Is there anything special about the Tom Tom BNCs? Amazon sells nickel plated 50ohm BNC connectors.
Notice the central pin on the Amazon BNCs. I fitted similar ones as a dummy run to determine whether to fully shield or leave the BNC side floating. The Naim recommended ones definitely sound better. I will post a pic of the packet that they came in. Maybe you can buy from RS direct.
Thanks… found them on the RS website.
Any notes on installation? I found a local cable maker who might take on the project. More info I can provide them the better.
2 Likes
Chris, who’s the local cable maker? Can they attach plugs for power cables?
Well the usual rules apply like use a good solder with high silver content (I use Audio Note’s solder which is very high quality). The conundrum is how to connect the cold wires to the inside of the BNC body without coming in contact with the hot cables that are soldered to the central pin. There isn’t a tag to solder to like with RCA’s. I came up with a method which worked but it’s difficult to explain via a thread post. It needs some thought for sure. I’m sure your guy can work it out.
Shielding wise. My Mogami quad cables are shielded on the SME RCA plug end. First time around I connected the shield on the BNC end to the cold wires to create fully shielded but got a ground loop. So went for a floating shield on the BNC side second time (cut off the mesh shielding just before the plug) and the lack of noise was obvious. Not just zero hum but it takes three quarter volume to even hear a slight hiss. Sound quality is clearly better than those mediocre Clearaudio RCAs Chris.
2 Likes
I’m talking with Blue Jeans Cable to see if they’d take on the project. Otherwise I have a professional sound mixer I know who makes cables. But he’s out of town till Jan. I’ll report back more soon.
3 Likes
Blue Jeans said no due to the Clear Audio “Litz Wire”. They don’t like working with it.
Guess I need to find another option
1 Like
Or another tonearm cable! 
The limiting factor as you know is the way the arm cable exits the bottom of the turntable. A normal straight connector or a 90 degree don’t work so that leaves a 45 degree which are as rare as rocking horse s…
I can also understand why Blue Jeans don’t like the Clearaudio Litz cable. One of the BNC’s that I had fitted to mine developed a fault just before I parted company with the deck. The RCA’s were worse. I’d had enough to be honest. It seems to be a case of keep the Solstice as a package or leave alone. I wasn’t expecting it. Hope you have better luck!
Does anyone know where Naim source their ARO tone arm cable from?
The ARO 2 is a Clearaudio cable. The ARO 1 has been out of production for 20 years. If that was still available I’d be astonished but interested.
I am kicking myself I did not purchase extra ARO cables. AV Option made tone arm cables for my friend using ARO leads for his SME. I saw the pix of it and they looked great and my friend tells me sounds awesome.
1 Like
I’ve inquired about the BNC question a couple of times down the years, and here’s what I’ve been told:
-
The nickel plated 50 ohm BNC is the best sounding connection for a SuperLine but, as I understand it, it’s either impossible or unreasonably difficult to fit one to a Linn T-Kable.
-
One of the best cables you can use that’s compatible with a 50 ohm BNC is a Chord Sarum T, the light version, for suspended decks, developed in consultation with Peter Swain of Cymbiosis.
That’s definitely an upgrade I’d be interested in making at some point - it seems like the phono cable → phono stage connection is a sensitive and important one.
IIRC Naim could no longer source the wire for the original ARO tonearm cable.
Are there any issues of longevity/reliability for those of us with rather old ARO arms?
I definitely remember as well something about the inner paint coating of the Aro wand - what about longevity there?
I guess this is leading to my final question - longevity in general for Aro tonearms?
Best
Gregg
I’m not aware of any particular issues apart from possibly with the conductive paint. Worth checking the bearing housing every so often for grittiness or leaking.
1 Like
I managed to find an ARO a few weeks ago. It has been rewired by Linn (not Naim) and Peter Swain of Cymbiosis has built me a new LP12, with the ARO installed, and a Troika cartridge (rebuilt by Goldring). I’m hoping to take delivery tomorrow.
Rest of the system will be a brand new NAIT50, and Falcon ‘Gold Badge’ LS3/5As.
I also have a Naim CD3 player, and I’m thinking of adding an FM tuner.
I hope that this will be a rather good ‘second’ system in my home.
2 Likes
I hope that, as the ARO is very much a ‘fit and forget’ component, there is not much that can go wrong, provided that you leave well alone (other than very occasional removal to fit a new cartridge, etc).
What spec is the latest LP12 Graham. I loved my ARO with Troika on a Cirkus bearing/ Armageddon variant. It just played music so well!!