JVC QL Y66f Vintage Direct Drive Turntable from 1985

[@JayRCela]

That is a beautiful piece of gear, thanks again for sharing.

[@stereoniche]

Stay tuned, much more to come in future videos.

[@mikecampbell5856]

That looks like a superb unit. It almost makes me want to go back to using vinyl because turntables can be such works of art. Then I remember the snaps, crackles and pops and I'm OK. LOL Great review as usual Scott!

[@stereoniche]

LOL, yes, one must have very good media or it can get frustrating, but the nostalgia factor is off the charts!

[@jmfloyd23]

Sure is a beautiful table! Can’t get that quality these days and have it affordable.

[@stereoniche]

I totally agree!

[@alexandermikhailov2481]

8:04 phenomenal camera work. Now we know all the details of your arm hair instead of the turntable. 😂

[@stereoniche]

LOL, indeed, not my best camera work. I just don't want the pros to worry I am any kind of threat to their jobs. :-)

[@robertwear1675]

Beautiful unit. I have a JVC QL-F6 in my collection. It's very nice. But the TT-101 and TT-801 were the killer units.

[@stereoniche]

JVC made quite a number of VERY nice tables. They don't get enough discussion.

[@robertwear1675]

@@stereoniche Very true. I own many TT's including a Technics SP-10MKIII. One of my favs is a Teac TN-400 with the Magnefloat platter. It was taken off the market quickly because they were apparently sued for patent violations by Magnefloat.

[@mcgjohn22]

pretty interesting table. Maybe a bit earlier Sony had come out with their biotracer arms to control arm damping. Pioneer also used an electronic arm in their 707 table. This may have been part of JVC's effort to join that group of manufacturers with electronically damped arms.

[@nonsuch]

A buddy of mine had one back in the day, those are great. (Hey, I hate correcting people and maybe you're doing it on purpose but, "Niche" is pronounced /neesh, kneesh/ (not nitch). The "i" is pronounced as a long "e" and the "ch" is "sh". Also, there's NO "t" sound like there is in the word... "hitch")

[@stereoniche]

Thanks for watching, they are certainly great tables. In regard to pronunciation, both ways are correct. Take a look at Merriam-Webster wherein they relay: There are two common pronunciation variants, both of which are currently considered correct: \NEESH\ (rhymes with sheesh) and \NICH\ (rhymes with pitch). \NICH\ is the more common one and the older of the two pronunciations.

[@VINTAGEO]

I though it was pronounced Po tay to... hmmm. LOL

[@marcosmarcell1188]

Q= quarts lock (JVC invention 1973-74) L= laboratory Y= Servo magnetc 6+6= model+ exquisite workmanship (hi end) F= Full automatic

[@stereoniche]

Well, there you go. Thanks!

[@michaelprice1216]

Found mine 15 years ago in an El Paso pawn shop. They had it marked down to 23 bucks. Had to carry it home on the plane.

[@stereoniche]

Well, that was certainly a great find. I would have kept it in my lap on the plane, if needed.

[@jrkorman]

Bought mine when I was stationed in Japan; Jan 1985. Still going strong! RE: your comment about the base. I found that it is best placed on a very sturdy, and heavy base as it will pick up vibration, especially the bass on nearby speakers. Other than that, nothing that has ever bothered me.

[@markvargo6982]

I have JVC QL Y55F love it

[@pervertedalchemist9944]

$500 in 1985. Fast forward nearly 40 years later, that turntable goes for four times that amount, SMH.

[@stereoniche]

They were a good investment indeed.

[@ThomasHalways]

Cool, a beautiful device. I have a somewhat similar in concept Denon DP 47F. Also full automatic, straight arm, with an electromagnetic control of the anti skating. The turntable speed is controlled and stabilized by a magnetic head sensing a magnetic layer on the interior of the plate. The device is surely over 30-35 years in my possession. Optically the JVC looks much better. It is a great piece of industrial design. Compared to that, my Denon looks very pedestrian.

[@tim6128]

1985 - I bought one new in Japan for about $375, I believe.

[@stereoniche]

That was a bargain. Did you buy it in the military PX?

[@tim6128]

@@stereoniche No, I got it at a local electronics store just outside of Kadena air base. I was stationed up the road at Futenma. The dollar was really strong against the yen at the time, like 220 to the dollar, so I like a lot of other young Marines at the time got a kick-ass stereo for a really good price. Sadly, a flood in the late-90's wiped away all of my audio gear. I upgraded the cartridge and stylus from the original, and always used the straight tone arm. I miss that turntable. Not only did it sound great, it was beautiful to look at!

[@jrkorman]

@@tim6128 That was about what I paid for mine at the BX on Kadena; Jan of 1985. Re-enlistment bonus! :)

[@VINTAGEO]

Gorgeous table Scott! Been keeping an eye out for a higher end JVC TT... I believe QL= Quartz Lock and the f at the end is for full auto, not sure about the Y, Yen? lol Actually I think Y stands for servo controlled tonearm as these tables were the top tier from JVC only the QL Y77F being higher. As I understand, these were also mostly, if not all, Japan market tables... I stopped looking once I sold my high end JVC 1010 stack, so now I use my Technics SL-M3 linear tracker! Cheers!

[@stereoniche]

That nomenclature makes sense to me! This is the only high end JVC I've actually ever run across, fairly rare beasts, it seems.

[@JumbleTasteSpinning]

Wow what a machine! Incredible! It's just crazy that they can not made things like that anymore with all the technology nowadays.

[@stereoniche]

They probably could, but I would think the price would be far too expensive for most any company to reengineer all the tech in this model.

[@toanduong]

The 2024 adjusted cost for the Y66F since 1982 is about $2800USD. The current $900 automatic Dual CS529 can be controlled by Bluetooth. It cannot do many things the Y66F can, at the same time it can do many things the Y66F cannot. Imagine what could be done for 3X the price of the CS529 now. Equating the limitation to technology is misplaced. How many $3K turntables can be sold now a day? The limitation is in market and demand. The demand simply is not there.

[@marcosmarcell1188]

Chinese are not competent to manufacture good and durable products like the Westerners and Japanese were in the past!

[@stereoniche]

@@toanduong Not sure what calculator you are using, but the ones I use show $500 in 1985 to be about $1500 today. I've not seen that Dual CS529, looks to be a nice table, thanks for sharing.

[@allanellis5827]

That is beautiful!

[@stereoniche]

It really is!