Guys, I recently acquired a bargain pair of Spendor S3/5R's. However my Arcam A18 amplifier struggles like hell to drive these speakers, which have a 84dB/1W sensitivity and 8 ohm impedance.
My budget is whatever I can sell the Arcam A18 for, which means an upgrade to the A28 is out of the question. I'm thinking £200 - £300.
I do like the idea of a Musical Fidelity X-A2 but these would be 8 or 9 years old - should that put me off?
Other info - the speakers are in a small living room, fed by lossless audio from a hard drive via a DAC.
I don't know much about high fidelity equipment (more about reasonably okay fidelity stuff), but this sounds strange. That's a capable amplifier, and those are efficient speakers.
Best wishes,
Bob
PS Unless you mean that the amp won't make them as loud as they can go. :)
RLF
Last edited by rfrazier; 10th January 2013 at 11:13.
Someone is selling an Audiolab amp on SC
Although the sensitivity of the speakers is lower than the average, a 3db difference in sensitivity represents a doubling of power. The A18 should as Bob says, be ok at 50 watts per channel. To double that power would require 500 watts per channel. But it's often down to current delivery to what makes an amplifier seem more 'ballsy'.
You have the option to put a power amplifier on using the pre-outs, or looking for maybe a decent Cyrus integrated (known to deliver good current into difficult loads).
I've recently heard the Arcam A19 amplifier which has a departure in sound to the A18 and sounds more dynamic and has more poke - great sounding amp and one of the best I've recently heard.
Rod
Arcam AVR300. yes i know its (gasp!) an AV amp but it is superb with music. pre-owned should be within budget I think.
an extremely long and detailed review here
http://iar-80.com/page130.html
Might be of no use but I run an old NAD C370 it's a big old beast with 120w per channel.
Not sure fidelity wise how this would match your speakers but Im still happy with it after ~ ten years
Just to add I mentioned this as the amp seems to have high current delivery and got good reviews at the time of release.
Last edited by Captain Morgan; 10th January 2013 at 13:52.
I have a Rega Brio R. Its compact and sounds fantastic!
Might be a available used at the top end of your budget?
I'd have a secondhand one of those over a new Chinese-made unit for the same money any day. Amplifiers are a mature technology, and competently-designed ones sound identical... so it's not like it'll be obsoleted, either.Originally Posted by funkstar
Those Spendors won't go very loud, but they're an easy load. I seriously doubt that your Arcam is struggling to drive them, you'd get pretty much the same result if you hooked them to a Krell (well, almost).
Just chill and enjoy that wonderful midrange.
that amp should drive those speakers ok, are you sure everything is wired correctly and in phase?
if you want a power amp cheap to try before spending loads give me a pm - i have a nad 2100 that has a slight issue in that it needs to warm up for 15 mins before use but if you can live with that gimme a pm! i also have a nad 3225pe in excellent condition sat doing nothing......pe as in power envelope means the transient peak power on these is awesome!
ktmog6uk
marchingontogether!
Thanks for the advice guys, maybe I just need to push the Arcam a bit harder ;) I guess Spendors mixed with an Arcam might give a very laid back and honest sound!
I really wish amps came with VU meters on the front so you had an idea of the workout they are getting - I don't want to have to push an amp until I can hear it clipping!!
Mate, if you are in London Im happy to swap amps with you for a bit so you can see how they behave with a different, more powerful amp.
Are you running the AVR300?
They are and always will be a gimmic on domestic hifi. Technics used to put them on their high end power amps for the American market. They served no useful purpose but to say 'look at my flashy amplifier doesn't it look good'
Rod
Not heard much of the A18. I have the A28 bi amped with a P38, sounds really good to my ears.
No but am running something quite similar, a Nakamichi AV10
Do you not think? I used to have an old amp for house parties, much like those Technics ones and loved the fact it was clear to see how hard it is working. Analogue though, no silly digital displays.
That is probably true, but I still drool over McIntosh, Accuphase, and Luxman. There was even an extremely attractive 100-watter from Magnum Dyanalab, I've no idea if they still make it.
Besides, what's wrong with showing off a little bit?
I bought a pair of Arcam amps from ebay a few years back, an A85/P85 setup. Total power is around 200 watts per channel and I reckon they could drive a train! I`m a big fan of bi-amping, definitely the way to go IMO.
Ebay's a good source of used Arcam stuff. I had a 10P a few years back which ended up needing a repair. Arcam will always service stuff but it isn`t cheap. However, it means you won`t be left with something that's just aquired a value of zero, so I reckon a second-hand setup is worth considering.
Paul
Just turn the volume control up.
I doubt very much that you will get clipping unless you have to turn it up to max all of the time. As long as it doesn't go beyond 5 o'clock on the dial.
The Arcam/Spendor will excel at midrange, but you may miss out on a bit of punch for Rock, but these being small boxes, you would anyway.
Just to add to my recommendation of the Arcam A19, What Hifi have given this amplifier an outstanding review
putting it better than the Rega Brio & Cyprus.
I would also say its way ahead of an AVR300.
Rod
ignore post
Last edited by mikeeb; 12th January 2013 at 22:36.
Im sure the A19 is excellent but its 2-3 times the suggested budget.
what about an alternative route altogether: a subwoofer? Again, I have one you are welcome to borrow to try out (you could even buy it cheaper than chips if you like it but the loan is no strings attached just to test the theory.)
You gents do realize that there's no measurable difference between properly-designed solid-state amplifiers of the same power output, right? It takes some effort these days to screw up the signal enough to make an audible difference if you're not using some looney-tunes design like single-ended triode...
Roksan stuff would be pretty good or second hand Cyrus stuff, when we sold musical fidelity stuff we where always amazed at the cost and the build quality gap. Up the budget slightly and you can find some amazing stuff on eBay, though as we all know it's very subjective higher prices in real terms means better build quality and design :) listening experiance is still down to the individual.
Last edited by Pennywise; 12th January 2013 at 23:07.
Absolutely; build quality and better finishing are what you should be obtaining in a pricier amplifier. Country of origin counts for me too, I'll certainly pay a premium for European or good North American manufacturing in audio equipment.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote