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Post by dsjr on May 23, 2018 15:32:12 GMT
Ey-up!
Why bother paying outlandish prices for knackered old Ittoks, rare FR64S, other mid priced arms possibly with effed bearings due to ill-handling and over-indulged ARO's?
In recent times, we've discussed the ARO knock-off (Tiger Paw Javelin) and one for me to drool over, the Timestep arm, which is a cross between the old EMT banana-tube arm and with a modified Garrard Lab 80 counterweight  These join the SME 309 in price range (£1850 or thereabouts) and what makes me feel more ancient than my knees tell me, the SME 'only' used to cost £550 or so and the Ittok was dearer... SME were taken over a year or two back and this usually means a substantial price increase as happened to Spendor post the same people seemingly taking a lion's share in that company and I think the same people have Garrard and Loricraft now too - and Garrards are expensive enough as they are, new or used/knackered  |
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,071
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Post by Bigman80 on May 24, 2018 9:43:19 GMT
The market needs a cheap unipivot. I have toyed with the idea of having a batch of Aro clones made. I might just do it one day but they wouldn't be identical. A tonearm without a lift/lower is just plain stupid.
That banana shaped arm is hideous IMO. I can respect the build quality but I think it's the ugliest arm I have ever seen.
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Post by dsjr on May 24, 2018 10:41:57 GMT
Not sure if it's available separately, but Pro-Ject do one for one or two of the numerous debut decks I think. the Nima is around £600 which I dirt cheap for an arm these days (even tatty Hadcocks cost loads more) and then you have the rather wondrous looking Karmadon arms from The Ukraine for well under £500 with the optional lift device - For a little more, the chunky re-imagined Gray arms are available too..
The ARO suffered by being a Naim produce, selling for nearly double what I feel it could have done. It sounded shite on a mid 80's LP12 (don't care, I heard enough), but very much better in my opinion once the LP12 plinth and Cirkus updates came along.
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,071
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Post by Bigman80 on May 24, 2018 12:07:49 GMT
The Nima is still a decent price, but I was thinking £250 ish. There isn't a lot to them parts/materials wise. Biggest bargain arm today is the RB251. It's still under £150 brand new. Big respect to Rega for that. Just think of how many decks that arm has made viable. Now if only Rega had made a unipivot, we could all try one!
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Post by dsjr on May 24, 2018 12:34:39 GMT
Back in the mid RB300 days, Roy Gandy told us that the RB arms were the most profitable part of the Planar turntables! I suppose the reaming tool could work with hundreds of pipe castings, but apparently once broken or worn out, it'd cost thousands to replace.
I suppose the nearest to your requirement (thread suspended) is the arm fitted to the Funk Gett turntable, which I think is around £425 retail?
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,071
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Post by Bigman80 on May 24, 2018 13:10:53 GMT
Back in the mid RB300 days, Roy Gandy told us that the RB arms were the most profitable part of the Planar turntables! I suppose the reaming tool could work with hundreds of pipe castings, but apparently once broken or worn out, it'd cost thousands to replace.
I suppose the nearest to your requirement (thread suspended) is the arm fitted to the Funk Gett turntable, which I think is around £425 retail?
Interesting to hear about Roy's comments. At £142 today, the RB 251 is now an even bigger bargain because so much else has increased exponentially, I would like to see that Funk arm in the flesh. You never quite know with Arthur's stuff. I'd be surprised if it's poor sounding, whatever the build/cosmetics. I bet it won't stay at £425 if it gets some good reviews. Rega seem to be the only ones who don't mill their successes. Still on my list of "Good Guys" 👌 |
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Post by dsjr on May 24, 2018 14:34:21 GMT
I basically set up one of these Funk arms, catalogued on TAS I think. Finish is ok but not SME standards sadly and it's let down in silly details like a sticky thread (once a revolution) on the counterweight. The thread bearing looks to be fascinating and if looked after, it's probably just fine in use, but I hope Arthur provides good servicing details for future users... I suppose today, a UK-hand made (in tiny quantities) arm at £425 isn't bad at all and the Regas are made in the hundreds.
The current Rega RB220 has fixed bias (set too high for many cartridges I gather) and someone told me the ball races are set in plastic, rather than the all-metal races of previous models, and these sometimes go wrong I was told (not from my dealer friend). The price is £229, not £142...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2018 16:03:48 GMT
Arthur's new turntables were making nice sounds at Bristol show. Pity he still can't get small quality details right. With Rega having fixed bias for convenience on their entry level product it really means only the RB330 and above are of interest to audiophiles fitting to other turntables.
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,071
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Post by Bigman80 on May 24, 2018 17:56:52 GMT
I didn't know that about today's Regas. I'm still living in the RB250/300 era, I guess. Bias was always pretty inaccurate on those models anyway.
I've never been to the Bristol show but I would like to attend one in the near future if I can make it. The last show I attended was the Heathrow Penta/Ramada show yonks ago, so it's time I caught up. The Heathrow show was huge and you could see and hear pretty much every manufacturer out there. I'm not quite sure what to expect these days, or which shows are biggest and best.
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Post by dsjr on May 24, 2018 20:49:19 GMT
The RB330 seems to sound 'free-er' than the RB300 ever did on most turntables. The new Planar 3 is now almost squeaky-clean sounding and maybe too much so for some? I always recommended their wall bracket for their decks as it seemed to help make the bass more tuneful and better 'integrated' into the sonic scheme of things.
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These join the SME 309 in price range (£1850 or thereabouts) and what makes me feel more ancient than my knees tell me, the SME 'only' used to cost £550 or so and the Ittok was dearer... SME were taken over a year or two back and this usually means a substantial price increase as happened to Spendor post the same people seemingly taking a lion's share in that company and I think the same people have Garrard and Loricraft now too - and Garrards are expensive enough as they are, new or used/knackered 
