A bit of Arcam news

[Mr Peabody]

I heard today that Arcam's U.S. distributor, I believe Audiophile Systems, will no longer be their distributor. The story I got is Arcam grew too big for them to handle. The current Canadian distributor will serve both Canada and the U.S. I asked about shipping and what that may do to prices and the company is planning to open an East coast warehouse in the U.S.

Also Arcam will no longer make the Diva line. All their gear will be FMJ. So from what I understand of this Arcam will no longer cater to the "bang for the buck" entry level that made them, any more. Remember the Alpha line started with the little Alpha One at $399.00. I believe the last generation entered about $600.00. And these products were great for the money. Not the most powerful but definitely some of the best sounding. And the Diva CD players were the best for the money in my opinion. Maybe 2-channel is just drying up and they are leaving this ground to receivers or maybe they will extend a few pieces of FMJ down into the budget realm.

[Ajani]

The New FMJ products extend to the same price point as the Diva line... so the entry level Diva A70 integrated amp $1K has been replaced by the FMJ A18 (based on price in the UK, should be $900)... and the CD73T has been replaced by the similarly priced FMJ CD17... you can check out the entire FMJ line at:

http://www.arcam.co.uk/

[Mr Peabody]

So this looks more like a good thing. I'm sure people would prefer the FMJ look and I'm confident that Arcam will keep with delivering a quality product.

[Ajani]

I think it's a good move.... Hopefully it will result in far more of the FMJ technology in Arcam's cheaper products...

[kexodusc]

I've owned a few pieces made by Arcam over the years and always liked the product. I haven't been disappointed with the FMJ stuff I've heard and I don't think this sounds like a bad thing.
Distribution costs are expensive and usually underrated by end consumers. Especially for smaller companies - if they're stepping up to a bigger distributor, there's a good chance that some cost savings will be passed on to the consumer (or at least other cost increases partially offset). If nothing else, maybe more towns will see Arcam stuff hit the racks, offering another option.
I'm never sad to see a good company grow.

[jaf36]

Look at the specs for the A18. 50 into 8 ohms 70 watts- 1 channel driven into 4 ohms and tone controls. The A70 was 50 into 8 ohms and 100 into 4 ohms 1 channel driven, no tone controls. I fear Arcam has gone cheesy with this amp, pretty depressing. I own an A70 and love it. It is the amp I recommend to anyone interested in listening. Now I don't know what to recommend. The Nait is over priced period since it doesn't sound as good as an A70 broken in.

[Mr Peabody]

Creek hasn't done anything to call attention to themselves lately but they have some nice integrated amps. The piece Krell has at $2,500.00 is a strong performer as well. Although to my knowledge this piece is sort of alone in the line up, Krell don't offer a matching CD player or anything close in price.

[Ajani]

I've yet to be wowed by an Arcam, but I've also never heard one sound bad.... I've seen little in the reviews of the new Arcams to suggest that they are inferior to the old ones....

At the price range of the A70/A18 of $1K, I don't know of any really great Integrated amps.... in the $1.4K to $2K I've heard great things about the new Nait 5i-2, the new Roksan Kandy & the new Musical Fidelity A1.... but all those are 40% to 100% more expensive than the Arcam A18... at $1K, someone could consider the Creek Evolution or Marantz PM8003, though from the reviews I've read all 3 are regarded as 4 out of 5 star products (so good products but not great)... The new NAD C375BEE has moved up from $1K (of the old C372) to $1.3K taking it out of direct competition with Arcam, Creek and Marantz & I haven't seen any reviews of the 375 yet.

[pixelthis]

THAT might explain the 40 to 60% off sale at the top of the page.
Or maybe not.
As for diva or any high end CD player, high end might actually last longer than
cheaper players, because of the purist factor.
But with C.D sales tanking like a rowboat made of screen door wire even that is problematic.
Looks like we are witnessing the death of CD as a major media format.
AND with markets and the economy in trouble serious two channel will see options limited.
But there will always be a 2 channel enthusiaist out there, even if we have to go back to making our own gear:1:

[Mr Peabody]

Arcam has always had excellent CD players. The Diva series is being closed out is one of the reasons for the discount. If anyone needed a good player that would be the way to go.