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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
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
2,041 posts
 
Ha Ha Ha – Love your sense of humor HiHo !

Thx for making my long work week seem shorter now.

Better to comment on the whole "NUDE" thing here.

NUDE
aigenga
131 posts
 
I have my TT101 in its original plinth up on Aurios (similar to roller blocks) which are attached via a blob of clay to tip-toes which sit on brass cups. I don't have room for a second tonearm in the back but if I did, I would go for that free standing armpod on isolation.

Halcro, My TT101 will do the stop and reverse trick but not with the mat and record and center weight. Then it just slows down to a crawl but still moving forward. It doesn't worry me as I can't see how anything is being hurt. Could be wrong of course.

Gary
thuchan
1,009 posts
 
Dear Geoch,
if you are using a Cu 180 g mat you may balance the directness by putting a very thin felt mat on top of it. The combination of both mats enables an absolutely harmonic sound. You will not trust your ears anymore, believe me...

best @ fun only
geoch's avatar
geoch
354 posts
 
Dear Thuchan, yes you have right and I absolutely agree but ... the point of my reluctance about using anything soft, realised by my worries of a possible removal of the LP by elasticity when the stylus drag makes it's demands, but also because the very thin felt mat needs to glued upon the copper in order to stick there and not on the LP's downside everytime that we have to change the record. Another thought would be that by using a soft surface in contact between LP and platter, we break the continuity of flow for the resonanses which created by the needle upon the LP and we just damp instead of drain them. This method poses the danger of returning the resonances to the needle but as vibrations this time. Any way I've tried your suggestion and I like the sound. It is only that (like the isolated armboard) it does not conform with my general outlook regarding the resonance treatment. I still have some reservations about the possibility of making a second wrong decision in order to fix a problem that arise by a first wrong decision ie: to balance a mistake that we can't comprehend all of it's parameters, by throwing to the game a second mistake.
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Thuchan is correct.
With the Cu180 platter mat and the Victor thin suede (pigskin) mat on top, it improves the sound over the bare copper mat.
It is even better than thin felt and it doesn't need to be stuck down.
A nice heavy record clamp will help it form a delicious 'coupled' and 'decoupled' bond to the main turntable platter :^)
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