Phono cartridges for NAIM ARO

[ovlov854]

[QUOTE=Boussven;1123763]Are there any Naim ARO users left, or is this pick-up arm out of date, boxed in closed cabinets?[/QUO[/B]

AABSOLUTELY

[Barry]

Well, the Grado's have a mounting-hole-to-stylus distance of 10mm, so that's 3mm off the curve. Maybe I am a maniac, but I have difficulties accepting that because of the distortion.

The IEC spec for the mounting hole to stylus distance is 9.5 +/- 0.5mm, when the cartridge is tracking at the manufacturer's recommended VTF. Originally only Shure and Audio Technica cartridges adhered to this figure, but now other manufacturers are starting to follow them.

[Boussven]

I did send some questions to different cartridge manufacturers, here are the replies:

distance from stylus tip to the centre of mounting holes, in mm

HANA 9.5mm
KISEKI 9.75mm
GRADO 10mm
Soundsmith new ES-series 7.5mm
Ortofon RONDO 7mm

Based on this information, I go for a Soundsmith cartridge.

[Boussven]

By accident, I noticed that my old Shure M91 cartridge with the original N91ED stylus has exact 7mm of stylus to bolts distance, which makes it perfect for pairing with the ARO. I bought a Jico N92 SAS on Boron stylus, and the result is quiet excellent. The compliance of the Jico is a bit lower then the original Shure. And the swopping 5mV output is quiet nice ;-) I read from other SAS/B users that the treble might be too bright, but this is certainly not the case on my valve OTO Phono input.

[SiT4]

This is an old thread, but as it popped up: How about the range of AT carts, I am thinking of the VM95 / 540/740 range for MM and OC9 / 33PTG11 / ART 9 for MC. Any people used these popular carts with their Aro ?

[EJR]

I had a Naim Aro on a Pink Triangle Anniversary for years. The Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood was a great match.

[fordy]

I used a Lyra Helikon when I had an Aro which was a favoured combination with Aro users at the time. I can't remember the stylus to bolt distance though. It was about 10 years ago now. I'd love to get hold of another Aro though and have been on the lookout for a while now.

[Boussven]

I ordered a Dynavector DV20X2H cartridge which I will mount on my ARO,
the output of 2.8mV matches excellent with the 3mV sensitivity of my AN-OTO phono stage
the stylus to center bolts distance is 8.5mm which is not too far off,
the resonance frequency is 8Hz which is quiet good
So let's try this cartridge on my ARO

[Boussven]

This is an old thread, but as it popped up: How about the range of AT carts, I am thinking of the VM95 / 540/740 range for MM and OC9 / 33PTG11 / ART 9 for MC. Any people used these popular carts with their Aro ?

If I'm not mistaking, the AT's have a stylus-to-centre-of-mounting-bolts distance of 10-11mm, far from ideal for the ARO.
I made some measurements, the pivot to spindle distance of my ARO mounted on a Keel subchassis is exactly 210mm.
To get to the specified effective length of 229mm, you need an overhang of 19mm.
With the Dynavector cartridge, with a stylus-to-centre-of-mounting-bolts distance of 8.5mm, I am on my Dr. Feickert protractor, 0.25mm off the Baerwald geometry, which is almost spot-on.

So I can conclude that a cartridge with a stylus-to-centre-of-mounting-bolts distance of 8.25mm would be perfect, and 8.5mm is very satifying.
I would not recommend the AT cartridges on an ARO.

This said, I now play with a DV20x2H cartridge, properly aligned with VTF of 2.0gr. The result is OK, but the sound is a bit flat, not enough dynamics, punch, resolution, depth.

I will try my Denon DL-160 HOMC, with a stylus-to-centre-of-mounting-bolts distance of 8.3mm, and will report later.

You might have noticed that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I have a bit of spare time ;-)

[Old Grey Grump]

This said, I now play with a DV20x2H cartridge, properly aligned with VTF of 2.0gr. The result is OK, but the sound is a bit flat, not enough dynamics, punch, resolution, depth.

Interesting, I'm using a DV20x2L, aligned to Lofgren B and a VTF of 2.0gr and I'm finding the sound really good - definitely plenty of punch and dynamics, if anything sometimes a bit too much punch! (at a gain of 60db on my Sutherland Ph3D). Soundstage is also very good, excellent separation of instruments left to right and front to back. How many hours have you run yours?