bought a Arcam mini, very impressed.

[kazste]

I know I shouldn't be surprised but I bought one a couple of weeks ago for in the gym to power some b&w speakers I had lying around. Was aiming for a solo neo but they didn't have one in and didn't want to wait so bought on proviso I could return. Well its warming up nicely and is more than capable of driving the speakers and filling the room. Came with a free bluetooth link so all in all got a good deal.

Just wanted to post this to make others aware as for the outlay (approx £1200) including speakers I think it is a fantastic package.

Hope this helps someone and have a good day.

[Jobbo]

For a similar sort of outlay I have a set of Spendor SA1s powered by a Marantz MCR603. I can't really fault the Marantz although I can't help but wonder what more power would do.

Whisper it but the Dali Zensor 1s I have in my second system probably don't sound any worse than the Spendors; they're more engaging and not a lot less refined. The law of diminishing returns seems to apply more than ever with hi-fi.

[kazste]

Surely a set of spendors would take up the whole budget, no? I ask as may look into a set if cheaper now as my speakers are only 602's so are probably a limiting factor.

The main thing that amuses me about the set up is the size of the speakers vs the size or the unit. I know it has little correlation but makes me laugh. Makes me think I shoukd upgrade my main hifi as it is mahoosive.

[Jobbo]

I didn't buy the Spendors new - would be interesting to know gear they sound like with a Solo but it starts to get expensive if you do that.

[paultownsend]

i sold my rotel 10 series amp and cd combo with quad speakers for a solo mini and sonos system. i also treated myself to a pair of monitor audio rx1's.

i felt guilty for the rotels being on all the time. they took a while to warm up so i never used the thing.

i nearly chose the marantz unit, but i thought id treat myself to the arcam, and im glad i did.
wired with chord company odyssey cables the rx1's sound fantastic. fills the room at high levels with all genre's, has deep accurate low's and delicate none strained high's. But its the vocals that shine.

with sonos with spotify enabled it is all i ask. unlimited music and radio.

even with my sony blue ray, and pannasonic tv, it creates a fantasic movie experiance. infact i run all tv through it. for that purpose i was thinking about a rel quake sub.

i do however monitor audio missed a trick producing a same size power amp to bi wire.

[Jobbo]

I'm surprised at that - the Marantz really stands up well compared to the Musical Fidelity amp and DAC I replaced; it was supposed to be temporary but it has remained. My only criticism would be lack of ultimate power.

What did you get instead?

ETA: the most important part of any system is the room, of course, so I'm not saying you're wrong!

[kazste]

See this is why the internet sometimes sucks. Im only 33 but I can still remember coming out of a proper hifi shop with three amps, the cd players, and two sets of speakers in order to create a system that fitted my room. Whereas now because most shop on line the few remaining high street sellers, at this price point, just cant afford to let you do this especially as now they woukd have to declare them as open box items. So we end up going by reviews and hoping that they're room layout and preferences match ours.

Luckily there are a few I know of who will let you take kit home to test but with far more expensive items.
Oh well lets just call it progress and just keep looking forward :-(

[Jobbo]

graphene said:

Was hoping to try an Arcam mini against the Marantz, on a more extensive listen. Can you achieve a more meaty sound with the tone controls?

This goes to show how different our rooms must be: I have made one slight adjustment with the tone controls, to turn the bass down

Kazste, I found some good deals on the Marantz and Dalis online but went to Frank Harvey hi-fi in Coventry to listen to it and see it in the flesh; they did me a deal which was a few pounds more than the best online prices but included some new speaker cable so I was much happier to buy from them. I do remember buying a bargain Pioneer amp in Owen Owen on my way home from school about 25 years ago though, so it's definitely much harder to find proper hi-fi on the high street than it used to be.

Edited by Jobbo on Saturday 13th July 08:49

[OldSkoolRS]

kazste said:

See this is why the internet sometimes sucks. Im only 33 but I can still remember coming out of a proper hifi shop with three amps, the cd players, and two sets of speakers in order to create a system that fitted my room. Whereas now because most shop on line the few remaining high street sellers, at this price point, just cant afford to let you do this especially as now they woukd have to declare them as open box items. So we end up going by reviews and hoping that they're room layout and preferences match ours.

Luckily there are a few I know of who will let you take kit home to test but with far more expensive items.
Oh well lets just call it progress and just keep looking forward :-(

Which is partly why I tend to buy AV gear used these days: If I pay a decent price and it doesn't work out I sell it on at little loss. It also means that I get gear I otherwise couldn't afford such as a £3k+ Arcam processor that I paid £800 for (and it still had 3 years warranty left on it as it was an 'FMJ' model). I wanted to try out an 'anamorphic lens' for my projector, but it's not something you can try at a dealer, so I found a used one (£800 used, was £2,500 new) to try it out at home, knowing I could always sell it later. I decided to keep it and that was 3 years ago and apparently it's still worth what I paid for it,so that's a bonus.

Since I have an all Arcam amp set up in the living room (AV9 processor plus two power amps and an Arcam CD player too) I quite fancy an Arcam mini for the bedroom, so it's good to hear positive reports of it, though chances are I'll pick one up secondhand/ex display.

[paultownsend]

i tried my arcam at numerous hifi shops. used PMC, Totem and dynaudio speakers and they all sounded fantastic, and the Arcam powered them. neither once did i feel the salesperson looked down on me for having a lesser unit.

i chose the monitor audio's in the end because for my budget, they were the best speakers and are cosmetially superior to the b&w 685's and kef Q300's, which i found both disapointing.