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Restore AR turntable or purchase new one?

N

NickCastro

New Member
Hi! I need some general advice about my turntable.

I have an AR XB that was gifted to me from the original owner. It has been really amazing, but now it’s age is starting to show.
  • The RCA cables are super finicky. If I touch them, they may cause a god awful noise to come out of the speakers.
  • When I push the tone arm back in it’s holder, it creates a very slight hum while my finger is on it.
  • The springs seem to need replacing. Any time I release the tone arm or put it back, it causes the entire platter to shake. (Which I don’t think should happen.)
  • It needs a new belt but the belts from Vinyl Nirvana seem to be too small. I purchased one once and had to return it as it kept slipping of from being too tight. (I suspect this could be related to the old springs.)
My question is the following: Should I invest in restoring/upgrading this turntable, or should I get a new one? I don’t really have enough expendable income to purchase all the upgrades/replacements all at once. I also do not have any soldering experience, but I would love to learn how to solder. (I have a Marantz 2240 that I would like to learn how to maintain as well.)

In a perfect world, I would purchase a new turntable and learn how to restore my AR. However, even purchasing an upgraded tone arm is a bit unrealistic for me at the moment. I will be moving to a different state next week and feel that now is the right time for me to make a decision while everything is disassembled.

Any advice or constructive opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
 
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Dollar for dollar, money spent on the AR is a better investment than a new table. Aside from a new arm, the fixes you describe needing are very inexpensive, and pretty usual for any table of that age.

Personally I would not consider selling it unless you dislike it. It's an incredibly capable table.
 
There are a couple of members on AK here who took up the mantle of refurbishing AR tables when our guru Marc Morin passed on. They are carrying on his legacy.

There is another fellow named Steve Frosten who does some mighty nice AR updates also.

If you choose to have the table restored you can have an excellent machine. They often update these with new Linn Springs, modify and rebalance the sub chassis, can update the tone arm with a Technics arm wand so it accepts a standard head shell, service the motor and build a mass loaded pulley.

If yours has the walnut wood plinth it can be refinished, as can the top plate. Some folks get a custom base built and there are lovely examples here on AK of ones done with maple, burl walnut, leopard wood, zebra wood, and so forth.

@Audiofreak71 can perhaps post a pic of the AR XA he has that Marc did for me. He is the caretaker of this beautiful table now. It shows you what is possible.
 
AR XA's are the '55 Chevy Bel-Air or '32 Ford Coupe of the turntable world. They look good stock, mildly hot rodded or even full bore Pro Street.

I have one completely stock that i've slowly assembled parts for over the years and will soon tear it down for a rebuild. If money is tight for you now, just put it away and build it once you have more time/cash.

Your table is pushing close to 40-50 years old? These were built as simple (inexpensive) tables that anybody could afford at the time. Parts do break down with age so it sounds like yours need a refresh.


I vote for you to keep it.
 
From your post, it seems that your AR is in need of serious attention. The decision on whether or not to put the time, effort and money into yours, sending it to someone for upgrades and modification, or just getting another turntable is one only you can make. I am a bit OCD and love to tinker with things so the process of rebuilding my XA was enjoyable and not terribly difficult. After that experience, I made another one to accept an SME arm on a new plinth.
Not many people have the time or desire to do that, although many of the regulars here have done amazing work.

What I can tell you is this. A properly updated AR, even with the stock tonearm can be a wonderful turntable which will bring the music in a way that is surprising given its modest design and price. It is a great turntable, period.
 
Neither. Great design effort for the time, but highly overrated for what it is. I grew up with this table, my folks bought it. When I went to college I purchased a decent baseline belt drive and liked it a lot more.
 
Blackdog61 said:
Do you not consider the AR to be a decent baseline belt drive turntable? What did you buy?
Click to expand...
The biggest complaint I had with the AR was the motor; it barely had enough torque to turn the platter let alone allow you to clean a record. As I said it was a very good design - I just think most of these are way overpriced for the features they offer just because it says AR on the plinth. FYI I bought a mid-line Technics belt drive (1976?) when I went to college. My folks were still using the AR table.
 
I have bought quality belts for my ES-1 and EB-101 in the past from vinylnirvana.com. The proprietor has many parts for all the AR turntables including belts, pulleys, complete spring replacement kits and so forth. Every experience I have had with these folks has been pleasant with quick delivery. They have been around since 2003. No affiliation here, just a satisfied customer!
 
infullview said:
The biggest complaint I had with the AR was the motor; it barely had enough torque to turn the platter let alone allow you to clean a record. As I said it was a very good design - I just think most of these are way overpriced for the features they offer just because it says AR on the plinth. FYI I bought a mid-line Technics belt drive (1976?) when I went to college. My folks were still using the AR table.
Click to expand...

I agree with you on the motor, to a degree. It has enough torque to keep the platter spinning at a constant speed but doesn’t cause Grado cartridges to hum like the bigger Hurst motor. Most things in life involve a trade off of some sort.
With some oil, the one in my XA is running just fine. The other one I have didn’t have enough torque to keep the platter spinning so I replaced it with a Merrill motor and supply. It is quiet and has immediate power to spare.
 
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NickCastro said:
Hi! I need some general advice about my turntable.

I have an AR XB that was gifted to me from the original owner. It has been really amazing, but now it’s age is starting to show.
  • The RCA cables are super finicky. If I touch them, they may cause a god awful noise to come out of the speakers.
  • When I push the tone arm back in it’s holder, it creates a very slight hum while my finger is on it.
  • The springs seem to need replacing. Any time I release the tone arm or put it back, it causes the entire platter to shake. (Which I don’t think should happen.)
  • It needs a new belt but the belts from Vinyl Nirvana seem to be too small. I purchased one once and had to return it as it kept slipping of from being too tight. (I suspect this could be related to the old springs.)
My question is the following: Should I invest in restoring/upgrading this turntable, or should I get a new one? I don’t really have enough expendable income to purchase all the upgrades/replacements all at once. I also do not have any soldering experience, but I would love to learn how to solder. (I have a Marantz 2240 that I would like to learn how to maintain as well.)

In a perfect world, I would purchase a new turntable and learn how to restore my AR. However, even purchasing an upgraded tone arm is a bit unrealistic for me at the moment. I will be moving to a different state next week and feel that now is the right time for me to make a decision while everything is disassembled.

Any advice or constructive opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Fix up the AR. If you do it right, it’ll sound as good or better than any new table you can buy for under $500 - maybe more. Besides the sound comparison, you’ll also have a classic wood and metal table, not a new plastic-fantastic job.
 
QFT
MisterDK said:
Fix up the AR. If you do it right, it’ll sound as good or better than any new table you can buy for under $500 - maybe more. Besides the sound comparison, you’ll also have a classic wood and metal table, not a new plastic-fantastic job.
Click to expand...
 
IMHO I would highly recommend doing a full restore of your AR table , I have had mine forever 4yrs now and as I have said many times before I will never part with it despite having table that cost more than twice what I paid for it.

My XA is not at all embarrassed next to my Nottingham Ace Spacedeck with Audiomods Series 6 arm and that is saying a lot as the Nottingham is an exceptional performer and although it is more refined than the XA the XA does not give up much as price might have you believe.

I will also say imo the the XA is my art piece table it is so stunning in its looks (imo) that even while playing my Nottingham I find myself starring at the XA’s beauty. The performance of my fully Marc Morin (Rest in Peace) Modified table is mind blowing and an absolute pleasure to listen to with any record. So with that said I would fully restore it and maybe do a custom plinth if that’s your thing. Here’s mine and good luck :thumbsup:
1EFC90EF-1BC3-4475-B9B5-6501BEFF3A6D.jpeg
3676C64A-C602-42C1-9C66-78039FF1B455.jpeg
Audiofreak71
 
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trinhsman said:
IMHO, do a full restore. What you see here was about 600 dollars total, plus cost of turntable.
It hangs with my 2,000 dollar Music Hall 9.1.



View attachment 2293710 View attachment 2293711
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I'd say you got off easy at $600, depending on what's under the hood. Marc did everything he could possibly do with mine, the "full monty", except that I opted to keep the top plate stock since it was in excellent condition and I like the hammertone-like finish. Mine was a little over $800, not including dust cover and accessories, but including a new motor because the original would start cogging randomly even after Marc tried to remedy the situation. Like Audiofreak71, I will never part with mine.

20210221-114914.jpg
 
I just sold mine, and purchased a Rega Planar 3, no suspension, no plastic headshell
just sit's and play's music. I really like the ar table but it's old.
 
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