Arcam dilemma
 

At present I have an Arcam Alpha 5 CD player working through an Alpha 9
amp and Mission Cyrus speakers.

I'd like to upgrade the CD player, but can't make up my mind on how
much to spend/ what CD unit to buy. I'd like to stick with Arcam.

Question - I know the CD player technology has moved on a fair pace
since I bought my Alpha 5, but I can't decide between these two players
- The now discontinued Diva CD82 and the new Diva CD73. I can get them
both for about the same price, and although the 82 is now discontinued,
I've been offered a brand new model with two year guarantee, but how
much better than the 73 is the older 82?

Anyone on here auditioned them both? I have read one review of 82 v 72
where the 82 came out well on top, but how much has the 73 improved?

Many thank's

These days you buy CD players on features and looks - I'm pretty
certain you couldn't tell the difference between your Alpha 5 and
anything newer just by listening.

d

Arrogant, presumptious ********.

Uncle Keith: Go to the shop that's offering you the two players, compare
them on your system and buy the one that you like the best. It's *your*
hifi: anything else anyone says about sound quality is meaningless.

Arcam dilemma
 

In article , Roger McDodger wrote:
To the original poster - if you're going to upgrade your Arcam, don't
mess about.. get one with a RingDAC processor. This is technology
licensed from dCS and is *truly* about as good as it gets. In
ascending order of value, the models are CD9, CD92, CD92T and FMJ CD23
- and they're all discontinued. Expect to pay from about £300 for the
CD9, to £500 for the CD23.

The dCS RingDAC was a good step forward. If I understand the technical
papers on it correctly, is a particular implementation of "Dynamic Element
Matching" (DEM). Its success is due to the DEM technique spreading uneven
output level errors much more evenly through the DAC's dynamic range.

However, if you look at the specsheets for the Wolfson single-chip DACs
used in Arcam kit from the CD82T onwards you will see that they too
use DEM, and it appears to be used in the same way as the dCS RingDAC
(but in a much less expensive implementation).

There are detailed differences such as the greater number of bits in
the core of the Wolfson DACs around which the noise shaping is operated,
so there are no guarantees of complete identicality. Nevertheless the
dynamic range of all good recent DACs (e.g. Crystal's line as well as
Wolfson's) has been significantly improved by using DEM.

So it is no longer clear (to me) from a technical point of view whether
the older Arcams are better than the newer ones but maybe it's up to
the OP's ears to decide.

BTW, a year ago I auditioned Arcam 72T and 93T in the same session and
small differences were there but not prominent (to me). Players like
the Sugden CD21 and the then brand new Cyrus CD8 were noticeabley
different: the top end seemed "glazed" and over-prominent. So I think
small differences do remain - probably in the filtering arrangements
rather than the DAC itself.

I decided "no" to the Sugden after moments of listening and "no" to
the CD8 after a much longer comparison with a Meridian 507. I preferred
the Meridian 507 and the Quad 99CD-P, as they were very similar or maybe
slightly better sounding than the Arcams but better packaged for my needs.
I finally bought the Quad - it tracked my "decayed" test CD better than
everything else.

--
John Phillips

Arcam dilemma
 

Kurt Hamster wrote:

Given a working laser, and identical output (ie. unprocessed output via
the same external DAC) I'll give you a straight grand if you can
reliably demonstrate your ability to hear the difference.


10x less confident this time eh?

No, just hoping to avoid a comment from you.

****.

Arcam dilemma
 

"Ian Molton" wrote in message
...
Kurt Hamster wrote:

Given a working laser, and identical output (ie. unprocessed output via
the same external DAC) I'll give you a straight grand if you can reliably
demonstrate your ability to hear the difference.


10x less confident this time eh?

No, just hoping to avoid a comment from you.

****.



Er, there's no need to *sign* your posts in a newsgroup.....

Arcam dilemma
 

Kurt Hamster wrote:

****.


Ah, but would you say it to my face?

Come visit and I'll demonstrate.

Arcam dilemma
 

Kurt Hamster wrote:

Very brave of you considering you didn't tell me where to visit.

Id be surprised if it wasnt googlable...

what about my DNS record (I havent checked whats in there though).

Arcam dilemma
 

"Kurt Hamster" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 16:24:56 +0100, Ian Molton used
to say...

Kurt Hamster wrote:

****.


Ah, but would you say it to my face?

Come visit and I'll demonstrate.

Very brave of you considering you didn't tell me where to visit.


Bugger that - make him burn the petrol!!

Arcam dilemma
 

Kurt Hamster wrote:

I'm surprised you still haven't told me, unless of course you don't
really want me showing on your doorstep and 'explaining' the error of
your ways.

Send me an email.

what about my DNS record (I havent checked whats in there though).


To start with I would need a domain to start from...

Used to be in my sig. mnementh.co.uk

Arcam dilemma
 

In article ,
JustMe wrote:

At present I have an Arcam Alpha 5 CD player working through an Alpha 9
amp and Mission Cyrus speakers.

I'd like to upgrade the CD player, but can't make up my mind on how
much to spend/ what CD unit to buy. I'd like to stick with Arcam.

Question - I know the CD player technology has moved on a fair pace
since I bought my Alpha 5, but I can't decide between these two players
- The now discontinued Diva CD82 and the new Diva CD73. I can get them
both for about the same price, and although the 82 is now discontinued,
I've been offered a brand new model with two year guarantee, but how
much better than the 73 is the older 82?

Anyone on here auditioned them both? I have read one review of 82 v 72
where the 82 came out well on top, but how much has the 73 improved?

Many thank's

These days you buy CD players on features and looks - I'm pretty
certain you couldn't tell the difference between your Alpha 5 and
anything newer just by listening.

d

Arrogant, presumptious ********.

Uncle Keith: Go to the shop that's offering you the two players, compare
them on your system and buy the one that you like the best. It's *your*
hifi: anything else anyone says about sound quality is meaningless.

The audition isn't possible I'm afraid as one of the two players I was
comparing is no longer a current model. That's why I asked for advice
from people in the know.

I've purchased the unit now anyway, a CD82 T new, boxed with two years
gaurantee for £400. Not bad for a player that sold for £600 a few
months ago. If I don't like it I'll sell it on using E-Bay.

--
Uncle Keith

Arcam dilemma
 

In article , John Phillips
wrote:

------ 8------ snip
I decided "no" to the Sugden after moments of listening and "no" to
the CD8 after a much longer comparison with a Meridian 507. I preferred
the Meridian 507 and the Quad 99CD-P, as they were very similar or maybe
slightly better sounding than the Arcams but better packaged for my needs.
I finally bought the Quad - it tracked my "decayed" test CD better than
everything else.

Thank's for the information John

--
Uncle Keith