This is a post for those that like cables and tweaking things.
From time to time i get tempted to maybe try a new product but as funds dont allow me to upgrade significantly i decided to sort out my existing set up today - my cables are hard to get at and hadnt been untangled for months.
So my set up was all the separates are connected to to a Tacima except the Rega TT which was added recently via a cheap extension. The amp uses the more expensive copperline mains lead.
I spent the morning swapping leads around and found suprisingly a significant change when i swapped the amp from using the Tacima back straight into the mains socket. The sound became more punchy and tighter, which on the face of it was great but did lose some of its ethereal softness in the vocals (which is nice for female artists). I would liken it i guess to having a valve like sound (Tacima) compared to a more solid presentation (wall) and preference is down to taste really.
The other advantage of using the amp direct to the wall with a normal cable is that the CD liked the Copperline adding more detail and clarity and Rega also liked the Tacima as well. The more i listen the better i prefer the revised set up so i decided to stick to having the amp connection to the wall for a while. What i will probably do is upgrade the mains cable for the amp as well.
The other item i tinkered with is my Little Dot III a valve based headphone amp that i use as a preamp in my 2nd system with my NAD C320BEE. I tried it as a preamp to the Arcam but to be honest it didnt really improve anything but simply lost a little edge and detail. As it really makes a big difference to the NAD i will leave it where it is.
So an interesting day which helped me retain and improve my opinion of the Arcam as a great amplifier, although its kind of neat to know i can change the way it presents itself by moving its connection between the wall and the Tacima. The wall does seem a better option.
From time to time i get tempted to maybe try a new product but as funds dont allow me to upgrade significantly i decided to sort out my existing set up today - my cables are hard to get at and hadnt been untangled for months.
So my set up was all the separates are connected to to a Tacima except the Rega TT which was added recently via a cheap extension. The amp uses the more expensive copperline mains lead.
I spent the morning swapping leads around and found suprisingly a significant change when i swapped the amp from using the Tacima back straight into the mains socket. The sound became more punchy and tighter, which on the face of it was great but did lose some of its ethereal softness in the vocals (which is nice for female artists). I would liken it i guess to having a valve like sound (Tacima) compared to a more solid presentation (wall) and preference is down to taste really.
The other advantage of using the amp direct to the wall with a normal cable is that the CD liked the Copperline adding more detail and clarity and Rega also liked the Tacima as well. The more i listen the better i prefer the revised set up so i decided to stick to having the amp connection to the wall for a while. What i will probably do is upgrade the mains cable for the amp as well.
The other item i tinkered with is my Little Dot III a valve based headphone amp that i use as a preamp in my 2nd system with my NAD C320BEE. I tried it as a preamp to the Arcam but to be honest it didnt really improve anything but simply lost a little edge and detail. As it really makes a big difference to the NAD i will leave it where it is.
So an interesting day which helped me retain and improve my opinion of the Arcam as a great amplifier, although its kind of neat to know i can change the way it presents itself by moving its connection between the wall and the Tacima. The wall does seem a better option.
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