Price Paid:  $899.00 from circiut city special

Summary:
proven solid basic design principles executed with nice build quality. arm adjusts for angle and tilt.dial calibrations on arm settings accurate. sounds very clean, lets you listen "into" the music. on a good album (say a beatles white album) you will hear detail that will expand the meaning of the preformances,verseslesser turntable/arm combinations. even came with a dropper bottle of oil for bearing-which turned out to be a lifetime supply. you just can't fit that much oil into bearing.

Strengths:
sound. durability. value

Weaknesses:
needs good isolation to really sound it's best

Similar Products Used:
japanise direct drive turntables-a little better than the dj tables in use now (Like technics 1200) i got this and never looked back

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Price Paid:  $750.00 from Ebay

Summary:
An incredible table for the price. I'd been told about the AR tables and how solid they were. I kept my eye out for one and when I caught an EB101 for sale on Ebay, I grabbed it. My EB101 came with an upgraded arm which was a Linn Basik Plus no less. What a find! My table had no cartridge and so I paired the Linn arm with a Grado Labs Sonata cartridge and a Sonic Frontiers SFP-1 Phono Amp. I couldn't be happier. I agree with a prior reviewer in saying that this table won't make bad recordings sound great....but it will make your solid LP's sing. This is a good, solid, basic table. It's built like a Sherman Tank so it should last for years. I like the fact that this table is so easy to use, it pairs easily with external units( like my SF phono amp ), and it's easy to upgrade. For under a $1000.00, this table can't be beat!

Strengths:
Sound, looks, build, performance

Weaknesses:
none that I can find

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Audiogon.Com

Summary:
My AR EB101 came complete with a Linn Basik Plus tonearm which was a huge plus and one of the reasons I purchased the table. I bought my table mostly because I had so many LP's in my collection which were being neglected. I wanted to play my old LP's but I didn't want to mortage my house to get into a good analog set-up. I wanted a Linn table but couldn't find one under $1000.00 that was worth the money. I'd heard about the ease of setup and build quality of the AR tables....and luckily found one on-line. True to form for a table seller, my AR EB101 came with an upgraded arm but no cartridge. Since getting the table, I've strapped a Grado Labs Sonata to the Linn arm and I am very, very happy. I agree with one of the other reviews of the EB101....this table isn't going to make bad recordings sound great, but it will allow you solid performance with clear, dynamic sound. For those getting into analog audio/turntable, the EB 101 is a great starting point. Why? It's a solid unit in terms of build quality and it's ease to setup and upgrade components. What more could you want? Though I have heard " better " setups which cost thousands more by the way, for the money....this table can't be beat!!

Strengths:
Rock-solid build quality, appearance, ease of use, ease of setup, ease of adding components, sound reproduction.

Weaknesses:
no longer made. what a shame.

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha, Rega, Sony

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Audiogon.Com

Summary:
My AR EB101 came complete with a Linn Basik Plus tonearm which was a huge plus and one of the reasons I purchased the table. I bought my table mostly because I had so many LP's in my collection which were being neglected. I wanted to play my old LP's but I didn't want to mortage my house to get into a good analog set-up. I wanted a Linn table but couldn't find one under $1000.00 that was worth the money. I'd heard about the ease of setup and build quality of the AR tables....and luckily found one on-line. True to form for a table seller, my AR EB101 came with an upgraded arm but no cartridge. Since getting the table, I've strapped a Grado Labs Sonata to the Linn arm and I am very, very happy. I agree with one of the other reviews of the EB101....this table isn't going to make bad recordings sound great, but it will allow you solid performance with clear, dynamic sound. For those getting into analog audio/turntable, the EB 101 is a great starting point. Why? It's a solid unit in terms of build quality and it's ease to setup and upgrade components. What more could you want? Though I have heard " better " setups which cost thousands more by the way, for the money....this table can't be beat!!

Strengths:
Rock-solid build quality, appearance, ease of use, ease of setup, ease of adding components, sound reproduction.

Weaknesses:
no longer made. what a shame.

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha, Rega, Sony

Summary:
After enjoying my vintage AR XA turntable (in my bedroom system)for several months, I decided to purchase another AR for my main system. I had also looked into tables by Systemdek (no longer made) and the usual suspects (Pro-ject and Music Hall) but chose to stick with AR. I have not been disappointed with my decision.

The sound from this table is very smooth. No, it will not change the world or make crummy recordings sound better, but it lets me enjoy MUSIC (as opposed to enjoying equipment) and, that is what I am looking for. Build quality is excellent and it should last me for the next twenty years or so (unless of course I get the urge to go on a buying spree).

I have been able to put together a great little analog system composed of this table, Mission M71 speakers (bought at a great price from Upscale Audio) and a combination of my Rotel RA 931 int. amp, and my Creek 4040 int. amp. The problem with this system is, I can't decide which amp I like best. The Creek on paper should out perform the Rotel but the Rotel manages to hold it's own!

If I feel the need to make an improvement in the sound quality of this set up, it will be with a Creek MM phono stage (model 8) and replacing the Ortofon OM-10 cartridge with a higher quality cartridge. I will also eventually replace the mat with a Audioquest sorbothane mat.

Needless to say, I am quite pleased with this purchase. I give this table a 5 star rating, not because it can compete with the Linn's or Sota's of the world, (of course it can't) but because I believe it is still one of the best turntables to be had in its price category.

Strengths:
Ease of setup, build and sound quality, ability to modify.

Weaknesses:
No longer made

Similar Products Used:
AR XA, tables by Signet, Technics, Kenwood, Classic Marantz and others thru the years.