Hi Fi repairs and mods in North East England

Hi Peeps,
Just joined the forum cos I have now got a web site up and running for my business, Arkless Electronics.... Yes it's a blatant plug but it could be a life-saver for any one who needs quality servicing or upgrades for their amplifier.
Ex Musical Fidelity and Alchemist Products Engineer.
http://www.arklesselectronics.com
Thanks,
Jez Arkless.

 

Welcome to the forum Jez. Any chance of a little info on that phonostage design of yours?

 

Well what can one say about a phono stage.... Without getting too technical or describing it to the point that others could copy it
Well it comes in MC only and MM only types as all attempts to make one that's switchable have been a compromise. It's solid state and uses some fairly exotic devices (although I can build valve ones also) and has very precise RIAA eq.
It's all fairly academic really as only half a dozen have been built and sold, mainly to friends and associates. I don't actually have any in stock for sale as such...
I mentioned it on my web site as an example of capabilities and of past work.
I long toyed with the possibilities of manufacturing these phono stages and as I said in my web site, everyone who has heard them has said it's the best they have ever heard... apart from one guy who had just bought an EAR phono stage a week before and it was still his new toy.. even he said mine was probably better but he just had a fondness for the "valve warmth", everyone else in the room for the bake off (never heard that term before joining this site!) preferred mine. A friend of mine who was a dealer in second hand hifi and had the chance to listen to all sorts of gear bought one and he said it wiped the floor with every other phono stage he tried it against! I do know that he never got the chance to compare it to the Whest though, and they do get good write ups.
I will try and get one built up as a demonstrator in the new year (I only have my own here now and it's the first prototype.... open circuit board on an "L" shaped alloy bracket!).
I can build all sorts of equipment to order, valve or solid state, from phono stages to power amps. The problem is that by the nature of something being built as a hand made "one off" it is going to be expensive (the phono stage above is actually not too bad, about £800) and probably more importantly for something as subjective as hifi, you can't try before you buy.... IE if I am given a commission to build a set of class A monoblock power amps then yes, I can deliver, but I cannot build them for you first and then let you decide if you like them and want to buy them!! Catch 22.
Hence I expect to be repairing (and upgrading) equipment as usual rather than building to order for the foreseeable future, the phono stage being a possible exception for next year....
For anything on your "wish list" please enquire.

Cheers,
Jez Arkless

 

Sounds good.

Dc coupled?
Dual mono?
Active or passive RIAA?
What's the SNR?
Does it have adjustable loading options?
Any op-amps in the signal path?ballpark?

£800 seems in the right ballpark

 

Ok then lets see...

1/ No not entirely DC coupled, parts of it are but it runs from a unipolar supply. I experimented with all DC coupled and bipolar supplies but my ears said no!

2/ No not dual mono. Can make it dual mono to order though.

3/ Part passive, part active RIAA

4/ Although I have plenty of equipment to do so, I have never measured the signal to noise ratio.... It's very quiet though and can be made even quieter for very low output cartridges if required. Even in standard form though it is so quiet that I have had no urge to measure the noise.

5/ It can be supplied with any loading option that a customer requests. Comprehensive user adjustable loading is also an option but to do the job properly would be very expensive due to the quality of the switches/relays required at these sub milli-Volt levels at such low impedance.

6/ One op-amp in the signal path. The rest is discrete. The op amp can be replaced by an all discrete stage or even by a valved stage if that is what a customer wants.

Any and all of the above variations from the "standard" version would of course incur a cost penalty...
If dual mono with valved intermediate stages and fully switch adjustable loading was the remit then we would be talking big league money!

 

sounds like a BRAGI.

 

Not even remotely similar to the Bragi Other than they both run from electrickery
And it Was Glen, not me, who designed the Bragi....

 

i know, i still have one, but yours sounds on details very interesting, i worked with GARFIEL, adrew, warren &co.

 

You know all the old crew eh
I was amazed at the change in career path that Garfield made!
Did you work for Musical Fidelity? That's where all of us at Alchemist first met....

 

Thanks for the details Jez.

I'm just putting together this one of the 5.1 models from Syns website http://www.synaesthesia.ca/LNschematics.html. If it doesn't hit the spot for me I might be in touch after the new year.

 

quote

in a way i did in other i did not, but when kala & Garfield wanted to go on their own i was the wing commander, p.s. i still see Garfield as he still comes to see me, regards, and wish you well.

 

That's a bit cryptic Nando
Give my regards to Garfield when you see him next. Last I heard he had turned his back on electronics and was working with disadvantaged kids!? Did we ever meet? I was the scruffy biker one.... left while they were still at Muswell Hill. You will no doubt know the full story if you are a mate of Garfields!

sq225917. Yep that's fine.

 

will do jez, you know me i know, i know you too, clue " studio one" ? do you remember my wife in m.f. uk sales admin?

 

I would guess your wife is Indra? Didn't know her very well but yep remember her.
The "studio one" clue is lost on me I'm afraid.... You''ll have to end the mystery as to who you are

 

indra's husband,

 

Thought i'd just give this a little bump.

Having had the mis-fortune to fry some electronics while trying some new EL-34's in my Synthesis valve amp, i knew emergency treatment was needed. Luckily i spotted Jez's blurb on here, which lead me to his web-site, a couple of e-mails later and the amp was packaged up and was heading over to Mr Arkless.

Having asked Jez to fix the damage i also thought now is a good time for a upgrade, i told Jez i had £300 to play with for anything that would improve the amps performance. Well a few days later jez lets me know that it's ready, obviously i was excited about the prospect of a newly upgraded amp. WELL not so, Jez imformed me that the amp was now "working perfectly" (he had fixed it). But regarding the upgrades, "he did not think any was needed !!" and that "the amp was already sporting componants that he would have used himself".

Well the amp is perfect, but i was so impressed with the fact that, rather than just chucking bits in so he could earn a few more squids, he told it like it was, even if it meant less profit (a true, no nonsense type of guy) and for that i salute him.

I fully recommend Jez to anyone in need of his services, no nonsense, quick turnaround and great pricing.

Many thanks Jez mate.

Si...