Arcam A-15

[Rabjack]

I am strongly considering the Arcam A-15 but am unable to demo the unit as I live in the US and have no dealers near me. I am bothered by the THD specification where the full power spec is 0.5%. The 1 KHz 80% power THD is spec’d at 0.002%. I emailed Arcam about this but they were not helpful. Based on the recommendation of this site it sounds like a great choice. Can someone explain to me how such a high full power THD value can be justified in terms of the performance of this amp?

 

[Fandango Andy]

I am strongly considering the Arcam A-15 but am unable to demo the unit as I live in the US and have no dealers near me. I am bothered by the THD specification where the full power spec is 0.5%. The 1 KHz 80% power THD is spec’d at 0.002%. I emailed Arcam about this but they were not helpful. Based on the recommendation of this site it sounds like a great choice. Can someone explain to me how such a high full power THD value can be justified in terms of the performance of this amp?

Specs like this mean virtually nothing, its all down to how it sounds. There is no substitute for an audition , if you aren't in a position to do this the best you can do is read /watch as many reviews as possible to make sure the sound is in line with what you want.

Out of curiosity, what do you have at the moment, and what speakers do you intend to hook it up to?

 

[Rabjack]

Specs like this mean virtually nothing, its all down to how it sounds. There is no substitute for an audition , if you aren't in a position to do this the best you can do is read /watch as many reviews as possible to make sure the sound is in line with what you want.

Out of curiosity, what do you have at the moment, and what speakers do you intend to hook it up to?

Thank you for your input. I understand the specs do not always correlate with the performance but I found the disparity between the two THD values curious. Based on reviews that I have seen , the A15 seems like a good choice, I was also considering the Cambridge CXA81 but wanted the integrated phono pre-amp. I am replacing a Denon AVR-2310ci which I have had for many years but no longer require or want the multichannel use as I now use it only to listen to music in stereo mode. Speakers are Klipsch RP-6000F II's with a Klipsch 12 inch sub. Source is primarily a Wiim Pro Plus but I also have a Fluance RT-85 turntable that is used maybe 10% of the time. The Klipsch appealed to me because I wanted a slightly brighter speaker due to some age related hearing loss of higher frequencies. I am a bit concerned about losing the Audyssey room correction I have with the Denon. The room is bright and somewhat large and I am unfortunately limited to the corner for the stereo. I listen primarily to Jazz and acoustic singer songwriter music with some occasional forays into classic and progressive rock.