Any Arcam amp is a quality build.

Yeah it’s just a bit wrong that TEAC

I'm a bit late to the party, but, an alternative view: I haven't owned or listened to the Cambridge, but I recently had a TEAC AH500, virtually the same device, for a few months. I let it go because it's a bit thirsty (an important consideratiion in these straitened times), but of all the amps I've owned over the last 40 years (quite a few - yes, it's a sickness!), from Harmon Kardon, Marantz, Denon, Kenwood to several NADs, I'd put it at the top of the heap for sheer musicality. It seemed to inject more life, more depth and yes, more space, into every kind of music I listened to, and it's output was much greater than specified. It's very heavy, solid and well built. I doubt very much that you'd be disappointed by it. So far as accuracy is concerned we don't really have a yardstick to measure it by if we weren't in the studio at the time of the recording; in addition, the engineers polish the recorded product according to their own preferences; and at the end of the day, it's what we like as individuals that counts, though sometimes that might involve some tweaking to adjust it to our taste, however much the purists might find that abhorrent ..

Oh yeah I remember glad that it worked out K

I just connected this Sherwood 7100-a I bought when I bought the Sansui. I gotta tell you this thing is lovely. It’s maybe 12 watts and it drives my Wharfedale Diamond 230 speaker with out a problem. They are supposed to need 40 watts optimally. It has great bass and a nice round too end. The treble may need a little boost but I’m ok with that. It’s a shocker.

Fair enough my friend cheers from London viva music

when u say it beat the 3020 - in what way >

Meant Mourdant Short 906's - great speakers.

I always imagine a house on a lake, somewhere in Scandinavia, and how important a good Hi Fi would be

I have two A1s one refurbished, one original. Got them in the few months something magical in the midrange and connection to music. Bass a little soft compared to my Ion Obelisk 3X-XPAC1 but the connection / midrange much better.. One is playing though KEF LS50's nearfield

There's tone controls too less it down. You don't focus on detail on instruments rather just listen not bothering what where hidden instruments being played

They are Camera CD player is a pretty nice thing it’s hard to find anything wrong with it so yeah put it with the Cambridge that will be good you wouldn’t want boring or two flats sounding speakers though. The Cambridge is a great bargain and it’s voiced nicely personally I would wanna inject something with a bit more life to give it a bit of a kick Speaker wise I mean

Tube Preamp with Power Amp is good isn't it?

yeah it should honestly didn't spot it

Bi-wired speakers won't change their impedance to any significant degree, so your amp will see a similar load and drive your speakers safely within the limits of its rated power. Incidentally the majority of transistor amps are class AB and as such do not draw anything like the current that class A amps do.Class A amps are generally pretty expensive and run rather hot due to the high levels of quiescent current continually present, even in the absence of a signal.

The Pioneer A400 is better than the 8000a:)

Interesting K

Your wife? wow.. she is a keeper:)

@@MrTruth111 Defo, considering you hear so many stories about guys who's other halves make them get rid of their stuff. I remember back in the day when I used to read What hifi, one thing they used to take into consideration when reviewing stuff was WAF -Wife Approval Factor!

Yeah the Sansui it’s like the Cambridge with the life and quality of the Arkham

Your reviews are just great and very detailed always looking forward to your reviews on vintage equipment

Thanks mate

Stereo review X love your real world reviews, I commented speculatively on this one, I’m a little surprised by the outcome, the revised model of the Arcam (8R) and the Alpha 9 are really smooth but energetic sounding amps. I use all Linn amplification now and have done for several years, but I still like the Arcam.

Yeah the 6.2 do a review soon K

Agree 100% seems like the Cambridge sound is warm and laidback,

Have you checked the Earth wire plugged into the amplifier Turntable need to be Earth

@Pixie Pete I did. Schoolboy error. The turntable wasn't earthed. Plays like a dream now!

Actually I’m not sure that is a good match the Cambridge is quite clean and a bit lean I preferred it to the other team because they were annoying me You might get something with more power to force a good performance out of those little cones

I am going to doubt that quite a lot quite am quite a big blondie fan

That's always happened even dave Clark of the dave Clark five used a session drummer also the kinks to name but a few

Parallel lines producer, Mike Chapman had issues with drummer Clem Burkes timing, he recorded each drum sound individually, starting with the kick, and layered on the parts to create the iconic drum part for 'Heart of glass'.

Very true. I have a Teac A 500 that I bought new in 1997 and a Harman Kardon HK6500 from 1991. I decided to recap the HK6500 as it's close to 30 years old and the change was astounding. Suddenly I enjoyed listening to the amp again as it opened up and became more powerful. It was surprisingly worth the work. Looking forward to capping the Teac in a couple of years.

No even though you’ve got me thinking now but no

I hate the term 'mid-fi'. It's misleading.

Well one good bit of advice that I know is called start 😜

Well I would say no quality matters Cheers K

Yes I agree companies generally have a sound maybe not for 30 years but in short periods there is commonality in the components Thanks for the feedback K

Arcam is rubbish, smooth dead dull foggy smoky lost. No details, not good at pinpoint each instrument.

@@seul8trmea648 my dad had the arcam alpha 9 then upgraded to the a85 and it sounds superb and its very punchy but digs tons of detail out of the music the only time arcam sounded rubbish is when it had svs speakers attached to them

@@chrisclose7793 tried all arcam amplifier, don't like then, on the smooth side. Love the Audiolab 8000C Vert analytical, super bright neutral, digs hidden instruments being played and super fine micro details, you can hear singer taking breathing intake and saliva, with pmc 5.22 speakers. Arcam was not made for that

How can it be smooth and punchy? Punchy is a sudden, aggressive gesture, smooth is not, it's one or the other, smooth would describe sounds being delivered gradually and with a flow, punchy would describe instruments and sounds being projected quickly and with a more clinical or aggressive delivery.

@@fewik8567 what I meant is the top end on a arcam is smooth and the bass is punchy

Not yet

@@stereoreviewx you can borrow mine if you want ! I'm in Hackney

Yes I mean the right speaker can often sort out certain discrepancies as long as the quality is there which is there I agree

@@stereoreviewx It's almost impossible to be objective when reviewing gear really, you can't have everything there at every price point. It's not really much different auditioning in shops, everything sounds utterly different in your own room space with your gear and cables. I buy speakers based on the words "smooth, bright, bassy or forwards" lol and kinda guess the rest based on size and original price...I've had to swap an amp out now and then and fiddle with cables. Be lovely to borrow 3 sets of speakers and go home with them, Richer Sounds used to do a loan system. My Wharfedale 4.2's turn up tomorrow.....I'm fully aware they could sound absolute arse with my kit.

I have an Alpha 8 running into Tannoy Mercury V4 floorstanders. Kelvin makes a good point about the bass from the Arcam. It's a little overblown and boomy and could do with more definition. Recently I hooked up an old Technics amp that I had in the loft, not expecting much, but boy was I surprised! The bass boom was gone and was much better defined. There was more detail and the imaging was improved. It just didn't have quite as much scale as the Arcam, but it's only rated at 35 watts, compared to the Arcam's 50. I'm now planning to replace the Arcam, and I've been looking on Ebay for a Cambridge Audio amp. Think I'll go for something a bit more modern and powerful than the one he's reviewing here though

Do you know Andy I wouldn’t argue with your analysis maybe I didn’t put it properly the Cambridge was the one that annoyed me least I know what you mean though he hasn’t got the balls

Yeah that’s what happens no life in the sound glad you figured that out a lot of people just never compare Thanks for the info cheers K

@@stereoreviewx .. No Really ,Thank You ! .... though i'll be honest , the Chinese SMSL Dac's have been a real game changer for me , totally transformed the sound from an average CD player or PC output ... so got the best of both worlds i guess , old laptop running linux mint / audacious player ( playing Flac file Audio ) - SMSL m300 dac - NAD C320 - B&W DM12 speakers .. Happy Listening .. :-)

Have alook for the naim nap250 clone with separate toroidal linear psu class AB its awesome with a sabre dac.or look at pro audio gear like QSC you only have to look at the insides to see how good they are.

@@markclancy5371 ... Thanks Mark , yes seen lots of good things about those Crown XLS drivecore power amps , looking for a suitable pre amp to partner one to drive some Tannoy floorstanders ..

It damn well should, too, given the price differential.

@@thisisnev Indeed...:)

Well now you say that I’m pretty sure you’re right🤪

I used to know a Teac employee in the sales dept.who would always say Teac as in the wood.

Keith Moon 🌙

It's just to the right of the bass drum button on my drum machine. ;¬)

Oh Kay

Hope he's making something off those adverts.

am reducing the ads now I have figured out how to do it cheers K