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Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

I have just acquired a 32 year old JVC/Victor TT-101 DD turntable after having its lesser brother, the TT-81 for the last year.
TT-101
This is one of the great DD designs made at a time when the giant Japanese electronics companies like Technics, Denon, JVC/Victor and Pioneer could pour millions of dollars into 'flagship' models to 'enhance' their lower range models which often sold in the millions.
Because of their complexity however.......if they malfunction.....parts are 'unobtanium'....and they often cannot be repaired.
128x128halcro
weisselk
48 posts
 
We threw out all of the electronics on the SP10 MK2 and built a completely new motor control and power supply for our Tourmaline turntable which uses the SP10 motor/platter.

Losing all of the PLL Servo components is a very good thing from a sonic standpoint.

Jonathan Weiss
OMA
banquo363
371 posts
 
I emailed 4 techs about my problem and after initial confidence and enthusiasm they've backed off--after I sent them the service manual.

I snooped around and googled some of the IC part numbers, and all the ones I looked up are available from various sources. So, evidently they are not unobtainium.

What appears to be unobtainium is a tech who can do the job and do so without asking for an arm and a leg.

On a brighter note, the hunk of turntable I have does look nice in my office.
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,289 posts
 
I'm wondering what Bill Thalmann said?
He is supposed to be the guru for SP10s and it would surprise me if he thought the TT-101 was 'over his head'?
banquo363
371 posts
 
Bill knows the sp10 circuit but he's unfamiliar with the Victor. Consequently, it would take him far longer to diagnose a problem with the latter. And since time is money, he told me he couldn't afford the time it would take to fix it. This suggests it is fixable, but just not by him given his constraints.

To live less dangerously, we need to find a hobbyist with time on his hands. I imagine a person like the one who runs the Kenwood l07d site but with a Victor emphasis would be perfect.
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,927 posts
 
Atma-Sphere (alias Ralph)
I knew this guy that used a pigskin platter pad... he would buy *raw* pigskin at the local slaughterhouse, cut it out and kept the thing in a jar in the 'fridge when not in use, until the bacteria got to it... the LPs tended to get greasy and smelled like bacon.

The idea is that it was 'natural'- natural sound, get it? The slaughterhouse stopped selling to him when they found out what he was up to...

I do that too but only use the special "bacon mat" when playing Pink Floyd, "Pigs On The Wing."

Otherwise it goes back in the frig...
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