Linn Forums

For the last two years since the launch of the Linn Keel, LP12/Aro owners would have been forgiven for feeling slightly left out in the cold.
However this was not the case as Linn have just been very occupied with other projects.

Throughout 2007 the possibility of a Keel for Aro was discussed with my Linn representative and in June of this year I was very pleased to receive a request from David Williamson, Linn’s designer of the Keel, for two Naim Aros, which I was delighted to supply, for research and development purposes.

Over the subsequent months David and I have discussed various points with regard to the Keel/Aro design. It was therefore with much excitement and anticipation that I recently received a production prototype. I have now been able to complete my initial listening tests and am delighted with the outcome.

And now, here is your opportunity to conduct your own listening tests, commencing with our own Keel/Aro open days here at Cymbiosis on Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd of December 2008.

If you would like to attend this event, please email me at peter@cymbiosis.com in order to secure your appointment as we anticipate a high demand for places.

Many thanks must go to David Williamson and Gavin Morton at Linn for listening to my and other retailer’s requests for this product. Also many thanks to Naim Audio for allowing me to supply Linn with detailed drawings of the Aro to facilitate the design and construction of the Keel for Aro.

Kind regards

Peter

Hi,

Just a quick update. The two event days are next Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd. I will have the Akiva, and Dynavectors XV1-s and TK-Rua available on Aro tops, but anyone visiting is welcome to show up with their own Aro top if they have a different cartridge and wish to make the comparison. Please just let me know in advance if anyone wishes to take up this offer - phone/email would be fine.

In the mean time, here is a picture of the LP12 fitted with the Keel for Aro awaiting action next week:

Kind regards,

Peter

Keel for the Aro event report


Well, after a very busy few days, I thought I’d just post a report on my two Keel for the Aro open days earlier this week.

Actually offering people the chance to choose the best day for them to visit worked very well and I was able to cater for a steady stream of visitors through day one and into day two. Thus everyone had a really good opportunity to have a proper and extended listen to what the Aro for the Keel has to offer over the standard armboard set-up, with my LPs and LPs that they had brought with them.

The improvements for the Aro LP12 combination are very significant in every area of performance, just as when the Keel is used with Ekos Se, Ekos 2 and Ittok.

So, rather than me go harping on about how good the improvements are, I’m going to quote some of the comments made about the Keel for the Aro, by Aro users on Naim’s own Forum. I'm sure they won't mind.

From the “horses mouth” so to speak:


“I'll chip in as according to Peter I am the first "official" listener to the Aro Keel. Thankfully it's really brilliant bit of kit and more than lives up to all those words written about it before the show got underway.”

“The keel established itself quickly as a real foundation stone of LP12 playback. Just as the old hierarchy of deck/arm then cartridge has stood for years, this once again demonstrated that get the deck right and things just fall into place. Soundstage widened dramatically, bass became more tuneful, expansive and more fundamentally underpinning to the music as a whole and the top end took on a level of bite and precision I have not heard from vinyl”

“The ARO character is retained too. I had kind of thought that things would harden up a little and that fantastic mid-range that gets vocals "right down your neck" would go but no, the ARO stays like an ARO.”

“As Peter has described the equipment on show was well suited to show us what the little baby would do and boy did it do it!!!!”

“Peter started at the top with the xv-1 and it took about 5 seconds of the Colour of Spring by Talk Talk to show what it could do. Incredible detail, musical flow, bass authority and a tonality to die for.
In short all the virtues of an ARO set up with such 3-d space and integrity and oh so good to listen to. Quite the best sound I have ever heard from a record deck.
Switching to the non-keel rig was a complete step back and the sound shrunk back between the speakers. Still a fine sound but limited compared to keel rig.”

“Being the first to arrive I was treated to a very convincing demonstration and was very impressed with the Keel’s considerable abilities, direct comparison being made between a non-Keeled vs. Keeled deck with Superline & DV XV1s. The improvements it brings are substantial and crucially it does so without losing the qualities of the ARO which most of us know and love.”

”On the Beatles' track "Because" from the "Love" album there are birds singing and a Bee buzzing around. With the Keel, the birds' singing and fluttering wings really were brought to 3d life. The Bee came buzzing in flew around and off again. When we went back to non-Keel, the birds had asthma and the unfortunate Bee could only manage a short buthz before being swatted. I would have thought the Keel comes before anything else.”


Well, there you have it! Some extremely happy LP12/Aro owners.
Thank you Linn for making the decision to produce the Keel for the Aro tone arm. I believe it is well worth your effort. In fact I’m sure the improvements brought over the standard subchassis, have exceeded everyone’s expectations who has heard it so far.

With some inevitable reluctance, I stripped down the LP12 this morning, removed the Keel for the Aro and shipped it on to Derek at Infidelity for his event. I believe he will then ship it on to Colin at Martin Kleiser’s for his event.
If you are an Aro owner, I hope you can catch up with it for a listen soon!

Kind regards,
Peter Swain