Upgrading: buy new amp or bi-amp my Arcam Alpha 8?
Tom Jobbins
I am looking to substantially upgrade my current hi-fi setup. My budget for
this upgrade is between UKP 2000 and 2500 (this budget is for components
only, I expect to spend a further 200 on cables)
My current system is as follows:
Arcam Alpha 8 integrated amplifier
Pioneer PD91 CD player
Yamaha KX580 Special Edition cassette deck
Denon TU215RD tuner
Luxurn PD282 turntable (I inherited this and know little about it except it
was "very, very good in its day" ?)
Jamo Cornet 7 floorstanding loudspeakers
I plan to take the tuner and turntable from my old system and combine it
with my new. Therefore I planned to buy a new amplifier, CD player,
cassette deck and speakers. For the cassette deck I was thinking of buying
a used Nakamichi Dragon from the States - for which I'd pay approx $1000:
650 pounds. This would leave me with about 1,900 UKP to spend on the
remaining three components.
I mainly listen to 60s music - The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Pink
Floyd, Simon and Garfunkel, Led Zeppelin, etc. This covers quite a range -
from fairly heavy rock to soft voice/piano melodies. I also listen to a lot
of blues - in particular guitar based - and some jazz. To further
complicate matters I would like as system that can give faithful
reproduction of classical music, too - here my preferences are for
symphonies and piano works. Therefore the system needs to be good in
most/all areas rather than excellent in a few. However if that's not
possible, I will listen to 60s rock/R'n'B and blues music more than anything
else, so a system that excels at that would be preferable. That said,
however, one of the complaints with my current system is that, while it can
pump out bass, higher frequencies are done less well. I think this is
probably mainly due to my speakers, which perhaps are not a good enough
match for my amp and other equipment.
I have been recommended by an audiophile friend the following combination:
Add an Arcam Alpha 8 Power amp to my amp and biamp (250 UKP)
Buy AE120 bi-ampable floorstanding speakers (500 UKP)
Buy Marantz CD-17 KI Signature Edition CD Player (1100 UKP)
This would neatly use up my remaining budget. What would be people's
opinion on this upgrade? I hear very good things about the Marantz CD-17KI
cd player, so I have no concerns about its quality - and I am told it will
be a very noticable improvement on my current Pioneer PD91.
My concern is the amplifier(s). What would be people's opinion on the Arcam
Alpha 8 + 8P biamp combination? At only 600 UKP for the two, does this
represent a good enough complement to the 1100 UKP Marantz CD player? I
don't want to spend a large amount of money (for me, anyway) on a CD player
but have it limited by a lower quality amp.
Of course, if I am to spend 1100 UKP on a CD player, I don't have much
budget left. One option is to forego the luxury of the Nakamichi Dragon and
stick with my current Yamaha KX580 - that would allow me to spend a further
600 UKP on an amp. I were to free up a bit of extra cash (perhaps by
selling my Alpha 8) I could probably allow a total of 1000 UKP for an amp to
go with the Marantz CD player.
I have lots of questions arising from my friend's advice:
x Does the equipment he's recommended make a good combo?
x Will the upgrade from single 8 to bi-amped 8 + 8P be enough of an
upgrade, and a suitable quality match for the Marantz CD player?
x Does anyone have experience of the AE speakers?
x Could anyone give me a quantifiable difference between my Yamaha
KX580SE and a Nakamichi Dragon (e.g. is it "Like chalk and cheese, the
Nakamichi will sound out of this world in comparison" or is it "Well, if you
listen closely you'll notice the Nakamichi is a bit better")
x If the best option is to buy a new amp rather than biamping my old,
should I go for a single integrated amp
at 1000 UKP or buy two new amps and bi-amp?
At the end of the day I, like everyone, wants to turn on my new system and
say "Wow! I can see why I just spent 2500 pounds on this!" not "Well,
yeah, if I listen closely I can notice a bit of a difference" - so I want to
go for whichever option best uses my available budget and current equipment.
As you can see, I have lots of different options and combinations and
choices going through my head - any and all help/recommendations/advice
anyone could offer would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Tom.
Stewart Pinkerton
>Hi,
>
>I am looking to substantially upgrade my current hi-fi setup. My budget for
>this upgrade is between UKP 2000 and 2500 (this budget is for components
>only, I expect to spend a further 200 on cables)
>
>My current system is as follows:
>
>Arcam Alpha 8 integrated amplifier
>Pioneer PD91 CD player
>Yamaha KX580 Special Edition cassette deck
>Denon TU215RD tuner
>Luxurn PD282 turntable (I inherited this and know little about it except it
>was "very, very good in its day" ?)
>Jamo Cornet 7 floorstanding loudspeakers
>
>I plan to take the tuner and turntable from my old system and combine it
>with my new. Therefore I planned to buy a new amplifier, CD player,
>cassette deck and speakers. For the cassette deck I was thinking of buying
>a used Nakamichi Dragon from the States - for which I'd pay approx $1000:
>650 pounds. This would leave me with about 1,900 UKP to spend on the
>remaining three components.
How about keeping the old cassette deck and buying a modern MiniDisc
unit for 2-300 quid, which will totally blow away a Dragon? Also, I'd
forget the Marantz CD player and go with the new Arcam 9, a noticeably
superior unit. You'll now have spent around 1100 quid, so you can
afford 1500 or so for a nice pair of speakers like the Mission 754 or
particularly the new B&W 'Nautilus' 805 or 804. You will not need any
more power for these than your present Arcam 8 delivers. Simple
bi-amping is *very* poor value for money compared with better
speakers. Whatever cables you are using now will be just fine....
--
Stewart Pinkerton | Music is art, audio is engineering
Tom Jobbins
>How about keeping the old cassette deck and buying a modern MiniDisc
>unit for 2-300 quid, which will totally blow away a Dragon? Also, I'd
>forget the Marantz CD player and go with the new Arcam 9, a noticeably
>superior unit. You'll now have spent around 1100 quid, so you can
>afford 1500 or so for a nice pair of speakers like the Mission 754 or
>particularly the new B&W 'Nautilus' 805 or 804. You will not need any
>more power for these than your present Arcam 8 delivers. Simple
>bi-amping is *very* poor value for money compared with better
>speakers. Whatever cables you are using now will be just fine....
I was actually starting to think of losing the Dragon - but for slightly
different reasons. My reason for wanting a recording medium is primarily
for recording tapes to send to others - this is just a hobby of mine, I like
to send 'best of' tapes etc to friends, and receive the same from them.
Therefore I would need a tape deck rather than MiniDisc as everyone has a
tape deck, but few a MiniDisc. However, I am beginning to realise that the
Dragon is just a luxury and that my Yamaha will do just fine for 99% of the
recordings I would want to make.
Therefore I am considering spending the full 2,500 on just amplifier,
speakers and CD player.
The overwhelming reaction I've had thus far from the responses I've had to
my queries has been "spend most on speakers!" so I guess I'm looking at
spending at least 1,000 on those - unless I go for second hand, which would
save a bit.
Will the Alpha 8 definitely be sufficient considering the price I'd be
paying for a CD player and speakers? One option I was looking at today was
simply buying another integrated amp.
Presuming I was to do this, what would be a good bet? I was being sold on
the virtues of the Arcam Alpha 10 amp + Alpha 9 CD player today (by an Arcam
dealer, surprisingly enough..) - and I plan to audition those sometime this
week.
Those two would cost me 1,600 - leaving me 900 for speakers. What would you
view of that combo be? Or is there another amp at around the 800 pound mark
that I should also consider?
As a final question to everyone - could you tell me anything of the Music
Fidelity A100 Class A amplifier? I hear good things about the A1000, but
know very little about this one. I have access to one through my parents -
though I've been unable to give it a good test as my father's speakers are
much more suited to voice recordings (they're small Audiolab speakers) and
don't seem so good at lower frequencies. It would be possible for me to
purchase this amp from him - would it be a worthwile purchase, or would a
newer amp be better? And how does it compare to my Arcam 8?
Thanks for all your help
Tom.
Steve Breen
>My concern is the amplifier(s). What would be people's opinion on the
Arcam
>Alpha 8 + 8P biamp combination? At only 600 UKP for the two, does this
>represent a good enough complement to the 1100 UKP Marantz CD player? I
>don't want to spend a large amount of money (for me, anyway) on a CD player
>but have it limited by a lower quality amp.
I bi-amped my Alpha 8 with a 9P and I really enjoy the system.
I immediately noticed the extra bass clarity, the sound was a bit more
three dimensional (soundstage was deeper, yada yada).
A 1000$ worth (once you add interconnects) of improvement? Sure.
FWIW, I recently pulled the 9P out of the picture by bi-wiring to the 8 and
gave it a listen.
Gimme back the 9P! Sounds thin & warm comparatively.....
Steve