Today I fitted an Aro to my LP12, to replace an Ittok I've had for 20 years. I'm used to setting up the table myself, especially since I live a long way from the nearest dealer.

However, when it came to dressing the arm cable it was a different story. The cable to the Linn arms just plugs in to the underside of the arm pillar, whereas the Aro cable plugs into a connector which fits into the armboard in front of the arm pillar, and then is routed into an arm cable clamp and then across to the p-clip.

The Linn cable is one piece i.e both cables plus the ground are moulded together as one piece, the Aro has separate cables, so dressing the cable from arm pillar to p-clip is a pain in the a** to say the least.

Has anyone done this who might have any tips on how it should be done correctly ? The users guide is not much help for this issue.

Colin

Dear Colin,

I seem to remember there is not really as much room around the P clip as the instructions suggest. Do you have the Linn setup manual? There is not enough information in the Naim ARO manual alone.

I found the Linn cable dresssing is more of pain because it's stiffer. Then there is the business of using a screwdriver to get it super tight around the cable. I wouldn't worry as much about getting it this tight with the ARO cable, it doesn't seem possible or desireable. In fact, I would leave the P-clip just loose enough to slide the two cables backwards and forwards until each one has the least sideways "pull" on the armboard. It doesn't matter if they don't run parallel to each other.

Another tip, it is really essential to work on the LP12 upside down to properly see what's going on. I do this by putting the plastic LID back on and taping the LID to the plinth with masking tape. Apart form remembering to take the platter, belt etc off and plug the bearing to stop the oil falling out (!!) please make sure you take the arm pillar out of the ARO before turning it upside down. Otherwise the bearing will fall apart which is disaster - it would then need to be returned to Naim to be cleaned and reassembled.

Finally, by far the best solution is to get a Prefix and say goodbye to all the LP12 suspension problems , P-clip, cable dressing etc forever. It's worth every penny for that alone. But hurry if you want to do this, the price in the US goes up next week.

Jeremy

Jeremy,

Thanks for your advice. I generally do work on the Linn upside down. I found the Linn cable easier because it was all one piece, and easier to keep all in the same place, whereas with the Aro cables it is a case of trying to keep both signal wires plus the ground in the same place from arm pillar to p-clip. Another thing is I bought the Aro used and the arm cable clamp was missing, which wasn't helpful. I use a Linn Linto phono preamp so the Prefix is out of the question for me.

Colin

If you go to the Linn web site you can down load info on setting up arms

http://www.linn.co.uk/docs/disassemble_remount_instructions.pdf

Also this site might help

http://www.sondek-turntable.com/index.htm

Thanks Dave, thats a very useful link, if only for the free alignment protractor!