Naim ARO. How much??? !!!

Posted by: Marksnaim on 17 May 2017

Just saw a posting on the well known auction site for an Aro. The price nearly made me spit my tea out! Surely it can't be worth that? It's years since I heard one so memory isn't great but as I recall it was a worthy alternative to the Ekos. Not better or worse necessarily, but very different. I preferred the Ekos at the time but could see the attraction. You could get a good Ekos for half that much. Well I did anyway.

Posted on: 23 May 2017 by Christopher_M

Mulberry posted:
After many years with his ARO, Markus Sauer switched to an Alphason HR 100s tonearm....

This doesn't surprise me in the slightest. When I worked in hi-fi retailing in 1990/91, the guy who we alll reckoned had the best ears in the shop rated it above Linn's Ekos, which had just come out.

I didn't give it any serious consideration myself but with hindsight would hazard a guess that it has something of the alleged musicality the Rega R200 was deemed to have, both being s-shaped.

The only downside with the Alphason now is that AFAIK it can't be serviced.

Posted on: 23 May 2017 by yeti42

Better on polycarbonate that acrylic, lower noise floor. Probably only useful for DIYers.

Posted on: 24 May 2017 by Loki

I bought my Aro in 1995/6. At that time I think it was about £800. It replaced a second hand Ittok II, the bearings of which were shot. Not only did the Aro easily out-perform the Ekos (to my ears) but it came with a reassuring lack of conventional bearings. The steel point and sapphire cup have served me well, now for over 20 years. It's a stayer. Analogue Rules Okay?!!!