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Fix up my old AR or get a new table?

I bought an AR turntable back when they were riding high in the 80s as a great budget table. I still have it, and it still works, but (contrary to the predicted end of vinyl) there have been quite a few advancements in analog design over the last 20 years, so I'm wondering how the old workhorse holds up to some of the newer budget tables. Is it worth holding on to the AR and maybe look at a new arm and cart, or have budget tables gotten so much better that I should just start fresh? If the advice is to find something new I'd like to stay in the 1500-2000 range for the whole thing (table, arm, cart). Or would I be better off investing that money in just a very good arm and cart?
tonyptony

Showing 2 responses by 76doublebass

76doublebass's avatar
76doublebass
254 posts
 
the acrylic platter opened up the top end,but the outer ring clamp semmed to help the most.The clamp really stabilized the sound field and locked it in with precision.The Rel Cap replacement was the original value
that I has on my machine.
76doublebass's avatar
76doublebass
254 posts
 
I had the original AR Table many years ago and got all the full blown mods on it from George Merrill at the time.Then I thought vinyl was dead and I sold it for almost nothing,to this day I kick myself in the pants over this.
I had the new motor that would not hum,new platter acrylic,new outer ring clamp something simmiliar to VPI's that cost $500.00 by itself,new suspension ,also 1 inch cutout for the arm you specifically requested for the table.
The cutout was integrated with the subchassic,Your spindal was sent to them to get remachined to perfectly fit into the platter and would take a few hours to fully seat into your table once you got it back from George.I also rewired all the wires under the table with Kimber Silver and this opened things up even more,and I replaced the .22 600V cap with a Rel Cap and it still improved the sound.Oh well in life you win and you strike out.I'm back to a VPI MK3 Table now with no turning back Good Luck on your Quest..
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