Nottingham Analogue Ace Anna Tonearms

[koi]

I have today installed a second Ace Anna tonearm on my Dais the shorter 10 inch version it’s superb.

I love this tonearms they work superb with every cartridge I fit they have a fabulous spacious top end and are a pleasure to use.

They obviously are a match made in heaven with Nottingham Analogue Turntables.

I

 

[Dean Jordan]

I had one of these on my analogue works TT2 prototype with a London Decca Gold and its bloody amazing for sure.

 

[Mike Reed]

have today installed a second Ace Anna tonearm

Is your other one a 12", Koi? If so, I'd be interested in the differences; eventually when you swap cart's, maybe. The 10" one was 'reviewed' by Signals of Ipswich on their website, though the customer bought a 12".

 

[koi]

Is your other one a 12", Koi? If so, I'd be interested in the differences; eventually when you swap cart's, maybe. The 10" one was 'reviewed' by Signals of Ipswich on their website, though the customer bought a 12".

Will do Mike

Yes my other Anna is 12”

 

[hifi_dave]

They are the most user friendly unipivot arms. They work extremely well with a wide range of cartridges, are dead easy to install and set up and never go wrong.

 

[Geoff WILTON]

I am running a 10'' ace space tonearm on my Spacedeck. Is the Ace anna really head and shoulders above it? I am interested in trying one if anyone here has one they would like to sell. The only one I see at the moment is on German ebay and it will be too expensive if I have to pay VAT to reimport it. Nuts!

 

[Mike Reed]

I am running a 10'' Ace Space tonearm on my Spacedeck. Is the Ace Anna really head and shoulders above it?

By all accounts, it is a better arm. Head and shoulders? Don't think you get enormous s.q. jumps i=n anything hifi by going up the range; I'd call it incremental yet noticeable and as a bonus, worthy of exploiting a better cart.

I've the 12" one (wouldn't revert to 9" any arm; 10"? Maybe) and it's superb; also more tactile (easier to handle), being longer. Also a wee bit massier which is better for coils. Not sure whether changing the arm-board on a Spacedeck would warrant this, however. Hmmm!

 

[koi]

The Ace Anna is a really nice arm. Nottingham Analogue seem to get a bit of bad press with regard to there tonearms i’m not sure why.

In my experience the Ace Anna works very well with every cartridge i’ve tried with it.
My other tonearm is a Morch and the Ace Anna is just as good.

I would have no problem recommending a Nottingham Analogue Ace Anna and have used both 12”and 10” versions.

 

[Orbe Chaser]

I recently bought a Ace Spacedeck & the question about their matching arms was something I researched before buying, & a lot of what I read was not exactly complimentary, so I didn't go there. As it happens my choice of cartridge dictated it wouldn't work anyway so no big deal, & I am very happy with my choice, a Analogue Instruments Siggwan 12 inch cocobolo wood unipivot. I would like to to hear a NA arm though, as I trust my own ears over someone I don't know.

 

[Mike Reed]

As it happens my choice of cartridge dictated it wouldn't work anyway

Interesting, as I've had a K Black and Urushi Vermillion in my 12". Presumably your cart. required a much massier arm?

 

[Darren L]

I wasn't overly impressed with the earlier 9" NA Mentor tonearm, alloy arm tube, perhaps the later and longer carbon fibre arm tube models are better.

 

[Geoff WILTON]

By all accounts, it is a better arm. Head and shoulders? Don't think you get enormous s.q. jumps i=n anything hifi by going up the range; I'd call it incremental yet noticeable and as a bonus, worthy of exploiting a better cart.

I've the 12" one (wouldn't revert to 9" any arm; 10"? Maybe) and it's superb; also more tactile (easier to handle), being longer. Also a wee bit massier which is better for coils. Not sure whether changing the arm-board on a Spacedeck would warrant this, however. Hmmm!

Thanks for your endorsement Mike. I think i may be past the mental 'wrestling match' i have to go through before considering signicant expenditure on an upgrade. There's a Dynavector DV20x2 here looking for a worthy partner. Anyone with an Ace anna for sale? Anyone...?

 

[Colin123]

My other tonearm is a Morch and the Ace Anna is just as good.

Which Moerch arm is that Koi.

 

[Orbe Chaser]

Interesting, as I've had a K Black and Urushi Vermillion in my 12". Presumably your cart. required a much massier arm?

Actually I have just looked up the effective mass of the Ace Anna & I must have got my wires crossed somewhere, as it is almost the same as my Siggwan. Having said that I am happy with my choice, & yes the cart is a Vermillion.

 

[Mike Reed]

& yes the cart is a Vermillion.

Well well, coincidence. I tried to ascertain the eff. mass of my 12" Ace Anna by phoning Penny and Adam at N.A.. and she/he was only able to guess that it would be around 14/15 (not really helpful, I thought at the time). Realistically, Ks need a bit more than that (>20g), though they're not as fussy as a Miyajima !

I can't remember my Blk. Goldline on the unipivot, but the Vermillion was the first cart. to go on my A.A., which was my only arm at the time. I later changed it to my 12" A.O. PU7 and concluded that it much preferred the gimballed arm. My previous Benz Ebony and my current T. Proteus sounded different in each arm but equally as good. My PU7 is round about 14/15 g as well, according to Johnnie (each one made to order).

When I get round to it I must re-mount my Vermillion, which has been languishing in a drawer for some years, but can't face removing the Proteus from the PU7 and loth to put it on the A.A. because of my 'findings' some years ago, so it means setting up 2 cart's, and even with a Dr.F protractor, that'll be struggle (eyesight and age). I loved my Vermillion, but the much lower output c.f. the Blk did take a bit of getting used to, as the Blk was such a gutsy beast at 0.6V.

I don't know your arm but have heard of it. With that wand, it sounds similar to the Reed 3P 12" (which I have considered as my local dealer friend stocks it)

 

[koi]

Which Moerch arm is that Koi.

Morch dp6

 

[Orbe Chaser]

Well well, coincidence. I tried to ascertain the eff. mass of my 12" Ace Anna by phoning Penny and Adam at N.A.. and she/he was only able to guess that it would be around 14/15 (not really helpful, I thought at the time). Realistically, Ks need a bit more than that (>20g), though they're not as fussy as a Miyajima !

I can't remember my Blk. Goldline on the unipivot, but the Vermillion was the first cart. to go on my A.A., which was my only arm at the time. I later changed it to my 12" A.O. PU7 and concluded that it much preferred the gimballed arm. My previous Benz Ebony and my current T. Proteus sounded different in each arm but equally as good. My PU7 is round about 14/15 g as well, according to Johnnie (each one made to order).

When I get round to it I must re-mount my Vermillion, which has been languishing in a drawer for some years, but can't face removing the Proteus from the PU7 and loth to put it on the A.A. because of my 'findings' some years ago, so it means setting up 2 cart's, and even with a Dr.F protractor, that'll be struggle (eyesight and age). I loved my Vermillion, but the much lower output c.f. the Blk did take a bit of getting used to, as the Blk was such a gutsy beast at 0.6V.

I don't know your arm but have heard of it. With that wand, it sounds similar to the Reed 3P 12" (which I have considered as my local dealer friend stocks it)

Hi Mike, yes I looked at the Reed 3P & from reading the specs they do look awfully similar, but the Siggwan was in budget & the Reed not!

As recently as last October I was using the Vermillion on a OL Encounter 3C on a Denon DP-55 & was planning a funky round plinth design for it, but I jumped ship when I realised the work needed to put the electronics in a "cake tin", & went for the NA instead. The Vermillion sounded very good on the Encounter, but I knew there was more to be had, & at an effective mass of 11.6 it was too light really. Various sources put the Siggwan between 15.0 & 16.5 eff. mass, still not perfect but better, & I will experiment with adding mass when I can be bothered, for now it sounds wonderful to my ears.

I also had a Black Goldline on the Encounter before the Vermillion, & I loved it, gutsy is a great description of it & I thought that would be the pinnacle for me cartridge wise, but I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to afford the Vermillion, & I couldn't turn it down.

 

[Mike Reed]

but I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to afford the Vermillion, & I couldn't turn it down.

Likewise !

 

[Jorge Peres]

Dear Sirs,
I am excited, very excited indeed.

I ordered a brand new Nottingham Analogue Dais with the Ace Anna 12" tonearm

I could go for a Rega P10 with the top Rega cartridge,
and it would be cheaper than the Dais with 12" Anna tonearm without cartridge.

The Rega P10 is good for sure, but not for me.
It's a question of sound taste, that's why there are many Turntables on the market.

My pre-phono has a Step-Up Transformer MC Balanced XLR input that I will use (I will buy a cartridge suited for it).

Now some questions :

1) Do I change just the Anna 12" tonearm interconnect from RCA's to XLR's (without using the earth pin 1) ?

2) Or there's a better way to make it really balanced on the Dais ?

3) The interconnect cable that comes with the Anna 12" is any good ? People usually upgrade this interconnect cable ?

4) If I buy a 4k€ MC cartridge with low output and low impedance, should I upgrade to another tonearm interconnect cable ?

5) What about the Anna 12" tonearm internal wires, are they good ? should I upgrade the internal wires to Audio Note ones ?


Thank you,
Greetings

 

[Mike Reed]

I ordered a brand new Nottingham Analogue Dais with the Ace Anna 12" tonearm

I have the Dais with 12" Ace Anna (well done for choosing the 12") and 12" PU7. I don't quite understand some of your comments; mainly because the cabling is from cart. end to RCA phono's. If you wanted XLR termination I guess you could,'ve ordered it; surely better than DIY for a new product.

The only caveat re. this phono cable is that the RCAs are a bit tight, making insertion into sockets a bit of an effort. Cart's I've used on itincluce Benz Ebony (lovely), Transfig. Proteus (lovely), Kyra Titan i (marriage made in Heaven; well known fact) and Koetsu Vermillion Urushi (not the best). I've deduced that Ks need gimballed arms, not unipivots, and of course would theoretically more than the A.A.'s 14 g. eff. mass (approx.)

No idea about the Rega but you won't go wrong with the agricultural manual spin Dais. You don't mention amplification but I guess it's good. Once assembled, you'll struggle to disassemble for servicing unless you're young and strong !!!!!