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Replacement Motor for AR-XA Turntable

Treker

Treker

Super Member
I have a modded AR-XA Turntable with a Haydon motor that is noisy and is no longer responding to the addition of lubrication oil, so I'm in need of a new motor. What's the recommended replacement motor these days? I see that Dave from Vinylnirvana.com has a low voltage replacement motor for the AR - The Turntable, but in his eBay ad he says it's not suitable for use on an AR-XA. So I'm curious if anyone has used this motor on an AR-XA, and if so, what modifications had to be done to make it work?
 
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Same mod as if you were going to use a Hurst 3000-001 motor, drill two new holes for the wider flanges and add a 1/8” spacer between the motor and top plate. Reason for the spacer is the motor shaft is 1/8” taller on the Hurst motor than the Haydon motor shaft.
 
sfrost said:
Same mod as if you were going to use a Hurst 3000-001 motor, drill two new holes for the wider flanges and add a 1/8” spacer between the motor and top plate. Reason for the spacer is the motor shaft is 1/8” taller on the Hurst motor than the Haydon motor shaft.
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That's kinda what I figured as far as mounting, but what about the pully? Will the one from the Haydon motor work or will I need one of Dave's new copolymer pulleys as well?
 
sfrost said:
Either will work
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Thanks! Now to decide which motor to go with. The more expensive low voltage model with a wall wort transformer that Dave sells or the less expensive Hurst 3001-001 that runs at normal line voltage. Is there any consensus these days as to which option sounds better? And what about the GEM Dandy AR upgrade motor? Is that still a good option? I see it still shows as available for order on the hifigem.com website, and it's about the same price as the motor the Dave sells.
 
I have an older version of the Merrill motor spinning the delrin pulley and prefer it to the Hurst motor. One issue with the Hurst is hum when using Grado carts which may not be relevant to you. Wish I could give you better advice but my motor is over twenty years old and I don’t know if it’s apples and oranges or kiwis.
 
Blackdog61 said:
I have an older version of the Merrill motor spinning the delrin pulley and prefer it to the Hurst motor. One issue with the Hurst is hum when using Grado carts which may not be relevant to you. Wish I could give you better advice but my motor is over twenty years old and I don’t know if it’s apples and oranges or kiwis.
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I don't currently own any Grado carts, buy I have wanted to try them, so it might be a better long term upgrade path to go with either the Merrill GEM Dandy motor or the one Dave at Vinylnirvana.com sells. Being that they are about the same price, is there really much of a difference performance wise between the two that would indicate the choice of one over the other?
 
Blackdog61 said:
I can’t say. Although I think Dave was selling the same one as George, I don’t see one on his site. I recommend the delrin pulley upgrade.
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Yeah, I'm not finding it on his website either, but it is still available in his eBay store. That and the delrin pulley.
 
Blackdog61 said:
I have an older version of the Merrill motor spinning the delrin pulley and prefer it to the Hurst motor. One issue with the Hurst is hum when using Grado carts which may not be relevant to you. Wish I could give you better advice but my motor is over twenty years old and I don’t know if it’s apples and oranges or kiwis.
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I had hum with my Grado cartridge until I replaced my interconnects. Once I put the Linn Black phono cable in the mix, the hum went away. Just my experience.
 
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I don’t think the smaller Hayden motor generally hums with Grados. The Hurst hummed loudly near the end of the LP with all the Grados I used on that table. Other than that, it’s a fine motor.
 
The Haydon motor is low torque motor and it does not have a strong magnetic field around it. It does cause a light hum with Grado's, but its only noticeable when the volume is turned way up and the arm is not in the groove. I run a wood bodied Grado on my AR-XA. There can be many complications getting the haydon motor pulley onto the shaft of the Hurst. Thank God I had a buddy that has a nice set of reamers. Anyway, the Hurst ended up in one of my home-built tables. The best replacement motor for the AR is another Haydon.......
 
I had a Grado Black on a two-motor table I put together from my parts box a few years ago. If I moved the tonearm all the way into the label area of a record I could get it to hum a little bit. No idea which of the two motors was causing it, my guess it was the larger starter motor.
 
Interesting... and good information. Thanks for sharing everyone. But I'm curious, do the low voltage motors that George Merrill and Dave at vinylnirvana.com sell cause a hum with the Grado carts? And what exactly is causing the Grado's to hum? A stronger magnetic field produced by the Hurst motors?
 
As a Thorens owner I'm envious that there appear to be several motor options for you AR folks! That is really great.

I've looked at my Thorens a few times and thought that if the motor(s) crap out it'll be a real headache. There is a vendor on the bay selling (I think) NOS Thorens motors but they are very expensive, and there are also the Origin Live DC motors, but they cost even more. Hopefully the originals will run until my ears don't work anymore!

Sorry to slightly derail the original topic, but thought I'd note that's another positive mark for AR machines.
 
DavidTT said:
As a Thorens owner I'm envious that there appear to be several motor options for you AR folks! That is really great.

I've looked at my Thorens a few times and thought that if the motor(s) crap out it'll be a real headache. There is a vendor on the bay selling (I think) NOS Thorens motors but they are very expensive, and there are also the Origin Live DC motors, but they cost even more. Hopefully the originals will run until my ears don't work anymore!

Sorry to slightly derail the original topic, but thought I'd note that's another positive mark for AR machines.
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I have two AR-XAs, and a Thorens TD-160. Thankfully the motor still works in the Thorens, but it has had the lower bushing mod to help deal with the tic, tic, tic, that are common on these motors. But yeah, options are good.
 
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