so how good or otherwise is an original Roksan Xerxes with original psu and Rega RB300 arm? The price of "modern" decks are outrageous in terms of my finances and it sounds ok to me, but am I missing much, with just an Ortofon 2M Bronze mm cartridge? Are modern decks so much better? how?
How good or otherwise is an original Roksan Xerxes with original psu and Rega RB300 arm
- Thread starter mercalia
- Start date
linnfomaniac83
I bet you can’t wheelie a unicycle!
The Xerxes is a really nice deck, if the top plate isn’t sagging of course... I think you’d have to spend a fair bit to better it. As much as I like the old RB300 though, I think the Xerxes would really sing with one of Roksan’s own arms such as a Tabriz or a Nima... I’d be very happy with a Xerxes/Nima!
PS, I’ve no intention of making you neurotic about your current deck/arm combo, the RB300 works on the Xerxes, many, many RB250s/300s were fitted to them.
PS, I’ve no intention of making you neurotic about your current deck/arm combo, the RB300 works on the Xerxes, many, many RB250s/300s were fitted to them.
Tony L
Administrator
I bought one new back in 1986 just when it was first released. Within a couple of years the top plate had sagged and the PSU had blown up at least once (I think twice, but I can’t remember for sure, I know I had a world if pain with it). It was a fairly decent sounding deck of its day, but the build quality is sub-MFI IMHO, just hopeless. I bought it because it played 45s without needing to be disembowelled. I just wish I knew then what I know now and bought a really good clean Garrard or TD-124 for about 50 quid instead!
If looking to buy one second hand I’d save a bit more money and go for the later Xerxes 10, it doesn’t seem to have the ridiculous design flaw of the original (a huge cut in a piece of MDF) so it doesn’t sag in the same way, and I think they‘d learned how to make a PSU that didn’t blow up by then too!
PS Edit: damn, just re-read and see you have one! I’d not have been quite as rude about it in that case. Anyway, if its working ok and the top-plate isn’t bent beyond use I’d just enjoy it and be thankful you got a good one! I’d assess the rubber suspension ’blob’ things as I imagine they’d not be in that great a condition 30 odd years on. That, a fresh belt and a bit if a clean and I’d leave it be! One thing to be careful with is that the top-plate floats perfectly, if it binds against the outer ‘picture frame’ part of the plinth it sounds like crap. Similarly be very careful with arm cable dressing, as basically they didn’t think about that at all until they brought out the three-legged stands and suggested avoiding passing it through the aperture in the back of the plinth and just letting it ‘dangle’ down beneath. The Rega armlead is thin and flexible so pretty easy to deal with, I had one on mine. Just think about how it exits the deck and make sure it isn’t binding at all. The Xerxes absolutely isn’t a ‘plug and play’ deck, it definitely performs a lot better if you pay attention to all these aspects.
If looking to buy one second hand I’d save a bit more money and go for the later Xerxes 10, it doesn’t seem to have the ridiculous design flaw of the original (a huge cut in a piece of MDF) so it doesn’t sag in the same way, and I think they‘d learned how to make a PSU that didn’t blow up by then too!
PS Edit: damn, just re-read and see you have one! I’d not have been quite as rude about it in that case. Anyway, if its working ok and the top-plate isn’t bent beyond use I’d just enjoy it and be thankful you got a good one! I’d assess the rubber suspension ’blob’ things as I imagine they’d not be in that great a condition 30 odd years on. That, a fresh belt and a bit if a clean and I’d leave it be! One thing to be careful with is that the top-plate floats perfectly, if it binds against the outer ‘picture frame’ part of the plinth it sounds like crap. Similarly be very careful with arm cable dressing, as basically they didn’t think about that at all until they brought out the three-legged stands and suggested avoiding passing it through the aperture in the back of the plinth and just letting it ‘dangle’ down beneath. The Rega armlead is thin and flexible so pretty easy to deal with, I had one on mine. Just think about how it exits the deck and make sure it isn’t binding at all. The Xerxes absolutely isn’t a ‘plug and play’ deck, it definitely performs a lot better if you pay attention to all these aspects.
oceanobsession
pfm Member
Still got my xerxes and technoarm , but now have a kuzma stabi stogi s , first thing crap recordings sound bad on both , and great recordings sound great on both , the kuzma has more drive extracts more detail , more solid sounding , i heard a xerxes 20 with artemize and found it a bit cold , compared to my mk1 xerxes , probably the artemiz arm , its between musical and detail , the further you go in one direction you loose in the other , the kuzma does something great with vocal phil.
wylton
Naim and Mana member
That was exactly the experience I had with mine too unfortunately.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
It is very good indeed! The RB300 works a treat on the Xerxes and I remember being WELL impressed with Xerxes, RB300 and an Ortofon Rohmann MC cart. It just worked so well as a combination.
Beware of the saggy top plate and all that though of course. A Xerxes working properly kills an LP12 IMHO
Beware of the saggy top plate and all that though of course. A Xerxes working properly kills an LP12 IMHO
Hello,
The Xerxes is most definitely not a plug in play deck.
It needs lot of skill and patience to set it up properly.
Most people in the US will not even touch them except for few people left.
I am still running my original Xerxes with a SME 5.
I have had almost every upgrade I can think of for my Xerxes.
I have even had the motor replaced due to damage caused.
The plinth will most likely sag over time.
I have tried the mounting bracket and had it pulled out for the shim.
I believe that this is the best fix for the sagging plinth.
I have also had almost every single power supply and the original power supply does have issues.
I do not recommend the current XPS 7 over the DSU and 3.5.
Older supply's can be difficult to find.
In my opinion,
the best arms for this deck would be the original Roksan arm or the Naim Aro.
I am quite saddened by the recent loss of Art Dudley who was an expert on this deck.
He put it on the map in the USA.
Art just recently mentioned the Xerxes in one of his articles.
Its a wonderful sounding deck but needs TLC
Enjoy!
The Xerxes is most definitely not a plug in play deck.
It needs lot of skill and patience to set it up properly.
Most people in the US will not even touch them except for few people left.
I am still running my original Xerxes with a SME 5.
I have had almost every upgrade I can think of for my Xerxes.
I have even had the motor replaced due to damage caused.
The plinth will most likely sag over time.
I have tried the mounting bracket and had it pulled out for the shim.
I believe that this is the best fix for the sagging plinth.
I have also had almost every single power supply and the original power supply does have issues.
I do not recommend the current XPS 7 over the DSU and 3.5.
Older supply's can be difficult to find.
In my opinion,
the best arms for this deck would be the original Roksan arm or the Naim Aro.
I am quite saddened by the recent loss of Art Dudley who was an expert on this deck.
He put it on the map in the USA.
Art just recently mentioned the Xerxes in one of his articles.
Its a wonderful sounding deck but needs TLC
Enjoy!
cj66
pfm Member
Of all the decks I owned or sold retail, the original Xerxes was my favourite.
The Rega 250/300 sound very good on them too. Mine started life with a 250 and ATF5stilton.
In all my time of retailing and owning I never experienced a "sagger" ( my own had two top plinths, a rega cut and a linn cut ), though I have seen a couple many years later on and appreciate it's a real fault on aged decks. It's not something I associate with a Xerxes less than many years old although granted there will many around now.
The original PSU suffered from a lack of sufficient heat dissipation, quite a simple modification to cure.
My own deck eventually had an Alphason 100mcs and Lyra Lydian (original) cartridge and sounded superb.
The main comment I agree with is setting up, a unique and exacting process that must be done just so. However, the Xerxes was not prone to any drift once installed, done and forget.
If I was buying again it would be a top contender for sure.
The Rega 250/300 sound very good on them too. Mine started life with a 250 and ATF5stilton.
In all my time of retailing and owning I never experienced a "sagger" ( my own had two top plinths, a rega cut and a linn cut ), though I have seen a couple many years later on and appreciate it's a real fault on aged decks. It's not something I associate with a Xerxes less than many years old although granted there will many around now.
The original PSU suffered from a lack of sufficient heat dissipation, quite a simple modification to cure.
My own deck eventually had an Alphason 100mcs and Lyra Lydian (original) cartridge and sounded superb.
The main comment I agree with is setting up, a unique and exacting process that must be done just so. However, the Xerxes was not prone to any drift once installed, done and forget.
If I was buying again it would be a top contender for sure.
Well said!
You are very lucky to have never had the sagging plinth issue.
I do not see how it can be avoided over time.
I am impressed that you had two plinths for different arm mounts.
I still do have my original power supply and I never had any issues with it.
But I was well aware of the issues you mention.
I do think the upgraded models were better.
My guess ,
is that the current Vetere might be the best one ever but pricey.
I do suspect that over time,
mine will drift a bit and need to be serviced.
It goes back to that sagging plinth issue.
You are very lucky to have never had the sagging plinth issue.
I do not see how it can be avoided over time.
I am impressed that you had two plinths for different arm mounts.
I still do have my original power supply and I never had any issues with it.
But I was well aware of the issues you mention.
I do think the upgraded models were better.
My guess ,
is that the current Vetere might be the best one ever but pricey.
I do suspect that over time,
mine will drift a bit and need to be serviced.
It goes back to that sagging plinth issue.
Me too
I think the most instructive point when answering this question is to look at how much older 'obsolete' designs from the 60s/70s go for second hand!
I've never owned a Xerxes, so can't comment on their longevity, but I did hear a handful around 1989/1990, and had a good listening session in a dealer's when I was looking to buy a turntable. The Xerxes was a pretty good deck, with plenty of detail, good imaging and a much better bass than its suspended competitors. The musical presentation was a little "in your face" for my tastes, but this would be at least partly a system matching issue.
As far as the top plate sag goes, I should point out that MDF is pretty poor as a structural material, and is notorious for absorbing moisture and warping. So I would expect the wide variation in experience with this to reflect differences in humidity levels, for a start.
Alex
As far as the top plate sag goes, I should point out that MDF is pretty poor as a structural material, and is notorious for absorbing moisture and warping. So I would expect the wide variation in experience with this to reflect differences in humidity levels, for a start.
Alex
Tony L
Administrator
RB300 and Stilton Audio ATF5 on mine! Had the Stilton Nagaoka MP-11 before that.
I had my RB300 re wired with van den hul cable. and it all works well into my Musical Fidelity XPLS v3 phono amp and seems to compare favourably to my Audiolab 8200cdq with the same recording on LP and cd. But it must be atleast 30+ years old now. I took the psu top off long time ago probably why it is still working. seems quite a simple circuit? but has 2 large ceramic block cased resistors that explain the heat. I see there are are after market replacements for the mdf board made of harder wood that wont sag, but other wise identical to the original in design - are these any good as they aint cheap?
I can, I would add reengineer it, by adding ally angle to it.
Record player psus are usually simple. Resistors to drop voltage, a capacitor to phase shift for the field coils. This is what's in a Linn basik, and also a Naim Armageddon once you get past the transformer.
Tony L
Administrator
This is what annoys me so much about this deck, and about myself for being dumb enough not to spot an obvious design fail! MDF is cheap crap one expects from MFI, Ikea etc. It lacks any structural rigidity so is inappropriate for precision load-bearing use. To make matters worse Roksan realised it was horribly resonant and stored energy, so tried to cure this by, of all things, cutting through the already inadequate top-plate and making sure the platter and arm-board was hanging off the end of a 4” or so structural section that had to take the full weight of both the platter, and an arm around 9” away. It is just utterly brain-dead as a piece of engineering. It was hopeless enough with a light arm like the RB300, I pity those who stuck say an FR64S on one, I bet you could watch that sink in real-time!
The Roksan one wasn’t simple, the first version at least was a full circuit board and ran very hot to the point it cooked itself/failed in under a year. Remember it has a 33/45 speed control (which was actually the only thing that made me buy the thing over a LP12 as I had a fair amount of 12” singles).
wylton
Naim and Mana member
I couldn’t have put it better myself. Why waste money on something that clearly doesn’t work, when there are plenty of good turntables out there that do work? It was a budget deck with a high end price tag; I actually felt guilty in selling it, when I should have skipped it.