Budget upgrade: Arcam 8P Power amp. Worth £100?

[Rob998]

I have about £100-£150 or so to upgade my system. I realise this is very small beer, but it's all I've got so there you go. I've been looking at getting an Arcam Alpha 8P power amp to go with my 8R, and thus bi-amp my speakers. When I've squirrelled another ton or so away I might get another 8P & use them as mono-blocks...

Is this a valid upgrade path & worth the money?

The only thing stopping me at this point is that I saw a Marantz CD6000 KI sig for £150 (before any haggling...) and I'm sure that it'd be a nice improvement over my Sony.

Received wisdom has always been upgrade the source first, then the rest will follow...

As always, all advice gratefully received.

 

[jiggyjoe]

Bi-amping with Arcam amps gives a big rise in performance so def a from me.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Recommended

 

[Rob998]

OK, so bi-amping seems to be the way to go, how about the idea of using 2 X 8Ps as monoblocks? Is that a viable idea, or just gilding the lily?

 

[jiggyjoe]

yep also good, you have to vertical Bi-amp to achieve this.

 

[Rob998]

Errr, pardon my ignorance, but can you explain the vertical Bi Amp wiring sequence please. My Arcam manual explains biamping with the 8R & 8P, but not 8R + 8P + 8P. I have an idea how it could work, but I'd like to be sure....

 

[jiggyjoe]

Both pre out left into one 8p (left and right channel inputs). Both pre out right into other 8p(left and right channel inputs).

Then one 8p amp to drive one speaker (tweeter on one channel, woofer on the other). same the other side.

 

[Rob998]

Excellent! Thank you for your help.

 

[Anonymous]

I used to have an Arcam 8 integrated and 8P, biamped into some MA Silver 4i stand mounters. £100-150 may be small in relative hifi terms but it'll be a very, very good value upgrade. I felt that the 8 on it's own wasn't up to par but the addition of the power made all the difference. Well worth the spend unless you can wait and go for a used Alpha 10. Now that's a different story.

 

[the record spot]

Hahaha! Love the new signature Igg!

 

[Anonymous]

Haha, yeah, sad thing is that I can't even drive them as I've sold the other kit! I think I need to frame them...

 

[the record spot]

There was a thing a few years ago about sticking a brick on top of your speakers. Not suggesting you do this with your SA1s, but wouldn't half mind seeing Ash's face if you did!

 

[Anonymous]

My face would be bad enough, nevermind Ash's. Maybe they should be Russ Andrews bricks.

 

[plastic penguin]

igglebert:My face would be bad enough, nevermind Ash's. Maybe they should be Russ Andrews bricks.

Love the "Wot No" avatar...

 

[Rob998]

igglebert:Maybe they should be Russ Andrews bricks.

What? Cryogenically treated to -273.1øC for precisely one orbit of the satelite "Luna" and then examined for ion flow direction to determine the optimum alignment when placed upon said electromagnetic pressure wave projection devices?

 

[Anonymous]

rob998:
igglebert:Maybe they should be Russ Andrews bricks.

What? Cryogenically treated to -273.1øC for precisely one orbit of the satelite "Luna" and then examined for ion flow direction to determine the optimum alignment when placed upon said electromagnetic pressure wave projection devices?

You've seen the press release then. A bargain at £25,000 a brick. Stacking is recommended.

 

[Rob998]

UPDATE!!!

I finally got hold of an 8P, after losing out on ebay too many times to bidders who must have been far more motivated than me. The prices being paid were incredible, knocking on the door of £200 excluding postage in some cases!

Anyway, earlier this week I finally found one at a Hi Fi shop in Hereford: http://www.englishaudio.co.uk/ . Even including fully insured UPS freight it came in at a very reasonable price compared to the fleabay ones I missed out on. It arrived today, very well packed and in absolutely mint condition. They're nice people to deal with too.

I couldn't wait to hook it up, so I dug around in my box of dead/obsolete/generally unused electronic stuff, found a pair of mediocre interconnects & armed with the manual set to...

Luckily the 2 amps fitted on the same shelf......just, or I'd have had to put either my tape deck or minidisc in the aforementioned box...

Cables connected I got out my "Reference"

discs (Vinyl: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions, Rattlesnakes, CD: Guns & Roses, Appetite For Destruction). They're only "Reference" because I play them more than my other stuff.

The difference is impressive. Fuller, punchier bass, whilst still retaining control, and clearer more detailed mid range & treble, but not over bright by any means. Not much more to say really: More of everything good, none of anything bad.

I'll be honest, I was half expecting not to hear any difference at all, but I'm really pleased with the results.

While I was round the back of my system I noticed what a pick 'n' mix of interconnects I have, so my next "upgrade" will be to make some matching ones. So a job lot of Nakamichi RCA plugs, and a good few metres of Van Damme Classic Instrument cable are on the shopping list.

Might as well do the speaker cables while I'm at it, as the Cable Talk 3.1, whilst good, is a bit unwieldy & hard to tidy away due to it's width & stiffness. Might give the Van Damme 6mm Studio Grade a try...

I'm afraid the Russ Andrews Bricks will have to wait for the moment!

Thanks to everyone for their advice!