Clarity, detail, articulation, power, lifelike but 'forward' mid-range

Limited dynamics and frequency extension, newer products superior?

I bought this integrated along with an ex-demo Alpha 9 CD and an Alpha 8 Tuner, with a view to replacing my Sony midi system. Although the sound produced by these separates was much clearer and more detailed, I decided to return the system to the shop. Why? As a rock fan I like my music to have a deep, powerful bass and soaring treble dynamics, and I found the 8R amp could produce neither. I had to turn the tone controls up full to get anything like the sound I was looking for. Music such as Pink Floyd did not rattle the rafters in the way it should, and the whole experience was too polite and refined. I am no certainly no audiophile but I am a competent musician and sound engineer. If you like rock or dance and want an amp to raise hairs on the back of your neck, this is not for you. I don't wish to sound confrontational, and I understand that many people like this amp. Maybe my unit was faulty. However it illustrates the golden rule: demo before you buy. I bought purely on magazine recommendations, and I was fortunate that my retailer offered a refund. P.S. If anyone can offer advice on affordable alternatives, please email me, before I lose my faith in hi-fi separates!

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Sony TAFE-330

WARM, WARM, WARM. THIS UNIT MAKES MY COLD COMPACT DISCS LISTENABLE.BEAUTIFUL TOP END AND BOTTOM. CYMBALS SOUND LIKE CYMBALS-NOT SPITTY OR HARSH LIKE AMPS I HAVE HEARD.ALOS THE FACT THAT THERE IS A MOSFET OUTPUT STAGE IS A DEFINATE PLUS IN A SOLID STATE INTEGRATED.

COULD HAVE MORE PRONOUNCED MID RANGE-SOFT MIDS.SOME WILL PROBABLY THINK IT IS A LITTLE LAID BACK, BUT IT DEPENDS ON YOUR SPEAKERS.

I RECENTLY BOUGHT SOME MEADOWLARK KESTRAL SPEAKERS AND STUMBLED UPON THIS UNIT. I WENT LOOKING FOR A ROTEL AND A/B'D WITH THE ARCAM. THE ARCAM WAS 10X WARMER AND MORE MUSICAL THAN THE ROTEL. FOR THIS PRICE POINT YOU CAN NOT BEAT THE PERFORMANCE. I MOSTLY LISTEN TO VINYL BUT NOW I CAN LISTEN TO CD'S AS WELL FROM THE WARMTH OF THE ARCAM. I AM SAVING UP FOR A SEPERATE PRE AND POWER AMP, BUT I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO LISTEN TO THIS BEAUTIFULLY MADE INTEGRATED.

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ROTEL RA-972

warm and detailed sound, low price.

no remote source select

I love this integrated. It makes me want to sit and listen for hours. Great match for my Mission 753's. Everyone should own one. If you want to spend a little amount of money and are someone who likes to listen to music, don't go out and buy that silly dolby digital surround reciever, this will blow it away.

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nad

detailed warm sound. Punchy bass when teamed up with the 8P for true bi-amping.

none that I can find.

I originally bought amp by itself to fit feed my Celestion A2's, which are excellent speakers. After a week of using it and running it in, I found an 8P power amp for bi-amping, bought some decent speaker cable to go with it, then some wonderful interconnects from the music cable company, (http://WWW.The-Music-Cable.com/). The sound is now excellent. Once I hooked in a Musical Fidelity X-10D to warm up the CD (which now also needs upgrading) the sound is full, rich, & not tiring. In fact, I dont realize how loud it is until my wife talks to me. (is this a blessing??) I can't give this set up enough praise. For the price, there is nothing else like it.

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sony, denon, etc, etc.

Wonderful midrange, great sense of air, space and liveliness, great but not perfect top octave, neutral but very exciting.

Very wimpy bass, but now I'm wondering how much my pre-amp is to blame.

I auditioned virtually every sub-$1,000.00 amp in the Phoenix area before settling on the Arcam. I purchased and returned other brands, and I still haven't found anything that I think seriously rivals the Arcam at anywhere near its price point. I've also auditioned several other more expensive brands including Linn and Exposure, and I am convinced that I would have to pay several times more than I paid to get a noticeable improvement. Exposure and Mark Levinson would be my choice if cost were no object, but I do love this Arcam, and I will pit it against anything at anywhere near the cost, including the Rotel I just bought for my second system. Fabulous product. Way highly recommended.

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AudioSource, Rotel, Yamaha, Exposure

PLAYS ROCK,DANCE, AND BALLADS EXCELLENT, WELL BALANCED, GOOD BASS AND TREBLE.

NONE

HAS AN EXCELLENT PHONO STAGE WORKS GREAT WITH MY REGA P3 TURNTABLE. AN EXCELLENT BUY. MUST BE THE BEST UNDER THE £500 MARKET. YET IT ONLY GOT 4 STARS FROM WHAT HI-FI. PLEASE AUDITION THIS AMP YOU WILL BE AMAZED IT HAS POWER AND POISE. THANK YOU ARCAM.

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REGA BRIO, REGA MIRA, MARANTZ 6010

good price, with very good sound,

build is not attractive enough (but it is not imporatant to me) and only black is available

I used Denon AV Amp to listen to music before, I found that I can never find it enjoyable to listen to music. Recently, I have changed to Arcam alpha 8R, it can produce very musical sound. Thanks to Arcam, I can now enjoy listening to music and I listen to all my CDs again and again. My CDs have never been so fantastic to me. I spend 2 hours per day for enjoying the muisc. The world has changed completely, I understand what Hi Fi realy is. I would highly recommend it if you want to build up a Hi Fi System. Forget about AV amp if you want to realy enjoy music.

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Denon avc2800

I bought the Arcam Alpha 8R from the local agent few days back. It was suppose to be an upgrade for my 7 yr old Pioneer A400. I tested the Alpha One and the Alpha 7R with the Alpha 8R. The Alpha One sounds relatively cheap and unfocus. The 7R was fine but when the agent switch to the 8R, the improvements were dramatic, it was more crystal and upfront but maintains the quality of the Arcam which is full of warm. At home, I biamp it with the Marantz CD-63MkII KIs and a pair of ageing Tannoy Sixes 605 with Nordost Flatline MkII. I am very satisfied with it!!!

Warm and not fatiguing to my ear

Lacks bass slam and inner detail of amps 2-3X price

Nice and warm sound that suits all types of music. Small size and reasonable build quality also a plus. To do better overall you need to spend a great deal more money. For an audiophile on a budget I highly recommend this int. amp.

Binding posts are OK and do not accept banana plugs without an adapter. Can also function as a preamp.

Proac Tablette 2000, Rega Planet CD and JPS/NBS cables

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NAD, Rotel, Adcom, Audio Research and Conrad Johnson

Everything

Nothing

After alot of consideration, and various trials i picked this.
JBuy it today
I have it with B&W 602's, Arcam Alpha 7SE and Sony JE-330.
BRILLIANT, JUST BRILLIANT!

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NAD,Marantz,Tamaha etc.