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Arkless modified Cambridge 640P: First Impressions

Further update.... Tim Jones has now been in touch and so it should be off to him next.

I look forward to seeing Robn's write up on it now he's had use of it for a few days :)
 
Thanks to Bez for the loan of an Arkless 640P over the past few days. I’ve enjoyed hearing it and have tried to describe my experience of it below.

Firstly the system I tried it with: an AT33PTG/Nima/Gyrodec SE HR power supply; Yaqin MC10L with Winged C EL34 valves; Quad ESL 63s.

Previously I’d been happy with a Dynavector P75 mkII phono. When I switched from Naim internal cards to the P75 II I felt the music gained depth and better instrumental timbre. Briefly I tried a Heed MC Questar phono stage. Compared to the P75II this seemed to accentuate upper bass sounding a little warmer than the P75II.

I set up the Arkless and first played Can’s Saw Delight. It sounded very lively, I noticed that comparaed to the P75II the bass sounded louder and there was better insight into the vocals and unravelling of some of the guitar work. I listened to Miles David - Porgy and Bess; Gong – You; PJ Harvey - Let England Shake. The sound was exciting: very forward, dynamic and at times almost brash. The soundstage was unconvincing with little depth and no sense of instruments being anywhere in particular. Angling the speakers further in than usual made some improvement.

I was astounded at the clarity of musical parts low in the mix e.g. the auto-harp and xylophone parts on the title track of Let England Shake. Surface noise too was also sounding more prominent than I was used to.

After a while I was finding the sound tiring and wondered whether for all its detail and excitement this was a sound I’d be able to listen to long term? Perhaps something was wrong with the set up? I belatedly checked the instructions sheet and the penny dropped – I hadn’t fitted the loading plugs!! So my commentary above is not reflective of the sound of the Arkless with loading plugs.

Jez helpfully explained about the plugs and once I’d found and fitted them the sound changed. It became slightly calmer, more stable but still had plenty of detail and zing.

Next question: could it make Bob Dylan sound musical? On went Bringing it all Back Home and I could hear more emotion and drama in the singing than I remembered hearing before. Similarly with Joni Mitchell’s Blue I was conscious of the emotion in her voice, especially on The Last Time I Saw Richard.

I then listened to Gong again Gill Scott-Heron’s Reflections. King Crimson’s – Return of Poseidon, Echo and Bunnymen’s Heaven Up Here.

I started thinking that the Arkless is ruthlessly revealing (I mean that in a complementary way). For example I was more aware than usual of the type of reverberation settings being used on Gill Scott-Heron’s vocals, nuances in bass and drum playing. I also noticed that drums sounded very crisp with plenty of attack.

Listening to King Crimson I was impressed with the way that even during the loudest most complex and dense passages the sound never became confused or ‘soupy’ and how it was easy to follow individual instruments.

At this stage I reinstated the P75II but a valve started fizzing (I think a cable pulled another cable - serve me right for not switching everything off whilst messing about with wiring). So I can only make comparisons based upon my memory.

Firstly though compared to the basic Cambridge Audio 640P (I once had one) I think the Arkless sounds much better in every way. If you have a 640P and are looking to upgrade the Arkless may be just the ticket.

Against the P75 II? For me the Arkless is more revealing: better at retrieving low level information and transient information. It also has slightly more extended bass, brought me closer to vocal expression and somehow felt a little faster. Overall I found it a little more incisive and very enjoyable to listen to.

From memory the P75 II whilst a tadge richer in the midrange is just a little less detailed throughout. However I feel it has a more expansive soundstage with better developed front to back placement and more of a sense of the sound of instruments emanating from in specific place. Though I understand that some folk consider ‘soundstage’ as almost an artefact, for me it is an enjoyable and valid attribute of studio recorded music. Live music is different and last night I was reminded of this. I was mesmerised watching Anoushka Shankar and her Indian/Spanish band, hearing music on a domestic stereo can never hope to approach such an experience as live performance appeals to other senses and I doubt whether the sense of 'being there' in the moment will ever be replicated.

If I wanted a phono to reproduce live music without concern for soundstaging I’d prefer the Arkless to the P75II. For studio recordings I can’t be sure until I can make a direct comparison, I think it could go either way. I think the P75II may present a more mediated version of events – whether this is a good thing will hinge on system and taste.

Thanks again to Jez and if you are looking for a phono I’d recommend you contact him to arrange trying this one in your own system.
Rob
 
Since posting the demo unit onto Tim on Tuesday I've found myself missing the Arkless 640p, so have just ordered one :)
 
Apologies if I've missed this somewhere, but what is the overall gain of the MM input after your modifications?

I am looking for something that has gain in the 46 to 50db range to work with a Dynavector 10x5 cartridge.

thanks
 
tenpercenter said:
Apologies if I've missed this somewhere, but what is the overall gain of the MM input after your modifications?

I am looking for something that has gain in the 46 to 50db range to work with a Dynavector 10x5 cartridge.

thanks
Click to expand...

Its 43.2dB but I can do you one with higher MM gain at no extra cost as it's just a case of changing one resistor per channel..... it's one which I replace anyway.
 
Just to clarify some Frequently Asked Questions which I have been getting in emails and PM's :)

There are details of the work carried out at: http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=126825

There is no mention of it on my website at the moment as I have yet to update it.

My email address, phone number and address to send units for modification is all on my website which has a link in my signature.

The cost is £140 plus £10 U.K. postage. This does not include a 640P/651P! You need to send me one to be modified.

I can accept payment by direct bank transfer, pay-pal or cheque made out to "J. Arkless" NOT Arkless Electronics (I wasn't prepared to keep paying the silly bank charges for business account customers so now just use my personal account).

Turn around time will usually be about a week but as a "one man band" business I also cater for musicians, recording studios and of course repairs and rebuilds to hifi gear so I can't guarantee this.

I have no problem in doing business with non EU customers so long as they can organise collection of the finished unit with their own courier who can deal with any customs issues etc on their behalf.

Changing from MC to MM gain setting is accomplished by removing the lid and cutting a wire link for each channel. This link is large enough to easily be soldered back together to go back to MC setting. Customers should specify whether the unit as supplied to them is to be set to MM or MC.
I can change it back to MC for customers not confident enough to make the two soldered joints themselves but will have to charge £10 (+ postage) to cover my time in having to re-pack the unit and take it to the Post Office etc

The above method removes switch contacts from a very delicate low level signal but if a customer wishes to have a rear panel switch fitted for MM/MC this can be done for an extra £30

Gain as supplied is 43dB MM and 63dB MC which is around double that of the unmodified unit. Other gains can be specified at no extra cost but please be sure that you need something different to these settings as they will be found to be suitable for most cartridges as is.

Loading without the supplied loading plugs fitted is 47K and 100pF which will suit 90% of MM cartridges. The loading plugs supplied set it to 100 Ohm and 1nF which is a fairly standard setting for MC cartridges and will suit the majority of them.
The loading plugs supplied can be any other value, as specified by a customer, for either MC or MM (IE extra capacitance for some older Ortofon MM's or more or less resistance for some MC's).

Extra loading plugs of any value to suit MC or MM cartridges can be supplied for £15 including UK postage.

Please specify whether or not you want the subsonic filter and output relay to remain functional. All customers so far have wanted them bypassed so I will generally bypass them if I hear nothing to the contrary.

If you have any other questions then just ask!
 
I picked up the loaner unit this morning and have spent the past five hours in a pretty focused session with it. From switch-on, with the loading plugs installed, it is clearly a cracking phono stage.

My TT is a DV Te Kaitora Rua cart on a Rega P9/RB1000. Amps are NVA P50stepped attenuator passive pre into NVA A80 monoblocks into Rega RS3 speakers in a fairly small room. ICs are a mix of DNM and Mark Grant, with NVA LS6 speaker cable.

Music used: Human League 'Dare', Beethoven Ninth (Karajan/BPO 1963 DG), and Captain Beefheart 'Clear Spot'. I also used a smattering of Brubeck, Stevie Wonder's 'Musiquarium', and my favorite Massive Attack 'Inertia Creeps' 12" torture track. I also admit I had a moment of weakness and put on my 12" version of Yello's 'Oh Yeah'...:D

The extra gain on offer is a real help to passive preamp/low output cart users like me - brings it right up to near enough line levels. I've tried to bear this in mind when doing direct comparisons to my regular Clearaudio Balance stage, which has a little less on offer. I've stayed with the Clearaudio for five years or so (it replaced a P75 mk1 which I still have) because it is very dynamic, and has excellent stereo separation - probably the best I've ever heard from a phono stage. It also has a proper separate PSU (not a wallwart). It would have cost about £700 new - I think I paid £500 for a mint S/H one.

Compared to the Balance, the Arkless is subjectively more spotlit on the mids (which may account for a slight increase in surface noise), but its bass sounds just as solid. Its instrumental separation is slightly better -I had more than one "didn't realise that was there/he was doing that" moment. It really showed off the hear-through mid/treble of the TKR.

If there is a downside, the Arkless is not quite as calm and collected as the Clearaudio. There is a sense on the big Beethoven orchestral climaxes that it was geting a bit muddled. In some systems, with that explicit midband, I can see how could become tiring after a while. In my system it works a treat, but if I was using somethng like a Naim preamp, I'd be a bit more cautious.

But that has to be, er, balanced against the fact that the sense of pizzazz and PRaT from the Arkless is a clear step above. It's a serious foot tapper - and handled the complexities of Clear Spot very well. It's better at untangling the different elements of the mix - the different guitar parts on 'Do I Do' became suddenly obvious.

The Arkless doesn't quite have the P75's sense of timbre (on Dr T setting), but in all other respects it was obviously superior. I didn't give that comparison much focus tbh, as the Arkless was a clear winner.

Ultimately I expected the Clearaudio would come out on top, but I'm wrong. It does some things better than the Arkless, but not enough. The value for money equation here is a total no-brainer. Oh, and Mrs Jones says "I think that new bit you're testing, whatever it is, sounds really good..." So, yes, I do plan to acquire one ASAP in the New Year.
 
Why buy one Tim, you could just keep the one you already have, seeing as you haven't posted it on in the list yet...
 
Some good music being used in these assesments.Rather approve of the Quad 63s too. I am using a Cambridge with a top quality step-up into the mm stage. Unmodified. It compares well with £4000 phonostages, to my ears at least. Not quite as deep and smooth, but not too far off either.I know Arkless don't agree, but I find the mc step-up is the key ingredient, not the Cambridge . Odd, and counte-intuitive, but that's what I hear.
Do people really wantd 'ruthlessly revealing'? Obviously some do, but I'd prefer something that emphasies the music rather than recording artifacts. So I don't think the mod would be for me.
 
paskinn said:
Some good music being used in these assesments.Rather approve of the Quad 63s too. I am using a Cambridge with a top quality step-up into the mm stage. Unmodified. It compares well with £4000 phonostages, to my ears at least. Not quite as deep and smooth, but not too far off either.I know Arkless don't agree, but I find the mc step-up is the key ingredient, not the Cambridge . Odd, and counte-intuitive, but that's what I hear.
Do people really wantd 'ruthlessly revealing'? Obviously some do, but I'd prefer something that emphasies the music rather than recording artifacts. So I don't think the mod would be for me.
Click to expand...

i can tell you that the modded one eats the standard one.....you could still use a step up tx but i have a couple and it sounds better without.
 
paskinn said:
Some good music being used in these assesments.Rather approve of the Quad 63s too. I am using a Cambridge with a top quality step-up into the mm stage. Unmodified. It compares well with £4000 phonostages, to my ears at least. Not quite as deep and smooth, but not too far off either.I know Arkless don't agree, but I find the mc step-up is the key ingredient, not the Cambridge . Odd, and counte-intuitive, but that's what I hear.
Do people really wantd 'ruthlessly revealing'? Obviously some do, but I'd prefer something that emphasies the music rather than recording artifacts. So I don't think the mod would be for me.
Click to expand...

If you really must use a transformer then just think what it could sound like into the MM setting of the modified version! ;)
 
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