Could easily be reverse engineered i think (maybe ask Bob Lazar) Genuinely think Naim are missing some interest on this.
Also demand had dropped to a very low level that made it pretty much unsustainable to continue.
The ARO was a seriously Marmite product. Unfortunately I think that most were either afraid of it or just didnāt quite understand it; it wobbled around; it had fixed holes in the headshell which meanāt you couldnāt easily adjust overhang for different carts; it had to be hand cued (and threatened to be all wobbly when you did it); the cable came with weird BNCs instead of RCA Phonos; it had a fishing line and weight with a piece of bendy wire for the bias; it was expensive, and there were a number of other high quality, well engineered options for similar money. It was quirky, no compromise and typically Naim. In short, it was for the hardcore only.
Now, if Naim could take the ARO and turn it into something a bit less scary, more approachable and easier for everyone to understand and use, while keeping or even improving the performance, well that would be very exciting indeed. And I think there would be a lot more people interested in it. But I guess the $60,000 question isā¦ how many would be interested?
And thatās why we love it!
Knowing the Chinese its probably available there! Just been internetting and never released all the Naim clone nock off stuff, unbelievable
With both SME and Jelco quitting the separate tonearm business the market may be rather smaller than the vinyl revival would have you believe.
Given the amount of material being released on vinyl and the range of turntables from Pro-Ject etc , I think the vinyl revival may not have translated into a vast increase in high end sales.
Suspect it is in budget, mid-range where equipments sales have increased but not a vast high end increase.
MEā¦
One advantage to the high quality design features that you reference to is the weight. That rear spring in the tone arm corner under the collar and shaft does NOT get the compression like one does with an ekos, ittok, SME, and so on. Setting and keeping the bounce is much easier with an Aro.
I traded in a rega years ago for a 1980ās afromosia LP12, and it just so happened to have an Aro. I knew nothing of the Aro / prefix design and premise behind the shorter signal cables, the compact design, and the Aroās ability to extrapolate music. Itās the only original piece from that TT, and I would never get rid of it.
If I ever upgrade, or strip down my table, I can use a set of machinist vernier calipers to set the height of the arm pillar to within fractions of a millimeter. It is very easy to set up and takes a bit to fine tune. The problem is finding spares, or a complete back up. Next upgrade is to the Kandid from Krystal.
Scott
With regards to the other thread about the BIG announcement, and the subsequent complaining about supercar and naim teaming up and not upgrading or developing product for the massesā¦, there was also comments about taking suggestions from this forum, maybe this topic should be considered.
Scott
The bad news is that I believe the Audio Origami Uniarm you show FR is no longer available.
The good news is that I think they sold the design to Roksan who now make a very similar product called the Sara.
I will be auditioning one this time next week vs my current Roksan Nima and also against ARO, Ekos and possibly AO PU7. It will be interesting for sure
I certainly hope so Scott.
Not to mention the vinyl buyers who donāt even have a turntable - unless that is an urban myth!
I showed the Origami because I think to remember that Art Dudley said it has similarities with the Aro. I didnāt know itās not produced anymore. It looked nice too.
Where do I sign
ā¦
Point taken
This.
It is still produced by Roksan:
The PU7 is still shown for sale with my dealer
Apparently very recently stopped in productionā¦but still some stocks.
Shame, possibly retirement?
The Roksan looks a nice bit of kit though