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
I want to resurrect this thread with a resurrection story.

I told my story of woe above and the table has just been sitting on a cabinet since last August mocking me. I was going to sell it for parts but on a whim I decided to plug it in and leave the power on overnight. I recalled that my sp10, when it was acting up, would benefit from being left on, so I thought why not try it with the victor.

Lo and behold the following morning I pushed start and it remained running for a good long time--something it had never done, as it had the habit of stopping the platter after 30 seconds or so. After some fits in the next couple of hours it maintained perfect speed for 8 hours. It's the first time it's played music since I bought it last June. I heard its glory for those 8 hours last night! This is one fine tt.

A guy from Portland with whom I had emailing about the table suggests that it might be the capacitors reforming after long storage. Seems plausible.

All is not perfect however. This morning it reverted to its old ways for a couple of hours. It's now running again perfectly, so who knows what's going on. One thing that could be the problem is the electronic braking function: it doesn't always engage.

I feel like I'm living on borrowed time. I'm taking it to a tech soon to have the power supply capacitors replaced and the braking circuit examined. Mercifully it doesn't appear to involve the speed circuitry.

Now back to the music.

Greetings Banquo,
Signs of life??.......that sounds hopeful.
Did you form any meaningful impressions in the time you were able to listen?

Good luck from hereon in.
I would surmise that Mahler's Symphony No2 would sound very good on Banquo's Victor.
Banquo and other TT-101 owners. Don't know why, but when my TT-101 is recalcitrant about getting started after a day off, I turn on the power and spin the platter by hand backwards (just get it going fast and let it spin down). It then is ready to play on.

Glad to hear that you are getting to hear this beauty. I don't recall if you are using it nude or not but either way, enjoy.