns at end of side)
• Platter: 364 mm (14-11/32")
• Weight: 4.3 kg (9.5 lb)
• Features: oil-damped cueing, tracking-force direct-readout counter, anti-skating device, built-in isolators, 45 rpm adaptor and stand
• Cartridge: Kenwood V-50 with N-50 stylus (KD-22RC shipped with cartridge, USA)
• Documentation date: 1982
• Compatible belt fits: KD-22R, KD-22RC, KD-33F, KD-33FC, KD-47F

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