Aro with Orbe ??

Speak to John Michell.......I believe that he has supplied a deck with an Aro. It would require a special "armboard" which Michell would make (has to be the precise weight to match the arm)

What the sonic results would be, I don`t know.

As far as I know, Michell decks were designed around Rega/SME arms

Having used both these arms, the Orbe/SMEV combination works very well

Laurie S

I've just sent my Gorbe (Gyrodec with Orbe updates) back to Michell for a general service and update.

I am trying to persuade them to supply me with a suitable armboard for mounting an ARO. The problems with mounting an ARO on the Michell are that an additional smaller hole needs to be drilled to fit the signal connector and some form of arm rest needs to be fashioned. If Michell can supply me with an armboard to the correct weight then any additional work I'll probably do myself.

One other option would be to turn an armboard from wood or MDF and use hidden lead weights to balance the deck. It'll be an interesting project.....

Richard

Richard,

A more sensible solution would be to have an arm with a right angle bend in it that comes up to support the ARO arm. This support would only need to be a couple of millimitres thick and it could screw into the 'armboard' if this was turned appropriately. The armboard may need to be slightly lighter to take into account the extra weight of the outrigger including the original Naim arm rest. It would look good too.

I'm not in favour of the hidden lead weights idea since that would compress the suspension more than it should.

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Hi Frank,

yes, I concur with your findings. I was having a look at one my old SMEs and suddenly realised that the arm-rest might work rather nicely for my purposes with the ARO. All that would be required would be for me to machine a small threaded insert into the side of the armboard. Very neat, very elegant.

I'm not sure I want to butcher a perfectly good SME just for the arm-rest, though....

Richard

P.s.the lead weight idea was only to balance the weight of the subchassis. Of course, the wood arm-board + ARO may be heavy enough but I doubt it...

Richard

Ah! You were thinking of attaching a Linn armboard in place. Now I understand. Hmm. So in this case you could get Michell to supply you with enough of their damping material to weigh up the board under the arm mounting. Alternatively, you could give them the combined weight of armboard and arm and tell them the mounting points of the board. Then they could fashion a standard Michell armboard for that weight. You could attach the arm to the Linn armboard and the Linn armboard to the Michell armboard. That would work fine. Only two problems:

1. It would look cack! Apologies to Linn/Naim owners, but this is an important issue for most Gyrodec owners who are used to elegant engineering solutions as opposed to the Darth Vader dark forces approach of the Linn LP12.

2. The Linn armboard weight wouldn't be directly centred over the Michell mounting point, potentially introducing a little yaw into the system. My original suggestion would be so light (just a little bar and the Naim armrest) that the weight issue is largely moot.

By the way, the Michell is designed so that the combined weight of arm and armboard is 1kg if memory serves. Therefore, a SME armboard is only about 6 mm thick whereas an RB300 armboard is all of 15 - 20 mm thick. You are correct that your ARO/Linn armboard weight would need additional weighting up to balance the system. If you use Michell's damping material, you may also be able to place it such that the offset of the weight caused by the armboard would be negated. This is fairly basic mechanics. I'm sure Roy could work something out for you. Come to think of it, you guys must know a workshop that could do this for you!

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Hi Frank,

yes we do have a machine shop - the services of which I will no doubt be in great need at some point....

No, I wasn't thinking of using the Linn armboard for the very reason you say - it'll look "cack". I have heard of somebody who did use the Linn armboard with some success but it must have looked awful. My idea with a wooden armboard would be to be to turn one to the exact same shape and size as the regular armboard. Why? Well apart from making my life a whole lot easier, it occured to me that the ARO may not work best with a metal armboard - at least this way I can try both options and see which works best.

Crikey, if I got really sad I could look for a nice piece of rare hardwood to match the body on the cartridge....

Richard

That would look gorgeous. However, I am concerned that you'd have to dope up that side of the deck so much with a heavy material that it would affect the way it looked (again!) and the space in the general area...

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Hi Frank,

ha! thought about that. The underside would be recessed just like the metal armboard (at least the one for Rega-type arms) which would allow the fitment of some lead ballast to get the weight just right.

Now all I need is to receive the deck back from Michell and the time to actually do it....

Richard

James,

The 'death' of my lp12 just made me think about my future plans more, thus i decided maybe it is time for me to do some information gathering.

I am trying to get the lp12 fixed.

I`d be interested in what the Orbe/Aro combination sounded like. I did explore this possibility when I got my Orbe but was put off for some of the reasons touched on above. John Michell did offer to make a "matching" armboard at the time, but I guess I wanted to hear this combo before I took the plunge.

Do I gather from what you say, Richard, that you use a Gorbe/Aro? If so, how does it perform?

Laurie S

Laurie,

no I'm not currently using the Gorbe with an ARO but it is my intention to try to do so in the future.

There are issues concerning the armboard which I have discussed earlier in this thread.

If I can eventually successfully mount an ARO on the Gorbe, I'll let you know how it sounds.

Richard