Arcam Alpha 5 CD Player

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My trusty Alpha 5 has decided to distort the sound when playing CDs. Is this the end of the road or is it likely to be repairable given the age of the player? If I need a new player which ones should I be looking at? Thanks for any advice.

 

[bigfish786]

It probably isn't financially viable to repair it, as its quite an old machine.

what other gear do you have, and what sort of money would you like to spend?

im not sure if Avondale audio in Chesterfield could repair and upgrade your old CD player for you. I'm sure they used to do an upgrade for that model? I could be wrong though.

 

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Thanks for replying. I have Naim Nait (original with some components upgraded by Naim years ago), Rega Planar 3, Kef Q4 floorstanders.

I did see about Avondale upgrade on Internet although nothing about it is recent - seems it was over £400 so wasnt sure if it was worth it rather than getting something new.

 

[Al ears]

Thanks for replying. I have Naim Nait (original with some components upgraded by Naim years ago), Rega Planar 3, Kef Q4 floorstanders.

I did see about Avondale upgrade on Internet although nothing about it is recent - seems it was over £400 so wasnt sure if it was worth it rather than getting something new.

That being the case I would be looking at a new CD player. There are some good ones around for < £400. You could recover a little money on your Alpha 5 buy advertising it 'for spares or repair'.

As per reviews the best possible replacements are the Onkyo C-N7050 which is very good and also has the benefit (maybe) of basic streaming capability or the highly regarded Marantz CD6005, this offering quality similar to your old Arcam and where my money would be going for a basic CD replay device (you'd have to pay a lot more for any significant improvement in sound quality, and they are very well put together). Other options could come from the Denon range or Cambridge Audio Azur 651C, Pioneer PD50 if you fancy SACD playback capability or the new Cambridge Audio CXC transport + add your own choice of DAC.

If you are ever going to get into digital media or HiRes streaming the CXC transport + seperate DAC would be my preferred option.

 

[jjbomber]

My trusty Alpha 5 has decided to distort the sound when playing CDs. Is this the end of the road or is it likely to be repairable given the age of the player? If I need a new player which ones should I be looking at? Thanks for any advice.

I would buy a second hand Arcam DVD player, one without HDMI. They were £700-£1000 new and now sell for about 10% of that. Brilliant CD players for the money.

 

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Many thanks for the advice.....