Roksan Xerxes Turntable / RB300 Tonearm / Xerxes PSU

The Xerxes, named after the Persian king who “went around having a good time”, has been around now for a good number of years. It was actually launched way back in 1985 but it has been constantly updated and is still in production today as the Xerxes 20 Plus. This belt-drive turntable without a sprung sub-chassis challenged conventional suspension designs for build and sound quality. Our example is in very good condition with just a couple of blemishes to the lid. It comes with the excellent Rega RB300 tonearm a very popular choice in the past as it was capable of getting the very best from the Xerxes, and whichever cartridge you chose. Indeed, many chose to use some quite exotic cartridges on this budget arm to great effect. Also included is the power supply unit.
Roksan Say….
Xerxes has Two separate plinths used for decoupling across a selective frequency band.
1. The bottom plinth is ‘grounded’ to the supporting surface via three hard plastic feet. This plinth houses the motor assembly and the three two stage adjustable top plinth de-couplers (‘BLOB’ assembly).
2. The top plinth features the familiar cut-out of the Xerxes where the Main Bearing/Platter assembly and the Tone arm/Cartridge are supported without touching it and supports the middle plinth.
3. The middle plinth supports the precision motor assembly and is connected & isolated from the bottom plinth via a set of three decouplers.
The top, middle and the bottom plinth are designed and manufactured from MDF and finished in a high gloss piano lacquer to provide the required rigidity/mass/damping for the tonearm/platter assembly.
The motor is free to pivot on its own bearing on an axis of rotation coincident with the shaft of the motor. With this
unique dynamic system transient speed changes are absorbed and do not affect the measuring platform. At the heart of Xerxes is Roksan’s unique and formidable self-centring, self-aligning true single point main bearing. The innovative design of this bearing provides almost silent, frictionless rotation, precisely defining the rotational axis. The bearing sleeve is gun-drilled from solid phosphor bronze and honed to provide spindle/bearing sleeve gap of 2/10,000” along its length! The only contact is between the polished spindle tip and the captive super precision hardened steel ball. The spindle is made from hardened steel and is ground with a taper that locates into the inner platter without the
use of adhesive or the need for pressing.
The inner and outer platters are both machined from solid aluminium alloy instead of normal castings to ensure the material is homogeneous. Each complete platter is constructed of two parts that are ‘friction’ fitted together. Each part is designed as a tuning fork and hence it’s free from any nonlinearity. Their natural frequencies are linearly damped, as these two parts are joined together by friction only. The platters are machined to extremely high tolerances to ensure roundness and balance. Required inertia for a smooth and constant angular speed is achieved through high peripheral distribution of mass. This maximizes inertia to mass ratio and reduces undue pressure on the bearing contact point. It is this level of attention to detail throughout the design that ensures musical integrity.