[handman]

Looking for some opinions on this amp,trying to improve music playback on my av system.does anyone have one or has heard one.my system is ruark icon speakers,xls 400,Sony bluray player and ca dacmagic .music,female vocal,jazz ,funk and soul.any help would be great.

[Clive197]

The Arcam is going to be an improvement over most AV amps, you don't say which one so it is hard to quantify exactly. A dedicated HiFi amp like the A18 will easily improve upon the stereo output of an AV amp under £1000.

Other amps you may concider are the Audiolab 8200 and Cyrus 6

[handman]

sorry, the amp is a pioneer vsx lx 60

[rocketride]

Just try Exposure 2010S2. Bloody good amp!

[Craig uk]

The a18 is a cracking amp for the money. But like all seperates to get the best out of it careful matching of cables can make or brake it.Telluruim q black is highly recommend, also upgrading the standard power cable.

[juggler]

Originally Posted by Craig uk

The a18 is a cracking amp for the money. But like all seperates to get the best out of it careful matching of cables can make or brake it.Telluruim q black is highly recommend, also upgrading the standard power cable.

I don't want to start another debate but feel compelled to point out - before the OP spends a lot of money - that there is next to no scientific evidence that cables make any difference to sound quality, except at the far extremes of construction technique.

[handman]

Those cable sound very expensive,don't really know how much difference cables make as I've only used a couple of different types.i've brought a ca650a as a bit of a stop gap,comparing music between that and my avr it's very obvious that the amp does a much better job.anyway on the hunt now for an amp with ht bypass ,thinking 740 or 840,would the 740 be much of an improvement ?,or should I try to find an 840?

[juggler]

Originally Posted by handman

Those cable sound very expensive,don't really know how much difference cables make as I've only used a couple of different types.i've brought a ca650a as a bit of a stop gap,comparing music between that and my avr it's very obvious that the amp does a much better job.anyway on the hunt now for an amp with ht bypass ,thinking 740 or 840,would the 740 be much of an improvement ?,or should I try to find an 840?

Not quite an answer, I'm afraid, but the change from a 640A v2 to a Cyrus 6XP was huge for me.. And left me wanting more. Look at the HK and XTZ amps?