[lersince1991]

Old vs New,

I'm looking for an Arcam FMJ amp but unsure which to go for!
I like the A22 as it has the DAVE 5.1 module for surround sound which would be nice to have! But I'm having trouble finding one at a decent price, one on ebay for £450 including delivery which seems steep! also a dealer in surrey (or something) has one for £600...

How old is the A22 (i.e. manufacture years?)

and how does it compare to the A18?
old top of the range vs new bottom.
Would like the 100wpc and surround sound from A22 but the A18 would be brand new.

I want it to last a decent amount of time i.e. 5-10 more years so brand new is attractive but lacks the 5.1 dac and is only 50wpc.

Looking to buy on for March 22nd (21st bday)

What do you think?
Thanks!
Luke

[Arcamut]

Hello Luke,good choice with your amps but for one thing.I have owned the A28 amp for about a year now,and I also owned the A22 before this one.When I decided to change amps I demoed the A18 and found it to be underwhelming,not detered by this I then demoed the A28.Wow what a difference.
I did listen to the A38 as well but that was well outside my price range at the time,
What I will say is go and listen to the A18 first and then try the A28.To my old ears the A28 was streets ahead of the A22 and A18.
Hope this helps you in your quest

[lersince1991]

Hi, thanks but I'm pretty sure the a28 is out of my price range unfortunately! So how do the A22 and A18 compare? And maybe A32?

And also do you know the manufacture dates of the A22 ?

Thanks

[Arcamut]

Hello again Luke,the difference for me between the A22 and A18 was that the A18 sounded nice and detailed but lacked the punch/drive in the bass department that the A22 has.
Unfortunately I have no experience with the A 32 so I cant comment.
I know you have said that the A28 is out of your price range but there are some good deals around if you look hard enough,as I said in my previous post I am well pleased with the swap from A22 to A28.
Cheers Paul

[lersince1991]

Ah ok so the 18 is very balanced - maybe a bit too balanced that it lacks excitement and that the A22 has that excitement. But the A28 is the all round winner with all the detail and balance but still exciting. I really can't afford to spend that much though and would like surround sound for the odd movie tbh. Do the AV Arcam products sound as good as the stereo products? A18 is off the cards then

[lersince1991]

going to stay looking for an A22 I think, it has the 5.1 DAC (probably a bit of an improvement over my macbook pro), 100W and sound quality. What do you think the going rate for the A22 with DAVE is at the moment? The previous ones on here sold for around £310 + but theres one with the DAVE module on ebay but its at £430 and the seller isn't interested in my offer of £325 which I think is fair. £430 + £20 delivery is too much considering how old they are?

[65mike]

Hi all.
I have got a A22 with the dave board and it is absolutely brilliant for dvd films.
But being a AV unit it lacks bass badly in my view the only way too get good bass is with a sub it is especially poor on bass in the 2 channel set up.
Now i have also had a A32 and this is superb for 2 channel use plenty off bass and treble if you can get a A32 get one you could at one time have a 7 channel upgrade from Arcam but you needed to use a DVD 89 player too get the 7 channel too work i know i had one off these too.
Iam after money allowing a A18 for my new turntable as this has bass and treble controls were as the A28/A38 and the A22 do not.
Plus a power amp too.

Regards
65mike.

[lersince1991]

What would people recommend more?
95% music, 5% movies.

[Macbook] - optical - [Arcam A22 + P25] - [2x B&W 685 + 2x B&W M-1]

or...

An AV amplifier at about the equivalent of the previous system - £550?

What do you think the going rate for the A22 with Dave is?
Still thinking of going for the A22!

Thanks,
Luke

[lersince1991]

Also I'd go for an A28 if it had a way of adding surround sound !
As it is I think I'm right in thinking I would need a separate av receiver as well as the A28 (or processor + power). that would be double my budget.

So I'm thinking of going for the A22 with DAVE + P25 and also the B&W M-1 (pair) which I also don't own yet.

[micromoose]

While I can't comment on all of the options you are considering, I have an A18 partnered with a P90. I play flacs from a notebook via a Caiman dac.

Coming from a c.15 year old cd player and AVR the difference was night and day. Sure the A22/28 etc may be better but my point of reference was my old hifi.

I am very happy with the A18/P90 combination, the SQ is crystal clear but I think they are now highlighting limitations in my speakers and dac, I'm already thinking about moving on the Caiman and look to an MDAC (unfortunately I reaaly dislike the small format case though).

Don't write off the A18 just because it's not as good as something you can't afford. I'm very happy with mine as it was a huge step up from my previous system. My only gripe would be that the display always defaults to "on" (I like mine off)!

[lersince1991]

Thanks for the reply, I have gone for the a22 as a stepping stone towards an av8 and p7 as I decided that I wated surround sound but still high end stereo quality. The a22 has a basic integrated 5.1 DAC and I can always add on something like an read if needed. For the surround I have bought some Logitech 5.1 pc speakers which are pretty decent and powered to they are running the rear 2 channels from the a22. Haven't received the a22 yet so still eager to hear it!

[jonnboyy69]

Hi luke, how do you find the a22 then? ......Im finding it a struggle to nail down a reasonable price range on the fmj integrated's......Im after an fmj with option of adding the mc phono board for my mc cart on my turntable so this rules out the a18 and a28, however I believe the following fmj's it can be installed on; a22,a32 and a38.
Im also seeking a newer arcam for less reliability problems, and preff the fmj range.
Im led to believe the a22 is exactly the same as the previous alpha 10 but with the aluminium case, however the a10's still go for completely random amounts (£200-350)
Over last 6 months I've tracked all of the above arcams and compiled a nice reference price range on fleabay and find that when comparing each individual model with similair spec and condition, the selling prices vary from anything up to £200!!!. I suppose they are worth what the market is prepared to pay, however it seems very turbulent at moment.....

[lersince1991]

Hi,

My A22 is fantastic! Cost £360 delivered but seen one go for £295 on eBay.

Amazing how much of an improvement it made to my system playing from a MacBook pro with B&W 685 speakers. Using the DAVE module to connect 4 digital inputs and also added some powered speakers for surround sound. Clarity is probably the biggest step up. Kicks out some serious power. Highly recommended!

[jonnboyy69]

Cheers for reply Luke, glad you like it and nice to see you have good taste in speakers!!. I see two fmj a22's on fleabay at moment, both ending in next 2 days and a fmj a32 also for sale to keep my options open.....am also looking at a Musical Fidelity a3.2cr tonight, prefer an arcam sound tho.... to match up with my CM1's

[lersince1991]

If you don't need the DAVE module then go for the a32, I just wanted the DAVE module for a simple surround sound setup and a DAC you see. Apparently the a32 is marginally better, it'll also be newer. I'd also consider an a28

By the way if your amp stops working within a few months like mine did, it'll most likely be an internal fuse. Very easy to replace. Think mine did that cos it hadn't even used in a while.

Good luck

[lersince1991]

Originally Posted by jonnboyy69

Cheers for reply Luke, glad you like it and nice to see you have good taste in speakers!!. I see two fmj a22's on fleabay at moment, both ending in next 2 days and a fmj a32 also for sale to keep my options open.....am also looking at a Musical Fidelity a3.2cr tonight, prefer an arcam sound tho.... to match up with my CM1's

How did you get on?