Xerxes probs....

Firstly I'm looking at the lovely early original xerxes I bought and apparently theres transit screws somewhere. Without a manual, and no chance of any downloads I can't find them anywhere. Any clues which ones to undo guys? Theres three under the platter, two shiny slotted ones and a well worn philips one, or should I be looking elsewhere?.

The next problem is the famous sag on the armboard, its at about 0.5mm at the front and just under 2mm at the back. Roksan propose that the 2mm at the back is a stabilised sag that won't get any worse, they reckon the solution lies in tilting the main bearing in relation to the sag. I'm sceptical. A lot of the roksan buffs (apart from Roksan!) recommend a tweek by fitting a mending plate between the main board and the sagging section to push it back up to level.

The thing is, do I do this before I fit my heavy SME 309 arm, or do I tough it out level the platter and suffer a slight dodgy azimuth on my tonearm, confident roksans isolation vision hasn't been sullied.

Does the mending plate tweek make any difference sonically? Is it worth doing? I'm really pleased with the tables condition otherwise.

One more thing, is there any internal earth wire that needs connecting I can't see one.

Opinions greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

The three bolts under the outer platter are the transit bolts. I seem to remember that they were black Allen headed bolts that connected the top plate to the base.

I had an original Xerxes for a number of years and the top plate did sag (more than 2mm as I recall). Roksan used to supply a brass collar which you fitted between the flange of the bearing housing and the top plate. the idea was to raise the platter and stop the outer edge fouling on the platter (which happens as the sag gets worse). You may not need this modification.

With the sagging part of the top plate it is not possible to follow the standard set up instructions. The best option is to level the arm, the platter and the motor pulley with regard to each other. The top plate will end up at an angle but this is only cosmetic. The way I used to do it was -
1) Remove the outer part of the plinth (unbolt under base)
2) Put spirit level on arm and level using the suspension blobs.
3) Put spirit level on inner platter and level bearing by using 3 small bolts on the bearing flange - this is a total pain as the inner platter has to be taken on and off frequently, make sure you have bearing oil to replace any that is lost.
4) Put spirit level on pulley and level motor by adjusting bolts that hold motor in place, its best to loosen 1 bolt at a time.
5) Reassemble and hope for the best.

There used to be a website that had this information but I can't find it now, you might try www.roksan.co.uk/forum. Sorry I couldn't be more help, I threw out all my Xerxes documentation when I got my Orbe.

 

Thats them - I assume one has been lost and replaced, but those are the transit bolts.

I'll let others discuss the mending plates as I never used one when I had a Xerxes. Mine had sagged a mm or so, I eventually moved it on for another deck rather than faff about.

Tony.

 

Thanks very much for the advice, something tells me its no five minute job, but I always wanted a Roksan., so its worth persevering with. I got the screws out thanks Tony, and thanks Abnorm for some great advice. I had a look at the Roksan forum and found 4 pages of the manual as a download and some more advice.

The one thing that worries me is unscrewing the base and disappearing in a shower of parts, can someone assure me this won't happen!, what are these famous blob things?

 

It is a very simple structure, nothing will fall out. Think of it as two slabs of MDF, the top one sits on three rubber blobs that are attached to the bottom one. The platter and arm are attached to the top slab, the motor to the bottom. The outer plinth is simply a ‘picture frame’ type affair that once the little allen bolts at the bottom are undone can be lifted up and off. It will make more sense once you see it.

Tony.

 

phone roksan and speak to touraj or go to one of there dealers.

 

Thanks very much for the advice, I undid the allen key bolts and slid off the frame, ther really isn't too much to worry about in there! I might swap the blobs for some of the newer ones as I've heard the compound is better, plus the one in it are quite old.

I located the earth wire ready to attach to the arm. I just need some docking long machine screws to bolt throught that thick top plinth, which I've ordered from SME, apparently the black chrome they use is a good conductor, and quite expensive! Still, its all worth it - all in all a good nights fiddling! I will be in touch with Roksan, as the PSU seems a bit unhappy to play at 45rpm, but the fella I bought it off thinks he might have a spare circuit board, so I'll give it a week or two, as he always comes up trumps.

I found some hi torque synthetic cycle oil which is very high quality and comes in a drip dispenser. I put 4 drops down the reservoir and lightly coated the spindle (just seemed better to), it runs a treat. Mind you at 4,600lbs pressure rating this oil should!

The thing about hifi is I like the tweeking almost as much as playing the vinyl!!!

 

to get the best out of your record player please phone touraj at roksan it will be worth it .....
good luck
darryl.