ARO or EKOS

Posted by: Energy on 16 June 2002

Hi all,

Living in Australia is now a problem as there is no-longer a dealer in Sydney that sells Linn & Naim products. I was looking to upgrade my current Arm form Rega RB-300 to Naim ARO or Linn EKOS. ( I can't get a demo of a ARO on a Linn anywhere in 500 miles of Sydney.) The Rega RB-300 was an upgrade from an old Itok 1n 1994. My dealer at the time first told me the rega was not a good match with the linn but later call me to say they got it working on the linn and the sound had an AROish sound at much less cost.

My question is has anyone heard a rega rb-300 on a linn if so which arm ARO or EKOS would be the best up-grade.

My system is Lingo/LP-12/RB-300/Denon DL-160, Hi-Cap, 42.5, nap250, Energy Veritas V2.3

Any advise received with thanks

Energy

PS I have a pr of Naim SBL in Black for sale AUD$4000.00 (1992 with bass driver upgrade)
Posted on: 16 June 2002 by Bob Edwards
Energy--

This subject has been discussed here at great length, and I think it would be fair to say a majority here would recommend the Aro.

I would also recommend the Aro, for two reasons. First, I have owned both and prefer the Aro to the Ekos. Second, the speakers you have tend to be a bit on the rich and bright side, at least when I've heard them off a 102/Hicap/PSC/250. Thus I would suggest that an Aro is a better match, even though I am NOT an advocate of trying to correct downstream problems by changing upstream components.

Best,

Bob
Posted on: 16 June 2002 by Paul B
Both are very good and both have their supporters or detractors but note that the presentation is different. The Ekos has more weight but the Aro's midrange seems more rhythmical/natural in my experience.

You can't really go wrong with either. Yet, if you plan on an all-Naim system, or if the price of an Aro is significantly lower, buy an Aro. It is not as if you are purchasing a poor product in either case.

Paul
Posted on: 17 June 2002 by Paul Ranson
I would suggest that an Ittok would be an upgrade to an RB300 on an LP12.

Paul
Posted on: 17 June 2002 by Mario
High Energy, I also live in Sydney, I have an Ekos on my LP12 that will probably always stay on there, it's that good a product, a true precision instrument. That's not to say that my system is biased towards Linn, the rest of it is nearly all naim. I would also have to say that the naim aro must also be a landmark design as so many say that it presents music correctly. Bottom line, they are BOTH good, you can't go wrong with either one. Harry York at Audio Genesis knows the LP12 inside out and will be the best source of advise here, and yes "He is a top bloke", Mario.
Posted on: 17 June 2002 by Stephen Bennett
...my RB300 is working very well indeed on my LP12. Much better than my old RB250!

Regards

Stephen
Posted on: 17 June 2002 by Martin Payne
quote:
Originally posted by Paul Ranson:
I would suggest that an Ittok would be an upgrade to an RB300 on an LP12.

Paul



Paul,

definately in the case that I heard.

cheers, Martin