Official AR Turntable Owners Thread

Glad I found this thread. I should have my AR XA sometime next week and will start the teardown for restoration. Have to figure out these mods you all are mentioning....lots of reading to do this weekend.
 
Anyone know off hand what are the dimensions of the V bearings in the Tonearm are? At work all night and want to do some research.
Also the size of the tonearm bearing ball and both thrust plates.

nashou

The bearing ball is .218" - .219" The V bearings i use are 90deg cups, od is .125". Matching the pin ends to them, must be .005" polished ball or less. thrust plates are delrin, .040" (factory) I use .060" .370-375" diameter.
 
The bearing ball is .218" - .219" The V bearings i use are 90deg cups, od is .125". Matching the pin ends to them, must be .005" polished ball or less. thrust plates are delrin, .040" (factory) I use .060" .370-375" diameter.
Marc, I want to commend you on your willingness to share your knowledge and thank you for the same. You make having an AR a rewarding experience. The work you did on mine elevated it to such a level that it's hard to find words to describe. Preston
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The bearing ball is .218" - .219" The V bearings i use are 90deg cups, od is .125". Matching the pin ends to them, must be .005" polished ball or less. thrust plates are delrin, .040" (factory) I use .060" .370-375" diameter.


Thanks Marc !!!

Athanasios
 
Marc, I want to commend you on your willingness to share your knowledge and thank you for the same. You make having an AR a rewarding experience. The work you did on mine elevated it to such a level that it's hard to find words to describe. Preston
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Your table made my M95HE such a happy camper, i set out to find as much bottom end booty from my MCZ and 10MR. may have :thumbsup:
 
Your table made my M95HE such a happy camper, i set out to find as much bottom end booty from my MCZ and 10MR. may have :thumbsup:
Marc,
Have you ever heard of the AR-XA becoming dull sounding after changing the old rca cables with new ones? Asking for a friend. ;)
 
Well I got a bunch of different style Vee Jewels to try on my AR Tonearm. I started with the smallest of the bunch diameter wise. Some come in brass housings that are threaded. I figured those would
be the hardest to make work since the slot to screw them in is on the side that goes into the pivot cylinder. Impossible to screw in. I probably could figure out a way to do it but ehh maybe next time.

So the first ones worked out pretty good installation wise. I have not tried them in the arm yet as I have one more cone screw to polish. What A pain !!! I probably could do better but
i got tired and bored so I stopped . I'll let Marc decide if I need to go further ;)

So here are some videos ( Used a USB microscope to capture the images, it doesn't take photos just video, yeah I know ! ) of what I have done and how far I have gotten so far.

V2.00A Vee Jewel by Athanasios, on Flickr

Before polishing by Athanasios, on Flickr

before polishing 2 by Athanasios, on Flickr

After Polishing by Athanasios, on Flickr

After Polishing 2 by Athanasios, on Flickr

Fitting of Vee Jewel by Athanasios, on Flickr

Athanasios
 
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Never had that problem, not sure what cables they used.

I used turntable cables I purchased off ebay. Used the parties cables a few times with no issues. Have you ever replaced the cables? If so what did you use. I'll probably just buy new ones.

Thanks!
 
I used turntable cables I purchased off ebay. Used the parties cables a few times with no issues. Have you ever replaced the cables? If so what did you use. I'll probably just buy new ones.

Thanks!

Marc upgraded the cables on my AR - I'm not sure what he used - and it sounds spectacular.
 
Marc,
Have you ever heard of the AR-XA becoming dull sounding after changing the old rca cables with new ones? Asking for a friend. ;)
I have witnessed this. Not on an AR but it heard the before and after on another table. The replacement cables were taken from a set of low capacitance component video cables. The rca connectors were cut off of one end and that end was soldered to the table. The result was very poor. Midrange suck out is a good description.
 
I have witnessed this. Not on an AR but it heard the before and after on another table. The replacement cables were taken from a set of low capacitance component video cables. The rca connectors were cut off of one end and that end was soldered to the table. The result was very poor. Midrange suck out is a good description.
I suppose I could have been duped.
 
Got her all back together . No more sloppy play in the pivots !!! I also added a 1mm thick Sapphire window thrust plate and an accompanying Sapphire Ball bearing .
Added a little oil and listening now. Eliminating the slop tightens up the bass for sure !!!

Next I need to polish the platter bearing and add the same sapphire thus plate there.

Parts I used .

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I also pulled out the pivots in that XA, I had used ones from my other unit to polish. Now these are ups next .

Look how bad this one is !!!!

REC000 by Athanasios, on Flickr

Nashou
 
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Just a quick note. the spindle in your AR will not work with a sapphire disk. The steel is not hard enough, it will bore a hole quickly and then shatter the plate. A better than good chance the tiny shards will lodge in the lead babbitt sleeve and scarf up the spindle. The AR ES-1 uses a sapphire plate with a captured tungsten carbide ball
 
Marc upgraded the cables on my AR - I'm not sure what he used - and it sounds spectacular.
I had a hum issue on my table at higher volumes. Figured it was just the cartridge. Bought some Linn phono cables from an AK member and OMG! Hum gone, and sounds spectacular. For the naysayers, YES, cables can make a difference. IMHO:cool:
 
Agree. You can “hear”when you install good cables, you can “hear” when you use better wire, you can “hear” better capacitors in the signal paths. Those who insist you can’t ... I just wonder what they enjoy about the audio hobby.

Ok, back to AR talk.
 
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