[Bob in St. Louis]

Hello folks, As a "vinyl virgin", this is my first post here in the Vinyl Circle. Please go easy on me. 
Please correct any terminology problems I have.

I've acquired a very nice looking AR-XA the other day and would like to replace the headshell. After a few hours of searching the net for options, I've given up.

-- My specific question is: What do you call the "type / style" of the fitting between the headshell and tone arm?

I've found headshells, but they're going for about $55 for the gray plastic O.E. factory piece. I've seen some neat looking aluminum units for a fraction of the price. The budget here is very limited, I'm not looking for 'uber-audiophile' at this point in my life. Heck, I don't even own a record yet, I'm just looking for something that will work that doesn't suck.
I've got two carts, so I'm ok there.

Thanks guys!

Bob

EDIT: Ooops, I forgot to mention......The reason I used the word 'proprietary' in the title, is I ran across a thread at AudioKarma where someone said the AR-XA headshell has a proprietary mount and you can't use a different headshell.

[lcrim]

Hi Bob:
Why don't you try posting your question over on the Vinyl Engine AR forum.  I think Wayner here has an AR, don't know which one.
Good luck

[Bob in St. Louis]

Because all my "vinyl lovin' nut ball" friends told me THIS is the place to come for turntable questions.
You know.......all those guys that got me into vinyl in the first place.

[TheChairGuy]

Bob,

Someone here will likely answer your question in totality....but you should go to Vinyl Nirvana to learn more about your AR TT.  It's a website that exclusively covers AR's (and more recently, Thorens).  Dave, the proprietor there would probably bend over backwards to make you a happy AR owner.....such is his love for the tables.

http://www.vinylnirvana.com/

Ahhhhhh, no THAT wasn't so bad now was it, darlin?     

John

[Wayner]

I have 3 AR-XAs. The head is AR's design, so other styles wont fit it. However, I actually have a spair with good threads. The threads get stripped because people do not push the head into the arm (the contacts are spring loaded) and they rely on the nut to draw it snug. That is what strippes the thread.

So I guess Bob, If you want this one, PM me and we can come to some agreement on price.

Wayner

[Wayner]

The other problem with the cartridge head is that some (like my spare) have plastic bosses for the cartridge mounting screws, unlike later ones that had brass bushings molded in. OK, now for any of you mechanical guys, what happens when you have a tapped, blind hole? That's right, usually the screw bottoms out before the cartridge gets tight, so these threads get stripped out. My spare will still grab, but I would drill the damn things out so the screw can't bottom out. If not, you must select the proper length screw or screw and washer combination to get the mounting screw to tighten up before it bottoms out. This was a really "f'd" up design on ARs part, along with their damn foam rubber woofer surrounds that have turned every vintage AR speaker into junk. I really liked the AR-5's but won't touch them as they certainly didn't stand the test of time.

Another point on the AR-XA turntables is that the motor capacitor is getting really old and should be replaced along with the noise suppressing on/off switch cap.

If any of you are thinking of buying one of these tables on Esnay, think twice. odds are the motor will be shot and I got one of the last Hurst replacement motors from the Needle Doctor ($150). Of course the shaft diameter of the Hurst motor was different than the stock motor, so I had my machine shop Buddy fix that.

These AR tables are a complete pain in the ass to get running. They don't have any VTA adjustment, nor anti-skating and no cueing lever (that was the AR-XB). I put a VPI scout motor in another one. Plenty of torque....in fact get out of the way when you start that baby up, but that works as well (of course the VPI runs @450 RPM so you have to run on the smaller pulley for the normal 45rpm speed to get 331/3. Don't worry, the math does work out.

Other than that, these tables will sound better than most when it's all set up properly.

W

[Bob in St. Louis]

John, Thank you for your reply. Vinylnervana was one of the first sites I ran across this morning. You're right, the gentileman that runs/owns the site certainly has a passion for these turntables. That's evident very quickly. I found more info on that site than everywhere else I went to. Except for information on if the shell can be swapped with another brand.
Which brings me to............

Wayner, Good info there! Thanks big time. I can now stop my search for alternative shells, apparently I'm stuck with one option. I understand what you're saying about how they get damaged and will avoid this in the future. This particular shell has been damaged and repaired in the past. And the ham-fisted punk that got ahold of it last time.....killed it.  {that was me by the way}.
I'll PM you in a moment Sir.

Bob