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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
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
From a 6 Moons Review of the Walker...
The base is crushed marble in a lead and epoxy resin and gorgeous. The Platter is 75 lbs. of encapsulated lead, the most resonance-free material known to man.
It also used to be on Walker's website but I see that he has since removed all reference to lead.....👀
dover
2,262 posts
 
From a 6 Moons Review of the Walker...
The base is crushed marble in a lead and epoxy resin and gorgeous. The Platter is 75 lbs. of encapsulated lead, the most resonance-free material known to man.
It also used to be on Walker's website but I see that he has since removed all reference to lead.....👀
More nonsense from the marketing gurus of a typical audio company - materials do not have resonance, they have bulk properties which affect the resonance of the structure in which they are used.
In the case of the Walker the composition, materials used ( including epoxies and any other materials ) and the manufacturing process itself will all affect the final resonant properties. 



lewm
13,264 posts
 
The question remains, what is "encapsulating" the lead platter of the Proscenium?  Possibly Walker now plays down the lead platter for fear of either having violated some environmental regulation or for fear of being singled out on that same basis.  Given that the Proscenium turntable now retails for over $100,000, the platters are not likely to end up in some toxic waste dump, not until Armageddon, anyway.
fleib
1,124 posts
 

Funny you should mention encapsulating. The AHT non-signature had encapsulated Vishay space shuttle resistors.  Those babies didn't budge from being next to the sun to absolute zero. They are the plug-in resistors for gain and load and are right on the board along with a DC offset pot(s). 

You think nude Vishay are pricy?  In the '90s they were $60/ea. wholesale. The piece was sold direct for $5.5K, kind of amazing.  I was always suspicious of Dan's story about leaving. I figured he was working for the military, but who knows?

lewm
13,264 posts
 
I think Halcro once posted photos of the circuit boards in his Halcro preamplifier.  Either he or someone else did. The parts and the entire upper surface of the PCB were shown to be coated with some plasticene material, in sort of an off brown/gray color.  Impossible to service, but also impossible to copy, and said to have been applied for its dampening effect.
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