Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

Thanks guys.........particularly Lew and Ralph.
I did sleep better last night :^)

One Brought up to Spec Technics Sp10MkII - $1000

4 - 5 Inch high - One inch thick Stainless Steel Machined Legs - $48

One 5.2 inch high 4 " diameter solid Brass Arm Pod (Over 19 lbs) $200

Sound that competes with the big boys - priceless

For this kind of money and sonic enjoyment I will take my chances. thank you

FWIW - I had many discussions with the chap I bought my second SP10 MKII from. He has many of the them and other brands as well. When repairing and bringing them up to speed I remember him saying he replaces electronic parts with better ones if they are obselete. A mechanical problem with the motor itself would be a problem.

As Sonofjim said I expect mine to be passed on to my kids as well but in my case I don't think my kids will want them. They are 17 now and part of the convenience and portability generation. They dont need a dedicated room for their music.

Cheers

Dear Banquo, What I did point out is that the service manual of the TT101 is available on Vinyl Engine. With the service manual, a competent person can trace a problem to its source. That is the first step in the repair process. As to its possibly unobtainable chips, I would bet that like the ones we know about (Technics and Denon), Victor also used a family of parts that is common to several of their designs in that lineage. It might be a little more difficult to obtain the donor tt, for the Victor family, since so few of the best ones were exported, but it could be done, I would be bet. And then too we have the internet as an unprecedented way to find odd parts that our local distributor might say is "unobtainable". I would not be the least bit afraid to own a TT101, except I would prefer a TT801. Isn't that the very top of the line? Or is the TT101 uber?

Yes, after listening to my L07D, I suspect there is magic in coreless motors. Note that Brinkmann has chosen to use a coreless motor in its direct drive renaissance. But one can hardly make a firm conclusion based on one sampling, and I am sure motors with an iron core can sound great to. To wit, the SP10 Mk3. I have no idea about the NVS motor type or its speed control mechanism, except I think I read that they have eschewed the use of a servo.

I too have a JVC TT101 and a JVC TT81. I really enjoy these tables, they are both mounted in identical original plinths.

At this moment my TT101 is out for recapping and contact cleaning at a local (Brooklyn, NY) pro audio repair shop - RepairNY.com

I might have waited too long to get it recapped as a warm up suddenly became necessary to achieve speed stability. Needless to say I am nervous about getting my baby back and running well.

I am using the TT81 at this time and it is fine, but it ain't the same - as Halcro has so beautifully written. My wife - who only comes in and listens from time to time commented that the sound wasn't as good at this time: and the only thing that changed was the the TT substitution.

Part 2 follows

Speaking of my TT101 and TT81:
I use aurios and still points in combination (creating three feet - two in back and one in front) to support the plinth, I also have a squash ball under the sheet metal motor cover - that ball is absolutely required to damp this ringing metal bowl.
I am very interested in Halcro's finding that when he compared so many amazing tables, that I don't believe I will ever have a chance to listen to, the TT101 was a top runner. I feel rather lucky that I ended up with such a seriously good machine, that is if I get it back in one working piece.

Now that these machines with their sealed bearings are in their 30's I am thinking it may be time to clean the bearings and most likely change the oil. Does anyone have any information on getting into these sealed bearings?