I’m looking at an amp for my second system in an upstairs music room. Currently looking at the Arcam SA30 or Roksan Caspian M2. Will be connected to a Rotel RCD1572 CD player (later to be replaced by a Roksan Caspian M2 CD player from the main system in the lounge). Speakers are a pair of Kef C95’s I’ve had about 30 years! May change the speakers at a later date to Kef LS50 Meta’s. Any thoughts on these two amps - pro’s and cons with each? Thanks.
Arcam SA30 or Roksan Caspian M2 Amp
- Thread starter Vortex
- Start date
plastic penguin
Well-known member
Al ears
Well-known member
As above plus synergy is everything so I would suggest the Roksan amp purely because of this but not if vinyl is ever likely to be your source.
plastic penguin
Well-known member
Think either amp should match the LS50s well. It all boils down to the OPs source(s) and whether he needs a turntable.
nopiano
Well-known member
I’ve got a soft spot for the Caspians having used the CD player when demoing some speakers a few years ago.
There’s nothing to beat a matching pair, so I’d choose the Roksan given your longer-term plans.
There’s nothing to beat a matching pair, so I’d choose the Roksan given your longer-term plans.
aversaurus
Well-known member
Thanks for all the replies. Not planning to use a turntable any time soon (at the moment anyway) so it seems everyone is leaning towards the Roksan. Did have a Rotel RA1570 amplifier in this system previously. Source is going to be mainly CD but may add a streamer later. I like the idea of being able to add the second power amp with the Roksan at a later date (they seem to come up quite a lot on eBay in virtually new condition). My main system has a Hegel H590 so used to a fair amount of a power / control, having said that this system is in a smaller room. Sound quality is the main priority, smooth and not harsh / tiring to listen to for extended periods.
plastic penguin
Well-known member
Why have you shortlisted just those two? I like both but there's plenty of other really good brands.
Al ears
Well-known member
Yes I did wonder as well as the two listed are completely different with the Arcam including streaming and an inbuilt DAC the Roksan being a much simpler affair.
plastic penguin
Well-known member
Yes, there's plenty of analogue only amps, from Rotel to NAD to Rega... all in the similar price bracket as the aforementioned amps.
plastic penguin
Well-known member
And well worth bearing in mind that one or two people on here have complained about the SA30s software upgrades.
Waroroses
Well-known member
Avoid the Arcam SA30 like VD. It is glitchy. Apps suck. Firmware updates not for the faint of heart or technical skills.
Al ears
Well-known member
I would agree.
Too ma ny things to go wrong von a lot of today's amps.
If you want an amplifier buy a simple amplifier....
Waroroses
Well-known member
I did. A Decware Zen Triode. Heaven. Also added an Eversolo Master Series. Total cost: $2600. Smokes the Arcam junk.
Al ears
Well-known member
Stuart83
Well-known member
Had a roskan k3 it's a nice amp,
It's a straight from the source analogue sound.
I demoed the attesa imo very similar to the k3 and acram sa30 with few others when a second k3 (non Bluetooth and standby ver) went faulty as I wouldn't take a 3rd replacement.
Maybe a line fault as they are usually a reliable brand.
I'm not sure as richer sounds had admitted they'd already had 6 k3's back after my partner mentioned the pile of opened returns against the wall in their back place whilst using their staff toilet.
You'd have to demo these two as they are a very different sound.
I liked the k3 for its analogue sound, very clean.
But as soon as I heard the acram sa30 it sold itself within the minute.
There's so much more to it, the exhaustive connectivity which doesn't suffer the usual quality drop being inbuilt usually provides.
It's a much warmer sound which is my preference for most music other than classical where the roskan really shines.
When I mentioned this the guy in the demo room switched the acram to analogue mode and it all made sense as back came the only thing I missed the roskan for.
The sub woofer input is a plus to avoid the usual speaker level connection hum whilst idle.
The power of the acram sa30 is immense and it never looses control at higher volumes like the sa20 used to.
I'm using q acoustics 3050i which for reference i also had the roskan hooked up to and I can only give you my personal opinion it's a better all round sound and amp.
The bugs the sa30 firmware had to begin with are now gone and it took the eisa award a few yrs if you value such awards.
What hifi have a good review on it themselves.
The only true way of finding out is the obvious demo.
I know richer sounds are very accommodating if they have in what your looking for.
They will even let you take home the amp to demo it to make sure.
It's a straight from the source analogue sound.
I demoed the attesa imo very similar to the k3 and acram sa30 with few others when a second k3 (non Bluetooth and standby ver) went faulty as I wouldn't take a 3rd replacement.
Maybe a line fault as they are usually a reliable brand.
I'm not sure as richer sounds had admitted they'd already had 6 k3's back after my partner mentioned the pile of opened returns against the wall in their back place whilst using their staff toilet.
You'd have to demo these two as they are a very different sound.
I liked the k3 for its analogue sound, very clean.
But as soon as I heard the acram sa30 it sold itself within the minute.
There's so much more to it, the exhaustive connectivity which doesn't suffer the usual quality drop being inbuilt usually provides.
It's a much warmer sound which is my preference for most music other than classical where the roskan really shines.
When I mentioned this the guy in the demo room switched the acram to analogue mode and it all made sense as back came the only thing I missed the roskan for.
The sub woofer input is a plus to avoid the usual speaker level connection hum whilst idle.
The power of the acram sa30 is immense and it never looses control at higher volumes like the sa20 used to.
I'm using q acoustics 3050i which for reference i also had the roskan hooked up to and I can only give you my personal opinion it's a better all round sound and amp.
The bugs the sa30 firmware had to begin with are now gone and it took the eisa award a few yrs if you value such awards.
What hifi have a good review on it themselves.
The only true way of finding out is the obvious demo.
I know richer sounds are very accommodating if they have in what your looking for.
They will even let you take home the amp to demo it to make sure.
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Waroroses
Well-known member
The amp on the SA30 is quite good, however everything else about it really is poor. The on off button feels tinny and cheap and it feels like breaking a chicken bone everytime you turn it on. Updating the firmware almost caused me to be committed to a mental ward. Hard to believe that Harmon Kardon could screw up so badly. If you notice the dealers are deeply discounting the remaining lemon plagued product.
Stuart83
Well-known member
Strange I've had no problems with the update.
Arcam fixed the firmware ages ago with the new version which is easy updated via a usb.
It was my only quarm whilst viewing it.
The sound is better than the other amps I have and the roskan which it replaced.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience but they still after 3yrs command north of a 1200 £ for a referbished unit.
They haven't discounted more than the roskan k3 or any other amp I can think of.
Peter Tyson still wants 1299 £ for a refurbished return otherwise they've only depreciated the same as any other amp.
The phono stage is very good with my system deck iix and having both a MM and MC stage is very handy.
The network streaming is 24 bit and very good as is the Dirac making hi res audio a charm.
The dac is excellent and the much proven ESS Sabe series another reason I went for the acram.
The amp itself is heavy and all metal but yes like 90% of amps out there and like my favourite amp to date the pioneer a400 it has a plastic button but there's also a nice button on the lit up (all in one learning) remote control to bypass it.
There's now a support page to help you update your old firmware if it's still plaguing you on acrams website and a few simple posts on the av forum.
I'm glad I made sure that i bought the sa30 after the problems were sorted out.
Winning the eisa product of the yr is no easy feat.
I must admit having problems with a product does annoy me too, mine was with a roskan k3 having 2 go bad in a month of each other but I realise it's not everybody's experience but that said I wouldn't buy one again.
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aversaurus
Well-known member
odub1
Active member
Arcam sa30 is the superior amp for a home theatre hybrid. The power and precision when playing Apocalypto at big volume was me what makes this amp special, especially because it has “arc” which on a large projector setup is important because it synchronises to the audio and video perfectly which leads me to my next major praise for the sa30 and arcam as a home theatre receiver expert. I wouldn’t trust another brand to do the lip sync - eARC and ARC differ in this respect. Arcam are one of the only brands to advertise eARC on an integrated stereo instead of just ARC.
Heard the caspian m2 yesterday in a personal demo and thought it was okay. I almost got it because it offers xlr for my Hugo tt dac and I wanted something more dry and analytical/ neutral than my sa30. In the end I went with Audiolab 8300 off eBay after hearing the 7000a in store - I was surprised how much I liked the dry sound coming from the audiolab. The caspian I thought was in between the Audiolab and arcam signatures…
The arcam doubles as a home theatre juggernaut if you at all care about movies. The remote doesn’t turn it on lol… but it’s got enough tech that you’ll never need the remote as you can use arc and the Apple TV remote to control its volume. I am a nerd though and I realise not everyone appreciates amazing features if there’s one or two quirks - another one being you have to restart it sometimes when it thinks there are headphones plugged in when there are not… but hey there’s a silver lining because arcam engineers managed to update the firmware to allow pre out while muting the connected speakers - super handy when you have a dedicated headphone amp - in this case being my arcam rhead (which you could recently find at a serious discount). In combination with the sa30, the rhead headphone amp is pure class a bliss - you do need to keep it on for two hours before the sound opens up though !
Heard the caspian m2 yesterday in a personal demo and thought it was okay. I almost got it because it offers xlr for my Hugo tt dac and I wanted something more dry and analytical/ neutral than my sa30. In the end I went with Audiolab 8300 off eBay after hearing the 7000a in store - I was surprised how much I liked the dry sound coming from the audiolab. The caspian I thought was in between the Audiolab and arcam signatures…
The arcam doubles as a home theatre juggernaut if you at all care about movies. The remote doesn’t turn it on lol… but it’s got enough tech that you’ll never need the remote as you can use arc and the Apple TV remote to control its volume. I am a nerd though and I realise not everyone appreciates amazing features if there’s one or two quirks - another one being you have to restart it sometimes when it thinks there are headphones plugged in when there are not… but hey there’s a silver lining because arcam engineers managed to update the firmware to allow pre out while muting the connected speakers - super handy when you have a dedicated headphone amp - in this case being my arcam rhead (which you could recently find at a serious discount). In combination with the sa30, the rhead headphone amp is pure class a bliss - you do need to keep it on for two hours before the sound opens up though !
Al ears
Well-known member
Interesting stuff.
Unfortunately the thread is nine months old and the OP hasn't been seen dince November.
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