Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

hi guys: the resurrection persists. Started up just fine this morning. I'm going to take Lew's advice and replace the caps. There's a boat load of them in this monster though, so replacing all of them may be cost prohibitive in terms of tech time. A quick peek at the service manual shows over 50 caps in the servo board alone. So, maybe just the ones in the power supply and then others upon visual inspection?

No meaningful impressions yet, Halcro. I'm using a new cart (astatic mf 200) so it's difficult to know what's responsible for what. Once the dust settles, I'll put on a cart I'm more familiar with and make a judgment. The combo sounded mighty fine last night though, better than anything I recall the sp10 putting out.

Yes, Aigenga, nude she is. I have the ql-10 plinth but what's the point?

I love Mahler, Dover, but for some reason I don't own the 2nd on vinyl. It'll make the resurrection complete once I get a copy and spin it on the victor?

You have to ask yourself what is the cost of "tech time" as compared to the value and rarity of a TT101 and the pleasure you derive from it. But meantime, you can order the capacitors from Mouser or Digikey on-line (assuming you live in the USA). I recommend Panasonic or Nichicon brand. Dirt cheap compared to the consequences of not doing it. Once you have the parts, you might take it to a technician and get an estimate of labor cost. I would be surprised if it would take much more than 2 hours to do them all. I would offer to do the work myself, except..... I won't. The other side of this coin is that you may not be getting the best out of your unit at present, even if it "works", due to a few bad capacitors. (Last time I looked, DD turntables were not generally designed to require a push-start in counter-clockwise or clockwise direction.)

I would offer to do the work myself, except..... I won't.

Dear Lewm, this reminds me of what I used to say to students who asked for regrades of essays: "I would regrade your paper but I have a rule according to which I don't regrade papers."

You offer sage advice regarding comparative value. I'll keep it in mind when I hear the undoubtedly large number coming out of my tech's mouth.

Let's say, at most he needs 3 hours. (I am fairly sure I could do it myself in less than 3 hours, and I know good techs are faster, neater, and better than I.) Let's say he charges $80 per hour. (I have no idea what they charge these days.) The capacitors might cost $30-$40, if that much. So you are talking around $300 for peace of mind and probably improved performance. One of those "no-brainers".

You forgot to include the 'extra overcharge' and 'special undercoating' (seinfeld reference).

I was quoted a much higher number by a very reputable tech to do the same on my less complicated sp10 mk2.

But if that's the number, to be sure I would jump at it.