Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

Audiolabyrinth, The only question in your stream of consciousness post that I can answer is the last one; there is no "signal path" in a turntable per se.  However, the capacitors you will find inside the plinth are probably in association with the motor drive system, which I think would include a servo feedback circuit in the SL1600, about which I know very little. I am assuming it is kissing cousin to the SL1200, meaning at least that it is a direct-drive turntable, not a belt-drive.  Yes, it would be worthwhile to replace the electrolytic capacitors in this circuit.  Film capacitors in the circuit are probably still OK.  If you (or your wife) know how to solder, then just replace like for like, meaning replace the old capacitors with new ones of the same capacitance (expressed in microfarads and abbreviated "uF") and voltage rating.  You can buy the needed parts on-line from Mouser or Digikey.  Use Nichicon or ELNA Silmic brand electrolytics, or actually anything that those two companies sell.

I cannot resist asking how one goes about "hand picking" an audio component.  Listening is a better way to do it.  (Sorry, like I said, I could not resist.)  Sherwood did indeed make some fantastic receivers.

Can you say what is the composition of your $65,000 system? Why not integrate phono into that system?

Ah, quartz is inorganic. It is silicon.

Organic would be carbon containing.

Hi lewm,  thankyou for your informative post,  I enjoy learning,  we did listen to a whole lot of equipment to come to our impression's,  our goal was to go back in time to hear if anything was as good as today or better,  we got frustrated with the notion that newer was better,  we'll,  the consensuous was wrong!, I suppose that getting jensen or murdof capacitors is inadequate for none signal capacitors for the technics sl 1600mk2 turntable we hand picked out, I would enjoy all the help from you and anyone else,  as far as the main system you asked about,  it is the only modified krell 700cx out there according to krell that we spent the  $11,500.00 doing so back in December 2014, then I'm useing a digital player that we got rid of an ayon cd2s player for called,  Vincent cds7 , btw, we run directly to the Krell 700cx amplifier,  then, we have taralab's zero gold XLR interconnect between them,  speaker cable's are taralab's omega gold speaker cable's,  with special order omega 10" speaker jumper's for bi-cableing the 4 speaker post on our jbl L7 vintage speaker's,  btw, just bought the mint second pair after selling the first L7 speaker's thinking we would go up to any  $25,000.00 new or used speaker's,  that expenditure was a bummer,  so we looked long and hard and found mint condition jbl l7 speaker's,  paid  $ 400.00 shipping out of new York city to Mobile, Alabama,  useing plycon furniture and automobile transportation group carrier,  I  also use a taralab's oyaida terminationed Cobalt power cord,  with furutech gtx-rhodium NCF outlet's through out the system with dedicated lines we did our self's,  so the main answer to your question about the analog turntable,  we do not use or have a active pre-amp on main system,cheers.

So Harry is making his VPI Direct even better...
https://www.audionirvana.org/forum/the-audio-vault/analog-playback/turntables/10314-peek-at-vpi-aven...

And in the latest TAS, JV talks to Gunther Frohnhoefer of Acoustic Signature on his latest Invictus belt-drive and asks him about the "comeback" of Direct Drive...

Yes, I know there has been a little comeback of direct-drive motors. Invictus is a cost-no-object product. If we had thought a direct drive motor was significantly better, we would certainly have made an investment to design it. Yes, you can get better wow/flutter values with a direct-drive motor of high torque. This is the truth and nobody can deny it. Not even me. But at what price?
To begin with, a direct-drive motor is expensive. Great AC motors are readily available in Europe at reasonable prices. Direct-drive motors need to be produced in small quantities at high prices.
Normally a 3150Hz tone is used for measuring wow and flutter. However, if the centre hole of the record is minimally off-centre, you cannot achieve a stable 3150Hz tone no matter how perfectly your table spins.
So yes, direct-drives may have better values in principle, but you simply see/hear no advantage of those better values in real life because of these entering issues.

Sounds a little defensive to me.....😎

Halcro
You have edited out the most significant comment by Gunther Frohnhoefer of Acoustic Signature with regard to wow and flutter

But, yes, the direct-drive motor will still produce better wow/flutter values because we use belts, and belts are worse in wow and flutter than a direct-coupled motor.

It appears that they use stretchy belts. I suspect they have focussed on lowest noise and the stretch belts are a bandaid.

As an aside he claims the 6 AC motors get the 32kg platter on the Invictus up to speed in under 10 seconds.
My Final Audio VTT1 which uses one large AC motor can get its 26kg platter up to speed in less than 1 revolution ( 1.8seconds ).

So I can only conclude that the Invictus uses weaselly motors and stretchy belts. I also owned a Platine Verdier - weaselly motor and stretchy belt - the replacement of the Verdier drive system with that from the Final demonstrated clearly that low power motors are a source of instability even when using high inertia high mass platters. For best speed stability in belt drives you must have high inertia, high torque stable drive system and non stretchy belt such as silk or kevlar.

I also note that he comments that compared with Direct Drive motors he can get high quality AC motors at lower cost. He seems oblivious to the possibility of using AC motors in DD's or Induction motors for that matter.

Overall I am not impressed and sceptical about a TT, the Invictus, that has no published specifications on performance nor any technological information available. Furthermore their Tiderfolon bearing is simply an self lubricating material - it is not possible for it to be frictionless as claimed on their website. I use a custom self lubricating polymer bearing in my 1960 Pioneer broadcast idler drive TT ( that blew away the Platine Verdier in speed stability ), its not that radical.