Upgrade Conundrum - Arcam Amplification

[Andy JB]

i currently have a pair of Arcam Alpha 8 pre & power amps (50w p/c) providing a bi-amp and bi-wire setup, which I enjoy immensely despite their age.

I have acquired an Alpha 10 power amp (100w p/c) although i appear unable to secure a 10 pre/integrated amp to partner it. Arcam cannot upgrade the circuitry of the 8 to the 10. Although i will keep looking I have another option.

i could purchase an integrated Arcam Amp FMJ 29 or 39, however, as the technology is much newer would a one box solution provide an upgrade to a bi-amped Alpha 10 system - i don't want to take a retrograde step.

i enjoy the Arcam sound esp with my other speakers/components and need a MM phono stage so i would prefer to stick with Arcam.

Does anyone have experience of an older Alpha 10 amp who has upgraded to a later Arcam amp such as 29/32/39 and confirm which is superior of similar power? Of course the purist like the Alpha being British made and the older design may still have the better sound quality than newer Far East versions.... so i'm open

[psi310398]

While I've long been a fan of the Arcam 'sound', I'd do some very careful due diligence. I've had three modern Arcam (AV) amps/receivers fail on me in the past few years. Not impressed.

[Red 5]

Andy JB said:

i currently have a pair of Arcam Alpha 8 pre & power amps (50w p/c) providing a bi-amp and bi-wire setup

Please elaborate on this further......

Do you really have a Pre-Amp and Power-amps, plural?
If you do have a pre-amp, and are using a Bi-amp config, then you have a pair of 8P?

Is it actually an integrated amp and a single power-amp? 8A and 8P?


If you have a single 10P, then use that power the bass of your speakers and enjoy
The 8A is easily powerful enough to drive the HF of your speakers.

Which speakers do you have btw?


An Arcam class G like the A39, will almost certainly out perform and of the Alpha combinations.
(Forget the A29 though)

[Red 5]

psi310398 said:

While I've long been a fan of the Arcam 'sound', I'd do some very careful due diligence. I've had three modern Arcam (AV) amps/receivers fail on me in the past few years. Not impressed.

Arcam have had their issues, but I’d be surprised if any of these were AVR-390/550/850!

[psi310398]

Red 5 said:

Arcam have had their issues, but I’d be surprised if any of these were AVR-390/550/850!

Both the AVR-600 and 850 models (twice) as it happens. I swallowed hard and went Meridian instead in the end.

But the OP is looking at hi-fi rather than AV, and I was merely advising caution.

[Andy JB]

Red 5 said:

Andy JB said:

i currently have a pair of Arcam Alpha 8 pre & power amps (50w p/c) providing a bi-amp and bi-wire setup

Please elaborate on this further......

Do you really have a Pre-Amp and Power-amps, plural?
If you do have a pre-amp, and are using a Bi-amp config, then you have a pair of 8P?

Is it actually an integrated amp and a single power-amp? 8A and 8P?

If you have a single 10P, then use that power the bass of your speakers and enjoy
The 8A is easily powerful enough to drive the HF of your speakers.

Which speakers do you have btw?


An Arcam class G like the A39, will almost certainly out perform and of the Alpha combinations.
(Forget the A29 though)

Yes technically you are correct its an integrated amplifier running the high frequencies and the power amp driving the lows.

I did chat to an Arcam rep who said using the 10P with an 8A would confuse it & the sound suffer as a result, however, i'm sure on purchase the selling point of the Alphas was they were interchangeable - so i may try it first but didn't want to damage anything. Ultimately i would prefer a 10A to partner it with.

Speakers are Ruark Talisman II - getting old but lovely sounding speakers rated to 100W.

The more modern units i was looking at the FMJ's 32 or 39 - good to know in their integrated format they would better the Alphas sonically.

[Red 5]

Andy JB said:

Yes technically you are correct its an integrated amplifier running the high frequencies and the power amp driving the lows.

I did chat to an Arcam rep who said using the 10P with an 8A would confuse it & the sound suffer as a result, however, i'm sure on purchase the selling point of the Alphas was they were interchangeable - so i may try it first but didn't want to damage anything. Ultimately i would prefer a 10A to partner it with.

Speakers are Ruark Talisman II - getting old but lovely sounding speakers rated to 100W.

The more modern units i was looking at the FMJ's 32 or 39 - good to know in their integrated format they would better the Alphas sonically.

Not sure who at Arcam would have said that!

Re the mixture of power outputs...
The tweeters in Hi-FI speakers all tend to be the same size, no matter how large the speaker.
The tweeter only needs a few watts to deliver incredibly high volumes.

The bass on the other hand, might need multiple large LF units in a large cabinet, with massive power amps, to reach even half of that HF possible peak output!

The speaker inbuilt cross-over normally sorts this out, to provide a balanced sound across the frequency band.


The Class G variants will do a good job of out performing your current combo.
They will also bring an element of cohesion to the sound, as you’ll be letting the Ruark cross-over work better, at deciding what power goes where.

Your speakers will sound more as Ruark intended, with less amp influence.
As long as the amp build quality is good, then a dual mono-block system will normally work better.

Never worry about the speaker 100w thing.
They’re talking about a clean 100watts, which only a 500-600w + RMS per channel amp could deliver!


For a ‘normal’ Hi-FI system, good modern integrated amps will strike the best balance with your brilliant speakers.

[Andy JB]

Great feedback 'red' useful to receive some constructive feedback.

I now look forward to trying the 10p to power the lows based on your feedback alongside my 8a. I have an A39 becoming available which I may also consider, it would be an interesting comparison against modern class G intg amp.

[Red 5]

Andy JB said:

Great feedback 'red' useful to receive some constructive feedback.

I now look forward to trying the 10p to power the lows based on your feedback alongside my 8a. I have an A39 becoming available which I may also consider, it would be an interesting comparison against modern class G intg amp.

You’re welcome

As you’ll have the two there, please also try the following.

1. 8A use as pre-amp only, with 10A powering the speakers alone down two core cable (with speaker links back in)
2. 8A pre, with 8P for HF and 10P for LF

There should be some good differences.