I just picked one (77XB) up recently with a similar symptom as yours. On mine, giving the platter a manual spin to help it reach 33.33 rpm works. I did replace the cap, but it made no difference. A full motor rebuild is in the future. For now, I put an M91ED body and got a NSS elliptical N91ED from LP Gear. It sounds glorious after some lube of the bearings (arm and platter) adjustment of the suspension, and dialing in the cartridge alignment. Mijostyn is very knowledgeable but I differ on this point…much stylus wear comes from insufficient tracking force to maintain groove wall contact in the misguided pursuit of low VTF. Using the upper end of the recommended range is the simple solution for most non-SOTA arms used by most people. I realize some A-Goners do have SOTA rigs with superb precision arms, but that was Villchur’s view and I haven’t seen it disproven. No one is comparing an XA or XB to gigabuck tonearms, it was meant to be affordable high fidelity and in that context is one of the greatest inventions of its time.
AR-XB. Is it worth a new motor?
I recently purchased an AR-XB for $200 from a gentleman who was selling it for an estate of the original owner. It looked great. I did everything but plug it in as he assured me it only needed a new belt. When I got home, the motor would not turn, although I could feel it humming under my finger. Unfortunately, I bought the tt in Pittsburgh while visiting my son. I hand carried it in its original box as a carry on back to Washington state. My question is, should I bite the bullet for a new $200 motor from Vinyl Nirvana, or chalk it up to experience and move on? Now I know some of you would spend more than that on the wiring for the tonearm, but that's a bit of money for my habit given my finances. The rest of the system is Mac 2100, Mac C26, Acoustat Spectra 1100, Audiolab 6000cdt, Audiolab M+DAC, MIT interconnects. Jazz, acoustic, bluegrass, Americana and vintage rock are what I listen to. Oh, and I have brandy new Ortofon Super OM 20 I was going to use. My back-up table is a Sony PS-LX5.