Pear Audio Blue Kid Howard Turntable w/ Cornet 2 Tonearm

This is a Pear Audio Blue Kid Howard turntable in custom black finish, and includes  a Pear Audio Blue Cornet 2 tonearm. Cosmetically, the unit is in excellent condition and plays perfectly. This turntable has less than 400 hours of use.  It looks great and sounds even better.

The Kid Thomas is the ultimate result of the late Tom Fletcher's turntable designs, as executed by his friend and fellow turntable guru Peter Mezek. The sound of the Kid Howard turntable can be characterized by the terms smooth, stable, musical and very, very quiet.  This is the best turntable I have ever owned, but I have too many decks and this one must go.  I have rated this table 8/10 only for the condition of the original shipping carton.  The turntable and tonearm rate a 9.

The cartridge shown in the photos (Ortofon Cadenza Black) is not included at this price but is available if desired.  The cartridge is in like new condition and has <200 hours of play time, and includes the original box and all accessories.

*FREE SHIPPING in the continental U.S (at my listed price only)*

As reviewed by Art Dudley in Stereophile:
...the combination of Pear Audio Kid Howard turntable and Cornet 2 tonearm never failed to satisfy my cravings, even to excess, for good tone, texture and scale. Which is to say that the Pear Audio never failed to sound analog, in some of the finest ways. For the user who desires a plug-and-play phonograph of appreciably better then entry-level quality, and whose system and tastes in sound are amenable to slightly softer trebles, the Pear is a very good choice. [see Note 1] 

A review in Tone Audio:
For all of it's other virtues, the KH excels at retrieving fine details and spatial cues. Rather than bore you with countless examples, suffice to say this one will surprise you as you wade through your favorite tracks.

Time worn musical favorites reveal fine inner detail that I'd never expect a table at this price to expose. The sound field rendered is big, big, big; extending well beyond the speaker boundaries all the way to the side walls in the room.

While this turntable can be dissected in many ways, it offers a sheer level of enjoyment that is tough to adequately describe. After about 10 minutes of listening, you'll get it. The Kid Howard grows on you quickly. Yes, there are turntables that resolve more detail, etc, etc., but this table is a sheer musical pleasure. As I mentioned in issue 78, regarding Enjoyment Per Hour, this is one of my favorite turntables at any price.

I reserve the small handful of Publishers Choice Awards for the components that are my absolute favorites of the year, and the Kid Howard is not only on my list for the year, but it's also on my favorite tables of all time list.  However, we don't give awards for that. Maybe we should. This is a music lovers turntable.

I have the original box and packing but unless you are local to SoCal I think it would be best if I repack this table in a new, double walled box and custom cut blue poly packing foam.  The original box and packing are OK, but they were definitely designed for a one-way trip.  The manual and all original accessories will be included.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

Note 1: it is unfortunate that Art Dudley chose to test the Kid Howard with the Denon DL-103 cartridge.  I'm a fan of the DL-103 series, but frankly I can't think of a worse choice for this tonearm.  A simple check would have shown that this is an unsuitable compliance match.  This tonearm performs and sounds best when used with a cartridge of mid-to high compliance.  The compliance of the DL-103 is exceptional low, at 5.  Most Ortofon cartridges work beautifully, as do most Grado and several other excellent cartridge brands.