Arcam Solo Mini

[admin_exported]

Seriously considering buying one of these and was wondering if anyone here has owned/trialed one? Thoughts?

How does it compare to other mini hi-fi systems or even separates? Is the price justified?

I used to own a Yamaha CRX-M170 but due to a reoccurring fault, refunded it and now have an extra £169 to contribute towards something new and shiny.

Any comments appreciated!

 

[brianmcr]

It's reviewed in this months What-HiFi? mag. Gets a very good review.
Personally I think it looks very good, but you could get better seperates for
the same money, depends on what you are looking for though.
It's handy having the usb connection at the front for connecting a mp3 player.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi I've just bought a solo mini and am very pleased with the sound quality. It is very clear and detailed. I think it is what people who know about such things call an 'open' sound. 'Confident' is a word that comes to mind when I listen to it. I auditioned it with the denon dm37 and the cambridge audio 1, and the sound quality was so much better that I had no trouble making my decision, even with the extra money the solo mini cost. Having played with it I discovered a software bug on the cd shuffle mode. It never plays the whole cd, only the ones it likes. I contacted Arcam and they said they knew about it and were currently developing the software to correct the fault. All the units already made will need to be updated with the software on a pen drive. It's a minor thing if you choose to have the rdock that goes with the unit. Then you can shuffle to your heart's content. The sound quality is v good on the rdock, although i found I had to turn the sound up a little bit, especially on purchased tracks. Purchased tracks burned on a cd don't need the volume turned up at all. My rdock developed a fault after the first day. The yellow light on the adapter started flashing, and the blue light on the rdock started flashing. When I tried to play a track on the ipod, the rdock ignored me. It just put random things onto the arcam display that bore no relation to what I was selecting with the remote. I think I am rather unlucky! Up to then I was v pleased with it. I think it was a customer return as the box and manual inside were well bashed about. If you buy the rdock you'll have to buy interconnects separately (another £30). You'll also need the piece of plastic that came with your ipod to fit in the rdock.

The remote on the solo mini is quite well designed but the way they've labelled some of the buttons is a little strange. They've labelled the ipod button 'tape'. I think people are more likely to have an ipod that a tape player these days. Also, I wish they'd made the fm button the am button too. Instead the DAB button is also the AM button. This is less logical and a little annoying when you choose DAB from standby and get AM, because by pressing DAB on standby you actually toggle to AM. If you buy it and use DAB you'll understand!

In spite of all the little niggles, I'm still glad I bought my mini, simply because of the sound quality, which is important to me. It is also very lovely to look at . I expect you might be able to get better separates for the price, but it's the size of a biscuit tin so if you live in a small space like me it's ideal.

 

[Sizzers]

Not looking for a Solo but what a fantastic litte piece you've wrote @ Pix. Keep up the good work!

 

[manicm]

pix:

Hi I've just bought a solo mini and am very pleased with the sound quality. It is very clear and detailed. I think it is what people who know about such things call an 'open' sound. 'Confident' is a word that comes to mind when I listen to it. I auditioned it with the denon dm37 and the cambridge audio 1, and the sound quality was so much better that I had no trouble making my decision, even with the extra money the solo mini cost. Having played with it I discovered a software bug on the cd shuffle mode. It never plays the whole cd, only the ones it likes. I contacted Arcam and they said they knew about it and were currently developing the software to correct the fault. All the units already made will need to be updated with the software on a pen drive. It's a minor thing if you choose to have the rdock that goes with the unit. Then you can shuffle to your heart's content. The sound quality is v good on the rdock, although i found I had to turn the sound up a little bit, especially on purchased tracks. Purchased tracks burned on a cd don't need the volume turned up at all. My rdock developed a fault after the first day. The yellow light on the adapter started flashing, and the blue light on the rdock started flashing. When I tried to play a track on the ipod, the rdock ignored me. It just put random things onto the arcam display that bore no relation to what I was selecting with the remote. I think I am rather unlucky! Up to then I was v pleased with it. I think it was a customer return as the box and manual inside were well bashed about. If you buy the rdock you'll have to buy interconnects separately (another £30). You'll also need the piece of plastic that came with your ipod to fit in the rdock.

The remote on the solo mini is quite well designed but the way they've labelled some of the buttons is a little strange. They've labelled the ipod button 'tape'. I think people are more likely to have an ipod that a tape player these days. Also, I wish they'd made the fm button the am button too. Instead the DAB button is also the AM button. This is less logical and a little annoying when you choose DAB from standby and get AM, because by pressing DAB on standby you actually toggle to AM. If you buy it and use DAB you'll understand!

In spite of all the little niggles, I'm still glad I bought my mini, simply because of the sound quality, which is important to me. It is also very lovely to look at . I expect you might be able to get better separates for the price, but it's the size of a biscuit tin so if you live in a small space like me it's ideal.

I may have asked you this before, I also have the Mini, which speakers are you using?

 

[Anonymous]

Pix,

How much better is the Solo Mini compared to the Denon 37? Is it at least 2 tmies better to justify the price difference? Any idea whether the Solo Mini is able to match the B&W 685s well?
What speakers do you use with your Solo Mini?

 

[Anonymous]

BTW, did you also compare the Solo Mini versus the Solo?

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks sizzers, glad you liked it.

 

[Anonymous]

I have KEF Cresta 10s. I'm v pleased with them. There seems to be just the right balance between the treble midrange and bass. It seems very finely and accurately balanced. All the different elements of the sound are distinct, pure and clear. Double bass in jazz and classical sounds beautiful. Gwen Stefani type bass sounds pretty good too. I suppose you might want more bass if you're into deep drum n bass type sounds! I've found they've got better as I've played them, kind of more well rounded. I didn't audition any speakers, as I already had these, so can't comment on the B &Ws. I did Audition the mini with some Monitor audio speakers the first time, and was rather disappointed by the sound the Arcam was producing. At that point I decided to stick with my 22 year old Technics hifi, because it sounded just as good! Then I tried it with some other rather more expensive speakers in another shop, and the sound was gorgeous, so I knew the Arcam was capable of producing a good sound. The assistant was right when he said that the Arcam would sound as good if not better with my KEFs.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, I didn't compare the Solo mini with the Solo, as the mini was at the top end of my budget. I'd be interested to hear a comparison too. I think the extra price for the mini is absolutely justified from my auditioning experience. It was just a totally different class of sound reproduction. The Denon sounded fuzzy and inaccurate in comparison. It had a good punch to it, but I love to hear all the different instruments and the human voice separate and distinct from each other, so the different sounds compliment and enhance each other. That's what I heard from the mini.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Pix.

I had initially thought of just getting the Denon 37 but after reading your posts, it sounds like I should take another look at the Solo Mini. My main gripe is that the Solo Mini plus speakers will cost > 3 times the Denon.

I'm also interested to read how the new Marantz system http://whathifi.com/News/Marantz-debuts-hi-tech-all-in-one-system/ compares to the Solo Mini.

WHF Team, any chance that the review will be posted online anytime soon? Pretty please?

 

[Scissor_digits]

If you're going to consider the Marantz then the new Cambridge Audio One should also be on your list to listen to - http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=354

 

[Clare Newsome]

You can read our Cambridge Audio One system review here.

More on the Marantz system here and in our next issue - still awaiting full test sample, though.

Meanwhile, the Arcam Solo Mini continues to live up to its Award-winning status. Some good @£1000 or less bundle deals to be had if you shop around too, including speakers, cabling and the r-Dock.

 

[Anonymous]

I forgot to say another thing that put me off the Denon 37 was it was mechanically rather noisy. I could hear the whirring and clicking of the Cd player through the music at normal medium volumes. The clicking was a high pitched sound, rather like a geiger counter, or a dolphin's sonar. It would have been v annoying long term. Mind you cat/dog/deer scarers are unbearable to me and some people can't hear them at all, so you might not have a problem.

Just to let you know I saved £170 because Richer Sounds match online deals, and then take some off to better them, and there is a particularly good one online at the moment. I don't know if I can mention the company, but you'll find it if you do a search.

 

[manicm]

Well I can say something about the Mini: No review of Myryad's Mi has categorically stated it sounds better than the Mini, and it costs nearly double - admittedly with bigger power and facilities.

I have the Mini and 685s and the combination is not bad at all - but I'm begginning to agree with others that more efficient speakers would not go amiss - especially at lower volumes.

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:
You can read our Cambridge Audio One system review here.

More on the Marantz system here and in our next issue - still awaiting full test sample, though.

Meanwhile, the Arcam Solo Mini continues to live up to its Award-winning status. Some good @£1000 or less bundle deals to be had if you shop around too, including speakers, cabling and the r-Dock.

Thanks Clare. Looking forward to read the review of the Marantz system and finding out whether it can better the Solo Mini.

BTW, would the B&W 685s be a good pairing for the Solo Mini? Or would the smaller 686s be a better fit? Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

manicm:
Well I can say something about the Mini: No review of Myryad's Mi has categorically stated it sounds better than the Mini, and it costs nearly double - admittedly with bigger power and facilities.

I have the Mini and 685s and the combination is not bad at all - but I'm begginning to agree with others that more efficient speakers would not go amiss - especially at lower volumes.

Pardon my ignorance, but how do I determine what speakers are more efficient? I remember someone explaining this before but I've forgotten what I'm supposed to be looking at.

I'm looking at the B&W 600 series brochure and there is frequency range, frequency response, sensitivity, crossover frequency, etc.

BTW, did you also try out the smaller 686 with the Solo Mini?

Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Looking at the B&W brochure, the 685 is rated at 88dB whereas the smaller 686 is rated at 84dB so it would mean that the Solo Mini is better suited to power the larger 685 rather than the smaller 686?

So, bigger speakers would need less power than smaller speakers?

And how does the 25 watts for the Solo Mini factor in when choosing speakers?

Thanks Chebby.

 

[manicm]

seakingadvice:Looking at the B&W brochure, the 685 is rated at 88dB whereas the smaller 686 is rated at 84dB so it would mean that the Solo Mini is better suited to power the larger 685 rather than the smaller 686? So, bigger speakers would need less power than smaller speakers? And how does the 25 watts for the Solo Mini factor in when choosing speakers? Thanks Chebby.

I was going to get the 686s myself but my dealer suggested the 685s instead and I think he was right, although I did not hear the former but considering my shameful location the bigger front-ported model is almost certainly better for me.

He also suggested the MA RS1s and I regret not taking up the chance to hear them. They're more efficient and rear-ported but I suspect they'd be a bit clearer than the 685s. I think try the RS1s as well before you make a decision, possibly the KEF iQ30s as well. And of-course the Regas too.

 

[manicm]

seakingadvice:Looking at the B&W brochure, the 685 is rated at 88dB whereas the smaller 686 is rated at 84dB so it would mean that the Solo Mini is better suited to power the larger 685 rather than the smaller 686? So, bigger speakers would need less power than smaller speakers? And how does the 25 watts for the Solo Mini factor in when choosing speakers? Thanks Chebby.

And to confuse you further

: another lady here was ecstatic about her new Mini with Quad 11Ls - and I suspect this might make for the most transparent sounding combo of the lot but at the expense of some bass.

 

[Anonymous]

I have had my Arcam solo mini (with r dock) for about 6 months now. Sounds lovely and no problems to date. Even the DAB sound quality is great.

I have paired them with Monitor Audio Radius R90HD speakers. The sound is excellent for a bed room. Very clear and crisp. Not that bassy, but I don't want that type of sound in the bedroom anyway.

Speakers looks great in white laquer finish. I did listen to the Arcam speakers but wan not all that impressed.

Only grumble is that I can never quite get used to controlling the ipod through the Arcam remote.

 

[chebby]

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[chebby]

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[chebby]

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[chebby]

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