Arcam Diva A85 has no Personality, New Amp Needed!

[plastic penguin]

maxflinn:APatel8:

Fraz1:i would change the interconnect and speaker cable first of all for something with no silver in it. QED is bright sounding cable with speakers that have a forward treble.Not a good combination imo. You said you use your laptop for music, i take it your tracks are on the laptop lossless?

What cabling/interconnect is better then? Everybody recommended QED for speaker cable to me on here and Silver High Breed for the interconnect on here for me.

my dealer told me when buying my MArx6s that one should always use a copper based speaker cable with monitor audios...

One dealer told me the same about RSs, Silver cables, while another advised me to use copper. I've tried both and TBH there's little or no difference.

 

[the record spot]

Sorreltiger:After all the suggestions, the answer is obvious - unless you play lossless files or CDs, your music will inevitably sound lifeless. MP3s, by definition, cut out extremes of frequency and nuance that bring music to life. Fine for music on the go, but not IMHO for serious listening.

Apparently not going by the many recordings I heard driving down and back from Devon this past week. 192kbps, good recordings, sounds superb. Tried the same ones out at home via the laptop before I went and - hey! - it sounded even better. Amazing eh?!

 

[JoelSim]

You have many problems in this setup.

MP3 is poor quality and any amp will struggle even through a DAC. I was listening to MP3 standard in the car tonight and it's tripe.

The A85 is a great amp, much better when partnered with a power amp, but nonetheless a superb amp for little money these days. But it's strengths don't lie in Hip Hop. You will want a more pacy amp for this sort of music, the Arcam will be great for something like A Tribe Called Quest but it ain't gonna do the business for Kanye West and Dizzee Rascal in the same way that some others do.

If you want bass then the SHB and QED SA are not the right cables, both are bright and tend towards the top end.

And to top it all, in my opinion Monitor Audio are not the best speakers for this type of music, you would do better with B&W or another brand with more bass emphasis.

Apart from that...

 

[John Duncan]

So apart from source, amp, cable and speakers he's fine?

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:So apart from source, amp, cable and speakers he's fine?

 

[Craig M.]

lots of comments advising changing to copper cables to reduce brightness, but your o.p. states it sounds plain, which isn't how i'd describe a bright sound. something to think about before changing to a potentially "duller" sounding cable.

have you experimented with speaker positioning before spending money?

 

[JoelSim]

I read it to mean that it was lacking energy rather than brightness. Hip Hop is all about bass rhythm to me.

 

[drummerman]

I'd recomment changing speakers first, failing that, in case you can't live without all those shiney drivers, I'd source a Cambridge Audio 840, better the 840A.

As always, my opinion only.

 

[Anonymous]

aliEnRIK:APatel8:maxflinn:APatel8:
Fraz1:i would change the interconnect and speaker cable first of all for something with no silver in it. QED is bright sounding cable with speakers that have a forward treble.Not a good combination imo. You said you use your laptop for music, i take it your tracks are on the laptop lossless?

What cabling/interconnect is better then? Everybody recommended QED for speaker cable to me on here and Silver High Breed for the interconnect on here for me.

my dealer told me when buying my MArx6s that one should always use a copper based speaker cable with monitor audios...

Bloomin heck, didn't know that. Which copper cables did he suggest, or do you? Guess I'd have to sell my QED on eBay or something..

Entirely upto you how you go about this. Ive had an A85 so I know for a fact it can be as punchy as hell so long as everythings set right and the source is half decent. I remember it shaking the door in the place I was auditioning it, so its certainly not through lack of power or grunt.

Id recommend at LEAST changing your interconnect (Which I feel is the main problem, especially with you using MA speakers). Buy a van damme interconnect off ebay for about 15 quid (transparent, and van damme cables are used in recording studios)

As I said, a decent mains cable made a hell of a difference to my set up. The stock always made the A85 sound 'flat' to me

Hi thanks for this - real helpful.

I have two sets of interconnects, I can buy the van damme cables to replace the qed silver anniversary and see if that makes a difference. What about the silver breed high connects between the DAC and the Amp? I imagine this is less important..

 

[JamesOK]

This is interesting as I believe its me who sold Apatel8 that amp last October on ebay! Whilst I agree with the others here saying it may not be the best choice for your music tastes, I loved the A85 sound, and am actually looking to go back to it.

I am not sure I totally understand your £300 budget, if you have £300 why not add an A85 to the mix and bi amp? The difference that makes is pretty amazing. Unless youre saying its £300 overall with the money you would make from sale of the A85?

 

[Anonymous]

JoelSim:
You have many problems in this setup.

MP3 is poor quality and any amp will struggle even through a DAC. I was listening to MP3 standard in the car tonight and it's tripe.

The A85 is a great amp, much better when partnered with a power amp, but nonetheless a superb amp for little money these days. But it's strengths don't lie in Hip Hop. You will want a more pacy amp for this sort of music, the Arcam will be great for something like A Tribe Called Quest but it ain't gonna do the business for Kanye West and Dizzee Rascal in the same way that some others do.

If you want bass then the SHB and QED SA are not the right cables, both are bright and tend towards the top end.

And to top it all, in my opinion Monitor Audio are not the best speakers for this type of music, you would do better with B&W or another brand with more bass emphasis.

Apart from that...

Hmm I have heard MP3s which sound excellent (to my ears anyway) at 190kbps through set-ups.

R.E. your comments about the amp and interconnects, could you make any recommendations on alternatives? You seem to know what's required for the type of music I listen to. I DO want bass, but I am more concerned about punchy clarity and the music coming more alive.

 

[Anonymous]

JamesOK:
This is interesting as I believe its me who sold Apatel8 that amp last October on ebay! Whilst I agree with the others here saying it may not be the best choice for your music tastes, I loved the A85 sound, and am actually looking to go back to it.

I am not sure I totally understand your £300 budget, if you have £300 why not add an A85 to the mix and bi amp? The difference that makes is pretty amazing. Unless youre saying its £300 overall with the money you would make from sale of the A85?

Hi Mate,

That you did! Also, the £300 would be after the sale of the A85 with a bit added on!

 

[JoelSim]

JamesOK:
This is interesting as I believe its me who sold Apatel8 that amp last October on ebay! Whilst I agree with the others here saying it may not be the best choice for your music tastes, I loved the A85 sound, and am actually looking to go back to it.

I am not sure I totally understand your £300 budget, if you have £300 why not add an A85 to the mix and bi amp? The difference that makes is pretty amazing. Unless youre saying its £300 overall with the money you would make from sale of the A85?

I would have another A85 too, but would think twice if I was wanting to get the best rap, it isn't the right amp. The A85 majors on vocalists and guitar, not on bass and rhythm.

 

[JoelSim]

APatel8:JoelSim:
You have many problems in this setup.

MP3 is poor quality and any amp will struggle even through a DAC. I was listening to MP3 standard in the car tonight and it's tripe.

The A85 is a great amp, much better when partnered with a power amp, but nonetheless a superb amp for little money these days. But it's strengths don't lie in Hip Hop. You will want a more pacy amp for this sort of music, the Arcam will be great for something like A Tribe Called Quest but it ain't gonna do the business for Kanye West and Dizzee Rascal in the same way that some others do.

If you want bass then the SHB and QED SA are not the right cables, both are bright and tend towards the top end.

And to top it all, in my opinion Monitor Audio are not the best speakers for this type of music, you would do better with B&W or another brand with more bass emphasis.

Apart from that...

Hmm I have heard MP3s which sound excellent (to my ears anyway) at 190kbps through set-ups.

R.E. your comments about the amp and interconnects, could you make any recommendations on alternatives? You seem to know what's required for the type of music I listen to. I DO want bass, but I am more concerned about punchy clarity and the music coming more alive.

1) Lossless

2) New speakers - B&W, Dynaudio, ProAc

3) New amp - Marantz, Cambridge Audio

4) New cables - Chord Chameleon IC, thick OFC copper speaker cable

 

[JamesOK]

APatel8:JamesOK:
This is interesting as I believe its me who sold Apatel8 that amp last October on ebay! Whilst I agree with the others here saying it may not be the best choice for your music tastes, I loved the A85 sound, and am actually looking to go back to it.

I am not sure I totally understand your £300 budget, if you have £300 why not add an A85 to the mix and bi amp? The difference that makes is pretty amazing. Unless youre saying its £300 overall with the money you would make from sale of the A85?

Hi Mate,

That you did! Also, the £300 would be after the sale of the A85 with a bit added on!

Hmm OK, so that blows my idea out of the window then. In that case, theres others who will be able to advise you better. I'm out (just been watching Dragons Den on iPlayer).

 

[aliEnRIK]

APatel8:Hi thanks for this - real helpful.

I have two sets of interconnects, I can buy the van damme cables to replace the qed silver anniversary and see if that makes a difference. What about the silver breed high connects between the DAC and the Amp? I imagine this is less important..

As I said, id definitely be removing that silver breed

 

[Anonymous]

Alright my set-up is amazing, established

Recommendations for an Arcam replacement to begin with... amps that will be good for my type of music

 

[Anonymous]

Every arcam product I've heard has sent me to sleep. I'll bet a Cambridge 740 or 840 amp will wake your music right up. Cheaper models in the range if you won't go secondhand are pretty lively too, but less refined the cheaper you go...

 

[JoelSim]

Cidershed:Every arcam product I've heard has sent me to sleep. I'll bet a Cambridge 740 or 840 amp will wake your music right up. Cheaper models in the range if you won't go secondhand are pretty lively too, but less refined the cheaper you go...

As said above, Arcam has definite strengths with certain types of music. The A85 is a very good amp but not for metal or rap or anything forward. If you like mellow stuff then it will take some beating.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm very surprised that the DAC question hasn't been raised more often in this thread. Agreed, the A85 may not be the best amp for hip hop, but it is a lot more forward and punchy than most Arcams, hence not all of the vitriol against the brand applies. -- So, you may of course look beyond the Arcam, -- BUT: you could also think about the following:

1) I know the MF V-DAC quite well, and while I like it for my kind of music (classical and jazz), I'd be very surprised if it was the best choice for yours. In fact, both the Beresford and the DacMagic will almost certainly be better, and it might well be the case that that -- and not the amp -- is the basic problem here.

2) An interconnect upgrade to something like Chord Chameleon Silver Plus and speaker cable like Chord Carnival Silverscreen will also help. Crucially, these will be good investments for future amp upgrades, too, so no waste of money if you decide that these changes aren't sufficient.

3) Finally, lossless is a must at this level of hifi, I believe. Dynamic shifts and bass depth seem to lose most in compression, I think.

Hedgehog

 

[Anonymous]

I went from a A85 to a Naim Nait 5i-2 after 7 years of ownership, it served me well until the power gave up the ghost! Havent looked back since, a massive improvment over all quality which makes the arcam seem borring by comprision.. bit more than £300 tho!

 

[Anonymous]

The first thing I'm going to do is replace the amp. So any further suggestions on this will help.

 

[plastic penguin]

APatel8:The first thing I'm going to do is replace the amp. So any further suggestions on this will help.

The only one that springs to mind that'll suit your speakers is Nad. There are a couple of 352s on fleebay. It won't be better than the A85 but maybe better suited to the music you like.

 

[Anonymous]

plastic penguin:
APatel8:The first thing I'm going to do is replace the amp. So any further suggestions on this will help.

The only one that springs to mind that'll suit your speakers is Nad. There are a couple of 352s on fleebay. It won't be better than the A85 but maybe better suited to the music you like.

Hi mate,

Thanks. I realise the amp I currently have is very good for the price I got it at, but something that will suit my music tastes better will automatically be better. Are there any Nad models that you recommend, or should I just look at integrated ones? Ta

 

[plastic penguin]

APatel8:plastic penguin:

APatel8:The first thing I'm going to do is replace the amp. So any further suggestions on this will help.

The only one that springs to mind that'll suit your speakers is Nad. There are a couple of 352s on fleebay. It won't be better than the A85 but maybe better suited to the music you like.

Hi mate,

Thanks. I realise the amp I currently have is very good for the price I got it at, but something that will suit my music tastes better will automatically be better. Are there any Nad models that you recommend, or should I just look at integrated ones? Ta

The only one is the 352. Not heard any others apart from ones used in a showrooms. Haven't taken any notice, but maybe someone like d_a_n 1979, Maxflinn, Matthewpiano can the fill the breach.