How hard would it really be for Naim to make a plug and play turntable at the P6/P8 level with an updated Aro?
Why doesn’t anyone use a Kuzma Stogi tonearm?
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@frenchrooster @Ian2001 John Nilsen of Audio Origami is still making the PU7’s by hand. I have one on order.
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Naim being Naim it would have to be at P10 level , my guess is that it would be good if they made the turntable and used Project or better still Clearaudio for the arm.
What about a Graham arm or Morch, SME, Kuzma, ClearAudio??
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Sadly SME have stopped making tonearms as separate products.
Yes, agree.
Art Dudley, reviewing the Audio Origami Uni arm:
“ Did the Audio Origami UniArm sound exactly like the Naim Aro? The new arm had at least the same sort of musicality as its famous predecessor—the same ability to not just follow melodies but urge them on, with as much nuance as one can hope to hear from a record. And the UniArm’s frequency range was surely no less than the Aro’s—in addition to which, the new arm sounded just as poised on difficult records, at least with my Denon cartridge. I can’t quite say the UniArm made me forget my Naim Aro—or, for that matter, the excellent and similar-sounding AMG 9W2 ($3500)—but it sounds as if cut from the same cloth, and, for a new product available in the here and now, it offers better value for the dollar than did the Aro in its later years. The UniArm is an excellent choice for the LP12—and, possibly, other, similarly musical turntables—and it makes me very interested in hearing Audio Origami’s PU7 ( ca $3000).”
That’s a shame. I’m sure though that there’s a few pre loved ones out there
having owned an LP12 for 20 years, I have only had 2 arms - firstly Ittock VII which came with deck and now my keeper Ekos SE -
IMO the arm should be one of the final upgrades on your deck following Bearing, PSU, sub chassis, Arm and then cart
I have a number of friends who own ARO’s and love them - if NAIM was to create ARO II it would need to be as big as an improvement to match DR and the new streamers
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I did extensive demos of both the ARO and the (then Mk1) Ekos during the mid 90’s at Doug Brady’s in Warrington on my LP12/Troika.
Whilst the ARO gave more to some aspects of the music, the Ekos dropped the sound floor / surface noise dramatically, and it ended up a hard decision but ended up buying the Ekos I was listening to as an ex Dem… Still got it…
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Way back (probably in about 2008) I got chatting to Naim’s then marketing manager (Doug Graham) at a dealer event and I asked him about Aro production. He told me they sold about ten per month globally.
Whilst having upgrades fitted to my LP12 earlier this year by a well known respected specialist In this field I recounted this tale to him and was told that Naim sold 1350 arms during its production run from 1989 to 2010 (21 years).
I love mine but I can’t see there being any commercial sense in resurrecting it and good alternatives do seem to exist.
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@JohnBailey. That’s the point John. As enthusiastic as Naim are in all aspects of music reproduction ultimately what they produce has to be commercially viable. Still a wonderful product though.
Regards,
Lindsay
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There is a great sensibly priced, UK based tonearm manufacturer, Audiomods.
His original designs were based on a Rega armtube, but now are are 100% made in house.
Incredible value for money. No connection other than as a satisfied customer.
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My Uncle Tom, who got me into this mess (and I’m not complaining ) had an Ekos on his LP12 but really wanted an ARO. The dealer didn’t want to take an Ekos as a trade-in. We worked out a three way deal whereby he traded the Ekos for the Aro, and I bought the Ekos from the dealer, who mounted it on my LP12 , in exchange for my Ittok plus cash. The Ekos was a significant upgrade from the Ittok.
Tom let me place the ARO on some of his favourite LPs, but I never felt comfortable with it, as I have shaky hands at the best of times. I was very happy with the Ekos, and still would be, but I haven’t fired it up since the move to ND555 etc.
I bought the LP12 secondhand in 1985, and now it is sitting silent. Maybe I’ll start it up tomorrow just to see whether we have really advanced in sound quality…
I believe the answer is that we have!
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I was just mulling over that if the chap who took the Javelin to market is no longer interested in this line of business, might there be an opportunity for a small company like Tangerine Audio to take it on and add to their product range offering. I just can’t see this appealing to the Focal group as a business line.
Peter
I’d like to be a fly on the wall for that negotiation 
I don’t think that’ll happen! Stick finding an Aro ! Safer bet.
Regards,
Martin
Ha ha - it was just a thought in the middle of a pandemic heat wave - maybe a mirage!
Peter
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How safe though? Service or repair of an Aro sounds like it could be a problem if anything went wrong…