2. analog
  3. 1317949815

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
jpjones3318's avatar
jpjones3318
149 posts
 
best-groove, 

Fix first, re-cap after.  You'll want to ensure the power supply voltages are correct, so you may need to re-cap the supplies.  
best-groove's avatar
best-groove
844 posts
 
@lewm all right .......knowing if it will serve I will know it in several months I will keep all you up to date on development, I hope it is not necessary but thanks for your generous offer. :)

@jpjones .....many thanks for your suggestion :)
rwwear
2,873 posts
 
Is the IC used in any other JVC or other brand turntable? Because there's usually lower priced models available cheap.
best-groove's avatar
best-groove
844 posts
 
maybe everything can be...... but I do not know.

It would be sufficient to compare the TT 81 and TT 71 service manuals for example, but I'm not sure these models adopt the bi-directional servo.

lewm
13,220 posts
 
I forget the part number for the critical IC, but all I did was Google it, and I found many sources for it, in Asia.  Most are on Alibaba (I hope that's the correct name of that website).  I just chose a vendor who seemed to understand at least a little English.  The cost is cheap, once you find a vendor, because who else wants one, besides the few dozen people in the world who may be fixing TT101s?  Albeit, this was 3-4 years ago when I made my purchase.  One thing to keep in mind is that the chips are around the same age as the TT101, so I suppose it's possible that they can go bad just from sitting on the shelf under god knows what storage conditions, for 30 years.  One of mine was used to repair a TT101, and it worked, is all I know.
More to discover