The other issue that I had with mine, was it came fitted with a Rega RB300 and that is what was written on the box too; i.e. it was supplied from new fitted with the Rega. I mentioned earlier, that at Roksan's request, I sent it to them so they could fix the sagging plinth issue and service the PSU. When the deck came back, the arm was so loose, that it was surprising that it hadn't fallen off in transit! I took a look and found that the cut out for the arm wouldn't fully accommodate the pillar nut. Roksan tried to get out of it by saying the Rega arm wasn't supplied as standard on their deck, even though it was clearly marked on the box! Totally unbelievable!
It's worth looking back at the introduction of the Xerxes. It came out in 1985 and I remember attending a London hi-fi show around about that time. They were demonstrating a little system with a Naim Nait and Wharfedale Diamonds; both products had been around for a couple of years. Linn/Naim, had already been demonstrating systems like LP12/Rega/ADC/Naim 22/120 Mordant short carnival, which sounded very nice. From Linn’s point of view, it was a way of getting people to buy into the LP12, by persuading them of the source first principle. When the Xerxes came out, Roksan decided to pitch it directly against the LP12 and so had to price it as such, even though, in terms of materials, it should have cost no more than a typical mid-range deck. The demonstrations were convincing though, and after all, it did play 45’s, which Linn, with the Lingo, didn’t introduce until 5 years later.
A friend of mine was running a system consisting: LP12/Grace/Supex/Lecson AC1/AP1 (beautiful looking amplifiers, but unreliable)/IMF TLS80s. He asked me if I would take my turntable/amps around to his place for a listen. I was running an LP12/Ittok/Asak. Naim 32/250 at the time. We hooked it up to the IMFs and he was impressed enough to book a demo at a dealer. I had been using the Sound Organisation, London bridge, so we booked a demonstration, but Roger Macer (RIP), was very keen on the Xerxes and was pushing it quite hard at the time! My friend ended up buying the Xerxes/Rega/Van Den Hul, instead of the LP12 upgrade and Ittok that he went in there for! Years later, the Xerxes sat there unused, with the plinth sagging etc; another thing for me to feel guilty about!