Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

I just did a power cord replacement on my TT101. Sorry that I didn't take pics, but here is what I did:
- I bought an IEC power cord extender - it has male and female IEC ends.
- cut off and discarded the male end - circumcision but less painful
- left about 12" of cord - sufficient for my purpose
- stripped and tinned all three wires
- removed the steel basket and took off the cord pass- thru
- freed the small circuit board where the power cord attaches
- tried to unsolder the two wires but was unable so I clipped them closely
- soldered the power and neutral wires of the new line in place - no order required as shown by the original plug having equal sized blades.
- used a close-by brass circuit bd stand-off to squeeze the ground wire tightly against the chassis.
- wrapped the cord like it was originally so that the male IEC socket sticks out the back when I put the basket back on.
Now I am using a good, shielded, grounded power cord for the TT.
Life is Good.
Gary

Richardkrebs, just so !
I had the SR-929 in my minds eye as I typed the post.
It sounded very good as well.

CT, The nice thing is, my Alfa does not have to be so reliable, as I will not be relying on it except for the occasional spin on local roads. But I do expect it will be more reliable than the TT101 has been so far. FWIW, I owned a Duetto for six years whilst living in NYC with no garage. It never failed me for one second during that time, through rain, snow, sleet, and parking outside.

Bulletin on the TT101. Long ago I had observed that mine works most reliably when the tach is set to "Run", where you see the speed go from zero to 33.33, over and over again. Since I had been getting cocky about its reliability, I set it to the "Hold" option the other day, just for masochistic reasons. I find that it's not so dead nuts reliable when the tach is set to Hold, as it has been on Run. This may be an indicator of where to look for bad solder joints or broken wires, but that's for another day, since it's fine on Run. I am mounting an FR64S and a Koetsu Urushi. Stay tuned.

Has anyone had any direct experience of the new PBN plinth-ed Denon tt's? The plinth is certainly beautiful and looks well designed.

Hi Halcro,

In addition to my TT-81, I also run the VPI Aries. Mods on it include that thick 2 inch acrylic platter. Because of the 'not so subtle differences' between the two turntables, I installed the Accromat from Firm Funk in place of the rubber mat on the Victor. It is a type of acrylic and I now find the two quite comparable in their performance signatures.
I have thought about these leather mats but have never given one a try. Have you ever tried an acrylic mat on your TT-101? If so, how did or does it compare to those leather mats?
BTW: I completely agree with your assessment of the original rubber mat that came with the Victor turntables. I could not replace mine fast enough. It truly was an overall dull presentation when compared to the VPI Aries. Thanks to the acrylic mat, this has been corrected!
Regards,

Halcro

Hi Henry. Thanks for that. I have ordered the Jico mat. The MS copper mat these days is just too expensive

Its a good idea to have 2 thicknesses of the mat. I can try one on each table 😀

It will be interesting to hear how they sound.

Cheers