Naim introduce a turntable - the Solstice Special Edition

@rossb ,

"Funnily enough, the ARO remains the worst tonearm I have owned. I couldn’t wait to get rid of it!"


Although it sounded very organic on the LP12, better I thought than Linn's own Ekos, I can easily imagine it could be a nightmare to use.

Manually cueing turntables can be tricky enough with any deck, but a unipivot arm on a spring suspended turntable?

Not for everyone I guess.

The ARO was certainly an ergonomic challenge. But my real objection was that it sounded awful - thin, lightweight, no bass. Typical of the worst aspects of unipivots. I much preferred the Ekos I that preceded it and the Ekos II that replaced it.

The ARO was certainly an ergonomic challenge. But my real objection was that it sounded awful - thin, lightweight, no bass. 

Thats not my experience.
I own several arms including Aro/Dynavector/FR64S plus many others.
In a direct comparison using the same cartridge on both the Aro & Dynavector there was no lack of bass from the Aro. Dynavector was tighter in the bass, but the Aro went as low and remained tuneful ( good timing ).

I would be looking elsewhere in your system for the thin sound. What I do know of the Aro ( I've owned it for over 20 years ) is that I beleive it has a narrow operating range with regard to compliance & tracking weight. High compliant cartridges and very low compliant cartridges with long cantilevers tend to be less compatible with the Aro.

My Aro has been set up with a custom tonearm lift and on the fly VTA via thumbwheel.

The plodding sound of high mass turntables. That's a first. Never heard those two associated that way before. Certainly no one who has ever heard mine has said anything like that. And after 20 years, you would think someone would have noticed. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 

Yes, Millercarbon, high mass does result in a certain sound that one can easily label as "plodding" or "boring" or "dull". I have had the opportunity to use three different platters of drastically different mass on my restored and hot-rodded 301-the original lightweight platter, a 35 lb solid brass platter, and an alloy with copper top platter that is about ten lbs. Each produces dramatically different sound with the light OEM platter being the most lively, fast, and dynamic. 
Don't you think [realize] that the rest of us are tired of your claims that if we were only to come to your house Tekton Moabs would be seen in all their glory, that the clouds would open and angels would descend, and that the true glory of perfect home audio would make itself apparent to us mere mortals? You must be very lonely.