Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

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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The best example about integrated turntable is the Lenco. Most Lenco models are integrated tables with stock tonearm but once audiophiles ditched the arm they are liberated and you can find all the creations in LencoHeaven site. I wish people start paying attention to other DD tables. Even with the Technics SL-1200MK2, people replace the stock tonearm.

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But the gems, as far as pure turntables are concerned, are actually in the integrated turntables such as QL-Y7, QL-Y66F, QL-70A, etc., all have coreless motor and smooth sonic.

Hiho, I'm not sure what you mean by "integrated turntables"?
The QL-A7 I bought for my son has the tonearm integrated with the table and has an electro-mechanical device integrated into the plinth which operates the armlift up and down....and also automatically lifts the arm and stops the platter at the end of the record. All without interfering with the structural integrity of the arm itself...😊

Forgive me if I'm wrong....but I thought that only the TT-101 had the coreless motor?