Arcam CD73 / A 80 into Quad 12L Upgrade

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I have the above setup and am ready to upgrade; the target being overall improved sound - both clarity and bass presence, particularly at low volume levels. Does it make more sense to bi-amp (e.g. P90) or to upgrade the CD player (e.g. CD 192)?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

i would say its very unlikely you are going to get improved bass presence by biamping the A80. I had an arcam A75+ and bi amped it. I believe the A80 was designed to replace the A75+.It opened up the whole sound but did not add any extra bass presence. Indeed a major criticism ( justified to my ears) of the A75+ and the A80 is the lack of bottom end and driving power. If it was me i would be inclined to change your amp for something like a rotel, nad or cambridge audio. If you could get an Arcam A85 amp then that would be a great choice.It is excellent and has much more punch and drive than the current diva range of amps but unfortunately has been discontinued.there might be some kicking about somewhere though. It would give you the typical arcam sound but with very un arcam like bass presence.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, Thanks for your advice. I see lots of rave reviews for the A85 on the internet. But what about the CD player? I just learned today (and heard for myself) how much difference to the CD player can make to the sound quality of the amplifier - not just clarity and resolution, but also fullness of sound and bass presence. Do you (or anyone else) have experience of an upgrade of CD73 to CD192?

 

[Anonymous]

yes, a hi fi shop in glasgow kindly allowed me to have a demo and the 192 is considerably better than the cd73. However, if you really want to make a difference to your system then it has to be an amp or speaker change.As you are happy with your speakers, and who could blame you as they are excellent, I would go for an amp change. The a75+ is not up to snuff for your current speakers or even cd player in my opinion.Demo some amps and see what u think.