Next project, AR-XA..

[jleon92f]

Hi,

I bought a bunch of AR-XA parts a few years ago thinking of building an awesome TT. The time has come! Solid Walnut plinth!

John.

 

[jleon92f]

Anyone recognise this motor?

 

[Big Bill]

Congrats on the new AR! What arm do you intend to use with this build?

 

[bangsezmax]

Looks like a Thorens motor. Maybe from a TD-150? The 160s and 165s I've seen have brass or plastic pulleys IIRC. The AR pulley has flanges for a narrow belt.

I just did a rebuild on a stock AR XA. Put a brand new Shure M97xe on it and it sounds great. Nice little tables.

Dave at Vinyl Nirvana has a nice video of AR XA maintenance.

 

[jleon92f]

Congrats on the new AR! What arm do you intend to use with this build?

I don't know yet, need to check the budget.:scratch2: Nasty hole on the top where the old arm went.

 

[marcmorin]

Anyone recognise this motor?

That's certainly not a Haydon motor.........nor is that pulley on it made to run an AR table. You need to source the correct motor......either the original 1.5W Haydon, or the 3W Hurst (3001-001) and the correct pulley.

 

[jleon92f]

Thanks, I have a bunch of parts, somewhere.:thmbsp:
A few different ones to choose from. Most have the old (2) motor style.

 

[ranf1970]

Looking forward to seeing the finished product, like with all of your projects! :thmbsp:

 

[ddarch]

Looks like a motor from a TD-150.

I am sure you know of the AR forum at Vinyl Engine...lots of project examples there.

Dave

 

[jleon92f]

Thanks for the info..:thmbsp:

 

[jleon92f]

I put some old english on the plinth, looks nice.:thmbsp:

 

[jleon92f]

Looking forward to seeing the finished product, like with all of your projects! :thmbsp:

Thanks, I will build something different.:scratch2:

 

[jleon92f]

I need to gather all the parts and plan what to do next. I don't know if I am going with the stock arm or change the tube to a more modern one that excepts different headshells.:scratch2:

 

[Balifly]

I need to gather all the parts and plan what to do next. I don't know if I am going with the stock arm or change the tube to a more modern one that excepts different headshells.:scratch2:

 

[marcmorin]

I need to gather all the parts and plan what to do next. I don't know if I am going with the stock arm or change the tube to a more modern one that excepts different headshells.:scratch2:

I'm sending one out to Australia soon that I just converted to the bayonet
mount. The original arm needs shortened, or you'll never get proper overhang. You also have to open the armtube up a bit (diameter) to get the collar assembly in. Time consuming job, and you'll also need a very light headshell due to the increased mass of the collar assembly.

If your headshells are fine, changing out the arm to accept standard SME style headshells won't give you much if any improvement in sound. Other than you can change you null points a bit by going to 228-229mm overhang vs the 225mm the AR is set at. Does make changing carts much easier though.

More performance in that arm can be had at the other end of it. Fuse the brass barrel to the pivot collar, replace the delrin pivot cups with sapphire V jewel cups, polish the pivot pins, polish the pivot post, install a thrust plate in the arm bearing well.

 

[ZebraBlvd]

Me too, love these mod threads - gain so much info from them.

 

[jleon92f]

I'm sending one out to Australia soon that I just converted to the bayonet
mount. The original arm needs shortened, or you'll never get proper overhang. You also have to open the armtube up a bit (diameter) to get the collar assembly in. Time consuming job, and you'll also need a very light headshell due to the increased mass of the collar assembly.

If your headshells are fine, changing out the arm to accept standard SME style headshells won't give you much if any improvement in sound. Other than you can change you null points a bit by going to 228-229mm overhang vs the 225mm the AR is set at. Does make changing carts much easier though.

More performance in that arm can be had at the other end of it. Fuse the brass barrel to the pivot collar, replace the delrin pivot cups with sapphire V jewel cups, polish the pivot pins, polish the pivot post, install a thrust plate in the arm bearing well.

Thank you for all this information,someone else on AK did the tube change to a standard type. Should be interesting unless I come into some money and buy a ready made arm.LOL.

 

[marcmorin]

Thank you for all this information,someone else on AK did the tube change to a standard type. Should be interesting unless I come into some money and buy a ready made arm.LOL.

The best person to seek out for replacing the entire armtube is Steve Frosten
(AK member, as well as VE member). Regardless of that, the back end of the arm needs addressed as well. There was a thread some time ago where I walked BigBill through the "fix" on the pivot end of the arm on an XA. Once several obvious issues are corrected, the original arm updated will compete with arms of great repute. The basic arm design concepts are well thought out. It was built to a price point.

 

[beatcomber]

Once several obvious issues are corrected, the original arm updated will compete with arms of great repute. The basic arm design concepts are well thought out. It was built to a price point.

Hmm, you're making me start thinking again about tweaking my own stock AR-XA...

 

[12ax7]

...The original arm needs to be shortened, or you'll never get proper overhang. You also have to open the armtube up a bit (diameter) to get the collar assembly in. Time consuming job, and you'll also need a very light headshell due to the increased mass of the collar assembly.

The Technics arm wand swap really does address all those issues. It's just a bit shorter so that overhang is correct with the longer universal headshells. The weight and tube outer diameter are the same as the AR. I've used a wide variety of headshell/cart combinations and have never had to move the counterweight much outside the center of its range.

I agree that Steve Frost(en?) (sfrost on AK/snfrosten on VE) is the wand swap expert as well as an artist with these tables, that's where I got (stole?) the idea.

The metal thrust discs and jewel cups sound like excellent improvements. I've been pondering ball bearings and needles for the arm also.