Advantages: Quality 'Arcam' sound - full, powerful. Remote control, phono stage, twin speaker outputs, gold-plated connections.
Disadvantages: Soon to be discontinued model, remote only controls volume, perhaps lacking detail compared to 'high end' amps

...the gain to a fixed level for the AV/DVD input (if you use it in a 5.1 configuration with an external processor; which I don't, so not terribly important to me) and a line/phono switchable input that uses a moving magnet phono stage. I've never used another phono stage, so I can't compare but my vinyl sounds alive through this amp! The Alpha range is slowly being phased out by Arcam (the 8s just having stopped production at time of writing (Dec 2000), being replaced by the DiVA range. However, if you can get an Alpha 8R at a good price, then it is defintely worth it - that famed warm Arcam sound with a feeling of prominent power is well worth the price, I feel.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Slender design
Disadvantages: Kind of expensive/ Not upgradable like some Arcam products

...of any matching Arcam products as well as control any Arcam DVD player. The remote has a variety of features such as 20 track programme memory as well as a repeat function. The remote control is clearly marked and simple to use. As for the sound itself, it doesn't do my rock songs any justice as it appears to 'tame' the songs rather than enhance them. The player seems to be much more for the classical style music. It is expensive (We got ours to close to £200), and in my opinion is not really worth it. My mum and brother appear to be happy with it but I prefer to play my music on the stereo which appears to do my songs more justice.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Allows Good Sounding Music
Disadvantages: Very expensive brand new!

...to the instruction manual; the player uses an Analog Devices sampling rate converter to up sample the 16 bit 44.1 kHz CD data to 24 bit 192 kHz data. Four Wolfson DACs running at 192kHz convert from digital to analog. So, put in to simpler terms, up sampling allows the player to use gentler filters to be used, thus improving the sound quality overall, and also decreases the chances of any sound distortion. In addition, as with most Arcam products, the unit comes complete with a slim and trendy custom designed remote control which comes as part of the package. It allows you to control the volume of any matching Arcam products as well as control any Arcam DVD player. The remote control is clearly marked and simple to use. The remote has a variety of features such as 20 track programme memory as well as a repeat function. This CD player does not pump... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Cheap, lots of features, easy to make multi-region
Disadvantages: Few

...After Christmas I found myself with £100 to spend which I risked on Tesco's "own brand" Dansai DVD player, the Dansai 852. According to the newsgroups these have sold out very quickly in some stores but I had no problem sourcing one in my local Tesco. The player is silver and good looking. It would not be out of place amongst much more expensive hardware. It has the added benefit of a hidden menu, only four presses on the front panel to access which allows the machine to made multi-region, and believe it or not, to turn off the copy protection, allowing you to make video copies of DVDs. It will also play MP3 files and the usual repertoire of CDs, audio VCD etc. Audio quality is very good; in blind tests I could tell it apart from a mch more expensive Arcam CD player, but only just. The remote is a bit finecky and its not always... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: crisp clear picture
Disadvantages: high price

...It was back in 2002 when I first started looking for a large TV we looked for rear projection tv then but found that if you moved away from the front of the screen the picture was of low quality. having promised the children for years I thought must look seriously now. The price of plasma tv has recently dropprd so now must be the time to buy ... Again have been looking in the sales and found that the Pioneer is the best quality, yes you will need to pay more if you are fussy and need a good quality TV. but hopefully this will last until I retire... Looking for the best deals is hard long hours on the intranet and visiting all the electical store in the area. I am so cheesed that at one point I though I will buy the cheapest.. sod qaulity. Finally did purchased this Plasma screen and set it up with my SkyHD, Arcam DVD and Xbox 360... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Good sound, features and flexibility
Disadvantages: Feel of front panel and controls

...The Arcam 9 is a solid, well-rounded amp that will do mor then enough for most people. It's British made and designed. It sounds good and matches a wide range of components. Listening, it's rich and a little warm but invutes you in to listen more. It has a good set of features that includes two switchable speaker outputs, a processor loop, full featured remote control (inc source and volume) and record selector so you can record one source while listening to another. It's powrful enough for most too with a 70 watt per channel output, backed up with a beefy power supply that gives over 20 amps current. You can also esily bi-amp with the Arcam 9P. I've not heard it but it's supposed to give you a clearer sound. A phono stage is an optional extra. On the downside it feels plasticy compared even to some fairly cheap Japanese amps.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Warm and smooth sounding
Disadvantages: Lacking in pace and drive

...I owned and used an Arcam Alpha 8 for a couple of years, and had mixed opinions. This amp is very warm sounding,and as my CD player at the time was somewhat forward and harsh, so the Arcam was a welcome partner to it, but it really lacked slam and pace to it. Alternatively there was quite a good soundstage, and although it was a little two dimensional, it was very broad, often extending beyond the boundaries of the speakers. Detail was a little hazy, but this meant the amp could be listened to all day, without any of the fatigue commonly associated with modern solid state amplification. One very useful feature was the fixed gain switch on the back. This allowed the volume to be controlled by an external source, for instance an AV decoder. This means that when using the amp as part of an AV setup, you don't have to worry about setting... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Smooth sounding all rounder with no problems in a powerful performance
Disadvantages: no remote control

...The Arcam Alpha One Amplifier for is price (around £200) seems to work very well with anything that you might want to put with it. Although it power rating is only 35W it seems to handle dynamic swings in music movement as well as any amp in its class I have heard. In its ambience it seems to be a half way house between something like a warm sounding Rotel and a sharp sounding Yamaha. It versatile enough, in that it has five line inputs, a tape loop and a headphone socket. In general it’s a bit of an all rounder and I feel it performs very well in all departments. Baring the fact that it does not come with a remote control, its really a very safe bet and I have been very pleased with the Alpha One's performance. I do not think there is much better for the price.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Build, sound, upgrades and price.
Disadvantages: The 73T is now available.

.... But one of this player's most interesting abilities, is the upgrade options. The way I understand it is, the 72T has the same mother board, but different daughter boards to the more advanced 92T model, which I think is now selling for around £900. Everything else in the two models is identical. So after purchasing the 72T, you will have the option to change the daughter board to the 92T's model, transfroming your machine, although I'm unsure how much this will cost. --REMOTE CONTROL-- The remote control that comes with this player has a nice feel to it. Again it feels solid and expensive. I have a couple of complaints though. The remote itself seems bigger than it needs to be. It's quite slim but long. This is mainly due to the fact that the remote is also designed for use with an Arcam DVD player, which is fine, but I don't own one. The end... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Brilliant sound quality, nice styling
Disadvantages: no optical out, just coax and phono

...I changed to the Arcam after having a Sony CDP 797e for a while. Sony are very good at CD players in my experience and I find them to be very easy to use and full of features. This Sony was the best sounding CD player I had heard. Then I got the Arcam. It blew the Sony away. I have usually been sceptical about how much difference the CD can make to sound quality (it's digital after all, shouldn't they all be perfect?). It must be the laser or the Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) but it really did make a big, noticable difference, I couldn't beleive it. I was sitting there listening to stuff I'd had for ages and virtually knew off by heart (I remember the Manics Everything Must Go for one). I heard all these noises I hadn't noticed and there was so much more detail, the sound was simply pesented much better. It does look a bit... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful