All of them need the subchassis serviced along with the subplatter spindle refinished, as there was a poor finish from the factory, and there will be a wear pattern on the thrust ball end. the thrust plate will have this same wear pattern, and it will be dished and deformed. The foam that remains at the top of the main well needs removed, the parts of that that is missing is somewhat embedded in the lead bearing well sleeve. it needs floated out and that well surface refinished without removing the lead babbitt. often times the subchassis needs straightened. The sub platter often times needs re balanced. The original springs are glued to the subchassis. that needs to go. the lower rubber spring grommets will show an off-center pattern due to spring spine, that needs corrected The arm design is neutral balance type, however the vertical bearing, if you can call it that is poor. Once rebuilt properly the arm will perform quite well. It can be modified to the "SME" type H/S mounting to allow any type of cartridge to be used, and any alignment chosen, original is overhang only that was rec'd at 15mm, not many of today's carts will allow the arm to be adjusted that far in. 16.5mm is better setting. Depending on which motor this has, the haydon motor can be made quiet(er), the premotec motor, nothing can be done about it and it will always be intrusive into the music. The pulley needs the surface cleaned, replacement belts can't be any wider that .140"
Again, I ask...................what bangs on it during play?...........................how does adding material to the outside of metal prevent sound traveling longitudinally through it? I'll answer both questions
There are lots of ideas out there on dampening things. With that said, when it comes to AR turntables, Marc is the Jedi Master. My XA can hang with my reference Music Hall 9.1 with the 9.3 motor upgrade. I don’t know of many people out there that can do that with the AR table, except for Mark. IMHO.
