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JVC QL-?? owners thread

BillWojo

BillWojo

Addicted Member
Since there doesn't seem to be a JVC QL-?? model owners thread on here after doing a quick search I figured it would be a good time to start one.
The QL designation seems to signify the upper end of the JVC turntable line.
So why my interest in JVC? Well at the last local AK gathering at Marks (Aerobat) house I picked up a QL-A7 turntable from Keith (kcdonahue). It's a stunning looking table and rather hefty. Build quality is up there with the best of them but I wasn't prepared for how good it sounds.
I did a lot of reading about the higher end JVC tables and am impressed with the engineering and innovation that came from that company, also known as Victor. They designed cartridges, tonearms and motor drive units for broadcast use, the most demanding market ever.
Over here in the US the most common of the high end turntables are the QL-7 (fully manual) and the QL-A7 (semi automatic) although they did sell the QL-8 here as well. I don't think the QL-10 ever made it outside of Japan and Europe.
The QL-71, QL-81 and QL-101 motor drives are highly prized and fetch very good money. Ql-71, QL-81 and QL-101 are the bare motor drives from the respective models. Like a Denon with it's flying saucer shape the motor drives lend themselves to being re-plinthed into custom created plinths, sometimes with two tonearms.
JVC also made some other model QL turntables that were excellent in there own right. The QL-Y55F and QL-Y66F are full featured turntables with servo electric type tonearms fitted.
There are other QL models that enjoy a well deserved reputation as well.
JVC doesn't seem to get much love on most forums except for the lucky ones that already have them.
I figured lets start a thread were we can show off our QL turntables and mods.
Here is a pic of the model that I currently use, a QL-A7. I am using a Denon DL-103 cart into a Denon AU-320 SUT going into my Audio Research SP8 preamp.
It's an internet pic, my TT shelf is much to cluttered at the moment but mine looks just as nice.

700x470


BillWojo
 
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Just in time :)

I took possession of a beautiful JVC/Victor QL-Y44F this week, as it happens! I imported it from Japan, used a proxy to bid on a local auction. It's in fantastic condition. Proxy service packed the table very well, so I'm pretty happy about that.

This model wasn't sold in the U.S. I don't think. It has an auto-record-size sensor just like that of the Denon DP-47F.

IMAG2414.jpg


I almost went with a QL-Y5, I love these japanese rosewood-finish direct-drives so much :) In the end I went with the QL-Y44F because of robust full auto operation and less depth so easier to fit on my console. The tonearm operation is very smooth and the buttons have a nice tactile feel and just a bit of a click on depress. Immensely enjoyable to use :)
 
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Interesting, I've been planning my "next" table while I'm laid off to upgrade a bit from my entry level Yamaha and the QL series, for some reason, really caught my eye in my likely price range. I have to admit that the aesthetics piqued my initial interest -- I like what appears to be a fairly substantial platter and the black/silver schemes.

Between all the "sub-letters" (Y, F, A, etc) the name, is there a clear hierarchy?
 
seely said:
Interesting, I've been planning my "next" table while I'm laid off to upgrade a bit from my entry level Yamaha and the QL series, for some reason, really caught my eye in my likely price range. I have to admit that the aesthetics piqued my initial interest -- I like what appears to be a fairly substantial platter and the black/silver schemes.

Between all the "sub-letters" (Y, F, A, etc) the name, is there a clear hierarchy?
Click to expand...

Hey Seely,

I would say the QL-Y##F were the top-tier tables, with the 66 being one of the best. These tables also had the rosewood plinths, as you can see in the picture uploaded by @Final_Baton above. The QL-Y66F being the top, unless you ever come across a QL-Y77F, but those were mostly for the Japanese market. This series, if I remember correctly, were all automated. The 66 I had did almost everything with the push of a button. They also came with two arms, a straight and "S" shaped arm. I only had the straight and this is something that you will notice with a lot of them on the market, they usually only have one of the two arms.

With the QL-A7, there is also a QL-7. The difference is that the "A" model has the auto-lift function at the end of a record. Do keep in mind, this does not mean auto-return. It just lifts at the end of the record and the platter stops.

A couple of things to keep in mind when you go out to purchase one of these TTs. With the QL-Y##F series, make sure that all the functions work. These were fairly electronically complicated beasts and might not be very easy to repair if something is wrong with them. This was a fear that some owners of this series had was what happens when something in the tonearm fails? You can use is as a manual lift arm in a worst case scenario, but the fun is watching the arm do its thing.

With the QL-(A)7, for example, sometimes the counter weight on the back sags due to age. You can find this come up in past conversations here on AK.

As far as ranking, it is numerical, 7 usually being the top.

I know I'm mising a lot here, but I'm sure other members/owners will chime in also. This is just meant as a brief "overview". :)

Hope this helps and if you do decide to buy one, try to go the local route instead of eBay, just due to shipping concerns. They are heavy and fragile. Also, post what you find here on the TT board so that you can get opinions so you are better informed in what you're getting before you pull the trigger.
 
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totem, that's the best drive motor they made. What arm and plinth do you have? Any pictures?

BillWojo
 
seely said:
Interesting, I've been planning my "next" table while I'm laid off to upgrade a bit from my entry level Yamaha and the QL series, for some reason, really caught my eye in my likely price range. I have to admit that the aesthetics piqued my initial interest -- I like what appears to be a fairly substantial platter and the black/silver schemes.

Between all the "sub-letters" (Y, F, A, etc) the name, is there a clear hierarchy?
Click to expand...
That'd be fun and useful to figure out.

I haven't researched it much, but just from perusing the different models for awhile, my guess is :

-the ''F'' is always placed at the end and is only there to denote a ful-auto deck.

-the QL-Y series seems to be older than the QL-A. EDIT : Ranf just cleared up that QL-A# and QL-# are the same line, just that A denotes auto-lift. Yet I still wonder if that line is newer than the QL-Y line, or if they were released at the same time. Maybe on the market at the same time but not released at the same time?

-did the QL-71/81 line got released later than the QL-7 line? my guess is yes

-the QL-Y series has a sub-series with double numbers '(Y33F, Y44F, Y55F, Y66F), not sure what that denotes. Maybe the model with bigger plinths, or higher up in the ''Y'' series? But there's also a QL-Y series with single number, ie QL-Y3(F), QL-Y5(F). These have smaller pllnths. The QL-Y5(F) has the servo tonearm also.

-there seems to be 2 generations of the Y series double numbers decks I think : from checking manuals, I seem to remember the Y33F and Y55F been mentionned to gether in one manual, and the Y44F and Y66F been mentioned together in a separate one. Not sure though. Also not sure if the single-number ones were released across those 2 generations, or were all available right from the first gen.


This is just me guessing and from limited research, so don't take it to the bank. Feel free to correct this with the correct info everybody. Also I don't know much about the ''A'' series, haven't researched those much but am eager to learn more.

EDIT : ah Ranf, we posted at the same time. funny :)
 
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Super helpful info, all! I've been watching a few mid tier models and I'm noticing nearly all "work, but....". Problems seem to be the auto features and speed. Wasn't sure how easy they are too work on so I'll keep my eyes open for a fully working, serviced unit. I should check with the local record store once we're allowed outside again
 
The "QL" in the name stands for "Quartz Locked". Not exactly sure what the "Y" stands for. From the looks of things, I believe the double number models (QL-Y44F) were a little higher up the line than the single numbers. However, they were all good TTs, so don't let that be your final decision-maker.

The QL-(A)# looks like they were released in the late 70s or early 80s while the QL-Y#/##F series looks like they were released in the early or mid-80s.
 
QL-71 is the motor drive from the QL-A7 and QL-7, QL-81 is the motor drive from the QL-8 and the QL-101 is the motor drive from the QL-10. They were sold as separate drive units for broadcast use or to build a custom TT. Denon did the same thing.
As far as I can tell, "A" means semi automatic, "F" means fully automatic and "Y" means it has a servo controlled tonearm.
The tonearm fitted on the QL-7 is a Victor UA-5045 and the tonearm fitted to the QL-8 and QL-10 is a Victor UA-7045. Both of these tonearms can be used on other TT and bring very good money as they are top notch tonearms.
The tonearm on the QL-A7 is a slightly modified Victor UA-5045 with a solenoid to raise the arm at end of play and shut off the drive unit. It uses a light curtain and a sensor so there is no mechanical connection to anything.
The QL-Y55F and the QL-Y66F both use a servo controlled tonearm and are dedicated to the tables because of the electronics involved. I'm not sure that the drive motors are actually better, they are the small thin compact type motors. Maybe someone who is an expert on JVC tables could elaborate on this.
Staying home the past few weeks has given me to much time to figure all of this out. If I have any errors, please feel free to correct me.

BillWojo
 
Thanks for the precisions Ranf and Bill. I mistook those motor names for TT models.

Of course ''QL'' has got to mean Quartz Lock, why didn't I think of that lol.

That's a very good guess on the ''Y'' designation. ie servo-controlled tonearm.
The single number QL-Y# models have smaller plinths than the double numbers QL-Y## ones, but still have a servo tonearm indeed.

I assumed the ''Y'' line came out before cause I think their styling looks a bit more oldschool, but it makes sense that they came after since they have a servo-controlled tonearm.
 
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Spring 2020 is The Rise of JVC and Denon turntables, it seems!

Lots of interest in machines from both brands lately.And people showing off theirs and making threads to give them some love

I approve! I love TTs by both companies. But JVC needs even more love :D
 
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@Final_Baton, seeing all the Denon threads is what got me started on this. The JVC post are scattered all over the place so I am hoping that we can gather as much info into one thread to serve as a home base for JVC fans. Heck, until very recently I had no idea of the quality of these turntables and just how good they are. Victor was a major player back in the heyday of turntable manufacturing in the Japanese industry.
It seems most people either don't know or forgot that JVC was truly on top of there game back than.
Lets hope that this thread takes off and as I find post that could be of interest I will link them to this thread.

P.S. Five years ago I started a thread on VE in the Technics forum to cover all the SL-M series of tables. That thread is now a sticky at the top of the Technics forum and is 14 pages long. I did it for the same reasons, everything about the SL-M series was scattered all over the internet. It is still active and there wasn't a lot of that series made as they were very expensive at the time.

BillWojo
 
I have two of the QL-Y7’s, I believe there’s a Japanese version also. Bought the first at a pawn shop In 87 perhaps. I have two Yamaha Gt 2000 so you’d think I would move the JVC’s but can’t bring myself to do it presently. The rosewood is Vinly on them I’m sure and not real wood. Rebuild these plinths, remove the power supply from them maybe and any other up grade will be worth it but not needed.
 
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