The Naim ARO

Bob the Builder posted:

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 replaced my LVII with an Aro back in 95. Auditioned against an Ekos. The Aro trounced both for sheer clear detail, rhythm and music. And the bearing doesn't wear out, as they did on my Ittok.

Eloise posted:

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?

Linn were doing the NordiK / Skandi thing well before Ikea came over here.  Sondek. Kan. Sara. Isobarik. Keilidh. Kaber. K9/18. LK20. Troika. Chicken? Egg? Ikea's been around since 1943 though.

Loki posted:

Eloise posted:

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?

Linn were doing the NordiK / Skandi thing well before Ikea came over here.  Sondek. Kan. Sara. Isobarik. Keilidh. Kaber. K9/18. LK20. Troika. Chicken? Egg? Ikea's been around since 1943 though.

Ivor’s been around since 1946 - that’s close!

Trust me I had a Grace, then over 20 odd years had 3 Ittoks each one after a few years bearing problems then 10 years ago bought one of the last Aro’s never looked back set up by the magician Derek Jenkins. 

I found that the Aro was a night and day elevation from the Ittok far more musical and the details was just sublime. When you look at the spring set up when using the Linn arms the rear spring is so compressed compared to an Aro. 

Living with a Stiletto, Plateau, Aro, Armeggedon, Kiseki Blue NS and Trampolin 2.

Regards,

Martin

Arthur Lee posted:

Trust me I had a Grace, then over 20 odd years had 3 Ittoks each one after a few years bearing problems then 10 years ago bought one of the last Aro’s never looked back set up by the magician Derek Jenkins. 

I found that the Aro was a night and day elevation from the Ittok far more musical and the details was just sublime. When you look at the spring set up when using the Linn arms the rear spring is so compressed compared to an Aro. 

Living with a Stiletto, Plateau, Aro, Armeggedon, Kiseki Blue NS and Trampolin 2.

Regards,

 

Martin

Couldn't agree more. As a fully paid up member of the 1768 old farts club (nice one Max B, made me laugh!) I've had LP12s since the dawn of time, with a succession of arms early on. Grace, Syrinx, Stax, Dynavector (on a suspended chassis deck? I claim youth and stupidity), then an Ittok LVII for twenty years, then a NIma for a bit, and finally in 2007 a new ARO, fitted by the the Oz expert, Craig Sidwell. The only one I wish I'd kept was the Stax, not so much for sound quality, it was just a beautiful, superbly finished collectors item.

The ARO is so far ahead of the others it's ridiculous. I always have a chuckle when I see the Nima described as "75% of an ARO", or a "poor man's ARO" or somesuch. It's a nice arm and a decent upgrade on the Ittok, but about as far behind the ARO in build and sound quality as the x5 price difference would suggest.

And apologies to the OP, I don't have an answer to the wobbly counterweight problem, mine's solid.

In the BBC4 series that Gregory Porter did, the last of the programmes showed him playing a record on a deck using an Aro - didn't recognize the deck but the arm was unmistakable...