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

Sorry Jez, would love to, but as you know put myself to the back of the queue as I can't get any time and space to give anything a good listen right now, damn lockdown, record deck is in a shared living room where in normal times I would get some free time and be able to give it the listen I know it deserves. Right now, no chance. :(

Once schools open, and people are able to travel to work, count me in. Sadly, until then it is a wasted opportunity for me to say yes.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
@Marcus401 @dadgad @Alexm2033 @p147 @foxwelljsly Do any of you still wish to try this lovely giant killer phono stage?
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@Arkless Electronics Yes. Note that in my case it will be in an A/B with the MC stage in a Linn Akurate Kontrol Pre Amp and an AT33 PTG. I have no other MC carts to try with it right now.

I'm WAH in the study right next to the record deck, so plenty of time to give this a try with meridian M30's, a Quad/Kef reference setup and a nice can setup with some HD 600's.

If it's better than what I have right now, and it's not too big, you will have an order for one.
 
foxwelljsly said:
@Arkless Electronics Yes. Note that in my case it will be in an A/B with the MC stage in a Linn Akurate Kontrol Pre Amp and an AT33 PTG. I have no other MC carts to try with it right now.

I'm WAH in the study right next to the record deck, so plenty of time to give this a try with meridian M30's, a Quad/Kef reference setup and a nice can setup with some HD 600's.

If it's better than what I have right now, and it's not too big, you will have an order for one.
Click to expand...

Okeydoke if you PM me your details I'll get it sent on to you:)
 
foxwelljsly said:
@Arkless Electronics Yes. Note that in my case it will be in an A/B with the MC stage in a Linn Akurate Kontrol Pre Amp and an AT33 PTG. I have no other MC carts to try with it right now.

I'm WAH in the study right next to the record deck, so plenty of time to give this a try with meridian M30's, a Quad/Kef reference setup and a nice can setup with some HD 600's.

If it's better than what I have right now, and it's not too big, you will have an order for one.
Click to expand...

@foxwelljsly Apologies but about an hour after I said you would be first to get it I got a PM from someone only 10 mins up the road from YNWOAN (Mark) who it's with at the moment and Mark says he'll drop it off so it makes sense now for it to go to this fishie first and then you. Hope that's OK:)
 
mikechadwick said:
I'm definitely in the market for this - only thing that worries me is the availability of the Cambridge Audio 640P / 651P - don't seem to be any around at the moment. Anyhow, sign me up, I'll try it with the Benz Micro Ace SL.
thanks
mike
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That's great Mike you'll now be third to try it.

The relative scarcity of 640P/651P is indeed getting worrying.... it must have been the best selling UK phono stage for a few years with huge sales! They are still around but a year ago if you went on ebay there would have been like 25 to choose from at any one time and from about £35 - 70 ish but apparently only 16 have been sold in the last 3 months and one went for £105! 640P's are selling for much less than 651P's and are identical inside so the best VFM and you can still pick one up for £40 if lucky.
Avoid the aftermarket external PSU's for sale on epay for these units. No upgrade to the PSU is possible. The original wall wart is in this case literally a transformer in a plastic box. That's it. They run from 12V AC not DC and everything to do with the power supply as such is in the actual phono stage.

At this rate I may end up having to put it in my own box with my own PCB but that will add about £200 to the cost so it will be put off as long as possible.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
That's great Mike you'll now be third to try it.

The relative scarcity of 640P/651P is indeed getting worrying.... it must have been the best selling UK phono stage for a few years with huge sales! They are still around but a year ago if you went on ebay there would have been like 25 to choose from at any one time and from about £35 - 70 ish but apparently only 16 have been sold in the last 3 months and one went for £105! 640P's are selling for much less than 651P's and are identical inside so the best VFM and you can still pick one up for £40 if lucky.
Avoid the aftermarket external PSU's for sale on epay for these units. No upgrade to the PSU is possible. The original wall wart is in this case literally a transformer in a plastic box. That's it. They run from 12V AC not DC and everything to do with the power supply as such is in the actual phono stage.

At this rate I may end up having to put it in my own box with my own PCB but that will add about £200 to the cost so it will be put off as long as possible.
Click to expand...
Thanks Jez. Let me know when you need my details and I'll pm them to you.
 
Also still interested. I currently have the turbo version and was concerned about the loss of mm option but it now appears that might be addressed (if I have that right). No rush but when you have time I would like to know cost of conversion from turbo version with option of moving magnet.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
The relative scarcity of 640P/651P is indeed getting worrying.... it must have been the best selling UK phono stage for a few years with huge sales! They are still around but a year ago if you went on ebay there would have been like 25 to choose from at any one time and from about £35 - 70 ish but apparently only 16 have been sold in the last 3 months and one went for £105! 640P's are selling for much less than 651P's and are identical inside so the best VFM and you can still pick one up for £40 if lucky.
Avoid the aftermarket external PSU's for sale on epay for these units. No upgrade to the PSU is possible. The original wall wart is in this case literally a transformer in a plastic box. That's it. They run from 12V AC not DC and everything to do with the power supply as such is in the actual phono stage.
Click to expand...

Is this 'Cambridge Audio Solo' the same case as the 640P/651P?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1303775586...HNhOOIcQDMuWHmN6L5QMWccUt7J4RkchoCBS4QAvD_BwE
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
dadgad said:
Is this 'Cambridge Audio Solo' the same case as the 640P/651P?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1303775586...HNhOOIcQDMuWHmN6L5QMWccUt7J4RkchoCBS4QAvD_BwE
Click to expand...

No that is not suitable. The only models which are suitable are the 640P and 651P. The replacement for the 651P was the CP2 and this seems to be basically the same BUT it has a balance control (odd) and after having just seen some detailed high res pics of the PCB it also has an extra op amp in the signal path close to the balance control. I can't find a service manual or schematic for this model though to see exactly what is going on here and the layout etc is completely different, so whilst it may be possible to use a CP2 it would take considerable work to re-jig all my circuitry to this model. The CP2 was around for far less time than the 640P and 651P and no doubt there are far less around so I don't intend to extend my work to cover this as a donor unit.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Had this for a few days now.

I've previously used a trichord dino and integrated amps and pre-amps with very good internal stages including the Inca Tech Claymore 2, Exposure Super XV, Linn Kairn and the £300 linn MM/MC card that's been found in loads of their amps since the Exotik.

The best of these was probably the rather noisy Exposure and the far quieter, but rather subdued, Linn Stages.

This, unsurprisingly, is very noticeably better than any of the above and I've already bought a 640p to send to Jez for treatment.

It's almost as quiet as the Linn and as musical as the Exposure, but it's accuracy and detail retrieval, in comparison, is staggering. Where it's come into it's own for me is on good copies of 60's pop recordings, where the ambience in terms of the room and instruments is captivating, as is the snap and swing of later rock stuff like the first couple of Mink Deville albums or the Dictators.

I have yet to try it with jazz, classical or folk music, but will before I send it on.
 
foxwelljsly said:
Had this for a few days now.

I've previously used a trichord dino and integrated amps and pre-amps with very good internal stages including the Inca Tech Claymore 2, Exposure Super XV, Linn Kairn and the £300 linn MM/MC card that's been found in loads of their amps since the Exotik.

The best of these was probably the rather noisy Exposure and the far quieter, but rather subdued, Linn Stages.

This, unsurprisingly, is very noticeably better than any of the above and I've already bought a 640p to send to Jez for treatment.

It's almost as quiet as the Linn and as musical as the Exposure, but it's accuracy and detail retrieval, in comparison, is staggering. Where it's come into it's own for me is on good copies of 60's pop recordings, where the ambience in terms of the room and instruments is captivating, as is the snap and swing of later rock stuff like the first couple of Mink Deville albums or the Dictators.

I have yet to try it with jazz, classical or folk music, but will before I send it on.
Click to expand...

I think there is something about these type of phono stages that let carts perform to their best without the restriction of being correctly loaded.

Your comment rings true from both my experience of the P75 and more so my RSL stage. It's hard to use a regular stage after hearing these IMO.
 
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