Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

Banquo, Re platter rubbing. There was indeed one point in time where I perceived noise coming from what sounded like platter rubbing, only audible at 45 rpm, and I reported it here. However, the noise or rubbing sound, or whatever it was, disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared in the first place, with no treatment or cure from me. There's been no issues since, and the TT101 is dead silent. Which is kind of why I am reluctant to lubricate the bearing, since that opens up a potential new can of worms. Nonetheless, I certainly agree that when Victor stated that the bearing would need no service "for the life of the turntable", they did not envision that a few old farts would be resurrecting them 35 years later.

Aigenga, Is it fair to say that the benefit of your IEC socket is the capacity to use "modern" power cords? It's the power cord itself that affords the real benefit. Where did you connect the third "ground" wire from your IEC plug to the chassis? I have done similar to vintage equipment, except I choose to dispense with the IEC interface. I just choose a suitable modern power cord, buy a length of it from Michael Percy, and then solder it directly to the power transformer. My favorite cord for this purpose is XLO; there are two types made by XLO, one more costly than the other, of course. Mainly they differ in wire gauge, but the conductors are of high quality, 3 wires, shielded, and in a head to head comparison with other boutique power cords, the XLO came out ahead (at least in my imagination). Kimber 8TC speaker cable also makes an excellent power cord (I'm using it on my Lenco), as does Goertz ribbon-type speaker wire, the heavy gauge version. My TT101 has to prove itself reliable enough to be worthy of this embellishment before I will go to the trouble.

Lew, brief power cord story -

One of my best audio buddies (who we unfortunately lost last year) had decades of experience with electronics, audio components, and on-site recording. So he approached problems with a background of technical knowledge, yet he kept an open mind to experiment, even when it went "against the rules".

His old school side was content with decent quality Belden PCs and only smiled at the pricing for most of the aftermarket "audiophile" PCs. Until one day he needed a longer than standard PC and couldn't find a Belden long enough. However he did have some spare Kimber 8TC and so fabricated a PC of the needed length rather than go shopping. The improvements with the Kimber made him a believer that standard PCs can indeed be improved upon.

Johnny, I am very glad that the new Pioneer exists, because it will be attractive to those who fear "living dangerously" with vintage DD's, and it may help, like the Technics SL1200 did, to spread the word of the virtues of DD. But what "vibration issues" are you referring to?

Pryso, Someone wiser than I once told me that a good speaker cable usually makes a good power cord. In my experience with the Kimber 8TC and the Goertz copper ribbons, this axiom has held true so far. It suits my contrary nature, as well.

03-09-15: Lewm
Johnny, I am very glad that the new Pioneer exists, because ... it may help, like the Technics SL1200 did, to spread the word of the virtues of DD. But what "vibration issues" are you referring to?

Maybe resonance would be a better word, though resonance is a form of sympathetic vibration.

I find the improvements in the PLX-1000 to echo my own tweaks to my SL1210 M5G: I found that there was an upper midrange glare whose frequency corresponded to the "ping" I heard when flicking the hollow aluminum tonearm. I wrapped the tonearm with PFTE pipe thread tape, the "ping" disappeared and so did the "glare."

I swapped out the stock footers for a combination of brass cones and Vibrapod cones and isolators, plus an isolation platform made of 3-1/2" thick butcher block cutting board and silicon gel pads. This lowered the overall noise floor and improved inner detail, dynamics, and clarity.

The PLX-1000 has a rubbery damping sleeve lining the tonearm. It has much improved feet, the aluminum top has been replaced by much less resonant and more rigid zinc, and there are polymer damping layers internally to further quell random vibrations and resonances.

Over the 8 years I've had my SL1210, I found that the audiophile dogma aimed against the direct drive mechanism was misplaced. There was nothing wrong with the Matsushita direct drive mechanism; it was their rudimental knowledge of vibration control that made the Technics sound dark to the point of murky compared to the belt drive turntables (e.g., Linn) that came along soon after that specifically directed their design at quelling resonances. The designs were effective, but mistakenly attributed their success to the belt drive, not the spring suspension and other isolation techinques.

Every time I did something about resonance--KAB's fluid damper, the tonearm wrap, a sorbothane mat, record grip, cones and isolators, butcher block, etc., the turntable sounded cleaner, more propulsive, more dynamic, quieter, and more linear. It looks like the Pioneer now has most of these virtues right out of the box.