Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
None at the moment but this may change in the future...
Arkless modified Cambridge 640P: First Impressions
- Thread starter mickhick1
- Start date
None at the moment but this may change in the future...
unit
pfm Member
I'd be up for a loan if it was to come this way (Berlin).
whatsnext
Naimless
Spiderous
pfm Member
Thanks for the heads-up; email to Richer Sounds sent.
whatsnext
Naimless
Welcome Spiderous. I have just had an email from the guy who I have dealt with saying no charge (as the old one fell apart). I was daft enough to ask!
Spiderous
pfm Member
Fantastic customer service from Richer Sounds. I emailed them at 13:24 saying the original power supply was falling apart but was out of warranty. They replied at 13:26 saying if I gave them my address a replacement would be sent out immediately.
whatsnext
Naimless
Good news too.
So lets avoid too much negativity for Richer Sounds folks. However their shops don't even now they have a spares Dept!
springer
pfm Member
I'll take a listen, Jez, if that's okay. I bought a 640p in anticipation of it getting the treatment from you, but have never quite got round to it. Be nice to try a straight A-B comparison between the vanilla & modded stages. Cheers.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Could those wishing to try it please PM me there full details to be added to the list. Thanks. Jez.
FireMoon
pfm Member
Just posted the loan unit on after having it my system for a few days.
My system currently consists of a Linn LP12 with thick acrylic three footed baseboard, Rega PB300, Goldring Eroica low output , a standard 640 through a custom passive pre into a borrowed Parasound A21 and thne my home built KLS9 speakers.
I wasn't sure what to expect on plugging the upgraded 640 in after all ,the standard punches quite well above its' own weight. So what do you receive for the extra moolah? Well, more of everything you like and a little less of that you don't. The sound is a tad more etched without sounding plastic, the soundstage seems a little wider, a little deeper without losing coherence and the background hash, such as there is, is that bit quieter. It also seems to be that bit kinder to the vagaries of vinyl itself.
I could carry on waxing lyrical and using any number of adjectives and minor, or not so minor superlatives about the unit, I won't, really all you need to know is that. IMHO, It encourages you to play more vinyl and the improvement over the standard unit is worth the asking price.
Thanks to Jez as well for sorting the loan out, top bloke and great communications
My system currently consists of a Linn LP12 with thick acrylic three footed baseboard, Rega PB300, Goldring Eroica low output , a standard 640 through a custom passive pre into a borrowed Parasound A21 and thne my home built KLS9 speakers.
I wasn't sure what to expect on plugging the upgraded 640 in after all ,the standard punches quite well above its' own weight. So what do you receive for the extra moolah? Well, more of everything you like and a little less of that you don't. The sound is a tad more etched without sounding plastic, the soundstage seems a little wider, a little deeper without losing coherence and the background hash, such as there is, is that bit quieter. It also seems to be that bit kinder to the vagaries of vinyl itself.
I could carry on waxing lyrical and using any number of adjectives and minor, or not so minor superlatives about the unit, I won't, really all you need to know is that. IMHO, It encourages you to play more vinyl and the improvement over the standard unit is worth the asking price.
Thanks to Jez as well for sorting the loan out, top bloke and great communications
Fudgemaster
pfm Member
The loan unit will be on it's way to the next lucky recipient tomorrow, and it was with much regret that I packed it up. Initially I was a bit impatient to listen, so didn't let it warm up properly, but boy oh boy what a difference it made when it was warm. The loan unit is in a 651P case, and as I have a 540P, I was able to swap quickly for comparisons.
As usual, I ended up working my way through my collection, and found that with the Arkless there was just more of everything; the impact of the drum and bass slams in Pink Floyd, The Wall, at the start of The Best Days Of Our Lives, followed by the bass string vibrations; the rasp in Sinatra's voice on lower notes; orchestral string sections seemed to sound fuller, rounder, but more easily placed in the sound stage, and, again, the vibrations of the strings of basses and cellos was more apparent. The sound of baritone and tenor saxes in The Beiderbecke Tapes was more realistic. Oh yes, the discordant sax at the start of Santana's Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation on Caravanserai.
There was a noticeable drop in volume level, going from the Arkless to my 540, almost as if I'd moved 50 metres away. I found the greatest impact through my headphones, as they're a more intimate environment, but that's to be expected. The Arkless improved my old mediocre LPs, and my new 180g/200g purchases sounded even better.
As FireMoon says, it does encourage more listening, which inevitably means new record purchases. My equipment is nothing special, a Planar 3/R200 (unserviced)/Nagaoka MP110/Uniti/Naca4/Doublets, and Alessandro MS1 phones, but I was certainly mightily impressed, certainly excellent VFM. Wonder how the Turbo version compares?
And Jez is a great chap, very helpful and informative.
As usual, I ended up working my way through my collection, and found that with the Arkless there was just more of everything; the impact of the drum and bass slams in Pink Floyd, The Wall, at the start of The Best Days Of Our Lives, followed by the bass string vibrations; the rasp in Sinatra's voice on lower notes; orchestral string sections seemed to sound fuller, rounder, but more easily placed in the sound stage, and, again, the vibrations of the strings of basses and cellos was more apparent. The sound of baritone and tenor saxes in The Beiderbecke Tapes was more realistic. Oh yes, the discordant sax at the start of Santana's Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation on Caravanserai.
There was a noticeable drop in volume level, going from the Arkless to my 540, almost as if I'd moved 50 metres away. I found the greatest impact through my headphones, as they're a more intimate environment, but that's to be expected. The Arkless improved my old mediocre LPs, and my new 180g/200g purchases sounded even better.
As FireMoon says, it does encourage more listening, which inevitably means new record purchases. My equipment is nothing special, a Planar 3/R200 (unserviced)/Nagaoka MP110/Uniti/Naca4/Doublets, and Alessandro MS1 phones, but I was certainly mightily impressed, certainly excellent VFM. Wonder how the Turbo version compares?
And Jez is a great chap, very helpful and informative.
My new turbo is sounding great through an old Creek passive pre amp but when I experimented with my cheapish Marantz av amp pre it was clipping badly. I assume this is due to the high output of the Arkless turbo. Has anyone had any similar problems with active preamps? (The Creek is only a temporary measure and I was contemplating getting the Wyred Mpre).
Lee T
pfm Member
Are you sure all are not hearing what they want to hear based on expectation & anecdotal quotes? surely not.Whoops.... Mike, for some reason I had it in my head that you were using a MM cartridge! You will of had to remove the lid and set it to MC before even listening to it!
Glad you like it so far and look forward to hearing more about your adventures with it
I assume you are using it with the supplied 100 Ohm + 1nF loading plugs? These should be just fine for your Klyde. If you fancy trying it with MM type loading, just for the heck of it, then be sure to power down before removing the loading plugs..... obvious I know but worth pointing out just in case!
And thanks to Mike and Darryl for entrusting their equipment to me for them to be my "guinea pigs" in all this!
Maybe a blind test may be needed for further evidence of actual sound improvement.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
I presume you are not making the common mistake of plugging it into the phono input!? It should go into Aux, CD, Tape, Tuner or Line input on an integrated/AV Amp/pre amp. Sorry if this is bloody obvious but it has happened more than once! The output is not quite as high as a CD player so any amp built after say 1985 should have line inputs that handle it no problem.
misterdog
Not the canine kind
Just blasting mine with a Benz Ace SL through a Transformer Pre..>n-Core Monos >Quad 989 ESL.
Made the error of thinking the cart loading plugs were 1000Ohm when they were 100 Ohm (the spacing is important).
Recommended loading for the Benz is 200 to 47K Ohm. I'm up to 10K and with the improvements can't wait to try 47K.
One reviewer even said that 100K was optimal....
I have soldered small sockets to the plugs allowing for easy resistor swaps.
Made the error of thinking the cart loading plugs were 1000Ohm when they were 100 Ohm (the spacing is important).
Recommended loading for the Benz is 200 to 47K Ohm. I'm up to 10K and with the improvements can't wait to try 47K.
One reviewer even said that 100K was optimal....
I have soldered small sockets to the plugs allowing for easy resistor swaps.
Jez, thanks, no it 's the other common mistake, I had it set to MC with my MM. B*****! I had read it had a high output, and a was convinced I had checked the switch position. These little rear panel switches keep catching me out! Seems to be working okay now so hopefully no long term effects. Would you have any concerns Jez?
and trades descriptions act might have something to say about the turbo model. Where's the turbine ? "Special Edition" or similar would have been more accurate, turbo is just misleading unless it's supposed to be humorous.
jay
built for speed
Did you really think a turbo was included?!