AR the Turntable - worth it?

I ran a Merrill modded AR for several years with an Audioquest (Jelco)tonearm until I got a Merrill Heirloom. I bought it new stock and had it upgraded in stages by George Merrill. It was definitely a cut above the stock AR. It was a great table. IMHO opinion the AR even in stock form is a great option for a budget TT. You can always start with a stock table and upgrade through Dave at VN in stages if you like. If you can buy one even stock in good shape for under $500 you can't go wrong. These tables have more soul to me than the lower priced offerings of Rega and Music Hall et. al.

However, I have seen and heard George Merrill's new replica table and it is outstanding. It has many properties of the Merrill Heirloom and the Merrill Scallia MS-2. It is a great bargain and worth checking out.

Schubert, I had the same experience when my friend brought his new B+O pride and joy over. A musician (Rock/Stratocaster), he always liked listening at my place and wanted to try the B+O out there. Remember, this was then the late seventies. I probably wasn't even using a "real" cartridge, not to mention no knowlege of cables, etc. Just two poor factory worker kids that were enthusiastic about music. Back then we were listening to the Dead, Return to Forever, Allman Bros, etc. He couldn't believe the difference. B+O: thin and strident, almost unlistenable compared to the AR.
So Cat, as you can see, the praise here for the good old AR is unanimous. I still scratch my head when I think of how old this thing is and what it can do.

Hifiharv, just so ! I doubt if those B&O's reproduced anything below 80hz or so.Might have disturbed the Lawrence Welk set.

I owned a Merrill modded AR -The Turntable, and thought it was a great deck. I had excellent results with a rewired RB300 tonerarm, but recall having to troll the net for a 50hz spindle to be able to play the table at correct speed here in Australia.

I love the Thorens TD160 Super available on his website...