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Blind test to try for yourself immediately: $ 78 turntable against $ 500,000 turntable

totti1965

totti1965

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Just took the A B test ....... And my vote went with a majority.....
But I wasn't blind anymore because I watched a YouTube video beforehand where the result was revealed....

You have the chance to take the test blind and unbiased!

All you need is the following:

A smartphone,
A pair of headphones / in-ear headphones connected to it
A finger that clicks on the blue link
Turntable A
or
Turntable B.....

It worked immediately for me......
The file is in high resolution. No problem for Chrome!
Fun fact: I last listened to the track on Thursday evening with a friend here at home via the HobbyHifi WaveMon 182/22!!!!



After the A / B comparison, nothing is the same anymore. You will lose your faith!







And my German Text:


Habe eben den A B Test gemacht ……. Und mein vote ging mit der Mehrheit…..
Ich war aber nicht mehr blind, weil ich mir vorher ein YouTube Video angesehen habe, in dem das Ergebnis verraten wurde….

Ihr habt die Chance, den Test blind und unvoreingenommen zu machen!

Ihr Braucht nur folgendes:

Ein Smartphone,
Ein damit verbundener Kopfhörer / In Ear Hörer
Einen Finger der auf Link Turntable A oder Turntable B klickt…..

Bei mir hat es sofort geklappt……
Das File ist hochauflösend. Für Chrome kein Problem!
Witzig: ich habe das Stück am Donnerstag Abend zuletzt mit einem Freund hier zu Hause über die HobbyHifi WaveMon 182/22 gehört!!!



Nach dem Test ist nichts mehr so, wie es vorher war. Man fällt vom Glauben ab!
 
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I picked the AR-XA,
possibly because the vinyl itself was quieter and in better condition.
Both sounded nice. I'll bet differences would emerge with, say, solo piano works with sustained notes. The belt drive decks I've owned (Pro-jekt & Rega) had issues, which were entirely solved by my present direct drive Technics.

$78 used to be a chunk of change! The BLS Inflation calculator says that works out to $825 in today's money.
 
J.M. Noble said:
I picked the AR-XA,
I'll bet differences would emerge with, say, solo piano works with sustained notes. The belt drive decks I've owned (Pro-jekt & Rega) had issues, which were entirely solved by my present direct drive Technics.
Click to expand...
Look at this video (it is also from the guy who made the A / B test) from 22.00 min on. He does something for perfect pitch! Most audiophiles don’t care about the pivot!

 
I just restored a Dual 1015 - graphite main bearing, new idler wheel, re-wired tonearm, the works. Didn't realize I have a six figure TT on my hands.
Now I feel a whole lot better about the time spent working on it. :)
I'll hang on to it anyway, I guess... Something about that idler, and a Marantz receiver.
 
J.M. Noble said:
I picked the AR-XA,
possibly because the vinyl itself was quieter and in better condition.
Both sounded nice. I'll bet differences would emerge with, say, solo piano works with sustained notes. The belt drive decks I've owned (Pro-jekt & Rega) had issues, which were entirely solved by my present direct drive Technics.

$78 used to be a chunk of change! The BLS Inflation calculator says that works out to $825 in today's money.
Click to expand...
It was an investment, but Thorens and the like were much much more.
 
People of a certain age remember that a number 2 pencil was the tool of choice to remove mold flashing, so that new records would fit on the AR turntable spindle.
Petrushka said:
It was an investment, but Thorens and the like were much much more.
Click to expand...
 
The AR-XA was sold for a long, long time.
It was famous for getting the basics right.

1730063357796.png

source: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Lafayette-Catalogs/Lafayette-1973.pdf

... as well as the XB:

1730063434646.png

source: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Lafayette-Catalogs/Lafayette-1974-Catalog-740.pdf

The redoubtable :) Hans Fantel tested "11 low-cost hi-fi turntables" for the equally redoubtable ;) Popular Mechanics in April, 1976. I don't think I have my copy any more (I will check... there are a few in the basement from my younger days) but the text (in pretty rough 'n' ready OCR'd form) is available at:

I think by comparison to the burgeoning Japanese tt market by 1976, and despite its low cost, the AR-XA was showing its age and didn't fare so well.
There's still quite a cottage industry in sprucing them up, though. :)
 
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Petrushka said:
AT one point my system was an AR turntable, Advent receiver, Shure M91ED.
Click to expand...
That deck was totally misunderstood by 1970s audiophiles, the crude looking but amazingly capable tonearm deridfed or later on, ripped off and a Rega or similar grafted on. M91-ED (OEM I suspect M75-ED) was delightful, but out of fashion by the HiFi Choice test books of the 80s. The AR77 and early 80s 'The Turntable' had sloppy main bearings which ruined the sonics, but the original model (XA/XB in the UK I knew) and the later Legend model with decent main bearing were delightful. Thorens did a bodge for styling purposes in the TD150, upsetting the mass loading on the three springs and the descended RD11/LP12 took that to an extreme and still do now the tonearms used usually sre so massive.
 
I did, in full disclosure, briefly possess two different AR-XAs. Both were dump finds, and not in bad shape at all, but neither was nice enough for me, at the time, to sink the effort in to rehabbing them. I ended up giving them both away -- but I (still) wouldn't mind having one. ;)
 
Graphite main bearing? What about the motor drone that most idler Duals exhibit into the stylus even with idler disconnected bu tmotor running and stylus on a stationary record? :D

I have a Dual or two (Oh Lord -- 1019, 1009SK2, 1214, 601, 701) and even more Garrards for my sins. Can't get enough of 'em sadly and I'm totally beyond help!

Two old decks I would like if the others had to go - AR XB and Philips GA212 or 312, the surviving latter ones usually looked after as they'd fall to bits if abused over fifty years ;)
 
My first "real" turntable was an AR XA, I've owned a number of them. Found the tonearm develops problems over time due to using a foam rubber damper at the arm's pivot. I modified two using Grace 707 arms. One got the Merrill Mods, new motor, subchassis, belt, springs, acrylic platter. While I liked that better than the stock model much of that might have been due to all the effort I put into assembling it.
 
I'll be extremely happy to spend 499922€ more on the more expensive one. I think is totally worth it. Even listened to the difference between two tracks ... so much more information ... much better than drugs.
 
DSJR said:
Graphite main bearing? What about the motor drone that most idler Duals exhibit into the stylus even with idler disconnected bu tmotor running and stylus on a stationary record? :D

I have a Dual or two (Oh Lord -- 1019, 1009SK2, 1214, 601, 701) and even more Garrards for my sins. Can't get enough of 'em sadly and I'm totally beyond help!

Two old decks I would like if the others had to go - AR XB and Philips GA212 or 312, the surviving latter ones usually looked after as they'd fall to bits if abused over fifty years ;)
Click to expand...
Huh, have not experienced that on my example, then again the rubber mounts of the motor (the square one) are in surprising shape. The graphite bearing set made an enormous difference. I reckon together with the Marantz 2215B and a pair of re-imagined AR 2ax's I should well be in the six figures for the discerning, period correct, ensemble seeking collector :)
 
hurricane said:
I'll be extremely happy to spend 499922€ more on the more expensive one. I think is totally worth it. Even listened to the difference between two tracks ... so much more information ... much better than drugs.
Click to expand...
LMAO
 
Palmer said:
Huh, have not experienced that on my example, then again the rubber mounts of the motor (the square one) are in surprising shape. The graphite bearing set made an enormous difference. I reckon together with the Marantz 2215B and a pair of re-imagined AR 2ax's I should well be in the six figures for the discerning, period correct, ensemble seeking collector :)
Click to expand...
AR 2ax speakers were very good I recall and not that far behind the 3a if memory serves. I think I/we set the mids lower and hf full-up.

My 1214 (with 1216 cast platter) is quieter through the stylus in terms of motor related noises being picked up than the 1019 (and I've tried my damnedest to dress the motor wires properly, as this contributes a bit here as it did my much missed 1229). The belt driven 601 is similar (that later motor had starting issues when used 110v in the US). When I bring them down for their duty cycle in the second rig, I use an inline 1.5k resistor to crudely cut the supply voltage to them and it seems to help a lot in terms of motor vibration - it's a long time since I checked our mains voltage here, but last time I did, it's around 240VAC all the time. The 701 is pretty silent into the stylus as indeed it should be :)


If I needed a newly purchased inexpensive turntable, I'd currently look away from Rega (top grade arms but poor isolation and drive if not Neo powered - and then we're SL1500C territory here in the UK) and try an AT LP5X with upgraded stylus (ML or SH). The lids for these decks being great for old Lencos and Linns incidentally and a fraction of what Linn charge for theirs these days...
 
Well, first of all, finding an AR turntable in perfect working order for $78 is impossible. So, if you bought it second-hand, you will probably have to take it to a repairer. I thought he was going to compare it with a Crosley.
And don't give me comparisons with an inflation calculator between the prices of the time and today. There are some missing variables.
He could have exchanged these files with another supplier, but let's move on.
On the sound, the A seems to have more bass, which could be a coloration, like on the SAT arms that reproduce it on each recording. But it sounds a little more "compressed" than the B which seems freer but with more crackles.
Both are belt-driven but what I noticed right away is the lack of a cover on the Japanese turntable so dust could have stuck to it or rapid wear between two passes (?). To avoid this, two copies of the same disc must be used.
Differences are very minimal in any case, possibly correctable by equalization (you can find old Marantz for almost next to nothing).
Listening on Micromega Myzic headphone amp and Sennheiser HD 203 headphones (pads changed).
 
what if he exchanged the cheap turntable with a rega planar 3 .... that will be so unfair.
 
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