neutral, natural and precise sound - good allrounder

design, plastic front

The seller took his time and showed me a lot of CD-players. After having heard 4 players (including my favourized Marantz CD 6000 OSE) for nearly 3 hours I voted for the Arcam 7 SE. It really sounds neutral, natural and precise enough to explore your CDs a second time again.
My son also is very happy with this buy.
Anyway: Arcam should work a bit more on the design!

The player is active every day. Since my 7 SE is not hidden in a shelf, tunk ... I never had thermic problems as other buyers were writing.
I thought of upgrading to the 9 since I heard some nice CDs at the seller's studio - but I am happy yet with the 7 SE.
Is there anybody who could communicate his experiences with the upgrade?

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Technics

Great sound, upgradability, pretty good construction (solidly built - even though it's ugly)

Ugly! And More Ugly!!!

Over the last weeks I have spent many hours making my choices for a system purchase. Most of my listening was done using two players which I had read good things about: the Rega Planet and Audio Refinement Complete CD. After picking my amp (Creek 4330) and Speakers (ProAc Tablette 2000 signature) The CD player was next. During my listening I had liked the sound of the Planet better and as a bonus it was really great looking. My decision was made until the salesman suggested that I listen to the Arcam. I hadn't considered this unit before because of it's looks, but it was $100 cheaper and I'd heard good things so I thought I'd give it a listen. I was clearly biased against the player but I had to admit it sounded better. The Tablette 2000 has amazingly open and clear mids and highs, great imaging and a suprising amount of bass for it's size. The Planet dulled this edge a little, making the highs seem a little shallower and not as crisp, laid back is a good description. When listening to the Arcam in comparison I felt the music was much more alive and the highs were more present without being too forward or bright. For my application Arcam really does the trick, all areas of the presentation are very good and the Tablettes really sing. I was pleased that the sales person reccomended a less expensive player and I had to admit that even though I hated the looks I loved this CD player. On the looks: While it is true, as some have said, that this player does not look like your average consumer electronics ala Pioneer, JVC, etc., in this case uniqueness is not a plus. My criteria for mid/high end gear aesthetics is not simple difference but actual styling competence. Arcam's unit is lopsided looking and though the actual construction and materials are good it looks cheaper than it is. The 7SE gold plastic badge on the front actually subtracts, in a rather tacky way from the looks of this already awkward unit. Even so, I feel that I purchased the best sounding unit for the price. Looks - 1 star, Value (especially considering upgrade option)- 5 stars, Sound - 4 stars. Overall I'd have to leave out looks and give it a solid 5 stars.

Similar Products Used:

Also listened to: Audio Refinement-Complete CD, Rega-Planet and have owned various cheap cd players from JVC, Sony etc.

The Arcam Alpha 7SE is great value for money and can easily contend with much more pricey players. It has been upgraded from the Alpha 7 quite significantly and now boasts an upgraded 24-bit Burr-Brown DAC, a better power supply and improved output stage. The Alpha 7SE has supberb sound quality and can be used with many different types of music. A brilliant player and well worth looking at.

warm, smooth, deep powerful but not overblown bass, nice sweet treble

plasticky face, styling is a matter of taste, upgradible

I was looking for a good cd-player a few months ago, and read a lot about new cd-players in the 250-350 pounds category. When I went to London I had the opportunity to audition this machine. And to me the advantages were clear. This was the machine I was looking for. smooth rather warm sounding, but informative powerful sound, good imaging and a 3D-sound. When I compared it to all the other machines I had auditioned they sounded like toys.
The Marantz and Rotel and all the others are good for their price but it's really worth spending a bit more!!
conclution: FABULOUS MACHINE !!!

Similar Products Used:

Rotel cd-951, Marantz Cd 6000 ose

The 7SE has clarity and speed with deep tight bass. Compared to my old Delta 170/Black Box combo it is much clearer and faster. I'm hearing details I never heard before. Above all, it's moderately inexpensive.

Somewhat hard and bright treble makes it a little wearing to listen to. I borrowed the unit so it has been run in and warmed up when I listened to it. It needs a good platform or it loses a lot of detail. It is quite revealing of differences between interconnects - the brightness might be down to these. The build quality is poorer than the ten year-old Delta 170/Black Box units.

Although it is cheap it has to be borne in mind that it will need a good support and a decent set of interconnects to get the most from it. If you have a budget player then you may not have these and a substantial increase in sound quality will not be apparent. In this situation better results would be had from upgrading the supports and cables before the player.

It represents a very worthwhile upgrade to a budget player or an older model that may have originally cost much more. If I can get the brightness problem licked I'll buy one!

Similar Products Used:

Arcam Delta 170 and Black Box, both purchased in 1990.

Slam and drive, imaging and bass

build quality

When I first heard about this Cd player and all of the rave reviews it was getting I simply had to listen to it. When I did I had to have it. This CD player spins disc with serious guts and determination. Most players in the same price range sound dull and uninteresting compared with it. For sheer thrills, this player is hard to beat pumping out beats without any problems. It is essentially the alpha 7 but with a new DAC (Burr Brown 24 bit) and improved power handling. But boy does this make a difference. This player had me coming back for more and it just kept smiling at me enjoying every last second of it. For a budget CD player, this one is hard to beat. My only concern is, have Arcam actually foiled themselves by producing a budget player this good that their other CD players will fail to sell?

Similar Products Used:

n/a

Natural mids

Not very involving; cheap construction and finish; cheap remote

My old kinergetic kcd 40 needed a reparation. I decided to try the ARCAM ALPLA 7 SE wich was supposed to be good for the price. I tought that the new crop of budget cd players would be about as good as my 8 years old kcd 40. I was completely wrong. The ALPHA 7 SE was not half as good as my kcd 40. The unit tested was a demo unit (around 6 months old). There was a big lost in every area: weak dynamic, no bass slam, no presence, poor soundstage, lots of garbage in the sound. Only voices seem reasonnably good, but not 3d sounding. I also tried the ARCAM 8 SE, wich is far better, but still no good enough for my taste and too cheap looking.

I finally bought a meridian 506.24. The sound of the meridian is very close to what i most used to, but even better. Clean, harmonically rich, involving and refined, good bass slam. Good soundstage and delineation between instruments.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel 951, Rotel 971, Naim 3.5, Meridian 206.24 ...

Sound Quality, build, sounds far more expensive than it is, remote, features, DAC, optical and co-axial outputs, incredible value for money!

some people think the looks are a weakness, but i disagree. the only thing i can think of is lack of "shuffle" button on facia.

i summed it up above. its a great player well worth the cash!

Similar Products Used:

Sony 930, Technics 580 and 590, marantz and older arcams.

Detailed sound, extra dinamic, and very real

Build

Before this CD player I have had Pioneer PDS-505. The difference is more then obvious. The vocals are liver, faster and soundstage is more real. I could not believe my ears when I heard it for the first time. I have Audio analogue Puccini SE amplifier, and Dynaudio`s Audience 50 spkrs. Before, the sound lack details and the bass were too loud and not wheel defined. Alpha 7SE have (maybe) lack of deeper bass, but with the combination Puccini and Dynaudio`s that is perfect sound (and not only for that price). (Puccini is Italian like-lamp playing amplifier - Dynaudio`s are technicaly well defined). In the store where I booth Alpha 7SE, the salesman could not believe how much sound for the money gives that combo. I am more than satisfied. Buy with the confidence. You can't mistake with this CD player. It is better then Thule, and CD6000KI (in my combination). For that price I really don't know which CD player you can get (if worth to go on - and on). THE SOUND IS GREAT!!! Maybe some critics I could give for the build, but in the HI-FI world the sound is primary thing. For look my opinion is - nice. But, I must say again the Sound (ears, not eyes) is Master in the HI-FI world.
My system:
Apm.: Audio analogue Puccini SE
Sprks.: Dynaudio Audience 50
CD Arcam Alpha 7SE
Interc. cable: Audioquest Topaz
Spks. cable: Straight wire Rhapsody
Tuner: Toshiba
Turntable: RIZ

Similar Products Used:

Marantz CD6000 KI, Thule Spirit CD100