I don't know about some of the other AR models, but I've owned an ES-1 with an MMT arm for about 9-10 years and it's worked flawlessly and still looks new. It's got the 3 point suspended chassis. Once in a while you will see one advertized at Audiogon.
AR Turntables as a starter table?
I'm just starting to put together a system and I am afraid I've already made a mistake buying an old Krell CD DSP. I will not be purchasing my "dream table" for a while but I was wondering what some of you vets. think of the old AR turntables? They seem to have some of the "nice" features found on newer tables. Three point suspension for example. Ebay always seems to have the EB101, TA, and XA's available at (fair?) prices. I guess my two questions would be, are they good starter tables, and if so, which models are the better ones? Thanks in advance. Bart Dickens