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Fix up my old AR or get a new table?

I bought an AR turntable back when they were riding high in the 80s as a great budget table. I still have it, and it still works, but (contrary to the predicted end of vinyl) there have been quite a few advancements in analog design over the last 20 years, so I'm wondering how the old workhorse holds up to some of the newer budget tables. Is it worth holding on to the AR and maybe look at a new arm and cart, or have budget tables gotten so much better that I should just start fresh? If the advice is to find something new I'd like to stay in the 1500-2000 range for the whole thing (table, arm, cart). Or would I be better off investing that money in just a very good arm and cart?
tonyptony
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,671 posts
 
Check this site out.

http://www.vinylnirvana.com/
tonyptony OP
617 posts
 
Wow! Thanks Dekay. I'll give this site a good going over before I jump to any hasty decisions.
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,671 posts
 
Also, if you have not done so, search "AR" in the Vinyl Forum @ audioasylum.com. There is a lot of pertinent info contained in the archives. You can ID/research the arm as well.

I recall "Merril" modifications being popular with the AR decks (might be worth researching). Think Merril was a person/company.
tonyptony OP
617 posts
 
I've found a bit or two on AudioAsylum tonight; I'll keep looking. Yes, Merrill offered a bunch of mods to the AR tables. Like an idiot I didn't buy any of them at the time. Merrill stopped offering those mods a while ago. Well, the only excuse I have is that back then I really didn't have the money to throw around. There's a fellow listed on the Vinyl Nirvana site that seems to have taken over (in spirit) for Merrill.
larkyparka
23 posts
 
I would tune up the old AR and save up for something a notch above "budget".

As you can see from the Vinyl Nirvana site, there's a lot you can do to your AR to bump up its performance, depending on how handy you are.

I once gave away an AR turntable, and I still regret doing so.
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