Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

Nice work on the plinth totem....👌
'Be happy to help audpulse...just pm me or post your email....

@jpjones3318 hey John, before you flew away on your wakeboard, i’d like to ask your opinion about Technics SL10 and SL15 little beauties, do you have some in your collection? I've noticed one on video at Sterling Sound mastering studio visited by Mr.Fremer.  

Hi Misha,

Never had my hands on an SL-10 or 15, though I certainly wouldn't mind playing with one. I’ve limited my collection, for the most part, to the absolute statement ’tables from the Japanese manufacturers, though I may sneak an EMT in the mix.

These days I play with other ’tables by repairing them, if I’ve the time.

@lewm 

Mine was on eBay as part of a QL10 ensemble, which is a TT101 set into the top line Victor plinth and bearing a Victor UA7045 tonearm. The seller was honest enough to admit that the turntable was not working.  I was willing to pay no more than $600 for it, on the premise that the tonearm alone is worth about that much.  To my surprise, I won the auction at that price.  Moreover, all pieces are in mint condition.

Good price, another lot like this sold for $950 (non-working) last year.  

Chakster, You asked about testing a TT101 by running it continuously. One guy who put himself out there as a DD repair expert took my TT101, plugged it in at his shop (or so he told me) and ran it for two weeks, with no issues.  He then sent it back to me with the notation that it was not broken.  Fact is, my problem was always intermittent.  I had provided him with a detailed description of the problem, including the fact that it was intermittent, a priori, both verbally on the phone and in the context of a note that I enclosed with the turntable when I shipped it to him.  But like many smug auto mechanics, and some doctors (I am embarrassed to say), he did not pay any attention to the information he was given. Needless to say, fresh out of the box from his shop and installed into my system, the problem was immediately evident once again.  (For a while, my TT101 would work in our kitchen, where there is no audio system; I would then bring it to the basement to use in my secondary system, and down there, it would crash.  We entertained thoughts of a weird glitch on the AC line in the basement, during that phase.) So, no, I don't necessarily assume that running the turntable for months on end is either a good idea or proof of its flawless performance.  The ever kind and patient Bill Thalmann also could not make my TT101 fail in his shop on his workbench, which precluded his solving the problem.  But Bill does pay attention to what customers tell him, and he has a sense of humor.  By the time I found JP and sent it off to NYC, the "intermittent" problem had become much more constant.  Which actually helped JP to find the occult fracture in my "fragile" PCB.

(Problem was as follows: TT101 would start and go to 33.33 on the tach. Within a minute or less, it would then start to hunt for speed, showing 33.34, then 33.32.  Shortly thereafter, it would stall out; the tach would go blank, and the platter would coast to a halt. The electronic brake would not activate.  In about a minute, you could start it up again, and it would go through the same sequence.)