A little off the topic, I think the AR was the best budget table ever
designed, and the Merrill mods made it into a machine competitive with
the overpriced and arrogantly vended Linn Sondek. Since Merrill is out
of business and I'm not buying anything with a certain competitive
'alternative' logo-I mean, they can do what they want, but not in MY
living room!-I can't recommend buying an AR anymore. But I'm
disappointed no one makes a relatively inexpensive table with the
salient AR/Sondek features, to wit, the three point suspension, and a
choice of AC or DC motor which are silent and magneticaly inoffensive.
With the AC motor you can build a variable freq supply to drive the
table at 78 on the 45 rpm pulley, say, or use the 33 for 45. DC motors
offer variable speed at the price of using a PLL. (A 3 phase high
cycle motor, of course, would be probably the best.)

wrote in message
ups.com...
A little off the topic, I think the AR was the best budget table ever
designed, and the Merrill mods made it into a machine competitive with
the overpriced and arrogantly vended Linn Sondek.

But IMO, the suspension is one reason I don't like turntables like the AR,
at least in the cheaper price range. I was never happy with mine. Now my
brother's SOTA is another matter, but also an order of magnitude more
expensive.