Gromit,
Since you expressed interest when I suggested the Xerxes, here is some relevent background.
The Xerxes has a rather interesting history to it, some might even characterize it as notorious. It originally came out in the mid-'80s and was hailed at the time as a real LP12-beater. The Xerxes' design incorporated squishy sorbothane-like polymer pods Roksan called ââ'¬Å"blobsââ'¬Â in lieu of springs so the suspension exhibited better damping and control and was much less fiddly to set up than the Linn.
Like the LP12, the Xerxes boasted a precision aluminum platter/subplatter interface. The platter of the Xerxes, however, concentrated the vast majority of its mass onto its periphery so that the total inertia that the record saw was actually higher whilst giving its innovatively-thin, single-point bearing less mass to cope with. The spindle had a unique removable cap. Once the record was centered, the cap could be removed so that the album was even further isolated from any residual spindle-shaft vibrations during play.
The motor sat upon its own isolated bearing and was allowed to rotate freely upon its axis in response to changing drag on the stylus while negotiating transients. Consequently, belt tension remained constant and optimum torque was maintained at all times. I also believe that the Xerxes was one of the first belt-drives to offer an offboard PSU to provide power and control speed. Finally, the armboard and the platter bearing were further isolated from the motor and surrounding plinth via a peninsular-shaped cutout in the top-plinth.
So, back in the day, the Xerxes became renown for combining the pace and rhythmic drive of the LP12 with the detail retrieval and dynamic clarity found in the Michells or Oracle Delphi. But the LP12 had the last laugh, as it were, as many of the original Xerxes developed a ââ'¬Å"sagââ'¬Â in that top-plinth cutout area under the stress of heavier tonearms or exposure to temperature extremes. In some cases, the sag was so pronounced that the platter would eventually scrape against the plinth, rendering the afflicted deck essentially useless. To make matters worse, Roksan for many years denied that any design flaw existed. But word got around, of course, and the company discontinued the Xerxes in the early '90s.
The damage caused by the plinth-sag issue was seemingly irreparable to Roksan's reputation, and persists even to this day. (Look on any of the forums and you won't find many nice words written about even the current Xerxes, but mostly a lot of bitching about the flawed design of the original.) Nonetheless, the company reorganized on a number of occasions and quietly went about offering other turntables while shifting their focus to electronics and loudspeakers, including their well-received Caspian and Kandy series of CD players and amplifiers.
In the late '90s, Roksan introduced the Xerxes X (10), which finally solved the sagging issue while further adding a third plinth at the deck's base for even greater isolation. Roksan also began acknowledging the plinth-sag issue of the original Xerxes and offered a serviceable fix for it (although many still consider it insufficient) as well as a trade-up program to the Xerxes X.
I was a die-hard Rega owner for the last 20-odd years. If you read my earlier posts in this thread (with links to other posts on PFM), you'll see that I was trying to upgrade along the Rega path in fits and starts. At the end of the day, however, I began noticing that the signature Rega sound, while perfectly acceptable up to a point, was essentially unchanged with the exception of some refinement up through their range. The P25 brought a little more refinement than the P3 and the P7 brought a lot more refinement than the P25. But the sound remained essentially the same.
The real excitement on my journey only began when I took the advice of a friend and found an original Xerxes in pristine condition that had recently been fully serviced by Roksan, including their fix for the top-plinth (which had never been an issue with this deck anyway). I hopped on a Ferry to England, demoed the Xerxes against the seller's LP12 and returned home realizing I'd found a diamond in the rough. Subsequently, this Xerxes also emerged triumphant when pitted against both a Rega P25 and P7. For me it's been like re-awakening to vinyl after 20 years lost in the wilderness: quick, musical, fluid, organic, I could go on and on! (as I fear that I have :SLEEP: )
So now Roksan are poised to unleash the Xerxes XX (20), which features a new FOURTH (!), grounded plinth (see
here) and probably their new platter mat (see
here). I just have to try it, since I'm really looking for THE turntable that will last me for the next 20 years. I expect to demo it in a few weeks and if it's the winner that I'm expecting it to be, I'll pass along my original Xerxes to some other lucky fellow.
Even though I've been going back and forth here with Merlin about the VPI, etc., I believe we are in agreement that great tables need to be heard, not just discussed. So I'd encourage you to demo the VPI Scout as well, if you can (not an option for me as they have no representation in Belgium) and let us all know how you fare.
Best of luck
, Dex
