Pre-amp with arcam a19?

[David Parkes]

Can I use a pre-amp with my arcam. E.g audiolab m-dac or 8200 cdq?

will I get a better sound?

rest of my system is a marantz 6003 with kef r100 speakers.

looking for that next step up in performance. Think my source is the next obvious upgrade. Speakers and amp are great and only 6 months old.

thanks! :wall:

 

[manicm]

Excuse my vulgarity 🙂 but dude, you've just spent 650 quid on the A19 and you're looking to add a pre-amp? Sit yourself calmly down with a good bottle of red, meditate on the meaning of life, and in the morning pay a visit to your dealer, hold a (metaphorical) gun to his head, and demand some satisfaction.

On a more serious note, in the context of your system I'd guess the KEF R100 may be a bit too smooth for the Arcam. Or indeed try another CD player.

Good luck and God bless.

 

[cannibal_ox77]

The A19 hasn't got power amp inputs so just get a CD player - the audiolab would be a good choice to partner the A19 and you'll definitely hear an improvement. You can pick a new one up for £470 on ebay, although its the older non-OLED display version. For what you get; the cd player, DAC and all it's facilities that is a bargain

 

[unsleepable]

On a more serious note, in the context of your system I'd guess the KEF R100 may be a bit too smooth for the Arcam. Or indeed try another CD player.

What amplifier would you recommend for the Kef R100 then?

 

[plastic penguin]

Can I use a pre-amp with my arcam. E.g audiolab m-dac or 8200 cdq?

will I get a better sound?

rest of my system is a marantz 6003 with kef r100 speakers.

looking for that next step up in performance. Think my source is the next obvious upgrade. Speakers and amp are great and only 6 months old.

thanks! :wall:

IMHO of Arcams, adding an additional preamp will be futile. Even budget DIVA Arcams have decent preamps, you'll be better off looking at upgrading either the source or speakers or adding a power amp, if you have urge to improve things. Personally I would sit back and enjoy the sweet sounds.

 

[Al ears]

Excuse my vulgarity 🙂 but dude, you've just spent 650 quid on the A19 and you're looking to add a pre-amp? Sit yourself calmly down with a good bottle of red, meditate on the meaning of life, and in the morning pay a visit to your dealer, hold a (metaphorical) gun to his head, and demand some satisfaction.

On a more serious note, in the context of your system I'd guess the KEF R100 may be a bit too smooth for the Arcam. Or indeed try another CD player.

Good luck and God bless.

That's what auditioning does for you. 🙂

Agree with most here enjoy what you have or consider upgrading source, forget about preamp.

 

[crusaderlord]

i agree with others posting here that the Arcam A19 will have a good enough pre amplifier to make it very unlikely to be the best option. I am not sure what you feel is wrong with the sound you get now, but two option i would consider are :

1. Arcam CD37 - this is such a great CD and SACD source player that if you follow an auction site for a while you may get a bargain. Also has the same look too which is a bonus. Another option is the older CD36 model (i have had both and the CD37 is better)

2. Arcam P35 or P38 - use the preamp in your A19 and add a better power amplifier - this i feel may give you a bit more from your speakers in terms of weight and control

Thats what i would look at - assuming you are happy with the speakers.

 

[David Parkes]

Absolutely love the amp and speakers, wide and detailed sound. Just feel like the source may not be up to it, hence the m-dac with my marantz as transport or the 8200 cd. The benefit of both is that I could put my denon 720 streamer through it as well. Seems the 8200 cd might be a good option then with the dac input?

thanks all, least I know there is no point getting a pre amp! You've cleared that up!

 

[p_m_brown]

A more accurate / brighter source is the way forward here so either of the Audiolab products you mention should give you the presentation you are after.

You could then try an A38... >)

 

[manicm]

Absolutely love the amp and speakers, wide and detailed sound. Just feel like the source may not be up to it, hence the m-dac with my marantz as transport or the 8200 cd. The benefit of both is that I could put my denon 720 streamer through it as well. Seems the 8200 cd might be a good option then with the dac input?

thanks all, least I know there is no point getting a pre amp! You've cleared that up!

Actually WHF recommend the 8200 cd with the A19 - directly, no need to connect to your DAC - save the input for something else 🙂

 

[David Parkes]

Yes, was only planning to use the dac for the denon streamer. It will be a better dac than the denon I'm sure. At the moment my marantz cdp sounds better than my denon streamer. So if the audiolab is better than the 6003, I'm going to get an improvement from both sources I would think!

 

[emperor's new clothes]

Hi David,

Your first two threads on your upgrade dilema attracted many suggestions and advise. Which ones have you auditioned and what were your conclusions?

Regarding the MDAC as a pre amp, I agree with the above. I tried one in my system with a/b comparisons between the DACs in my CD and SBT - complicated a little by the various filter options available in the MDAC. I then removed my pre amp and fed my power amp direct. After 4 days of evaluation, I decided that the MDAC wasn't for me. It offers excellent transparancy and detail, but to my ears, is a bit clinical and lacking in emotion. I went through the same process with the irDAC and now forget the hifi and just enjoy the music. To my ears, it is superb and no fiddling with filters or unneccessary preamp function. Listening to compressed internet Radio Paradise via the Squeezebox has become much more enjoyable, even though the Dac in the squeezebox is suprising good for a budget product.

That said, as mentioned before, the price differential between a stand-alone dac plus cabling and the audiolab CD is not huge and might deliver better results than using your 6003 as a transport. I would check out Creek's new Evolution 50CD from the same stable as the audiolab. Moving up the price ladder, I was most impressed by the Marantz SA8005 which offeres the bonus of SACD and DSD streaming. It is built like a proverbial Centurian tank. Horses for courses and don't rely on reviews, IMHO.