A very good balance. It''s picks up the essence of music

None in mine opinion

This is an amp with great detail in bass midrange and treble. Placing instruments is very good with good depth. With high volumes it''s just like hair on the back of yur skin. It''s thrilling. Used equipment: Visaton Vox 252 Rega Planet 2000

Similar Products Used:

van Medevoort, Cyrus 7,

Powerful, precise, transparent; optional internal phono stage; blank panels for future expansion.

the remote: dark gray writing on light grey buttons on a grey background.

I auditioned several amps as a part of my long-ranging speaker search (see my Dynaudio Audience 82 review), and once I picked my speakers I listened to them with several different amps. For me the Arcam was the clear choice, no pun intended.

As a pre-amp, the Arcam has a wealth of features. There are seven inputs, counting the phono stage, and two recording outputs; you can map any input to either recording device and monitor both source and destination. I especially like the fact that if you have the tone controls set flat, the amp disengages that circuitry and routes the signal directly to the outputs. The ability to set different input trims for all inputs, so you don't get jumps in volume when switching between sources, is also nice.

I got the optional phono stage; it is trivial to install once you procure a set of hex tools. The phono stage is very clean, but even at maximum trim it is somewhat quieter than the other sources.

At 4 ohms, the Dyns are somewhat difficult to drive, but the A85 has no problem pushing them to absurd levels without breaking up. As stated in other reviews, the A85 is authoritative in the low end; clean, clear, precise. Any specific coloration imparted by the amp is minimal; I found the musical fidelity gear to have a very stark sound, clear but somewhat two dimensional. The Arcam is very neutral, without seeming weak or laid back, even at low volumes. Transient response is superb (well, with the Dynaudios and their fantastic pacing, it takes a pretty weak amp to NOT provide good transients, but still).

After 1.5 months, I couldn't be happier with this unit. I believe you would have to spend significantly more to get this combination of sound quality, power, and input flexibility.

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Rotel, Musical Fidelity, Marantz

Clear and insightful midrange
Tight dynamic bass
Excellent looks and sounds just as good

Non thus far too early to comment

I have owned this AMP for a week and already I am hearing detail in the midrange that I could not hear with the NAD C370. I recently parted with the NAD C370 with great reluctance after 8 months of ownership and decided to purchase the Arcam A85, the NAD was great for my dance and uptempto CD's but I found that it was slighly lacking detail in the midrange (Not much but noticeable) when playing more laid back vocal CD's. The Arcam A85 on the otherhand grips the midrange with great accuracy and assurance making the voices sound more intimate and natural sounding. The icing on the cake is the why it handles the lower end, basslines are tight and punchy and have great depth and incision whereas I found the lower end on the NAD to be more softer and at times slightly boomy.I would say that at this early stage the NAD C370 has a slight edge over the Arcam when it comes to dynamics which is probably down to the short break-in time but I suspect that it is down to the NAD having a Higher power output.
The Arcam is a very good product which only after a week is really showing its pedigree

Similar Products Used:

NAD C370, Sony TAFB940

Good-looking, very full-featured, optional phono stage, headphone jack, programmable, lots of inputs, controls two sets of speakers, good build quality.

Weak sound compared to separates

I expected to like the sound of this amp better. It was powering my Celestion 300s in a fairly large (12x30) room, and at 85watts seemed to lack the strength to fill the room with music.

I obtained a pair of separates from another dealer (Rotel RB-981 power amp and RC-1070 pre-amp) and compared head-to-head, with back-and-forth comparison. The Rotel pair imaged much better, allowed picking out individual instruments and placing them on the soundstage. Stereo separation seemed better. Instruments were more distinct. I noticed this at all volume levels, low included. The Rotels had a "wow" factor that the Arcam lacked.

For me this was basically my separates vs. integrated comparison, and I was convinced separates are the way to go. I will be listening to one or two other pairs before choosing.

Part of this may be power. The RB-981 is 130 watts per side. Most integrateds are in the 60-80 watt range. You may have better results in a smaller room with more efficient speakers.

I really liked the features and usability/interface of this amp. Build quality is good and beefy (except for the remote, which is a bit flimsy).

The separates I tested were less expensive, listed about $1100 vs. $1500 for the Arcam integrated.

Similar Products Used:

Audio Refinement, Rotel, NAD, Cambridge Audio

none

Listen to it now!!!!

Dynamic, excellent timbre and tone, fine highs, mids and bass, very revealing - but draws you into the music, emotional and very musical.

Requires additional amps for big room

This is a fantastic amp for the money. I put it up against the new Creek 5350 SE and the Krell 300 and IMHO, it was no contest. I feel this amp is best suited to a smaller environment/room. At this price point, this amp is really hard to beat. It’s just so musical. I am using ProAc Tablet 2000 Signatures for speakers and the match is great. This is a highly recommended piece of gear!

Similar Products Used:

ARC, CJ, Krell, Meridian, CAL, McCorrmack...

clearity, very detailed bass, dynamics, realistic sound, sound precision

none

The amp pull you in to the music. You want to listen more and more this excellent amp. You will hear so details, you never heard.
Basses are are good controlled, detailed and very deep. The music sounds very undisturbed, you think, that you hear a lamp amp, but the very low distortion, sound precision and realistics it's ARCAM A85! If you look for some amplifier at this price the A85 is the best buy(sounds better then separates amps at this price)!
Compared with NAD C370, which is a very popular amp, ARACAM A85 sounds more spatial, deeper and exactly.
(I'm sorry, my english isn't very good.)

I listened to:
ARCAM A85
ARCAM CD72, CD92
Myriad MC200 (cd player)
speakers XAVIAN XN270, SHAN EMOTION 530

Similar Products Used:

Marantnz PM 7000, Marantz PM 8200, NAD C350, NAD C370+C270, Arcam A65

Exciting, musical and transparent.

None

Basses are sharp, and the amp works very well with all types of music. Especially classical music, which would test many systems with their deep bass and sounds of different instruments.

Sounds better with the music turned up, and used with similarly priced speakers.

Highly recommended.

Clarity, soundstaging, musicality

none

I changed from separates to this integrated and it's the best audio move I've ever made. This is the sound that I've been looking for for years. Read the Soundstage review of this product, it's dead on. There's is something
unbelievably musical about this amp. It does indeed draw you into the music. If your considering paying more than a thousand dollars for an integrated amp you must hear the A85.
I sold my separates because I was kinda forced into it but it has turned out to be the best move I could have made. I regret the time spent with separates when this sound was out there.
Read the Soundstage review, they didn't exagerate.

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Audible Illusions, Forte, Odyssey, Acurus

Tightness in Bass Response, Clarity, Warmth of midrange, controlled highs, upgradability

none when used with the right equipment

I chose the A85 over several other quality products...even the Creek 5350SE. Although the Creek is a very good unit, it doesn't perform in the lower end as well as the Arcam. The tightness of the bass in the Arcam is phenomenal. This Arcam unit also has tremendous warmth in the midrange (dare I say it is one of the few SS amps that approach tube sound here?) while retaining clarity. Rotel and Thule do not even hold a candle to this unit. The Arcam's musicality demolished these other units. If you are interested in an integrated for this price, listen to this unit and the Creek, and decide which sound you like better. I prefer the Arcam...both are the best units out there for the price (although I haven't heard the Musical Fidelity A300). What really put this over the top was Arcam's 'future-proofing' which allows the unit to be upgraded for DVD-audio or other formats once the format wars die down. This is a great overall unit.

Of course, the associated equipment always makes a difference in sound...here's what I listened to:
Arcam CD72 (also compared with CD92 and ROTEL 971)
Arcam A85
Other Rotel, Creek, and Thule units.
Paradigm Reference Speakers (40's and 60's)
All Transparent cables (including power)
Monster HTS1000 line conditioner (except for the I.Amps...they went into the wall).

I used a variety of music...from opera to pop, and jazz to rock. Vocals in the opera really highlighted the differences. I hope this review helps.

Similar Products Used:

thule, creek, ROTEL, AMC