My sister has recently dug out her late husband’s old Accoustic Research XB1 from her garage. Subsequent to my picture she has cleaned it up and tested it on a friend’s system and advised that it is still working.
Does anybody have any knowledge or views on this turntable? I would be particularly interested in any thoughts on how it might compare to my later model AR EB101. It is not readily easy to try it as she lives sone way away.
Hi, yes I’m really impressed with it. After over a dozen albums it’s far better than I imagined it would be. To be fair, it’s not cheap even used and it’s not an LP12 but when I walk into the room when it’s playing it grabs my attention and makes me want to sit an listen. It probably deserves a better cartridge than the 2m red (it would have originally come with an MC Rondo) but I feel no inclination to upgrade it.
It looks (to my eyes, at least) rather toy-like. What about the cartridge, is it made by EMT or by a well-known cartridge maker? It doesn’t look as f it could have a sprung sub-chassis, so it can’t be very shock resistant.