Advice re replacing Arcam Alpha7

[kath9959]

Hi

I am going back to vinyl and have resurrected my system:

Thorens TD318: Arcam Alpha 7r; Mission 702 (and Rotel RCD 951)

Have found that the amp is not producing a left signal and am considering replacing it as I do not know of anyone local who could look at it, or even if it would be worthwhile doing so if there was.

Speaker sensitivity is 90db and recommended amp is 25-150W and I am happy with them - wondered what amps would be recommended. Also wondered about speaker cable, currently have Gale XL189 - would only upgrade if would make readily apparent improvement.

Another question - would power conditioners be worth considering - or are they going a bit too far for this system?

I am nowhere near an audio shop so auditioning would be difficult. I am tempted to buy secondhand Arcam 7 or 8 as I know I like the sound, but am worried about this in case they too prove faulty and I have no guarantee.

Budget could stretch to £350 - but would be far happier to spend less.

Ooh - as money is tight and not likely to improve reliability is a BIG consideration, have heard of probs with some NAD and Marantz products (mainly via Amazon reviews) so would rather pay for better made and more long lived product than better sounding but possibly less reliable product.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks Sarah*biggrin*

 

[matt49]

Hi Sarah,

welcome to the forum.

With 90dB sensitivity speakers, you don't need a big powerful amp. 50W should be more than adequate.

In your position I'd be looking at something like the Yamaha AS501, which is reduced to £309 at Richer Sounds. It has a built-in phono stage for your turntable and a full array of tone controls etc. If you'd rather spend a bit less the AS301 would probably be fine.

Yamaha kit is well made and has a good reputation for reliability.

Cheers,

Matt

 

[kath9959]

Hi Matt, thanks for reply and suggestions, which I have looked into - has raised following question:

Wondered why AS500 was not one of your suggestions, has won many plaudits, has phono input and can be had for £225? - do you think it would not suit the other components?

Thanks

Sarah

 

[matt49]

I'm sure it would be fine, and being a discontinued product, it sells for a keen price.

Matt

 

[Ketan Bharadia]

It's well worth having a listen to Marantz's PM6005. If money is tight, second hand PM6003/4s will sound good too. Rotel's RA10 is also worth consideration.

 

[kath9959]

Many thanks Ketan - I had looked at the Rotel review on what hifi and was very tempted (being happy with their 951 cd player) but the comments about speaker partnering deterred me:

"........The RA-10 does need careful partnering when it comes to speakers. Understandably, it struggles to drive our reference ATC speakers, and simply doesn’t get along with the zesty Dali Zensor 3s..."

Would it be ok with the Mission 702's I am using (stand mount kind, 8 ohms, 90db), if so then I may go ahead and get one.

Many thanks

Sarah