Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

Nothing Fawlty about my logic.
Chakster, the person whom you quote here has got to be Thuchan.  Who else owns such a collection of vintage turntables?  Moreover, in one of the articles, I am "Lewis".  I gave Thuchan a chip to repair his TT101.  And what Australian could he possibly be referring to, if not our own Halcro?  If I read his words carefully, it seems to me that Thuchan is only saying the TT101 compared surprisingly well to the Denon DP100.  He does not really say he likes it better than his EMT and M-S, and I don't think he owns an SP10 Mk3 or L07D.  Whereas, I do.  Like Thuchan, I bought my TT101 in "broken" condition off eBay, believing at the time that I would find a way to fix it.  The saving grace is that I paid very little for it, because of its non-working condition.  Elsewhere on these pages, I documented the saga that took nearly 3 years before I now can boast of having a working TT101, thanks finally to JP Jones.  It's a great table, no doubt.  It's numero uno in my second system.  The Mk3 and L07D hold sway in my primary system, but guess which system I listen to most of the time; yes, the secondary one. The timing is nothing short of immaculate. and that, after all, is the main thing that a turntable has to do well.  Beyond that, it's all about mass and damping.

I think you can find a working unit for around $1000, give or take.  And thanks to the existence of JP, you can probably buy a broken one with some degree of confidence that he can fix the electronics. (Missing parts, damaged or  burnt out motor, no no.)

@lewm 

Nothing Fawlty about my logic.
Chakster, the person whom you quote here has got to be Thuchan.  Who else owns such a collection of vintage turntables?

great, i was not sure, but expected that it must a person related to audiogon. 

Well the last working unit i saw was $1200 + shipping, sold quickly. Good to know JP Jones can fix them if needed. 

Hi chakster,
After the High-End Show 2017 in Munich....I spent several days in Regensburg (a scenic Bavarian town on the Danube) where I was privileged to listen extensively to Thuchan's impressive system.
His Victor TT-101 was never humbled by his other great turntables including the EMT 927/R80 and his latest Caeles.
The TT-101 is the only Direct Drive connected to his system as his Nakamichi TX1000, Marantz JT1000, Denon 100M and Sony PS-X9 are all 'retired'.
I found a non-working 'basket-case' TT-101 for him in Canada which he was able to purchase cheaply and he had it completely rebuilt....a process which dragged on for over a year.
When his technicians finally had it completed....they were unable to get it working due to a faulty main chip which they couldn't source anywhere in the world.
I remembered that Lewm had written about finding some unobtanium power chips for the 101 some years ago and lo and behold.....these were the ones that Thuchan needed and thus was saved from obscurity (thanks to Lew's generosity), another TT-101 vintage deck.

My own TT-101 has risen to new heights since it, and the three arm-pods have been supported by the active Herzan isolation platform.
Victor TT-101 turntables only turn up about 3 or 4 times a year on eBay or Japan Yahoo but almost invariably.....they suffer from some malady or other making them....because of their complexity.....prime candidates for the tip.
People like JP Jones, I see as the saviours of our glorious great vintage DD turntables....🤗

@halcro great that you’ve met in person in Europe. Is that the same "plinth", but glossy finish?

When you say "cheaply" is that $300-500 range or lower ? Buyin this turntable in non working condition how much (roughly) the owner should invest to return it to life? I assumed it also takes too much time, not only investment. Just curious.

Yes chakster......it's the same plinth except his is slate whilst mine is polished granite.
I sent Thuchan the blueprints which he used for his slate copy...

It's really hard to be definitive in the used TT-101 market....
They are so rare that their current owners 'pretend' there is nothing seriously wrong with the example they have for sale, and often price them (or go to auction in the case of Japan Yahoo) as if they are in good 'working' order...
Sometimes an honest seller will contain the work "junk" in their yahoo description and yes.....you can perhaps win the auction for $300-$400.
A better bet perhaps is to wait for a Canadian or US seller who admits the deck is not working and will negotiate a price between $500-$600.
Buying from a 'known' re-seller in HongKong like Foxtan is not a guarantee of joy (as I found out to my regret and cost) but buying from Tommy at TopClass Audio in Hong Kong (as I finally did) is perhaps the best course.
But then be prepared to pay $1500-$2000 and wait 1-2 years (as I did) for him to find a working example.
But even if you DO stumble upon a real 'working' example.....you will probably find that something 'breaks' within a few months.
Invariably you will need to replace all electrolytic capacitors and a few transistors and most importantly.....burn out all the old solder joints and replace with new.
So if you are eventually bound to have to do all that....I would advise anyone who really wants a TT-101....to buy a 'junk' non-working model for less than $500, and send it to JP Jones for a complete restoration.
I don't know how much JP Jones charges for such a service, but you would need to put more than $1,000 into a 'junk' TT-101 to have peace of mind I would imagine....

An alternative would be to buy a TT-81 for $400 on HiFiDo and live happily ever after 😁👍