Thanks for watching. I think it is fun to review the history of such ground setting products. Amazing it is has been 60 years. Look out for a future video I have planned about another such product.
When my Phillips 312 started giving me problems back in 1985, I went to Soundscape in Baltimore to buy another TT. They had the newly-designed AR (pictured here) and the Thorens TD166 mk2, listing for $360, about $100 less than the AR. I went with the Thorens (paid $260 with the trade for the Phillips). The Thorens has so far outlived 2 NAD CD players and hasn't given me 5 minutes worth of trouble. That said, the aesthetics of that AR is hard to top. A beautiful piece of audio machinery that I'm sure sounds as great as it looks. .
I have an AR The turntable (05:35) from the mid 80's, bought in the UK. Now with a SME3009 Improved with a V15III. Still works with new Vinyl Nirvana springs + A Sound of the Wood motor. Great sounds at a reasonable price.
The rewards of saving these Ar's or any turntables is outstanding to say the least! Then you get gobs of more years of more wonderful music to listen to. New music mostly sucks and then some. Take your time tweaking. Less coffee is better. A lot of the better turntables have microscopic screws etc. There is no room for errors.
The AR, XA is massively quiet between tracks and during songs thanks to the the 3 point spring suspension system and are adjustable to be sure you are 1/4" between the "platter and the plinth" evenly no load. With a record should be about 1/8th inch distance. Buying (The Q Up) automatic tone arm lift for mine so it picks the tonearm up at the end of the record soon.
i bought one of those in Korea when i was in the army (cost $$62 at the PX in Taegeu in 1969) and used it for several years when i got back stateside. I remember Edgar Vilcher from his adventures in sound radio show he used to host over WBUR in the 70's. He used to play analog tape masters and send the signal to the transmitter over a microwave link to avoid using telephone lines.which were not as quiet as the microwave link. My solution for footfallswas to use a 10" inner tube (fir a kids bike) inflated to a very low pressure. That solved any problems with floor flexing.
If serviced it is an off the charts amazing turntable still! Just installed a vintage Shure V15 III on my AR XA and tweaked tracking to 1.25 grams and it is blowing my mind. "Hint" if a said record sounds slightly less lively try an acrylic mat. Will give you tight bass and more detail on the top end of the frequency range. If a record is a bit on the bright side lay a cork or wool or rubber mat on the platter then the record of course.. It is amazing how much control you have with this turntable and it is a super winner for recording to tape or possibly with a in line phono pre-amp to digital. For me once that happens ( digital) game over. Analog rules from the original source period.
I have been running turntables my whole life. Age catching up now but honestly nothing like original analog records. There are a few exceptions. (1) Bridges To Babylon by The Stones. (2) Red Molly Love and other Tragedies off the top of my head that are digital recordings. Maybe not from the get go but still ended up on a cd.
I have refurbished my 1977 AR XB1 which has the original arm design. Cleaned all the bearings and got hold of a milled belt (critical). Tracks an AT 540ML perfectly at 2g. Drives a Marantz 8006 amp (great phono stage and pure analogue) and AE 500s on SolidSteel stands each with a REL sub in stereo mode (3k of speakers). My little AR performs brilliantly in such august company. What’s hilarious is I found the original receipt - about $120 including a Shure cartridge at the time. Soon upgraded that to a Fidelity Research 101 microline cartidge. That still works too….old stuff is great…
If you want to do the acid test on tonearm tracking on the AR get ya any in great condition K-Tel album with a million songs on it and super shallow grooves and if you are set up right it will not skip or hang.
Your video was very helpful. I have a mint JVC/Victor QL-A7 with a Shure V15 Type III that sounds amazing. I'm on the hunt for an AR Table if I can find one reasonable, even a project deck. It was nice to learn more about it/yours. Thanks again
Update! I just spent at least 2 hours tweaking my tone arm. I was having a horrible time for no reason suddenly keeping the tracking weight correct. Turns out the barrel pivot grease had turned to sticky goo and so I had to back off both tonearm pivot screws "carefully " ( They are tiny! Do not lose them! ) and lift the tonearm off the vertical shaft which also has has a tiny Derlin washer on the end of it! (Do not lose that either!) Be careful removing the center tone arm shaft also for there are bearings that could fall off on the floor if one sticks to the shaft pulling it out.! Game over if you cannot find them. I used Lubriplate #105 after cleaning the barrel pivot. Then after all this, there is a matter of tweaking the tonearm pivot screws and the vertical shaft to the right tension. Trust me it is worth it spending the time on this turntable. It is now playing perfectly again. AR XA turntables rival Thorens any day of the week. Double album Super Tramp Live in Paris with a vintage Shure V15 III cartridge is heavenly on this turntable at 1.25 grams tracking weight.
Thanks for watching. While the original arm has adherents, it is sometimes difficult to get replacement parts, etc. Hence, many people have installed more modern designs.
@@DIYHiFiLife The original arm was an integral part of the brilliant AR-XA design and can't be replaced without compromising the performance. Only those who don't know what they're doing ever attempt to replace it. However, that's not an original AR-XA in your video, so I don't suppose it matters.
This is an AR Legend. The EB101 is the budget version and has a pressed steel sub chassis and a chipboard plinth. You do not know what you are talking about.
I have an AR Xa turntable I bought at a garage sale for $15.00. Stock everytrhing. However, having problems with my tonearm, since falling off the top shelf of my media cabinet down the stairs of my apartment. It now skips across the grooves of the record without tracking inside them. I tried using a bubble level to balance the turntable, but to no avail. What can I do to repair it?
Agreed. It compomises the whole intent of the original. Then again. that's not an original AR he's got there, so I'm not sure he even knows wtf he's talking about tbh. 😐
Regardless of age, if a turntable is good, it's good. Some modern gear is nothing more than a rip off of tried and tested designs. Let's be honest, a turntable is a basic device spinning a platter with a minimum of two speeds and holding the speeds constant. It's not rocket science for goodness sake, and to manufacture one is not a difficult process in this day and age. Its just that some people try to tell you that you need something fancy and elaborate that costs thousands upon thousands of pounds when in reality you don't. The AR, along with many other older turntables do a very good job of dragging your rock through the grooves of your precious plastic.
