A belt-drive turntable with an acrylic plinth, an aluminium arm and a Pick it PRO Balanced MM cartridge, already adjusted. Its 5-pin output prepares it for a True Balanced connection to a balanced phono stage.
XA B: the acrylic design
Acrylic damps vibration very well, but used carelessly it ends up damping too much and giving a dry sound. That is why everything else on the XA B is chosen to offset it: arm and platter are aluminium, the cartridge is voiced for the whole, and the feet are purpose-designed. The aim is a lively, dynamic and detailed sound, with mechanical parts that seem to hover on a nearly invisible slab.
The arm has a one-piece aluminium tube and a cardan pivot on four stainless steel points with extremely low friction. The arm base, also aluminium, lets you set azimuth and VTA; the anti-skating tracks the change in force between outer and inner grooves, and the counterweight is decoupled by a TPE insert. The die-cast platter weighs 1.7 kg and is re-machined and balanced in a separate operation.
The Pick it PRO Balanced is an MM modified to make the complete balanced signal available, which normally takes an MC. With a True Balanced lead, sold separately, and a stage such as the S3 B or DS3 B Phono Box you get a link that rejects interference; the lead supplied, 5-pin to RCA, serves conventional phono inputs instead. The Record Puck E in the box holds the record flat against the platter. The two speeds are changed with a toggle switch and are electronically controlled.
Specifications
- Speeds: 33 and 45 rpm, switched electronically
- Drive: belt
- Platter: 1.7 kg die-cast aluminium with TPE damping
- Bearing: stainless steel and brass
- Wow & flutter: 0.13% at 33 rpm, 0.12% at 45 rpm
- Speed drift: 0.30% at 33 rpm, 0.20% at 45 rpm
- Arm: 10-inch, aluminium tube
- Effective length: 245 mm
- Effective mass: 10 g
- Overhang: 18 mm
- Cartridge: Pick it PRO Balanced (MM), pre-adjusted
- Feet: three, TPE-damped with height adjustment
- Phono lead supplied: Connect it E, 5-pin to RCA, 1.23 m
- Supplied: power supply (15 V DC / 0.8 A), lid, 7-inch singles adaptor, felt mat, Record Puck E
- Power draw: 4.5 W, under 0.3 W in standby
- Size, lid shut (W/H/D): 460 x 130 x 340 mm
- Weight: 6.3 kg net
