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
@pbnaudio 

ooopss ....I forgot ..... for plinth there are many great looking photos on the internet and you tube for the TT 101 and others will arrive, but before the turntable will have to work, otherwise it's all worth having a nice plinth and broken turntable.  :(
Best groove, I did not realize you live in Italy. (Lucky for you, by the way.) I don’t know about cost of round-trip shipping to JP in New York City, but I do know that his repair work is very reasonable in cost, surprisingly so in relation to his skill set. The TT101 circuit is very complex, given the "bi-directional servo" system, so I wish you best of luck in figuring out the cause of your problem. You might benefit from talking to JP, even if you feel you cannot afford to ship the TT101 for repair. There are several chips in there, but one and only one of them is the main controller. Of two "broken" units that I know about, including mine, neither of them needed a new chip, fortunately. But I may be able to help you out if it turns out you do need a new controller chip.

Definitely you should start out by replacing all the electrolytic capacitors, unless you know for sure that this has been done recently.  The lifespan of an electrolytic is typically less than 30 years, and shorter still if the unit has been sitting for many years without power.
Best Groove,

Lewm has stock of one of the unobtanium IC, I have of the other, so should you need one I can help too.

Best of Luck


Peter
I've given two TT101 chips away at this point, so I am not sure it's fair to say I have a "stock" of them, but I do think I have a few more, in one of those drawers where you put things you don't want to lose and then forget where the drawer is.  I would always want to keep at least one spare for myself.