How does the AR turntable stand up?

munk

I'm getting my Dad's old AR turntable- the same one I grew up with.

How well does the AR turntable stack up to the competition?

I have a Linn Axis. I don't think you could persuade me to put it in storage.


thanks
munk

HB27

The old AR ax are a killer turntable even by todays standards.
Check out the cap underneath and the arm wiring. It's about the only thing that goes wrong with them.
Excellent sound quality from the vintage AR tables. Well worth freshening up and are a #1 system table.

mhardy6647

They were, and still are, something to be reckoned with.
The arm is a bit crude, but effective. The suspended-subchassis design influenced tt design for decades (yes, including the Linn LP-12). There are many tweaks and "upgrades" (DIY and storebought).

Besides the original AR turntable/AR-XA/AR-XB, there were other, later AR tts of some significant repute, too.

BlueFox

Fond memories. I had one of them in the 70s and early 80s, and people could not believe how good it sounded with a Shure cartridge. The drawback was it is completely manual. You need to pick the arm up and place on the record, and pick it up at the ned of the record. But it sounded great.

munk

I've got to replace the cartridge on the Linn and will examine the AR's. I doubt dad changed it from the one I had installed in the early 70's- I broke it, I had to pay to have it fixed. Good lesson. Anyway, he hasn't played it much. The diamond is still good, though I wonder if there's anything in a cartridge that could go bad?

Any suggestions for replacement styluses for AR and Linn Axis?

madmax

BlueFox wrote: »

The drawback was it is completely manual. You need to pick the arm up and place on the record, and pick it up at the ned of the record.

Thats audiophilism, not a drawback.

munk

You sure know if your hand is steady, I remember well.

BlueFox

I remember one night I "fell asleep" listening to a Canned Heat album. A few hours later when I woke up I was hearing "Boogie, boogie, boogie, boogie" over and over. After my initial WTF, I realized the AR turntable was going, and the arm was at the end of the record. "Boogie" was Canned Heat's trademark word, and they recorded it in the end of the album track.

Roy Munson

munk wrote: »

I've got to replace the cartridge on the Linn and will examine the AR's. I doubt dad changed it from the one I had installed in the early 70's- I broke it, I had to pay to have it fixed. Good lesson. Anyway, he hasn't played it much. The diamond is still good, though I wonder if there's anything in a cartridge that could go bad?

Any suggestions for replacement styluses for AR and Linn Axis?

If your cartridge is a Shure V15III this stylus is superb! A little pricey but worth it.

http://stylus.export-japan.com/product_info.php?products_id=1045

Replacement styli for Shure V15 cartridges are no longer made by Shure.

George Grand

I had an XA with a stock arm and V15 Type III. I had a lot of Pickerings, Stantons, and a few A-T's, but nothing sounded near as good as that Shure.

TroyD

Great table....if you have one that works and the arm isn't all jacked up, no real need to look further, unless you want to spend a LOT of money.

BDT

doctor r

munk wrote: »

The diamond is still good, though I wonder if there's anything in a cartridge that could go bad?

The actual suspension of the cantilever can dry out and harden over time. If this is a Shure cartridge a user replaceable sylus should be avaliable.

Roy Munson

As mentioned above there were several different models of AR tables and imo they were all good sounding tables. The most common are the AR-XA and the AR-XB, there's also a couple of other models that are very nice! I have an old AR-XB that I bought in the middle 70's that still does a great job of playing lp's. You'd have to spend quite a bit to get a new table that sounds as good or better.

TroyD

The later AR tables (Teledyne) have always intrigued me.....same concept only rigged for different arms. There is one on the 'gon with an Rega RB 250 arm that if I weren't here would probably be mine.

BDT

zeppage2

http://www.vinylnirvana.com/index.shtml

munk

The AR turntable has ARRIVED, And Guess What?

Someone took the entire cartridge and stylus off the machine. Gone. I know Dad played it several months ago. Since then, there's been nurses in the home, realtors, clients, etc etc. Now dad has passed away, and I have the turntable that introduced me to great sound, and it's had thieving hands all over it.
In Tucson there's a record store that caters to the lp crowd. I'm thinking a nice shure cartridge for an AR turntable might net them 50 bucks over the counter....

I hate thieves.

hearingimpared

Brad that AR table is a real gem. Get a good MC cartridge and be done with it.

munk

I only have a couple hundred albums, and already own a Linn Axis. Yeah, I'll probably do it. Dad may have packed the cartridge away, intending to move to his retirement village, and it's been lost.

So, I have to buy mc and not the magnet?

I have his records- and the original english pressing of Abbey Road, (my album in his collection for some reason) There's opera and various signature classical recordings, A little nest of happiness, even though water damage has injured some of the record jackets- no resale, but that's cool.

example- clothebound Beethoven (all) 9 symphonies, Bruno Walter.

Some of the records are missing. They had the rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar- gone. Broadway cast recording of Hair, gone. I don't know how the thieves missed Abbey Road.

There's showtunes, Porgy and Bess, famous operas with long dead singers, albums warning you to play this on stereophonic equipment, "full range" not mono.....

There are two little AR speakers (215 PS) for surround, it looks like, and his old AR2's.

There's a Dennon surround deck that's 85 watts a channel. A VHS player, a VHS Hi Fi player, a DVD player,

Even though we didn't get along in his last year, I miss Dad. I can't even tell him about my new Polk RTi A9's and getting a carver 1.5t. He was convinced his old AR's were the best speakers in the world....


I'm going to have my Carver 2000 repaired. I'm not sure the carver 1.5 sounds as good as it did. I think it's very similar to the m400t


Dad will never hear them now.

jon s

Moving Coil cartridges are low output and usually require a step-up transformer in order to generate enough voltage for a pre-amp (unless your phono input has a MC option). Another issue is that MC tend to be heavier than MM, and mass tends to be a problem with a lot of tonearms. The advantage of MC is that they usually offer a smoother sound than MM, albeit their dynamics can be affected due to the added mass on the stylus.

messiah

munk wrote: »

I only have a couple hundred albums, and already own a Linn Axis. Yeah, I'll probably do it. Dad may have packed the cartridge away, intending to move to his retirement village, and it's been lost.

So, I have to buy mc and not the magnet?

I have his records- and the original english pressing of Abbey Road, (my album in his collection for some reason) There's opera and various signature classical recordings, A little nest of happiness, even though water damage has injured some of the record jackets- no resale, but that's cool.

example- clothebound Beethoven (all) 9 symphonies, Bruno Walter.

Some of the records are missing. They had the rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar- gone. Broadway cast recording of Hair, gone. I don't know how the thieves missed Abbey Road.

There's showtunes, Porgy and Bess, famous operas with long dead singers, albums warning you to play this on stereophonic equipment, "full range" not mono.....

There are two little AR speakers (215 PS) for surround, it looks like, and his old AR2's.

There's a Dennon surround deck that's 85 watts a channel. A VHS player, a VHS Hi Fi player, a DVD player,

Even though we didn't get along in his last year, I miss Dad. I can't even tell him about my new Polk RTi A9's and getting a carver 1.5t. He was convinced his old AR's were the best speakers in the world....


I'm going to have my Carver 2000 repaired. I'm not sure the carver 1.5 sounds as good as it did. I think it's very similar to the m400t


Dad will never hear them now.

He's passed on parts of his audio journey to you now. Keep the TT, repair it, and play it now and again. It will bring back fond memories for you, and maybe, just maybe, he might be listening in to hear what your rig sounds like now that yours and his have merged.

munk

That's a kind thought.

My parents loved music. I was brought up on broadway showtunes, classical, opera, and my mother dancing in the livingroom.

messiah

bghgm

hearingimpared

jon s wrote: »

Moving Coil cartridges are low output and usually require a step-up transformer in order to generate enough voltage for a pre-amp (unless your phono input has a MC option). Another issue is that MC tend to be heavier than MM, and mass tends to be a problem with a lot of tonearms. The advantage of MC is that they usually offer a smoother sound than MM, albeit their dynamics can be affected due to the added mass on the stylus.

There are dozens of high output moving coil cartridges availible that can be played through an MM phono pre. The only problem is that of loading as MM phono pre typically offer one setting 47k ohms.

All cartridges, MC, MM, MI need to be matched with the tonearm they are going to be mounted. I found MMs to be more on the lush side and MC more on the detailed side but there are exceptions.

munk

The carver reciever has a input for both. So does the sunfire- just checked. I'll probably stay with mm. It's cheaper.