Acoustic Research XA

[DSJR]

For £32 you have a potential bargain here I reckon.

Get the bearing oiled with whatever is recommended and try for a replacement headshell. The mat isn't original either but may be better than the foam one originally supplied. A NAS Spacemat is cheap and worth a try, as is the thinner Rega woolly mat for the P3 possibly.

Get this thing cleaned up and working again and you'll be very surprised how good it can be.

By the way, the other reason for using a fairly low downforce cartridge is that it minimises slowing under (musical) load - something that upsets the lovers of high-torque idler and good direct driven decks.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Cracking bargain for 20 quid mate.
You'd be looking at 70-80 for a cuckoo clock.

[myles]

Im a sucker for cheap turntables at the mo. I originally had (still have) a Kenwood Trio KD1033 which I thought was ok, its the PL 12D competitor. Last week I bought a Pro-Ject Debut II for £30 which I had to do a tonearm rewire on. I like this deck. Well, that wasn't enough, I bought a Pro-Ject 1.2 for £30.99, which has a better arm, platter and a plinth which I haven't seen before on a Pro-Ject. I will set this one up in a bit, when I get the motivation, o few too many vodkas/rums last night! Now I need to be getting rid of a couple!

What is a cuckoo clock by the way?

[DSJR]

The Pro-ject II was a better regarded turntable than the Rega 3 prior to the later motor mods in the P3/2000 version, with a good solid plinth, balanced platter and good quality arm, if not as exalted as the RB300.

The current bargains in the springy rubber band drive department are the AR EB101 and well kept AR Legends (later ones with close fitting bearing). The latter, if on song, is more like a PT than a Linn and far better for it IMO!

[Beechwoods]

What is a cuckoo clock by the way?

I assume it's an endearing reference to Lenco, seeing as they're Swiss made, and the price is right

[myles]

The tonearm looks like the 8.6c, but I think its an alloy arm. The plinth looks like solid wood with a black thin veneer on top, unlike the cheaper MDF plinth. All in all, not a bad deck. Has an Ortofon 510, but I have an OM10 on the Debut, so I may swap them about.

[DSJR]

The 510 supposedly had a slightly lower compliance to suit more recent arm designs. The OM10 really ought to be turned into an OM20, but styli are £75 or so these days, which is far too high IMO and around the same as the new series "Red" I believe.

Don't be tempted by a VMS20e. These sell for silly money on fleabay and really shouldn't, as they sound thick and clogged today. The VMS30 and M20FL aren't much better either.

The one thing I dislike about the current Ortofon mm's is that for a couple of quid each step in factory cost, they can double the retail price of each successive model up to £320 or so for the top one in the range. Rega used to buy their cantilevers in with diamonds ready fitted (from Switzerland I think) and showed us how few quid extra it was for a better diamond profile...

Cuckoo Clock? £70 - £80 normally gets you a Swiss made TD150 or 160 these days doesn't it?

[Beechwoods]

Cuckoo Clock? £70 - £80 normally gets you a Swiss made TD150 or 160 these days doesn't it?

Hmm. Thorens. Yes, they fit the bill too The 150 fits that price range. I think you'll need to be looking at over a ton for a 160 these days. Maybe double for one with a half decent arm and headshell

[DSJR]

The TD125 I bought before Christmas has doubled in value since then. I really ought to give it some use before selling it on..

[The Grand Wazoo]

A TD 160 with a bog std arm on a weekday gets ~ 60-70 on Ebay - if you're patient (& lucky!)
Sorry, I'm tiling a floor at the mo'!!