Great thread - I concur that the TT101 is a great table and I had the same concerns as Halcro, so I have a back up for spares
I have a tech here in Ottawa who is from Vietnam and specializes in servicing vintage Japanese gear, his workshop is floor to ceiling with vintage "junk". He seems to be able to fix anything I have thrown at him, including by backup 101 when it started to behave badly. So I am on the page that we can get by for a few more years yet.
On another note, I bought a heavy lead plinth for the TT101 from Tommy Cheung specially drilled for the table and accommodates 2 arms. Makes a big difference, but admittedly I have not tried the table nude. I found the best mats are the micro seiki cu-180 closely followed by the SAEC SS300.
My reference table is my Seiki sx8000 and the 101 is very close, such that sometimes I muse on selling the big micro.
I have a tech here in Ottawa who is from Vietnam and specializes in servicing vintage Japanese gear, his workshop is floor to ceiling with vintage "junk". He seems to be able to fix anything I have thrown at him, including by backup 101 when it started to behave badly. So I am on the page that we can get by for a few more years yet.
On another note, I bought a heavy lead plinth for the TT101 from Tommy Cheung specially drilled for the table and accommodates 2 arms. Makes a big difference, but admittedly I have not tried the table nude. I found the best mats are the micro seiki cu-180 closely followed by the SAEC SS300.
My reference table is my Seiki sx8000 and the 101 is very close, such that sometimes I muse on selling the big micro.