This is kind of a long term review of the Arcam A32 Integrated Amp.
When I was new to this audio game I looked on forums such as this for some insight into what was good and what was not so good. What was class A or A/B ? What does bi-amping do ? What’s a good cheap speaker cable ? It was all very confusing. I still know very little but if you are in the position I was in back then and are currently looking for an integrated amplifier this may help.
My recent attempt to “upgrade” my amp has made me realise all the things my Arcam A32 doesn’t have. Things I had never noticed until I started looking for it’s replacement.
It doesn’t have “pace, rhythm and timing”, it doesn’t have a punchy bass, a forward mid-range or crystal clear highs. It doesn’t hum or hiss. It doesn’t get hot. In breaks in the music it’s silent. No matter how loud or quietly it’s playing. It doesn’t add anything to the music or throw a veil over anything. In 12 years it has never broken down. I have never wondered if it would sound better with a new power lead or maybe better interconnects. Or maybe it needs a plinth ? No, it just sits there contributing nothing to the music apart from making it quieter when I want it quiet and louder when I want it louder. Until I started researching a possible new amp I didn’t appreciate how rare these things seem to be. My amp had become an invisible link between the vinyl/cd and the speakers.
As for the things it does do. When Melody Gardot starts to sing on the live disc of “My One & Only Thrill” she comes out of total black silence. When I close my eyes she is there with us, so are the band. This might be where someone comes in and infers that it’s because I’m not of the cognoscenti or points out that I haven’t heard a real reference system. Well this bit is for you. When I come downstairs after 2 hours practicing the cello and want some inspiration I might put on JS Bach’s 6 suites by Istvan Vardai. The sound from his cello that comes through my speakers is very, very similar to about 3 minutes of the sounds I was making upstairs
. It sounds remarkably like a cello. It has texture. I recognise it. And, if I’m listening to Camille Thomas her cello still sounds like a cello when the orchestra joins in. It doesn’t become some non-descript string instrument in amongst everything else. It stays distinct from all the other distinct instruments. All in their own space, with space between.
It has a good phono stage and makes a really good headphone amp. It seems to have a comfortable 100 watts into 8 ohms. You can turn off the display leaving only 3 little pale green lights, which looks really cool. It can be controlled by a Marantz SA8005 remote ?
The last thing it does is....goes for about £450 second hand.
So if you are just starting out, or just fed up with merry-go-round you could do far worse than one of these. I have changed quite a few items over the years but it had never occurred to me to change the A32. Until one day I thought how nice it would be to have one in black to match the Michell Gyro but couldn’t find one.
When I was new to this audio game I looked on forums such as this for some insight into what was good and what was not so good. What was class A or A/B ? What does bi-amping do ? What’s a good cheap speaker cable ? It was all very confusing. I still know very little but if you are in the position I was in back then and are currently looking for an integrated amplifier this may help.
My recent attempt to “upgrade” my amp has made me realise all the things my Arcam A32 doesn’t have. Things I had never noticed until I started looking for it’s replacement.
It doesn’t have “pace, rhythm and timing”, it doesn’t have a punchy bass, a forward mid-range or crystal clear highs. It doesn’t hum or hiss. It doesn’t get hot. In breaks in the music it’s silent. No matter how loud or quietly it’s playing. It doesn’t add anything to the music or throw a veil over anything. In 12 years it has never broken down. I have never wondered if it would sound better with a new power lead or maybe better interconnects. Or maybe it needs a plinth ? No, it just sits there contributing nothing to the music apart from making it quieter when I want it quiet and louder when I want it louder. Until I started researching a possible new amp I didn’t appreciate how rare these things seem to be. My amp had become an invisible link between the vinyl/cd and the speakers.
As for the things it does do. When Melody Gardot starts to sing on the live disc of “My One & Only Thrill” she comes out of total black silence. When I close my eyes she is there with us, so are the band. This might be where someone comes in and infers that it’s because I’m not of the cognoscenti or points out that I haven’t heard a real reference system. Well this bit is for you. When I come downstairs after 2 hours practicing the cello and want some inspiration I might put on JS Bach’s 6 suites by Istvan Vardai. The sound from his cello that comes through my speakers is very, very similar to about 3 minutes of the sounds I was making upstairs
. It sounds remarkably like a cello. It has texture. I recognise it. And, if I’m listening to Camille Thomas her cello still sounds like a cello when the orchestra joins in. It doesn’t become some non-descript string instrument in amongst everything else. It stays distinct from all the other distinct instruments. All in their own space, with space between.It has a good phono stage and makes a really good headphone amp. It seems to have a comfortable 100 watts into 8 ohms. You can turn off the display leaving only 3 little pale green lights, which looks really cool. It can be controlled by a Marantz SA8005 remote ?
The last thing it does is....goes for about £450 second hand.
So if you are just starting out, or just fed up with merry-go-round you could do far worse than one of these. I have changed quite a few items over the years but it had never occurred to me to change the A32. Until one day I thought how nice it would be to have one in black to match the Michell Gyro but couldn’t find one.
