The Naim ARO

AFAIK the c/w stub should not be at all easy to rotate.  Spinning up (or down) the Aro counterweight should feel really silky smooth with just a small amount of friction to ensure it stays put when it reaches the required spot, as much time and effort went into honing each c/w for best fit on the stub. If your counterweight is not smooth and takes too much effort to turn on the stub then there may well be an issue with it.  I don't know the Skale c/w, or whether it is individually honed for the stub, but you should probably get in touch with your supplying dealer or with Tiger Paw and take things from there as It sounds like your Aro c/w stub may also need some remedial attention.

With the greatest of respect to Richard

The stub does come loose...it's mounted on a rubber isolation bush with a little screw that can be tightened by putting a little cross head screw driver up the hole in the end of the stub

If you were twisting and turning the new tiger paw weight to put it on the stub ..it may well have come a little loose and need tightening up

How tight??

Well try it in little incremental tweeks and have a listen between..till you get to your preferred sound

Hope that helps

Yes, it does, but my point is that it shouldn't under normal use conditions. Certainly it has never happened on any Aro that I've used or set up, and my own Aro has had a lot of cartridge changes and set-ups over its life.

As I say, don't risk damaging or impairing the performance of the arm, I would contact your dealer and take things from there.

The stub got lose long before the fitting of the Skale.

I become aware of it the first time after the ARO was returned from NAIM after service (!)

And now Naim dosent service ARO any more.

Never bothered me before, as the Naim counterweight is treaded while the Skal is friction based (rubber bushings)

Anyway - ARO performance is better with Skale, and a somewhat lose stub.

The stub got lose long before fitting the Skale.

I actually discovered the lose stub after the ARO was returned from Naim, after a service (!)

And now Naim dosent service ARO anymore..

Anyway - ARO performs better with the Skale, even with a kinda lose stub.

The arm sounds more relaxed, less tence.

toriamos posted:

Did mount the Skale (from Tiger Paw), and this is a tight fit. 

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...07#21277303071545407   and whole thread.

Always wanted to try an Aro on my LP12 but at £1-1,500 I'm not sure it will offer that much over my Ittock which cost only £425.

I used to have an Ittok.

Trust me - the ARO is better. 

The Aro is the best arm in the world. Followed by the Graham.

Always wanted to try the Graham. Not sure what deck it works well with tho

I'm really not sure the aro is anywhere near the best arm in the world...but as it's made by naim ..I'm sure some people with swear it is ...

And yes I've had various other arms ..but now find myself with an aro for the last few years..

I'm probably going to make myself sound even more strange by saying....I like the simplicity and easy setup of the aro ...and that makes up for some of its short comings for me

Dev B posted:

The Aro is the best arm in the world. Followed by the Graham.

Not sure about the best thing on earth, but I prefer the Graham Series 2. The Aro is different and I would take it over the Phantom. Of all the different Grahams I have owned, the 2.2 ticks all my boxes. The 2.0 is nice, as is the 1.5 TC, just not as refined and in control. The Phantom was lifeless in comparison and I quickly sold it. I have no experience with the Phantom II and Elite.

jon honeyball posted:

Always wanted to try the Graham. Not sure what deck it works well with tho

There was a LP 12 specific version called 2.0 L and an armboard for the Linn. Both appear seldom on the used market. The Series 2 Basic would work on the LP 12 as well. All others are too heavy for its subchassis. 

The current models are even heavier. My dealer has heard the Elite on the Japanese TechDas 3 and liked that combination.

toriamos posted:

I used to have an Ittok.

Trust me - the ARO is better. 

 

I'm sure it is but is it £1,000 better?

I’ve owned an Ittok, an Ekos and an Aro in the past, and I’d say that yes, the Aro is certainly worth £1,000 for the benefit you get. It makes the music hugely engaging, and really gets to the heart of the performance. In the context of the cost of upgrading the black boxes, £1,000 extra for an Aro is something of a bargain in my view. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

I’ve owned an Ittok, an Ekos and an Aro in the past, 

Is it me... or do Linn names sound like Ikea furniture?

Money comes and goes, and has no value of its own.

When I swapped the Ittok for the ARO, the difference (to my untrained ears) was subtle, but ten years later I havent missed the Ittok for a second and never felt like consider another tone arm.

But then again, my supercapped Prefix, Armageddon and the Linn Kore for ARO in my system makes me kinda trapped.

Try to get the O rings as uncompressed as possible on the sKale, it takes a bit of faff as you’ll keep overshooting when you move them on the shaft but it gives the best dynamics once you hit the right playing weight. Centre them by rotaing the sKale back and forth a bit before setting azimuth, the O rings will stay in place while you do this.

I’ve retired my Aro in favour of a Schröder Reference but I’m not selling it.

I too had an Ittok then an Ekos and now an Aro. I was late to the Aro party and had the Aro Keel not been made I suspect that I would have gone for an Ekos SE. 

I am so very glad that I didn’t  

Japtimscarlet posted:

 

I'm probably going to make myself sound even more strange by saying....I like the simplicity and easy setup of the aro ...and that makes up for some of its short comings for me

Easy setup? It takes me hours initially.

count.d posted:

Japtimscarlet posted:

 

I'm probably going to make myself sound even more strange by saying....I like the simplicity and easy setup of the aro ...and that makes up for some of its short comings for me

Easy setup? It takes me hours initially.

But none of it is hard work...and it's all logical stuff

Setting up an Aro is dead easy, standing there watching Peter Swain do it all  

Debs

We do love hyperbole don’t we.   The LP12 is the greatest TT, the Aro is the greatest tonearm..........

The Strat (Fender) posted:

We do love hyperbole don’t we.   The LP12 is the greatest TT, the Aro is the greatest tonearm..........

I own both and firmly believe they are not !!

The Strat (Fender) posted:

The LP12 is the greatest TT, the Aro is the greatest tonearm..........

So glad that you have seen the light