Vintage Japanese DD Consult and Suggestions Please

When expressing an Interest in Vintage Japanese DD TT's, there are two ways to observe them, which are loosely described below:     

1, Is the observation through 'Rose Tinted Glasses' where the assembled product with a unknown hours of usage life of close on 50 Years is not considered.

An individual is somehow missing / avoiding what a 50ish Years in the real world can mean for a TT's Electronics and Mechanical Parts.

2, The Link will show an individual a good insight into what is being bought into, the Link is representative of most Vintage DD TT's to be seen on a Shortlist.

Mechanical Parts are limited and the Electronic Parts are quite substantial and quite complex. 

Mechanical Parts can have had way too many rotations where critical parts are functioning in a non ideal environment, where a minimum negative effect developed is that the axis of the Spindle may not run true, creating a eccentric rotation and speed fluctuation.

Furthering regular usage of a TT with an eccentric rotation in a non ideal environment can lead to excessive wear on a sacrificial part such as a Bush. The excessive wear of a Bush/Bushes can result with a scribing showing on other Sacrificial Parts or even worse, scribing can show on parts that should be a Polished Finish, where scribing that has developed is most likely caused by metal particulate from worn Bushes being encountered in a very dry shaft with all signs of Factory applied lubricant long long dried up or leached from the Bearing Housing the Bearing Housing many many years passed.

Good Luck with the Electronics being Top Drawer, I only know Specialists who can comment on this when they have the TT on their Workbench.

The reality for quite few TT owners of all types from this period is commonly as follows:

I bought a Vintage TT, I Powered on and it rotated, Eureka, I have a perfect TT.

I'm looking for the Perfect Tonearm for my TT, after a Hum and Ha, I've just bought a TA at £2K - £3K - 4K for my Perfectly Working Vintage TT.

I'm now looking for a Cartridge to mount on my TA to get the best out of my Perfect Vintage TT. I am now the proud owner of a £2K - £3K - £4K Cartridge.

My take is use others known for their knowledge on a particular TT, to inform if the Vintage TT is a Perfect TT. Once this is a done deal, spend however one wants on how the other ancillaries are chosen to be used with the TT.    

http://amp8.com/amp-etc/record/denon/dp-80-3.htm

For the record, all owned TT's are from a Vintage Period and ones Vintage DD ones used daily are brought to a fine fettle, by an individual who knows the Brands very very well and are reputed for their work undertaken. Both Bearing Condition and Overhaul and Electronics Function are addressed when on the Workbench.

The extra outlay for the TT's is a monies very very well spent.

@laaudionut I'm chiming in late here. Lots of good choices that you listed and others recommended. IMO any of the tables you listed will sound great and would probably be hard to distinguish given the same tonearm and setup properly. I'll add a few thoughts:

- if you don't require two tonearms you should consider the Luxman PD-441. Basically the same TT in a more manageable form factor. Can take most 9-10.5" tonearms - if you can find the appropriate arm boards. Also, the Luxman PD-121/131 is no slouch, although prices for these days seem to be more than I would  be willing to pay.

- I would add the Teac TN-400 to your list. IMO it's the best DD drive system ever made.

- Sony had a couple of Biotracer models that are great decks. They are semi-automatic decks but you can certainly use them manually. If you find one with the electronics still fully functional they are wonderful.

- If you want the look of a vintage Japanese DD turntable with improved features you should seriously consider one of the new Technics SL-1200 variants. They are significantly improved over the old models and they are available in a range of price points. I say that because I have owned all of the decks you mentioned at some point over the last 40 years and they are all good. But any vintage deck is either has a problem, even if minor, or will develop a problem at some point. No worries as long as you are willing to pay for repairs and have a good turntable guy on speed dial.

- Finally, the Music Hall Stealth is a seriously good turntable. Not Japanese, not classic but seriously good for the price (pre-tariff).

br3098, Can you enlighten me further on the Teac 400N?  I had never heard of it until you mention it here.  I found a blurb on Vinyl Engine that sounds like ad copy, not a sincere critique, but the description of the motor is impressive.  On the other hand, VE says the whole turntable weighs 8.5 Kg.  One can argue the case for light weight and stiffness in a Rega, but in my experience, DD TTs want high mass. Anyway, I would like to know more.

As to Sony Biotracer, I am sure those work fine, but their flagship was the PSX-9, as shown here http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-PS-X9.html

I can't tell you much more than what you read. For some reason, Teac never really marketed these units, which were designed to compete in the same space as the SP-10. I bought one about 30 years ago from a company that had several new units in a warehouse. I played it for a while and then sold it, something I've regretted it ever since.

I doubt that you'll ever find a used PS-X9. I don't believe they they were ever plentiful nor were they imported to the U.S. I had a PS-X75 that I used a backup deck for years when my grandkids were around. As I recall I paid $400 for it and it was pretty bombproof. Sounded great too. But the arm locator sensor on many have gone belly up and I'm not sure how easily they can be repaired,

I have and use a Teac TN-400 that I bought 45 years ago or so.  The table was only on the market for a year or two as there was a patent dispute over the Magnefloat assembly which Teac lost.  Warehoused units were sold off pretty cheaply at that time and occasionally still show up for sale in NOS boxes, since most of them were sold as platter units only without plinths.

I have always liked this table and it has given me trouble-free performance.  That being said, I recently found a second unit in-box for sale and snapped it up but the new one, which appears to be unused, has a speed control issue and runs fast.  I have not yet looked into the problem but hope that it turns out to be relatively minor to repair.

I can't comment on the Teac relative to the other tables discussed in this thread, but mine has kept me from looking for anything else (dd) for a long time.

Bill