Arcam Diva A85 has no Personality, New Amp Needed!

Page 5 - Seeking answers? Join the What HiFi community: the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products.

d_a_n1979

New member
Sep 6, 2007
134
0
0
Visit site
Cyrus and M/A RS and BR speakers is a big no-no!

Cyrus just doesnt get on with those M/A tweeters
emotion-6.gif
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
My friend said I'd hate the high end Cyrus but I was curious myself! I'm new to hi-fi to be honest, so don't really appreciate how all these different amps would produce such different sounds!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
plastic penguin:Maybe if you could grab a Creek Evo MKI off ebay. The bass on that very well defined. I've not heard the MKI but shouldn't be too disimilar to the MKII (I heard a few months back and immensely impressed).

Been looking for one of these two - they were one of the suggestions back when I first got my speakers. Any idea on synergy between them and MA? I'm just worried about getting an amplifier that will sound as bad as the cyrus did!
 

JoelSim

New member
Aug 24, 2007
767
1
0
Visit site
APatel8:

Cheers guys.

Out of shere curiosity I tried my mate's Cyrus with these just now. My ears are bleeding. Bass kills the Arcam but top-end is ear stabbing!!!

Using MP3s?
 

JamesOK

Well-known member
May 24, 2008
86
4
18,545
Visit site
APatel8:Nait Naim 5i also under consideration now.

Dont think you will get one for £300 though.

I'd agree with others about the MP3 situation too. Do you have an option for a better quality source? Be that lossless or high bitrate MP3?
 

JoelSim

New member
Aug 24, 2007
767
1
0
Visit site
APatel8:

plastic penguin:Maybe if you could grab a Creek Evo MKI off ebay. The bass on that very well defined. I've not heard the MKI but shouldn't be too disimilar to the MKII (I heard a few months back and immensely impressed).

Been looking for one of these two - they were one of the suggestions back when I first got my speakers. Any idea on synergy between them and MA? I'm just worried about getting an amplifier that will sound as bad as the cyrus did!

As I said you have more issues than just the amp. MP3 is your biggest issue on a good system. Good systems will just show up all the inadequacies of the MP3 files. Whereas on a poor system these will be masked, not so on a better system.

MP3 brightness + Cyrus (which can be bright) + MA (which is bright) + bright cables = horrid nastiness

You need better filesize music, a new amp and new speakers, and new cables.

Audition.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
ive got plenty of 320kb mp3 tracks that sound very good , listening to elvis costello now and it sounds sublime ..
 

aliEnRIK

New member
Aug 27, 2008
92
0
0
Visit site
maxflinn:ive got plenty of 320kb mp3 tracks that sound very good , listening to elvis costello now and it sounds sublime ..

Ive plenty of MP3s that sound very good indeed. That said, maybe the OPs have been very poorly converted?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
aliEnRIK:
maxflinn:ive got plenty of 320kb mp3 tracks that sound very good , listening to elvis costello now and it sounds sublime ..

Ive plenty of MP3s that sound very good indeed. That said, maybe the OPs have been very poorly converted?

i dont know much about that kind of thing rik , but i know that some mp3 tracks , played from a usb stick by my marantz cdp sound better than some cds that i own ..
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
JoelSim:APatel8:
Cheers guys.

Out of shere curiosity I tried my mate's Cyrus with these just now. My ears are bleeding. Bass kills the Arcam but top-end is ear stabbing!!!

Using MP3s?

Yep 320kbps MP3's.
 
T

the record spot

Guest
Don't be conned into believing the whole bitrate nonsense. Most people can't tell the difference between say 192 and 320 and then CD quality. I use 192kbps, it's absolutely fine. The critical thing is the quality of the recording in the first place and that just shines through no matter what the bitrate is.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
the record spot:Don't be conned into believing the whole bitrate nonsense. Most people can't tell the difference between say 192 and 320 and then CD quality. I use 192kbps, it's absolutely fine. The critical thing is the quality of the recording in the first place and that just shines through no matter what the bitrate is.

Thanks - I'm not. As I said earlier, I was very happy at the beginning, but now the music is beginning to sound a bit lifeless to me... the top-end is poor and the bass isn't very well controlled - I am no expert, but I think the amp and probably the cabling are the route cause. Most of the MP3s I listen to are 320kbps, and I have heard different set-ups sound brilliant with MP3s via DAC. Definitely will not be changing the speakers either!

Mate (Vinny7) is bringing round a Marantz amp on Monday and Chord Company cables so I will see how that meshes - I am sure he will be able to offer more advice aswell about what this current set-up's flaw is!
 
Hello APatel8,

May I suggest, before you spend any money changing your equipment, you contact Arcam's service department. Explain to them you're sure the sound from your A85 amplifier is less dynamic than it used to be. You never know, the amplifier may have developed a fault over the years which is causing this problem. The Arcam guys are very helpful, so it's worth asking their opinion.

Very best regards,

Steve Reichert - PR Manager, Armour Home
 

Rich27

New member
Apr 19, 2009
1
0
0
Visit site
the record spot:Don't be conned into believing the whole bitrate nonsense. Most people can't tell the difference between say 192 and 320 and then CD quality. I use 192kbps, it's absolutely fine. The critical thing is the quality of the recording in the first place and that just shines through no matter what the bitrate is.

As you stated earlier in this thread, I think you missed out a critical imho in there somewhere. The difference between 192kbs and 320kbs is clearly audible on an ipod through my car stereo, differences in bitrate are not nonsense.
 
T

the record spot

Guest
Really? Wow, 'cos on mine going to and from Devon in the past fortnight, I had some of the best recordings going at Lossless, 192, 320....and you know, rather like on my iPod and Sennheisers or on my stereo, you-just-can't-tell.
 

Sorreltiger

Well-known member
Apr 22, 2008
42
1
18,545
Visit site
Well, if you're enjoying the music, it really doesn't matter at all - context is everything. However, I wonder why everyone on these boards gets so vexed by the nuances of sound reproduction if 192 bps mp3s are just as good as CDs or lossless files?

I'm definitely still with Rich on this one - even Spotify Premium (320 bps) - very pleasant indeed - just doesn't have the sparkle or tight bass that I get from my CD player.
 

aliEnRIK

New member
Aug 27, 2008
92
0
0
Visit site
the record spot:Don't be conned into believing the whole bitrate nonsense. Most people can't tell the difference between say 192 and 320 and then CD quality. I use 192kbps, it's absolutely fine. The critical thing is the quality of the recording in the first place and that just shines through no matter what the bitrate is.

I dont think bitrate could be classed as 'nonsense'
 
JoelSim:APatel8:

plastic penguin:Maybe if you could grab a Creek Evo MKI off ebay. The bass on that very well defined. I've not heard the MKI but shouldn't be too disimilar to the MKII (I heard a few months back and immensely impressed).

Been looking for one of these two - they were one of the suggestions back when I first got my speakers. Any idea on synergy between them and MA? I'm just worried about getting an amplifier that will sound as bad as the cyrus did!

As I said you have more issues than just the amp. MP3 is your biggest issue on a good system. Good systems will just show up all the inadequacies of the MP3 files. Whereas on a poor system these will be masked, not so on a better system.

MP3 brightness + Cyrus (which can be bright) + MA (which is bright) + bright cables = horrid nastiness

You need better filesize music, a new amp and new speakers, and new cables.

Audition.

Firstly, the synergy between Creek and MA is cracking, however, like Joel said, there's more at play here than just the amp.
 
T

the record spot

Guest
aliEnRIK:
the record spot:Don't be conned into believing the whole bitrate nonsense. Most people can't tell the difference between say 192 and 320 and then CD quality. I use 192kbps, it's absolutely fine. The critical thing is the quality of the recording in the first place and that just shines through no matter what the bitrate is.

I dont think bitrate could be classed as 'nonsense'

Neither do I, it's the resulting golden eared claims that people can tell a difference between 192, 320kbps and an audio CD copy that I'm referring to.
 
T

the record spot

Guest
Sorreltiger:
Well, if you're enjoying the music, it really doesn't matter at all - context is everything. However, I wonder why everyone on these boards gets so vexed by the nuances of sound reproduction if 192 bps mp3s are just as good as CDs or lossless files?

I'm definitely still with Rich on this one - even Spotify Premium (320 bps) - very pleasant indeed - just doesn't have the sparkle or tight bass that I get from my CD player.

You're right about nuances. Personally, I couldn't care. But some claims around what makes music sound good are often based on hearsay, myth and opinion represented as fact. A bit like the wisdom of crowds. That is, of course, assuming the crowd makes the right or wrong decisions in the first place.
 

Rich27

New member
Apr 19, 2009
1
0
0
Visit site
the record spot:Sorreltiger:
Well, if you're enjoying the music, it really doesn't matter at all - context is everything. However, I wonder why everyone on these boards gets so vexed by the nuances of sound reproduction if 192 bps mp3s are just as good as CDs or lossless files?

I'm definitely still with Rich on this one - even Spotify Premium (320 bps) - very pleasant indeed - just doesn't have the sparkle or tight bass that I get from my CD player.

You're right about nuances. Personally, I couldn't care. But some claims around what makes music sound good are often based on hearsay, myth and opinion represented as fact. A bit like the wisdom of crowds. That is, of course, assuming the crowd makes the right or wrong decisions in the first place.

Get off your high horse, if you really don't care why do you get so wound up about the simple opinion of other people. You obviously believe that yours is the only "right" opinion and others are not allowed to express their own. Personally I couldn't give a monkeys whether you can hear the difference or not, that is up to you.

In my earlier threads I was just trying to offer some simple helpful advice to the OP, when it gets reaction like yours, I won't bother again.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts