JVC QL-?? owners thread
- Thread starter BillWojo
- Start date
mjw21a
Super Member
well, I've joined the JVC club. got a new turntable! it arrived yesterday. fully recapped and restored semi auto JVC QL-Y5. Sounds absolutely incredible. It's a big upgrade from my full auto Kenwood KD-5077, which is starting to get weird. The JVC sounds quite a bit better. Now that I have a new table, I can take some time to pull the Kenwood apart again and see if I can finally resolve some issues with it...
picked it up from https://www.youtube.com/user/captmark09, who sells Japanese direct drives he recaps and restores himself. He specializes in Denon's, Kenwood's, and JVC's primarily... If you're in the market, I highly recommend him. His service was above and beyond what you might expect.
I've one of these as well. Not as minty as yours. Easily the best performing table I've ever run and my least expensive table too. I'll be getting it fully recapped and RCA plugs + ground lug installed on the back at some point. Pretty sure the stock interconnect is a weak link
I've also 2x Victor TT71 based tables which I'll be selling locally soon. Great tables but nothing can beat the QL-Y5.... Except a 7 or a Y66F.....
isotopesope
Active Member
I definitely feel like this table is a sleeper, in terms of cost vs performance. Especially compared to similar tables by Denon or Kenwood. Perhaps there's just not the same notoriety and cult following those brands have? I saved a ton of cash, compared to the new tables I was considering... I was ready to buy a Technics 1500c or a higher end s-armed Project. I'm so glad I went this route. Captain Mark was incredibly helpful. A similar recapped Denon or Kenwood from him would've also been a lot more expensive.I've one of these as well. Not as minty as yours. Easily the best performing table I've ever run and my least expensive table too. I'll be getting it fully recapped and RCA plugs + ground lug installed on the back at some point. Pretty sure the stock interconnect is a weak link
That would be great to upgrade to detachable RCA's and ground. I've also read the bottom board can be a source of vibration, but people have had luck damping it. I extensively damped the hollow plastic plinth of my KD-5077 using automotive sound deadening mats from SecondSkin: https://www.secondskinaudio.com/sound-deadening/damplifier I have some leftover sheets, so eventually I might experiment using them to damp that bottom board of the Y5, but so far it is drastically quieter than the KD, so i'm not going to worry about it for now. So far, just wildly in love with the sound coming from this table! A drastic improvement from my KD.
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BillWojo
Addicted Member
Well I've started on new armboards for my Victor TT. They are made out of 3/4" thick aluminum plate. I machined the width and length and corner radius. They drop right in and as you can see are perfectly flush with the surface.
I am going to machine a recess 1/4" deep extending 1/8" past the length of the cutouts and drill/tap holes every 1/2" on the rails. This will allow me to make small sub armboards in any thickness that I choose.
First up is an arm for the rear position, a Audio Technica ATP-12T to fit my Denon DL-103 cart on. I'm looking for a Victor UA-7082 arm for the right side.
I'll post pics as I progress.
BillWojo
I am going to machine a recess 1/4" deep extending 1/8" past the length of the cutouts and drill/tap holes every 1/2" on the rails. This will allow me to make small sub armboards in any thickness that I choose.
First up is an arm for the rear position, a Audio Technica ATP-12T to fit my Denon DL-103 cart on. I'm looking for a Victor UA-7082 arm for the right side.
I'll post pics as I progress.
BillWojo
My QL Y5F came in handy this past weekend. A buddy wanted to hear and compare my VR1000 cart to his Decca Gold cart.
An 11 gram cart compared to a 5 gram cart?? On the same table??
His VPI couldn’t do both.
So I brought the Y5F.
The VR1000 had a good showing! The Y5 sounded better than his VPI with the Decca. No! I’m not selling the Y5F!
An 11 gram cart compared to a 5 gram cart?? On the same table??
His VPI couldn’t do both.
So I brought the Y5F.
The VR1000 had a good showing! The Y5 sounded better than his VPI with the Decca. No! I’m not selling the Y5F!
Van_Isle
Super Member
I'm on my 2nd QL-A7 ... the first came from the original owner and was in quite nice shape. Sold it a few years ago, in a moment of insanity. I picked up another one a while back that's much more of a project. The anti-skate knob is broken (acquired parts). Plinth is very beat-up (we can fix that). The tonearm stub and feet are in very good condition (the big plus!). But ... stop switch is intermittent. Not sure where to go with that.
decosse
New Member
Just picked up a QL50 with a Grace 707 Tone-arm
Also has an AT6006 Safety Riser
Overall, it is in pretty good shape - the front vertical corner edges of the laminate are not perfect, and the cover has a significant dent on the front edge
I have a new Dust Cover coming from JnB Audio - will report on that when it arrives.
Am somewhat considering doing a real wood veneer on it - but it might be a shame to detract from its originality, it's really not that bad and can't even see the corners issue from 1m away.
But other than that, it works - and sounds - really great!
There may be a new cartridge in its future somewhere down the line - it's actually been a long time since I listened to vinyl so need to calibrate my ears.
But already sounds decent with the Grado ZC+ (maybe just add an 8MZ Stlus which I understand is a good upgrade from the std ZC+ with its original stylus)
A nice compliment to my JVC R-X500
And my Sony APM-33 Speakers (you can read about that re-foam process here)
The JVC Receiver and Sony Speakers were both purchased new by me in the early 80's
Also has an AT6006 Safety Riser
Overall, it is in pretty good shape - the front vertical corner edges of the laminate are not perfect, and the cover has a significant dent on the front edge
I have a new Dust Cover coming from JnB Audio - will report on that when it arrives.
Am somewhat considering doing a real wood veneer on it - but it might be a shame to detract from its originality, it's really not that bad and can't even see the corners issue from 1m away.
But other than that, it works - and sounds - really great!
There may be a new cartridge in its future somewhere down the line - it's actually been a long time since I listened to vinyl so need to calibrate my ears.
But already sounds decent with the Grado ZC+ (maybe just add an 8MZ Stlus which I understand is a good upgrade from the std ZC+ with its original stylus)
A nice compliment to my JVC R-X500
And my Sony APM-33 Speakers (you can read about that re-foam process here)
The JVC Receiver and Sony Speakers were both purchased new by me in the early 80's
BillWojo
Addicted Member
Pretty looking QL-50, even has an armboard. JVC built some beautiful tables. I like how they are coming out of the woodwork.
Had some time this afternoon so I finished the main sub armboards and glass beaded them for a nice satin finish.
Now I need to get some more aluminum plate for the armboard inserts, a piece to make the bracket for the tonearm cuing device and a piece of bar to make a tool to mark the tonearm position. That will register on the platter spindle and have a scribe to mark the tonearm mounting distance.
BillWojo
Had some time this afternoon so I finished the main sub armboards and glass beaded them for a nice satin finish.
Now I need to get some more aluminum plate for the armboard inserts, a piece to make the bracket for the tonearm cuing device and a piece of bar to make a tool to mark the tonearm position. That will register on the platter spindle and have a scribe to mark the tonearm mounting distance.
BillWojo
decosse
New Member
Found this video of a very nicely done QL5
Looks pretty good!
I was thinking of staying within a black scheme though - real wood veneer, but perhaps something like a black ash.
Or maybe something wild like this would be pretty interesting
Might take a leaf out of your book there, @BillWojo - an aluminium board would look really nice in the QL50, especially in contrasting more natural finish (although probably anodized) matching the platen, against the darker plinth
I'll have to see how much latitude I have with the Safety Riser - it actually straddles the joint of the armboard to main plinth right now
AudioWaters
Active Member
Very nice work BillWojo
https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/ele/d/allison-park-jvc-ql-7-direct-drive/7159217475.html
might go take a look at this
might go take a look at this
BillWojo
Addicted Member
@2526, that looks pretty clean. Check that it locks on speed and look at the tonearm rubber bushing between the counter weight and pivot area. They are known to fail but it isn't a big job if your good with that sort of thing. The stub should be straight inline with the tonearm tube, most likely it's sagging. Mine sags and I need to fix it but it still sounds great.
That is a pretty good price as well. Let us know how you make out.
@AudioWaters, thank you for the compliment. With the current situation I'm slow with work so I have time to do this stuff.
I wanted to create an armboard that will allow for quick and easy fabrication of a new armboard insert so I can try out different arms in the future. I'm not much of a wood worker but can make stuff from metal if I have access to a mill. The glass bead mat finish is cheap and quick plus it looks nice. Local anodizing shop has a minimum charge of well over a hundred dollars so that is out.
Thanks to a member here I have a recapped TT 71 motor unit on it's way to me. The performance of the TT 71 is not far off of the much more expensive TT 81.
@2526, that TT your looking at uses the TT 71 motor unit.
BillWojo
That is a pretty good price as well. Let us know how you make out.
@AudioWaters, thank you for the compliment. With the current situation I'm slow with work so I have time to do this stuff.
I wanted to create an armboard that will allow for quick and easy fabrication of a new armboard insert so I can try out different arms in the future. I'm not much of a wood worker but can make stuff from metal if I have access to a mill. The glass bead mat finish is cheap and quick plus it looks nice. Local anodizing shop has a minimum charge of well over a hundred dollars so that is out.
Thanks to a member here I have a recapped TT 71 motor unit on it's way to me. The performance of the TT 71 is not far off of the much more expensive TT 81.
@2526, that TT your looking at uses the TT 71 motor unit.
BillWojo
brunomarcs
Well-Known Member
That's is really nice work Bill. Looking forward to receiving my TT 81 from Japan when this shipping mess gets straightened out, I was told it cost 50 bucks to ship one record from Japan!
decosse
New Member
Very nice work - It does look really good!
I fear the problem will be keeping it looking like that though.
Anodizing would be perfect but as you say maybe prohibitively expensive.
I wonder if spray with some matte clear would be good? I think it might - especially matte, over that beaded finish should preserve that look Can always see how it looks for cost of obly a few bucks and re-bead it off it it doesn't work out as well as you might hope.
If you need any more re-capping done (maybe your old motor), maybe we can do some horse-trading on making a ToneArm Board
BillWojo
Addicted Member
Had a little time in the shop so I made up two armboard inserts and a scribe tool to mark the tonearm location for the Audio Technica ATP-12T tonearm. Spindle to pivot length is 242mm so I drilled a 0.281 hole and 242mm away I drilled a hole for my Starrett scribe. Drop it on the spindle and I have an accurate arc on the insert. I will place the arm on the centerline of the armboard insert where it crosses the arc.
I also mounted a TT 71 motor unit that came in today.
BillWojo
I also mounted a TT 71 motor unit that came in today.
BillWojo
brunomarcs
Well-Known Member
Very cool Bill. Is that a starret pocket scribe in the photo?
