Hi all. Anyone own it? Has it ever been necessary to carry out a recap or suffered a failure and carry out the calibration or repair without a service manual available in the world?
If chakster is correct, and what he said makes sense, then all you need is a TT81 service manual, which I believe is available on Vinyl Engine for free.Think of the TT801 as a TT 81 with a separate vacuum platter system built-in. I was able to get a TT101 service manual from VE, so you should be fine.
many thanks for your information, I will try to contact your seller and also Foxtan but I have doubts they may have a service manual.I tried to contact a couple of times 6 months ago also a repairman who recapped and calibrated a TT 801 but never replied and this creates great displeasure to me .... yet it is said that the Japanese people are friendly!!
Before Chak posted, I would have said it's a TT101 with vacuum platter, not a TT81. But if you look at the cross-sectional views on Vintage Knob, you will see that much of the interior space is taken up by the vacuum system, which when I first saw the pictures made me wonder how on earth they can fit all the TT101 electronics in there. So, if it's a TT81, that makes more sense to me. In any case, if it's a TT101 electrically, that service manual is also available on VE. So, you are covered either way. I think it does state on Vintage Knob that it is a TT101, electrically, but VK is not infallible.
I can email you service manual for TT-101 If you need service you have to ship it to UK to ex Victor JVC repair shop, i can share an email if you need.
Thanks but the TT101 manual I already own it is not a problem for me this; the repairman in the U.K. I mentioned it in the past in the thread "Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously? Do you remember? The electronic components in the TT101 are different VS TT801.
Bestie, Yes, the TT101 is much more complex electrically than a TT81. That was the point of my last post. Since Chak is a thorough researcher, I would suppose he is correct about the TT81 innards. But there is a third possibility: it may be TT101-like but use more ICs where the TT101 used discrete transistors. That would be one way they may have reduced the interior space needed for the TT101-like circuit, in order to fit the vacuum system. For that you need a smart person. I recommend JP Jones, to be found at Fidelis Analog.
just curious, do you have one, or thinking about buying one? working? not working?
Elliott, i have two of them, both working 33/45 and been tested for 3 days constantly (nonstop) all the way on both speed. The one in original plinth for two tonearms must go somehow to a new owner, i just don't need so many turntables, my favorite are still Luxman PD-444, so i can't put another two Victor near my racks anyway. I bought original small plinth for one of them and i want to keep one. Hard times anyway.
I think every Victor can be calibrated and recapped, mine are fully original, no one touched it. A qualified vendors prefer to work with fully original units when it's time to fix something.
just curious, do you have one, or thinking about buying one? working? not working?
I own it, as I own a freshly restored TT-71 and a TT-101 which I have not yet managed to make it work as originally. The TT-801 works (I don’t own the TS1 pump) but I’m a crazy perfectionist and before starting to use it I wanted to exclude any kind of problem starting from the recap and then replacing the 4558 chips because in case of failure they make disasters to the whole turntable .
perfectionism is a curse. I am a retired interior designer, 46 yrs new headquarters, corporate Interiors, NYC, other big cities.
Every project I tried to make good, better, best decisions for my clients, the more I learned, the harder it got. I learned not to bring that progressive attempt for perfection home.
after a bit of hopping about, I decided to stay the heck away from tt101, get the tt81. Like my Jaguar, people who went for V12's instead of V6 were/are masochists IMO. Actually, the V6 beats the V12 off the line, the V12 only besting V6 at high speeds. Fastest ride I ever took was 140 mph in newly paved rt 78 in that Jag, smoothest ride and smoothest braking I ever experienced.
but the original vacuum mat does not work. Looking for one
the rubber mat for TT801 is very rare to find sold individually; moreover, it is known that the rubber of the mat breaks over time, making the mat unusable. It is best to abandon the original carpet and pump and use the Audio Technica AT 666 / AT 666 EX system with a dedicated pump.
I have a TT-801. It was supposed to be an update of the TT-101 to allow vacuum suction of the record onto the platter. In order to achieve this they utilized more chips than the TT-101 and thus you will find the circuit board is less cluttered and contains fewer transistors. In addition there are maybe only one or two trimmers (from memory?) that need adjustment as opposed to the half dozen or more on the TT-101.
I recapped myself and wrote to Japan requesting purchase of a service manual but was told that there was none available. I even had my Japanese friend in Tokyo look for a service manual for me but he said there was none. I think this model was only sold in Japan but I am certain that service centers there would be able to service this. My TT-801 seems to work perfectly but just like best-groove I will never know if it is working optimally after the recap.
first of all the TT801 is much more simplified as components and less chaotic for assistance than the TT-101, then it does not have oil inside the spindle but grease. If it sounds better it will be difficult to prove, but it is so fascinating.
@dickson
it seems incredible that in the world there is no service manual for this damned turntable.
So my original hunch that the 801 could be a 101 that uses more ICs and fewer transistors now looks to have been correct . But chakster was so certain the electronics were from the 81....
Replacing the electrolytics in the PS should not necessitate a recalibration. And ought to be done. Film capacitors in the rest of the circuit do not usually fail and can be left alone. It would be ill advised to replace ICs if the thing is working. Good to have spares available however.
@lewm maybe i was wrong, but simplified circuit and model number speaks for itself. Also i remember some other users posted that it's closer to TT-81 or almost identical. Since i never owned TT-81 or 801 i'm not sure. But i have two TT-101 and i never heard there was a better model than TT-101.
Chak, No one is infallible. I was just pulling your leg, as we say in English. The TT801 should not perform any better than a TT101 except by virtue of its vacuum mat. The fact that it uses ICs in lieu of some discrete transistors found in the TT101 might make the TT801 even more difficult to repair, as the ICs may no longer be available. As you know, you can apply an Audio Technica vacuum mat to a TT101 and expect a result similar to the TT801. That's if you can find an AT vacuum mat that still works.
Replacing the electrolytics in the PS should not necessitate a recalibration.
it is not entirely correct, due to aging the condensers can increase their value by up to 50% and the variation can be significant, compared to a new condenser. By this I mean that an check must be made because the parameters are not the same before and after the recap.
@dicksonthe two of us must continue searching for a service manual in the world and obtain it to be able to duplicate it and keep one for both of us. As reliable information, I knew that wanting to do maintenance on the pin by cleaning everything well from old grease, an excellent grease compatible with the original is the grease produced by the Italian company Saeco for coffee machines and is easily found on Amazon.
What increases when lyrics age is ESR. The capacitance per se most often falls based on my experience with my Sencore L75 meter. Anyway I was speaking of PS capacitors only. If they have aged sufficiently to alter DCV delivered to the servo, etc, anything goes. If a prior user did a calibration with bad lyrics in place then of course you’d have to recalibrate. If the unit was never recalibrated from new then maybe you’d be ok after replacing caps that have gone bad. So maybe I should not have used the word “should”. “Might” not need recalibration would have been better.
I have to deny you, small electrolytic capacitors for example from 1 - 2.2 - 10 uF at the measurements, they showed me not only an increase in the ESR or in some cases also identical to new capacitors, but rather values in uF increased by 40/50 % and this factor together with other negative aspects (inflated condenser, loss of electrolyte) determines the old age of these components.
It’s silly to argue about this. Obviously a swollen or leaky cap has to be replaced. By “leaky” we mean both electrically (leaks DC voltage) or physically (leaks fluid). I can’t recall what happens to the capacitance of those tiny types with values under 5uF, so I don’t doubt you. And I agree you do find those in vintage DD turntables in-circuit. Typical PS lytics in the range 50 uF and higher exhibit a rise in ESR as they age, whether uF goes up or down.
The TT-81 sm shows a single PCB in the explosive view. In section 11, only one half-moon shaped board named TAS-19C is described fpr layout & components.
My TT-801 has two larger half-moon shaped boards plus another smaller one between those two and the platter. Which speaks for the theory that TT-801 is a higher-intergrated version of TT-101
@best-groovetry wilkinsons in Lancashire UK. They have the JVC museum and worked on my two tt101's ask for David and mention that they were recommended by me 'Lohan'
After limited investigation, it seemed the TT801 is a TT101 with vacuum platter. The TT801 used ICs where the TT101 used discrete transistors, in order for the 801 to accommodate the plumbing necessary for the vacuum feature.
@lohanimal I can try since I have been looking for it for a long time; but I am pessimistic because not even in Japan since the 801 was intended for the domestic market only is available.
@dover I am not interested to amp repair in Japan to do a turntable repair or maintenance ..... by my ability I know how to do it myself.
I am surprised that after having written to Amp Repair numerous times a request for find a photocopy of the service manual for a fee if luckily he had it available, he never replied even an "I’m sorry".
I was obviously wrong in believing that all Japanese people had the gift of education towards others; at that point for me he can quietly go to hell.
Obviously you don't, otherwise you wouldn't spend all this time on audio forums asking the same question.
There are in fact places in Japan where you could source a manual, but your lack of understanding of Japanese language and culture will unfortunately be a barrier.
Best you bin the TT801 and then all your troubles will be over.
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