A beautiful new fully Naimed LP12 arrived yesterday. It was plugged into the Superline and played for a straight eight hours, providing a fascinating comparison with Keeled Linn.

The Aro is a beautiful piece of work and the Dynavector XV-1 looks like it was made for the arm.

The Aro instruction booklet brought a flood of nostalgia, being the old black and white cover A5-style with pen and ink drawings, including a rather fetching image of Naim HQ!

The Armaggeddon (instructions) or Napsa-2 psu (box) also has instructions which take you back a bit, especially the line about leaving the LP12 switch in place (actually a really nice blanking plate with a real Naim logo is included).

It has rosewood plinth and a lid from the Hercules people which provides good clearance and is a splendid piece of work (may acquire another of these).

Little stick on feet, no baseboard and a fair sprinkling of magic from Derek Jenkins at Infidelity complete the package.

How does it sound? Sensationally good. A real surprise in some ways. It is not at all inferior to the Keeled LP12 SE. Playing the same LP on both decks is more like listening to different masterings of the same LP.

Its all about midband, detail and colour, with a powerful propulsive bass which doesn't seem to go quite as low as the SE.

Anyway, its a real treat and I have more of the record collection to get through today! I'll post more impressions later but meanwhile, I'm a dog in clover...

I'm jealous! You've got an LP12 SE and a Naimed LP12?

Looking forward to your further impressions.

Lefty

Seemed like a better way to spend money than a music server...seriously, this investment is the result of quite a lot of soul searching about the kind of music reproduction we wanted chez abbydog in the future.

Frankly, LP is by far the preferred format and given the choice, it is selected every time. The Superline has taken thinks to a new level.

CD has given us some worthwhile things, in particular live concert sets which last for hours and would be crazy on LP.

But I can't in all honesty say I have any faith left in digital to provide the level of musical satisfaction available from LP.

Even the pipedream high quality downloads don't appear to address the fundamentals.

The icing on the cake is the shear volume of new LP releases available today. In short, analogue appears to be in rude health whereas digital appears bankrupt of ideas and innovation. The only real development effort appears to go into DRM, to me.

Nice one abbydog! Methinks you've got some fascinating listening sessions coming up and we'll all be very interested in what you discover.

If you're going to have time to post anything now...

Should have mentioned that the new Linn plinth appears to have some additional bracing in the form of metal angle brackets screwed underneath existing wooden corner braces...interesting

quote:

Originally posted by abbydog:
... some additional bracing in the form of metal angle brackets screwed underneath existing wooden corner braces.

This isn't a home made version? A picture is required.

No Adam, stock from Linn (don't let Infidelity hear you say home made!). Love to oblige with pic but I'm sure you'll understand I'm not too keen to disturb set-up on a deck I only got yesterday. It would need a shot of the underside (inside) of the plinth. I'll give it some thought and see if I can figure a way.

BTW, tell the guys I'm stunned by the quality of the detailed finish on the Aro. You only really appreciate it when you get up close and personal...

quote:

How does it sound? Sensationally good. A real surprise in some ways. It is not at all inferior to the Keeled LP12 SE. Playing the same LP on both decks is more like listening to different masterings of the same LP.

That is my conclusion when listening to my Naimed deck with Te Kaitora Rua and my Keeled deck with Ekos 2 and Akiva. The Keeled deck has more bass slam but the Naimed deck has a more tuneful bass which appears to go deeper!!

FF

quote:

Originally posted by Frank F:

quote:

How does it sound? Sensationally good. A real surprise in some ways. It is not at all inferior to the Keeled LP12 SE. Playing the same LP on both decks is more like listening to different masterings of the same LP.

That is my conclusion when listening to my Naimed deck with Te Kaitora Rua and my Keeled deck with Ekos 2 and Akiva. The Keeled deck has more bass slam but the Naimed deck has a more tuneful bass which appears to go deeper!!

FF

Frank,
Now you have had them both for a while,What deck gets the most use?
Stuart.

Hi Frank, even the dreaded hand cueing isn't that bad! One thing I will say about the Aro/DV and Ekos SE/Akiva is that they both track anything I can throw at them. Now that is progress.

I would love a Aro.I am ok cueing on its the taking off that i cant do.
Abbydog,
You are going to end up like Frank to much to listen for with two great TTs.
Stuart

Yes Stuart, but my carts will last twice as long if I use them both equally

Your comment about taking off reminds me of the old Monitor Audio Stylift. Wonder if it would work?

Bloody nightmare.

You want this.

quote:

Originally posted by abbydog:
Yes Stuart, but my carts will last twice as long if I use them both equally

Your comment about taking off reminds me of the old Monitor Audio Stylift. Wonder if it would work?

I would not even go there with the MA Stylift.
There is a better one on the market but IMO its not that much better.
I will have to get Dr Peter on the case because i would love a ARO.
Stuart

You just got there before me Adam

Actually I have a MA Stylift still in the packet somewhere, which is where its best left, I think! I don't think even my handcueing would be quite as bad as the old slingshot against the inside of the lid.

Anyway, I hope there is a solution for you Munch because its a beautiful arm.

Just a thought: The Aro was released in 1988 I think. Apart from the shame of it taking me 20 years to get one, what an achiement that it is still there with the very best.

Hi Munch,

The Naimed deck gets the most play but the Keeled deck is preferable when slightly tipsy. The advice when cueing is to put the little finger on the edge of the plith for lift off use a sky hook!!

I still have to get the VPI going - too lazy or too satisfied with the Naimed deck?? The answer is that I am waiting for a Superline or similar as I would need to rewire a Prefix,

FF

quote:

Originally posted by Frank F:
Hi Munch,

The Naimed deck gets the most play but the Keeled deck is preferable when slightly tipsy. The advice when cueing is to put the little finger on the edge of the plith for lift off use a sky hook!!

I still have to get the VPI going - too lazy or too satisfied with the Naimed deck?? The answer is that I am waiting for a Superline or similar as I would need to rewire a Prefix,

FF

How long till the Superline?
You are going to love it Frank
Make sure you get the 4 to 5 Hiline to go with it.
It Sounds fantastic.
Stuart

Hi Munch,

I have not ordered one yet and would really like to hear how it performs vis a vis the one that Geoff P and Kuma have!!

I would power a Superline direct from the 552 and so I would just use a SNAIC - unless a HiLine SNAIC comes out??

FF

Yes i am looking forward to see how that goes with Geoff when Peter goes over very soon.
Geoff had his with him on the get together in March.
I did not see it but picked his bag up for him at one point and it was not light.
I think he had some things done to it while he was over here that week.
So it will be good to see how they get on with the testing of the two in Geoff's System.
I think i know what the outcome will be though
I dont think you will have to hang on that long for the Hiline SNAIC It must be on the cards.
Stuart