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Arkless 640P "Dr T Mode"/current input version interest check

I'm just keen to read what folks think of theirs, whatever version they have, so I can decide which one I want to go for (active or passive, GTI or Turbo).

*Post edited to remove comments about reviews of recent builds. I was giving my take on things and was wrong to do so. Sorry if I ruffled any feathers there.
 
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"Moppit"s and "Tarzan"s are the original Arkless 640P and not the latest Arkless GTI version which is of course MC only.
I presume that Moppits is a Turbo at that price but invoices etc are obviously in real names and not forum "handles" so I can't easily check.
 
I have the 'cooking' Arkless and it is very good indeed. No comparison to the Cambridge it derives from, which isn't even close. I haven't heard the Turbo version, so I can't really comment, but I had the GTI in my system for a week or two and it's in a different league to the standard Arkless. I can't imagine the Turbo would approach the capabilities of the GTI, though it's no doubt better than the standard. If you don't need the MM section, I'd go straight to GTI, if it were me. I haven't heard GTI Turbo, but if you're going for a GTI, I can't imagine why you wouldn't go all the way given the small extra cost.
 
Darth Vader said:
Apparently in the UK (as reported in the newspapers) people have been paying off their debts and saving during lock down. The figure of £1.5 trillion total savings in the banks has been mentioned. So we may not see things like VAT dropping as its not through lack of dosh that people aren't spending.

Cheers,

DV
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The same happened in Malaysia, people either saving the loan holiday money or investing in shares. Nothing spent in the shops
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
I have the 'cooking' Arkless and it is very good indeed. No comparison to the Cambridge it derives from, which isn't even close. I haven't heard the Turbo version, so I can't really comment, but I had the GTI in my system for a week or two and it's in a different league to the standard Arkless. I can't imagine the Turbo would approach the capabilities of the GTI, though it's no doubt better than the standard. If you don't need the MM section, I'd go straight to GTI, if it were me. I haven't heard GTI Turbo, but if you're going for a GTI, I can't imagine why you wouldn't go all the way given the small extra cost.
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Yep that's fair. The Arkless 640P is a very good phono stage, a bargain at the price and more than a match for any of its main rivals BUT the Arkless GTI is in another league. This has nothing to do with parts quality or build quality etc and is completely down to the transimpedance topology used and which elicits similarly rave reviews in the very few other units which use the same technique such as the RSL and the DV P75 in "PE" or "DrT" mode.

Of course the transimpedance technique is not applicable to MM carts. The Arkless 640P is switchable MM and MC and can be offer any loading for either using loading plugs but if you are definitely an MC only person then the GTI is the way to go.

As an aside here, it would be interesting to see the results of someone using an SUT in reverse to connect an MM to the GTI version... hmmm... now there's a thing...
 
I still have Jez's dem unit and whilst I am useless at reviewer talk, I absolutely love it. So much so I have completely lost the plot and gone on a mental vinyl and cartridges spending spree! Hopefully he will be able to convert one of my two donor units I now have ended up with in my zeal to secure one, before anyone else wants the dem unit. I dunno if I can go back to the P75!

With Lyra Delos it 'makes music' in a way that I bet I could blindfold some Linn fanbois and tell them they’re listening to a Klimax set up (rather than a tweeked MK2 1210) and they'd agree it was worth at least £25k :D

Dynavector Karat, very quiet output requires enthusiastic use of the volume control, but with that done it gives the absolute ruler flat response and insane level of detail that cartridge should have if the phono stage isn't messing it up. It is like listening with a microscope, maybe not for everyone, certainly not for all my records, but downright spooky with some records.

Zu (Denon) 103r, more forgiving with some of my records with more dubious histories, still sounds absolutely magical through the GTI

AT-OC9MLii this was the only MC Cart I had when the GTI arrived and it was by no means a disappointment, I am just prone to getting carried away, considering you can find these NOS for about a grand less than the Delos, they are an absolute bargain; similarly this has a boron cantilever and advanced stylus profile and is absolutely brilliant with the GTI!
 
Anyone else want try the demo unit before djftw forgets where it lives!?:D Great review there djtwf BTW, thanks and glad you like it so much:)

As I've said I'm not taking in any more for conversion until around Oct but there's no reason for the demo unit to cease it's round Britain tour.
 
djftw said:
I still have Jez's dem unit and whilst I am useless at reviewer talk, I absolutely love it. So much so I have completely lost the plot and gone on a mental vinyl and cartridges spending spree! Hopefully he will be able to convert one of my two donor units I now have ended up with in my zeal to secure one, before anyone else wants the dem unit. I dunno if I can go back to the P75!

With Lyra Delos it 'makes music' in a way that I bet I could blindfold some Linn fanbois and tell them they’re listening to a Klimax set up (rather than a tweeked MK2 1210) and they'd agree it was worth at least £25k :D

Dynavector Karat, very quiet output requires enthusiastic use of the volume control, but with that done it gives the absolute ruler flat response and insane level of detail that cartridge should have if the phono stage isn't messing it up. It is like listening with a microscope, maybe not for everyone, certainly not for all my records, but downright spooky with some records.

Zu (Denon) 103r, more forgiving with some of my records with more dubious histories, still sounds absolutely magical through the GTI

AT-OC9MLii this was the only MC Cart I had when the GTI arrived and it was by no means a disappointment, I am just prone to getting carried away, considering you can find these NOS for about a grand less than the Delos, they are an absolute bargain; similarly this has a boron cantilever and advanced stylus profile and is absolutely brilliant with the GTI!
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You quite like the GTI then?

I also loved it. My old Troika came alive
 
For anyone who is interested in the Arkless Turbo (and the GTI for that matter)….it is a stonking good phono stage, very propulsive sound which is very, very smooth and very full sounding, not analytical at all, if you like music then these phono stages should be high on any ones try out list.:)
 
OK, I have just completed a pretty comprehensive A/B test between Jez's demo unit, which is the standard GTi spec and the full GTi Turbo Spec one he has completed for me - which has, in addition to the demo unit, uprated caps (largely a reliability mod I am informed) and the full turbo mods including the uprated op amps which are run, IIRC, in active mode, rather than the passive mode the lower spec op amps are run in the standard version.

I asked him to send this to me as I was convinced there was a slight difference, but I did not know if it was for the better. It turns out it's a difference that makes even slightly worn discs a little worse and good discs a little better.

In the interests of full disclosure, the rest of the system is a Acoustic signature Challenger T/T with a Roksan Nima arm and AT 33 PTG II cart, a Sugden Headmaster Class A pre-amp (also recently refurbished to a very high standard by Jez), a Quad QSP power amplifier and a pair of fully refurbished Kef 104/2 speakers. I have also been doing a bit of casual testing over the last couple of days by switching between the two stages whilst working at home and listening through some Sennheiser HD600 cans and the the Headmaster.

Discs used for the speaker test were Pentangle's Reflections, Beach Boys Surf's Up and Deep Purple's Fireball.

My conclusions? Both stages are undeniably superb and whilst there is a Gnat's chuff between them, there is an audible difference. However, it is marginal and that's in the handling of the high frequencies covering sibilant sounds in the human voice and percussion. The Turbo has a little more headroom here and enunciates these with a little more clarity than the demo unit. This does mean that it exposes groove wear a little more mercilessly. It also takes breathy vocal recordings, for instance, 'Disney Girls' and 'Day in the life of a tree' from Surf's Up, to a slightly more transcendent level.

It should also be noted that this difference was more noticeable via the speakers than through the cans.

The price difference between the two was, IIRC, about £140, which isn't very much. Is it worth it? In our OCD world of extremely marginal gains, yes. I probably spent half that much on a turntable mat, which was, admittedly, stupid.

I should add, by way of testimony, that since first hearing Jez's demo unit I have bought a new cart and arm and about 20 new albums, so this little box has thoroughly reinvigorated my passion for vinyl.

If I could offer one piece of advice to Jez, it would be simplify your product offerings. Keeping it to the recapped GTi and the recapped GTi turbo as I have here would appear to be sensible.

Bom Shanka
 
Mmmmm.... very interesting, but makes the decision somewhat harder. I think I'd sacrifice the 'pristine playback' for a more universally even-handed reproduction, as much of my vinyl is s/h or quite old. So probably just the GTI for me. Jez, I'm ready whenever you are :)
 
foxwelljsly said:
My conclusions? Both stages are undeniably superb and whilst there is a Gnat's chuff between them, there is an audible difference. However, it is marginal and that's in the handling of the high frequencies covering sibilant sounds in the human voice and percussion. The Turbo has a little more headroom here and enunciates these with a little more clarity than the demo unit. This does mean that it exposes groove wear a little more mercilessly. It also takes breathy vocal recordings, for instance, 'Disney Girls' and 'Day in the life of a tree' from Surf's Up, to a slightly more transcendent level.
<snip>
I should add, by way of testimony, that since first hearing Jez's demo unit I have bought a new cart and arm and about 20 new albums, so this little box has thoroughly reinvigorated my passion for vinyl.
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Thanks for this, which as a prospective GTI Turbo buyer (Jez, any chance we could have a more descriptive nomenclature?) is of direct relevance to me. What you describe here are sonic differences, rather than musical ones, though. Would you say the increased headroom in the Turbo added to the enjoyment of the music - in other words, was the groove wear a distraction, or irrelevant to the enjoyment of the music and only really noticeable in 'analytical listening' mode? Which would you buy, having heard both, if they cost the same?
 
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