Back to basics....

AR XA : Back to basics....

I just took delivery of a Marc Morin Modified AR XA [thanks Joon]. It was one of Marc's personal tables. I must say this table was a big surprise! Very musical mated up with my DL-110. This is one vintage table that I intend to keep
The simple design and now with the mods, it is pretty elegant too. The only thing I cant get past is the dog ugly stock head-shell but it is part of it's history so it stays.

In simple terms it sets a nice soundstage and I am quite pleased

That's a beauty!! Got one done by Marc myself - just waiting for AVFan to finish my new walnut base so I can put it all together. Enjoy it!

ScaleAutoArt said:

I just took delivery of a Marc Morin Modified AR XA [thanks Joon]. It was one of Marc's personal tables. I must say this table was a big surprise! Very musical mated up with my DL-110. This is one vintage table that I intend to keep
The simple design and now with the mods, it is pretty elegant too. The only thing I cant get past is the dog ugly stock head-shell but it is part of it's history so it stays.

In simple terms it sets a nice soundstage and I am quite pleased

Click to expand...

Awesome. I have read lots of threads that recommend older Grado cartridge bodies with the current 8MZ or MCZ stylus on that upgraded AR tone arm.

How does the sound compare to your modern table (understanding the cartridge are different).

The Grado carts perform very well in this arm, or the arm allows Grado carts to perform very well. The only draw back is the Haydon motor is not a shielded one. I've added a sheild to my current XA around the motor. If the OP thinks the headshell is dog-ugly....errr....ummm.....but the plinth hides that. :yes:

The arm tube can be swapped out for a bayonet type tube. There is no sonic advantage I've heard, but cart swapping and different alignments are much easier.

That XA was my "project, product test" table, and the wife thought it needed a new home after a while. She prefers the ES-1 which wasn't getting much play while that was here. After a few weeks she decided that we needed an XA again.

Glad you're enjoying the table. Some pretty simple solutions will push the XA/XB performance up with tables the average working man can afford.

The Denon DL-110 shines on this table...dumb luck it works almost flawlessly right away with no fine tuning?...don't know for sure but this table sounds pretty good to my ears. I plan to do some more listening over the next few weeks before I compare it to the other tables I have or had.

ScaleAutoArt said:

The Denon DL-110 shines on this table...dumb luck it works almost flawlessly right away with no fine tuning?...don't know for sure but this table sounds pretty good to my ears. I plan to do some more listening over the next few weeks before I compare it to the other tables I have or had.

Click to expand...

And if it doesn't, I can fix that :thmbsp:

marcmorin said:

And if it doesn't, I can fix that :thmbsp:

Click to expand...

Well....to be honest, it is in the place my Simplex occupied just yesterday. I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing, which has me thinking I may have to tweak the Simplex set up some more, or try it with the DL-110. The 10 x 5 is a nice cart but has about 300+ hours on it now.

What I am hearing is a bit more dynamic [not unusual because the simplex is more "fluid"], drums sound more realistic, voices more dynamic and the sound stage appears more centered to me. The Simplex sounds more defined left/right if that makes sense.

I am throwing these impressions out here to see if anyone thinks it may be the cart or the table. The DL-110 and 10x5 were similar in presentation on the Scout I had so I think it's the table in this case. I think testing the 10x5 on the AR will tell me more.

PS...I have the DL-110 weight installed which is putting cart tail down...yet it sounds good. Goes against logic.