Arcam a7 with power amp

skmando

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Nov 16, 2015
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Looking for some advice - first time posting although I've read various threads before and got a lot of good advice from them.

I'm looking to add a power amplifier to my existing setup. I've an Arcam a7 intergrated amplifier, Rega Planar 3 with Elys 2 cartridge, Rega fono mini phono pre-amp, Arcam rDac, Monitor Audio BR2 speakers and a mac hooked up via the rDAC's USB input.

I'm considering adding a power amp to the setup and bi-amping the speakers, as many posts on the forums suggest that this greatly benefits the system. My question is, should I specifically hunt out the Arcam a7 power amp, or will it work with another (higher) Arcam model, like the a8 or a9? Also, if I'm bi-amping, should I use the intergrated amp for the HF inputs on the speakers, or does it matter?

Any advice gratefully received.
 

davedotco

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Apr 24, 2013
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Ideally you need an amplifier with matching gain, if I recall my Arcams correctly either a 7 or 8 power will work, maybe the 9 too but arcam can probably confirm.

Whether the improvement is worth the outlay is up to you, you will get conflicting advice on this. Personally I would simply get a better amplifier, something in the £500-1000 price range, new.
 
skmando said:
Looking for some advice - first time posting although I've read various threads before and got a lot of good advice from them.

I'm looking to add a power amplifier to my existing setup. I've an Arcam a7 intergrated amplifier, Rega Planar 3 with Elys 2 cartridge, Rega fono mini phono pre-amp, Arcam rDac, Monitor Audio BR2 speakers and a mac hooked up via the rDAC's USB input.

I'm considering adding a power amp to the setup and bi-amping the speakers, as many posts on the forums suggest that this greatly benefits the system. My question is, should I specifically hunt out the Arcam a7 power amp, or will it work with another (higher) Arcam model, like the a8 or a9? Also, if I'm bi-amping, should I use the intergrated amp for the HF inputs on the speakers, or does it matter?

Any advice gratefully received.

Welcome to the madhouse.

First, yes you can use any of the Alpha power amps on the 7. I still have the Alpha 7R integrated amp in my attic as a spare. It was a good'un in its day but there are better amps available, assuming you can stretch your budget a little more.

For around £250-£300 the DIVA A85 is available, and that would be my choice over the older Alpha range. I have a issue with the reliability of older models.

If you are totally sold on the Alpha range then look at the 9 or 10, rather than adding extra boxes.
 

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