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May 19, 2008 - 9:20pm
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Selecting an integrated amp
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The Arcam CD192 is certainly worth fixing, even if you sell it to help finance the new system. It's a great CD player you'd have to spend about $3000 to get a better player. Is it still under warranty? If not I'd still take it to the dealer that you bought from anyway. Sometimes manufacturers will cover things outside of warranty out of public relations if it isn't too old.
Arcam A90 is a killer integrated but it is above the $1000 you stated as your budget. You might be able to find one used though. They make smaller integrateds that might be possibilities, depending on the room size.
PS Audio makes the Digital Link III that has a USB input. I've done direct comparisons between it and the CD192 and it's pretty much neck and neck. I have an incredibly slight preference for the 192.
B&W DM3000? Those were the ones that were shaped like home plate. Great speakers for their time but speaker technology has made SEVERAL leaps since then. I heard a pair recently that someone was trying to sell used. By modern standards the bass was muddy and ill-defined. The high frequencies were MIA. Again great in their day but that was many, many, many years ago.
mrlowry,
Thanks for the response.
The PS Audio unit looks interesting. I'll have to do a bit more research. Does the PC volume have any control? Do you use WMP, iTunes, or a proprietary player? I really like the convenience of ripped cds but so far the sound quality is lacking.
There's a used A85 on ebay. From what I've read it was a pretty well received unit. I might bid on it. The Classic 3's are doing ok with a lot less power and 18g zip cord. More clean watts with better interconnect should improve a good thing.
Yea, the DM3000s sounded good in their day but that was many years ago. Big heavy cabs that I don't really know what to do with. Too bad B&W doesn't sell driver upgrades.
keith
Volume controls in a computer are to be avoided because they are implemented in the digital domain. Which means that for the most part every 6db you lower the volume from maximum you lose 1 bit of resolution. I've heard that this is not a problem in iTunes but I still avoid it myself. Why take the chance?
I use iTunes because it is a very intuitive interface and because I have an iPod. However I usually put a CD into the stereo as opposed to playing the apple lossless file. If iTunes is the player that will be used to interface with the music library make sure to turn the
mrlowry,
Thanks again for the input. I need to re-rip my CDs since I used 320 Kbps MP3 initially. (for compatibility with WMP, iTunes, and iPod/iPhone.) Sounds like Apple Lossless is the way to go.
I took the CD192 back to the dealer today for repair. They had a A90 floor unit on sale (as new) for $1100.
The other unit I was considering was the NAD 372. The NAD has a lot more power. But the A90 matches my CD192 and I think the unit is more contemporary looking.
Unfortunately I was not able to listen to both amps with my Classic 3s. (The dealer didn't carry the speakers.)
So I picked up the A90 figuring that it was a good price and I could take it back if I didn't like the way it sounded.
Think I made the right choice?
keith
Congratulations the Arcam is an awesome unit. It's power rating is very conservative and the sound quality is off the charts.
Superb sounding audio equipment the Arcam, IMHO!
Enjoy!
RG
another arcam lover here. congrats. save up some money and go bi-amp if your speakers can be biwired.
tom