Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

Dear @chakster I’ve seen you mention the AT 616 legs before.

My problem with them is that the cheapest set i have seen is about £250.00. I do not have a problem affording that but there are modern options by Townshend that are worth exploring. Likewise I just find the thought of accessories costing as much as many a component a bit silly.
That said I would like to know what goes into their design

Townshend Seismic Isolation Pods cost $675 (I paid about the same for my AT-616).
The Seismic Pods come in individual weight capacities of as little as 1-2 pounds per Pod, to as much as 64-140 pounds per Pod.

The set of 4 x AT-616 support 10 to 60 kg (22 to 132 lbs.).
See what’s inside the AT-616 , i like this design very much.

I never seen the AT616 anywhere in Europe or USA for the price you’re referring to (the price you mentioned is for cheaper and smaller AT-626). If you can find AT-616 for 250 pounds buy it immediately! I would buy two sets myself for this price if it’s true. 250 GBP for the set of AT-616 is a joke, it's steal, almost like a free gift! 

The AT-616 were about 400 euro even 7 years ago and now cost twice as much (or very near). I sold my spare set in 2019 and you can still read and check pictures if you you need more technical details here.

Anyway, the AT-616 is what i’m gonna use under my Victor TT-101 plinth @lohanimal

@chakster in fairness they are fairly intricate...

Out of interest do you use the JVC mat or another mat on the TT101? I have a SONY TTS 8000 but it does not have the OL2K mat and would love a modern alternative for that mat too

@lohanimal  The mat and clamp i like the most is this one 
It's heavy, no problem for my Technics or Luxman, but for my Victor and Denon turntables with highweight platter i'm gonna use SAEC SS-300 and Sakura Systems THE MAT. 

Since we discussed SAEC Solid Mat earlier in this thread i want to post an update, because i got an English manual for this mat finally, i will not post the paragraph about drilling record labels to screw them into the mat :) 

But the rest of the information from the manual is below: 

FROM THE ORIGINAL SAEC SS-300 (ENGLISH) MANUAL:

The conventional turntable mat is made of soft material such rubber, in the belief that soft cushion will effectively filter out vibrations between the turntable and puck-up stylus.

***A lesson from an old tradition:
In certain Buddhist ceremonies a bell or wood block is used which sits on a cushion. The cushion, being softer than the bell or wood block, does not prevent the instrument from ringing when it is struck. It merely damps the vibrations somewhat so that they are of shorter duration (that is, they decay faster) than in the case of bell or wood block suspended in the air.
The record disc and turntable platter used in conjunction with a soft mat are in state resembling that of the bell or wood block on a cushion. As the stylus oscillates in the record groove, the disc having a certain elasticity, it caused to vibrate slightly. Depending on the size and other physical properties of the disc, these pulsations vary in frequency from 100Hz to 400Hz. If the turntable mat is softer than the record disc, it will deform along with the vibrations of the disc. The Sympathetic vibrations are of sufficient amplitude to cause an audible low resonance peculiar to record playing. Likewise the turntable platter, when a soft mat is used, vibrates sympathetically and contributes to the problem of low resonance.

***A classically simple solution:
After two years of development, the audio engineers at SAEC have produced a completely new turntable mat which solves the problems of the conventional soft mat. The new SS-300 Solid Mat is of material harder than any record disc. Placed directly on the turntable platter, the Solid Mat by its mass and hardness cancels sympathetic vibration of the platter. Likewise a record disc in immediate contact with the Solid Mat is prevented from vibrating. Where as the conventional soft mat merely damps sympathetic vibrations, the Solid Mat reduces these vibrations by 10 to 15dB compared to the conventional mat, thus effectively eliminating the problem of low resonance.

***We did it our own way:
This new component brings us an important step closer to the realizing a technical ideal of record-playing. For a record to be reproduced perfectly, the stylus and its cantilever must oscillate with no interference from vibrations of the other record-playing components. Thus not only the headshell and tonearm but also the turntable platter and record disc itself should be completely oscillating.

The famous SAEC tonearms with their patented Double Knife Edge design are the only tonearms made that have solved the problem of tonearm resonance. This was accomplished by radical departure from conventional approaches.

Again with the SS-300 Solid Mat, SAEC has turned conventional wisdom on its head to solve the problem of record and turntable resonance.


*** Turntable Solid mat. Model SS-300:
The holes is the mat are made not to cause resonance in the radiant direction on the plane of the turntable.

Aluminum alloy - using special surface treatment (rough surface).
The solid mat is so shaped that may be used for many representative record players and turntables.

The resonance of a turntable itself (resonant sound from turntable), which could not be eliminated by the conventional type turntable mat made of soft material like rubber, is prevented by using the SS-300 solid mat, which creates a state of non-resonance through its interaction at its critical point.

The Solid Mat must be placed directly on the turntable platter. Do not use a soft mat between the Solid Mat and the turntable platter, since the Solid Mat will then be caused to resonate either independently of or jointly with the soft mat. Similarly do not place a soft mat between the Solid Mat and the record disc!

Under ordinary condition there will be no problem of slippage, since the SS-300 Solid Mat has a special nonslip surface.

Do not place a stabilizer weight on the record disc, as this will deform the disc and reduce the effectiveness of the Solid Mat.

Use reasonable care in placing record on the Solid Mat. Do not place/remove records while the turntable is rotation.

Do not drop the Solid Mat, since any crack or deformation will reduce its effectiveness.

@halcro and @chakster 
we are living dangerously - but lifes boring if we aren't.

All said and done. I got my QL10 back - and it was worked on by wilkinsons - re-cap and re-solder dry joints
Speed was perfect - plenty of torque - super fast start up.
HAd to re-position the deck yesterday.
Switched it on - slow start up only gets to 28.75 rpm - something equally vague on 45rpm. No torque and very slow.
CAn anyone hazard a guess as to the problem?
Sc 3042? Anything else?
I reckon it must be something on the actual power supply and quartz lock - but that is not from knowing anything as an electronic engineer

Discovering the best Direct Drive turntables I've come across Victor TT-101 many years ago (thanks to this thread).

Later I bought two of them, my second unit was purchased as a donor for parts, but appeared to be a good working sample.

We're working on a very interesting Victor project at the moment. Two Americans and two Russians are involved. After participating in our long thread here on audiogon about Victor TT-101 restoration I decided to ship one of my samples to Fairfield County (Connecticut, United States). This is where Mr. JP Jones himself will proceed with recap, joint inspection and calibration of the Victor TT-101.

Nobody touched my unit before, but there are several experts in Germany, Australia, and the United Kingdom. However, we believe that Mr. JP Jones is the best, he's the one who worked on several units in our community and he has the Victor TT-101 himself along with some other mega rare Technics turntables. Another reason I'm sending my TT-101 to JP is very simple - this turntable will stay in the USA after complete restoration. Now this beauty is packed and shipped. It will be a long transit over the Atlantic ocean.