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

Correction: the model should be QL_A70, not 70A. I have keep these model numbers straight in my head. :)

Sorry for the confusion.

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Correction of correction. Oops. The above should read:

"I should have kept these model numbers straight in my head."

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hi hiho,

It's high time for people to look into those and install your arm of choice.

I've actully been eyeballing the victor ql a95 (same motor as the tt 801 and can be used in conjunction with the ts1 vacuum stabillizer) for a year now, but the arm issue has kept me from pulling the trigger. I assume that one cannot just put whatever arm one wants (leaving aside geometry), due to the electronics in the table? Can you please elaborate on what might be involved in installing a different arm on one of these integrated tables?

thanks.

Banquo363,

I never had a QL-A95 so I cannot be sure. Most of these tables have ribbon cable connectors from tonearm to the main board so you can disconnect them and the table will work manually. You can just add a armboard to cover the hole and a cut out for your am. The mod should be reversible. Most JVC arms are 10" so a typical VPI 10.5 or similar should work. I have the a QL-Y66F and the automatic electronic tonearm never works right so I uninstalled it by disconnecting all the ribbon connectors and I just need to machine a piece of armboard for it. Another approach is to make a larger plinth and so you can keep the stock arm and mount another arm in the back. The A95 plinth seems to use a lot of wood around the motor unit so adding arm shouldn't be too hard. The stock arm seems like a mechanical arm and should be reliable, unlike the electronic one that uses field coils to adjust VTF and azimuth and damping. The Y66F arm on mine was a nightmare! The Y66F is a bargain, arm or no arm.

Some pictures of the QL-Y66F showing the tonearm attachment.

http://photoshare.ru/photo11191273.html

http://stat001.ameba.jp/user_images/20140126/12/kzaxiom/eb/3f/j/o0800060012825505017.jpg

Cut away picture of A95:
http://audio-heritage.jp/VICTOR/player/ql-a95.html

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