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AR XA turntable two motors opinions

renzostudent

renzostudent

New Member
Hello everyone As they are, it has been a long time for me to write again, I hope they are well and I thank each and every one of you, because here in audiokarma I have been able to find opinions that have helped me to know the audio. On this occasion I have the opportunity to buy an AR XA of two engines, one for the starter and the other for turning the disc but the engines have lost torque and there are changed. He sells it to me for $ 100.00. Is it easy to get the engines for this model? Can I adapt a single engine from other turntables? Are they cheap to get the girdles, engines? Is it possible to adapt this two-engine ARXA to a single engine? What would I need? Thank you very much

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Replacement motors for the two-motor model are hard to come by. Basically, you watch for them on eBay). AR used to have an kit you could order to retrofit the two motor table to single motor (motor, adapter plate, pulley, screws), but that's going to be even harder to get.

If both motors are turning, odds are their torque is ok and what the table really needs is new belts.
 
That's a drop-in replacement for the single motor turntable. In order to fit that to a two motor table, you would need the motor/pulley combo, an adapter for the different mounting holes and a motor capacitor (the two motor table doesn't have a motor cap).
 
gkimeng said:
That's a drop-in replacement for the single motor turntable. In order to fit that to a two motor table, you would need the motor/pulley combo, an adapter for the different mounting holes and a motor capacitor (the two motor table doesn't have a motor cap).
Click to expand...

The second motor was used to "coax" the first motor's direction.......
 
You can replace the double motor with the single motor - the second motor's function was simply to make the real motor turn in the right direction as WaynerN posted. I can't imagine that two motors would be quieter than one motor, so it might be an improvement.
I see you have the very early model, with the extruded metal sub chassis and nylon (or other plastic) bearings. Do not tighten the screws that hold the bearings to the subchassis super tight - the plastic will deform a bit and may squeeze inward, creating friction against the platter shaft or the tonearm shaft.
 
Here's what you need to change a two-motor table to single motor:

Motor, of course
New pulley (the two motors were 600rpm, the single motor is 300 rpm
Adapter plate (the motors have different mounting patterns), or if you have the tools, you can drill and tap the top deck
Motor capacitor, 0.1MFD 600V (the two motor table does not use a motor cap)

Here's the schematic for wiring a single motor. Be sure to compare the wiring diagram of the new motor to the schematic before hooking up, because the wire colors on the new motor may not be the same.

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BTW, the early model the OP has doesn't have an extruded subchassis. It's stamped sheet metal.
 
Hmm - I guess you are right. I thought the one I had was extruded, but it was very long ago, and certainly the pictures of the table in question look stamped. It's implausible that, in the relatively short time AR made that style that there would be two different types, so stamped it is.
 
Well the standard all metal one piece ones look diecast to me, but the earlier fabricated ones with the nylon/delrin/whatever plastic bearing wells weren't diecast.
 
SEVEN years after this posting I have a 2 motor in the shop.
One is a 2 wire SYNCRON and the Other , a hansen E-22587
The SYNCRON runs the flat belt and the E-22587 runs the square belt ( right direction motor)
They REALLY dont have the torque to properly move the platter. Flat belt is taught and clean . Pulley belt is new ( 8.0 x 0.04)
THere's also NO 2nd capacitor in the circuit like the single motor system.
I'm thinking : Buy a NEW single motor and dump the extra stuff
 
I believe it is fairly common for belt drive tables to take a little while to get up to speed. Motors that have enough torque to start fast tend to be be bigger and noisier than the quietest motors. So many people give the platter a nudge to help it get going - I did this with the massive Micro Seiki FV 1500 I had - and the Connoisseur BD 2 (an unpromising looking but surprisingly good sounding table) made it automatic by using a little levered pad to kickstart the platter when you turned it to turn the motor on. And some turntables, including the single motor AR (and, I believe, at least the original Linn), suggested shaking the belt in a bag of talc before installing it - the talc allowed the pulley to slip on the belt until the platter got up to speed, so the motor wasn't over stressed.
Assuming you have cleaned the main bearing and relubricated with appropriate viscosity oil (I seem to remember non detergent 30 weight), if you really can't stand giving it a nudge than I guess replacing the motor might make sense. I wouldn't argue with success, but clearly you don't view the current situation as success. I believe drop in new motors are available, but if not, it might be a project. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on your tastes.
 
Nat said:
I believe it is fairly common for belt drive tables to take a little while to get up to speed. Motors that have enough torque to start fast tend to be be bigger and noisier than the quietest motors. So many people give the platter a nudge to help it get going - I did this with the massive Micro Seiki FV 1500 I had - and the Connoisseur BD 2 (an unpromising looking but surprisingly good sounding table) made it automatic by using a little levered pad to kickstart the platter when you turned it to turn the motor on. And some turntables, including the single motor AR (and, I believe, at least the original Linn), suggested shaking the belt in a bag of talc before installing it - the talc allowed the pulley to slip on the belt until the platter got up to speed, so the motor wasn't over stressed.
Assuming you have cleaned the main bearing and relubricated with appropriate viscosity oil (I seem to remember non detergent 30 weight), if you really can't stand giving it a nudge than I guess replacing the motor might make sense. I wouldn't argue with success, but clearly you don't view the current situation as success. I believe drop in new motors are available, but if not, it might be a project. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on your tastes.
Click to expand...
The talc on the belt also helps it release from the platter more smoothly. If you watch a belt without talc it will get stuck and "flap" off the platter. Definitely smooths out some of the speed variation while playing.
 
Transporting myself back to the '60s, I suspect AR got feedback about their original turntables sometimes starting backwards. (C'mon, people, how hard could a push in the right direction have been.) So they came out with the starter motor. I suspect more of a marketing decision and probably expensive and against the engineers best judgement.
The only two- to one-motor modification necessary is remove the wires to the starter motor.
 
Good morning everyone. I have an old AR XA that has the two motor set up and the motor noise has gotten loud. I purchased a Hurst 3001-001 which is shown as 3w at 60hz. When it comes to mounting it, which location does it go in? If I recall correctly it is placed where the aluminum colored motor sits. Of course both of the old motors will be removed and the new motor does have a .25mdf cap rated to 400v.

If you have a suggested wiring diagram that would be great
 

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