Unmodified, the Arcam Alpha 9 was spectacularly better than its price point when released, comfortably going head-to-head with CD players and separate transport/DAC combinations costing several times the price! Nevertheless it has its issues, which can be effectively addressed by a good CD repairer/modifier. In particular, the power supply electronics run too hot and need to be better cooled. You should be able to pick one of these up for around $500. Spend a further $300 to have it checked out and optimised by a talented repairer, and you will have a CD player which out-performs almost any $5000 CD player you can name! Mine has its clock replaced by a Burson Audio ultra-low jitter clock, which improved the musicality even further. I confidently challenge anyone to comprehensively blow my CD player away with an alternative at any price!

Value
Sound
The SPECIAL RING DAC
The blackness from which the music appears
This is a special piece of gear and one that will serve you well far into the future of HiFi - but hey, I listed to Vinyl 95% of the time anyway - so who am I to say anything!
Very sweet Brittish HiFi with speed, fluidity and POP unheard of in this price-class

Power Cable - non-standard 2-prong that is hard to replace if you loose yours - I know as I lost mine and while a stand IEC cable works the fit is not perfect.

Very hard to find in solid shape as they are sought-after and kept - not resold.

This is HANDS DOWN the best sub $2k CD player available even when compared to NEW units. I have a BAT VK-5D and the RING DAC in the Alpha 9 is neck and neck with the BAT and for the $4500 price difference in my used Alpha 9 and my New VK-5D I feel a bit let-down. There is more musicality from the BAT but the Alpha 9 and the special DAC they use gives it a heck of a run for its money!

The Alpha 9 is one of the BEST audio values USED or even when NEW you are likely to find - EVERY.

The sound stage is HUGE, the dynamics are hard to conceive based on the price and the mid-range is liquid, velvet and silky all rolled into one. It is BLACK in so far as the music just POPS from the ether and appears from everyplace with great placement of the musicians.

At the current used price of this player and the very amazing DAC that is implemented I would grad one or two or even three.

Similar Products Used:

Musical Design CD-1
Naim
BAT
Sony ES

Great clean open sound. Deep bass, very controlled, slam and tight both. Strong soundstage.

Remote, appearance.

Best sounding CD player for the money on the market.
I tried NAD, Marantz, Linn. Low end especially better on the Arcam, also throws wide, deep soundstage.
I bought one end of 98 off the floor for $1400, and my wife had a fit about the price. Then the Jan. 99 Stereophile came out, and thankfully the review was great and said most of the same things I had been noticing and saying.
My wife then asked,'how did you have time to call them and get them to print that review'? as she grudgingly acknowledged that maybe there is a relationship between price, quality and sound.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Linn

dcS Ring DAC, HDCD, Great definition.

Plastic faceplate.

Just the fact that you can get the same technology used in the $12,000 dcS Elgar DAC for $1600 is enough reason only to say that the Alpha 9 is a great Cd player. The detail of music is so much greater. Vocals are extrodinary. Details ranging from the ping of a cymbal, to the pop of a bass string are outstanding.

Similar Products Used:

Thiel speakers, Myryad Amps, Thorens Record, Transparent Cables.

very musical sound, transparent midrange, wide soundstage

"flimsy case"; audible power transformer

This player replaces my 5 year Parasound CDC-1500 changer which has served me well. Bought at under $600, it was an amazing player in its day, and lended the convenience of being a changer without sacrificing sound quality.

associated components for reference:
Creek 4240SE amp
Magnepan 1.6QR speakers
Transparent speaker cables
Monster interconnects

In the end of a long audition period and much thought, i bought the Arcam Alpha 9. I was very concerned about the "flimsy build" quality, and being so "lightweight." the cal and rotel, and adcom units along with my Parasound give one more confidence in the longevity of the player since they are built like tanks. but even with the best of these i noticed had pretty flimsy trays (why is this the trend in audio, i don't know. it seems that for over 1000, one would expect a very solid player. as a side note, my parasound changer tray is rock solid and well built)]. tray aside, the alpha 9 package is a lightweight by any measure. $1600 for a 9 lb weakling? all the other players i considered were about twice the heft of the Alpha 9.

i hate to admit it, but in the end its sonics won out.
[and i hope and pray that it will last many years to come without breaking on me. i presume that since the transport has been around for over 3 years now with very little reported problems (so i am told), it'll be ok.

Anyway, the review and comparison:

Sonically, the Alpha 9 CD player is a masterpiece. not the "best" or most "perfect" CD player i have heard (that is reserved for the top of the line Mark Levinson and Linn CD12 which are much more expensive), but the best in the class i was considering in terms of value and overall sound. and in my humblest opinion, more "realistic" and transparent than the excellent Meridian 508-24 which i have adored for quite some time. Voices are so natural [i like listening to a lot of acoustic/folk music so it really shines here]. violins are sweet, but have a realistic bite when called for. Excellent ambient detail recovery. Dynamics are excellent although bested by the Rotel 991 and Cal Audio unit. Soundstage width is phenomenal, depth is excellent but not as deep as the Cal Audio unit. but hands down, it was the most transparent of the units i considered.

How does it compare to the FMJ23 which sells for 600 more? [the retail of the FMJ23 recently went up] the FMJ23, IMHO, was *marginally* better. slightly better dynamics, but still not as good as the Cal CL-15, and more air on things like cymbals. but, very subtle differences. The FMJ23 was subtlely more refined than the Alpha 9, but i couldn't justify the extra 600 bucks. the external cosmetics were nice, yet i still didn't get the feeling that it was indestructable (of course nothing is). in fact, both units i demoed had several scratches on the face, indicating that the metal is very soft and isn't as durable as one might have liked. better than the alpha 9, but not up to the standards of my old Parasound or the Cal Audio unit. The FMJ23 is a nice a unit, but no more a "value" than the cheaper built Alpha 9 since it costs $600 more. which is a big chunk of change for the minimal differences. by the way, the Arcam 9, however, is a huge improvement over the Alpha 8 and 8SE which i am very familiar with [helped my friend audition these and he owns the latter]. (both good players in the lower price bracket of under 1000)

anyway, here's some comparison thoughts with other comparably priced players:

i was considering players in the $1000-1500 range and narrowed it down to five players with a few exceeding my original budget. below, i list them, ranked in my order of preference regardless of price: (with retail prices)

Arcam FMJ23 (2199)
Arcam Alpha 9 (1599)
Rotel 991 (1299)
Cal Audio CL-15 (1675)
Adcom 750 (1250)

as i said above the FMJ23 is very much like the Alpha 9, just a smidge better for a lot more money. the Rotel had a sweet sound with great dynamics but didn't seem to have quite the resolution nor transparency of the Alpha 9. it was still my second choice, because it was 2nd in transparency only to the A9 and FMJ23. The Cal unit had amazing dynamics and threw the deepest soundstage of all the players, but was a bit bright for my tastes. i think, on my system, it would have grown fatiquing in time with its hyper detail. the midrange wasn't as pure as the arcam units and a little less transparent than the Rotel. the adcom was my least favorite sonically. i loved the build quality, but this player did little for me. the sound wasn't very transparent, dynamics and soundstaging were good, but not close to the CL-15 nor the A9. i would have chosen a cheaper Arcam (alpha 8 or 8SE) or the Rotel 971 over it at lower price tags.

some aftermath thoughts: the unit runs warm to the touch which i've been told is normal. also, with the dirty power lines in Menlo Park, there is some resonance with the power transformer such that there is an audible hum from the unit...not audible from my listening position, only within a foot or so of the CD player itself. again, my dealer, arcam, and another owner on the net confirm this for their units. design flaw? i think so because all my other components don't exhibit such behavior. if i open my parasound unit and put my ear to it, i can hear something, but probably 10 db lower than the arcam 9.

but on the plus note: i've never been a big believer in the need to break things in, but i've, per the advice of the dealer, let it run on repeat for the past several days. it started off sounding fabulous, the has gotten even better after several days of running. any tiny haze initially there is gone.

so as long as the player doesn't break anytime in the first 5 years, then i'll be happy. sonically, this is a fabulous player and a great deal for the money. i do think the Rotel and Cal units might be better for other listeners, so i'd consider them on any shortlist. depends on your priorities. if it's transparency and musicality, the Arcam wins hands down. 4 stars for value [given the mediocre construction], 5 stars for sonics.

Similar Products Used:

rotel 991, arcam FMJ23, adcom 750, Cal Audio CL-15, Parasound CDC1500

Detailed sound; display can be turned off; solid reputation of other Aplha players; HDCD; excellent value for money; very quiet operation.

Manual could be more informative, external build quality not as high as some players in similar class.

There is a lot of technology packed into this CD player for the price. The transport is the same proven one in previous Arcam products.

Popular music: The soundstage of the music is wide and vocals tend to me more integrated into the sound, rather than pushed to the front. The player seems to be democratic in giving equal weight to different instruments, and the detail on the finer instrunments is outstanding. Bass is adequate but not overbearing; I consider this an advantage. The rest of the sound is pretty good but cymbals sound a little blurred and ssss-ish. Excellent separation. Analogue recorded music such as Carole King's 'Tapestry' sounds very even and modest with no over-emphasis of any part of sound. Electronic music such as Human League's 'Greatest Hits' or Kraftwerk's 'Pocket Calculator' has much more punch. This player definitely brings every last ounce out of more modern recordings from the 80s and 90s, and especially electronic music.

Classical music: quiet passages are very quiet, maybe a little too quiet; volume can drop off dramatically. Once again detail is good. Even with all the instruments playing in Holst's Jupiter, at no time does the player lose grip. It can successfully cope with an orchestra at full blast. I noticed no grain or distortion.

Folk music (voice and acoustic guitar): acoustic guitar sounds very realistic on the player and indeed this player seems to render all acoustic instruments well. I think this is due to the delicacy of its sound.

On the whole I like it but if you like music with lots of presence, served right in your face, you might not like it. The player does not have a great deal of 'personality'; this is an advantage as it allows the personality of the music to shine through.

Similar Products Used:

Sony CDP-M77

I purchased the Arcam 9 three weeks ago, took it home and began to enjoy the tight, detailed sound. But last weekend it wouldn't load a cd after about 40 minutes of playing time, and the unit was very warm to the touch. After it cooled off, it worked again for maybe an hour, then began to spew unlistenable digital garbage, and again became very warm, almost hot, to the touch. Since then my local dealer (who provides first-rate service) has provided me with a loaner while mine is evaluated. It has performed well thus far, but also gets very warm when on for even an hour. I don't yet know why this happens, nor how my situation will be resolved, but feel as though potential buyers should be aware of my experience.

Refined detail, tonally balanced, excellent soundstage, great imaging.

My system:

Magnapan IIIa's
Bryston 4Bst Amp
Bryston BP-20 Line-Stage
Arcam Alpha 9
Yamaha CT-7000 FM Tuner
BEL interconnects
Tara Labs RSC Prime Speaker Cable
Richard Grey Power Treatment

Extremely detailed AND gentle (i.e. NOT HARSH) player. HDCD discs sound amazing. I wish there were more that I wanted to hear. The sound stage is very rich and, at least in my system, deep, e.g. one can hear a centered guitar track exceed a vocal track in soundstage-width while hanging behind the very same vocal track. 3-dimensionality, in other words, unfolds here.

TReats all formats well: *classical* (solo--Kissin's Beethoven, chamber/ensemble--Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, orchestral--Bruckner, voice--Renee Fleming); *rock/pop,* (math rock--King Crimson, lush rock--Dire Straits, indie vocal--Cat Power, oldies--Beach Boys, low-fit--Grifters); *jazz* (horns--Coltrane, piano/bass/drums--"Money Jungle" or "Dollar Band" and larger ensembles--Mingus), *alt/classic-country,* (Lucinda Williams, Vic Chestnut, Uncle Tupelo, Johnny Cash, etc.)

In sum: this is one righteous performer. I don't know if it is a great deal given I don't know what more expensive pieces sound like on my system. I thus gave it a 4 for value given I have troubles terming any player over a $1000 a "bargain."

P.S. I don't understand the "looks flimsy" or "unattractive worries". If there is a sonic problem, then let's talk about it (as there might be over time given the temperature at which it runs).
Also, spare us the "it broke" review. They are uninformative and screw up the numerical rankings. These are reviews about how equipment presents music. If it doesn't present music, one has nothing to review.

Similar Products Used:

Alpha 7se

Unquestionable sonic quality

Fry an egg temps, lightweight construction

I really did want to like the other players because of the price differential (>$500). In reading the reviews here and elsewhere and A/B comparing, I swallowed hard and picked up the 9.

For general listening, the cheaper players would be fine. Also, AAD to DDD recordings may sound the same. It's only when you get to HDCD, Telarc and later DDD recordings when the 9 comes into it's own. The other players can't keep up with sheer quantity of sound these CDs put out. Be prepared to become a sonic snob--recordings that I loved from some time back I can barely listen to now because of the sonic grime older recording techniques impart to them. Stuff from the 70s, 60s and earlier (Kind of Blue, Weather Report, Birds of Fire) sound ok because of the content; they're listenable. A mid-50's NYC Phil recording of Lizst's Rhapsodies is ok, despite the hiss from the source tape. The performances make the difference here. But Pete Townsend's White City just SUCKS! I had to pot my MA6500 to better than 60% just to overcome the crummy EQ.

Try one of the newer HDCD CDs from Sting or Mark Knopfler for a taste of what this player can do--and what it has over the earlier Alphas. If I went to 60% with either of these, I would be blown into my next door neighbor's living room! The Telarc discs of The Planets or EMI's Gershwin RIBlue (discs I used for the audition) were the deciding factor for me. Together with the Mac and Paradigm 100s, the soundstage opened considerably over the lower tech Alphas, and the renderings of the piano and brass sections were 9 out of 10 on goosebump scale. I thought this was impressive, as I am intimately familiar with both these recordings.

An earlier reviewer is right: this A9 puts out some HEAT--actually more than the MA6500. My listening room is kinda chilly, so I just go over and warm my hands from time to time.

I was impressed like others with the lightweight nature of the construction and "heft" of the player--my iBook probably weighs more. But since I don't lift the damned thing, why should I care? And yeah, the plastic front is kinda cheesy, but I turn the thingie on, put the disc in and listen to the sharp sound. I guess the Limies who put it together put the thing together spent the money on the sound algorithms--works for me!

I don't make light of the difference in price between the 9 and the 8 or 7: it's significant. But the system I was putting together is built to last, and I didn't want to have to upgrade to a more sophisticate device when I got tired of the limitations of a player I might have "settled" for. At least, that's my story, and I'm sticking with it!

Similar Products Used:

Alpha 7, 8 (auditioned before purchase of 9)

I just heard the Arcam 9 (with Meridian pre/amps + Proac speakers) at StereoXChange in NYC. Quite a detailed and decent player, very clean on transients and notes, and a large soundstage. Sounded very good when I heard it with several HDCD's. However, I compared it to the Meridian 506.20 next to it, and realized that the Arcam 9 was not all that it's hyped up to be (with the dCS ring dac). The Arcam lacked a sense of naturalness and pace that the Meridian had, and the two players did not seem to be in the same sonic caliber (despite similar prices). In the end, the Meridian simply made the Arcam sound too artificial. The Arcam also uses the traditional Sony transport, and is not too sturdy in construction. For that price ($1,500 USD), Arcam could have done better.