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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
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
13,167 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.
dover
2,250 posts
 
Lewm, I showed my tech Halcros photos at the time and he said no problem - there is enough web info to work the Halcro circuit out and you can solder through the gunk if you know what you are doing. Having said that he has a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering and has been designing high tech electronics commercially for some years, not one of the self taught "experts" you often find in audio. 

rwwear
2,873 posts
 
Fleib,
Contact cement is not thick or uneven if sprayed. It's what speaker companies use for veneer. I've used it to laminate lead to armboards. It works well. As for the veneering of the lead, you could use something other than aluminum if desired. I would use copper myself. Or you could just coat both sides with leather using contact cement or the like.
I've worked with lead a good bit and once built huge subs for a customer/friend that had lead between a layer of plywood and MDF. They were rather heavy as I recall.
niesbrian's avatar
niesbrian
2 posts
 
HiFi-do http://www.hifido.co.jp/

they only sell refurbished Japanees equipment of excellent quality.
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