Experience with Arkless 640p
Arkless 640p review
So I've had the Arkless 640p on demo for a few days and as agreed, below is a write up of my experience with it.
Firstly, I don't have much experience with phono amps, I initially used the inbuilt stage from a previous Roksan Kandy integrated amp, then an old Creek phono stage, on to my current Graham Slee Era V gold and now the Arkless 640p demo unit.
Each one has been a step up in performance from the previous, until now. It is difficult to say on the Arkless in 'better' than the Era but it certainly presents music in a different way. As other reviewers have pointed out, the Arkless seems to focus on midrange giving a clear start/finish to each note. It is not bass shy, but sounds a little lighter than the Era, which given my smallish room and PMC speakers gives a taught controlled bass. Perhaps it would be fair to say the Arkless is a little more focused while the Era is more "airy"??
I have played Paul McCartney "Band on the run", Tears For Fears "Songs from the big chair", Guns n roses "Appetite for destruction", R.E.M. "Out of time" through a variety of other genres up to one of my most recent purchases, The 1975 "I like it when you sleep....." and the Arkless has had my foot tapping and me searching for the next record to play.
Is the Arkless for me? Quite probably. It has made me realise that within my modest budgets there are a variety of products that reproduce their own version of recorded music. Which you prefer is down to system/room synergy, musical tastes and individual ear.
I like digital music and am very happy with the sound I have on that format, however I enjoy the process of listening to a vinyl record. The Arkless has narrowed the gap between my two sources whilst feeding the vinyl addiction.
Thank you Jez.