Ancient AR Turntable with NO anti skate

To replace the AR XA/B tonearm requires some machining. I took my floating subchassis to a machine shop and had them cut out the bearing well, leaving a hole in the chassis big enough for a tone arm mount. The table is a fine design, the arm not so much.

My first 'real' TT was an AR....simple, straightforward, the only thing it lacked was a 'lift' mechanism, since nimble fingers sometimes aren't...*G*

Anti-skate is a very subjective issue...some notice it, others don't.  I addressed it by going into tangential arms of various stripes.  But that was my response.

If you like it, keep it.  Don't let the means spoil the enjoyment of the music.... ;) 

bdp24,

I did the same thing with my Dual 1229 when I replaced the original tonearm with the Grace 747, only I did the machine work. 

The AR tonearm is crude, but I have to admit it sounds good.  Obviously many others felt the same way.  I was reading that it out-sold every other turntable for a decade by a 3-1 margin. 

Norman

asvjerry

If you like it, keep it.  Don't let the means spoil the enjoyment of the music.... ;)

Well said.  I don't remember many quality tangential tonearms in the 70's.  Rabco?  Phase Linear had a sweet arm on it's 8000 turntable which I believe was built by Pioneer or Series ONE for the Japan market. In any event, it was a superb arm.

Norman

Norman,

I believe you are correct the Rabco was the first accessory (separate component) tangental arm.  But by the late '70s several Japanese companies offered tables with tangental arms.  I had one of the Pioneer units (picked up in Japan by a Navy buddy) which was nearly the same as the Phase Linear version sold in the US.

Bruce Thigpen worked for Maplenoll, designing their air-bearing tangental arm prior to starting his own company, Eminent Technology, in 1982.  The first ET product was an improved version of that arm.  During the '80s Souther and other companies also introduced tangental tracking arms.

Back to the AR, VTF was not the only adjustment with that arm.  There is a set-screw on the underside to adjust arm length for stylus overhang.  However offset is fixed because headshell slots are not provided.