Questions for Arcam?

[Andy Madden]

So here's the first bit of exciting news from our trip to Arcam. Questions and answers to follow shortly!

 

[DIB]

Call me old fashioned but any chance of a tel number for the Arcam technical team, perhaps one that someone answers please

01223 203200. I got an answer on my second attempt.

Cheers

I have spoken to them on this number today and unfortunately all their technical staff are busy in-house training. They have promised to call me back tomorrow.

Fair enough. Lets see if they are true to their word.

.

No call, I can't say I'm surprised.

Nice products Arcam, but in my experience your customer service is very poor.

.

 

[matthewpiano]

Hi Matthew

WHFS&V team will get a world exclusive preview of the new FMJ A19 amplifer, our new £500 offering

Watch the site

Best R

Thanks, I've just seen the piece about the A19. Looks good but I'd be much more interested to know what changes have been made sound-wise from the A18. Thanks again.

 

[robfol]

SORRY! got the price wrong!

Arcam decided to go for broke on performance and not worry too much about exact price point.

The resulting A19 is a giant killer for £650

Hope the WHF team agree (-:

Cheers Robert

 

[robfol]

Hi DIB

I can help you directly if you go to the ArcamUK Facebook page and message me with your problem and email address

Cheers Robert

 

[chebby]

SORRY! got the price wrong!

Arcam decided to go for broke on performance and not worry too much about exact price point.

The resulting A19 is a giant killer for £650

Hope the WHF team agree (-:

Cheers Robert

So this one won't sound like it's coming through a cotton wool helmet soaked in warm Baileys Irish Cream?

 

[robfol]

Hi Matthew,

Incredibly low noise-floor which gives exceptional transparency and detail

Ultra-low distortion ditto

Huge toroidal transformer and uprated power supply give enhanced dynamics and oomph!

Still smooth, natural and utterly musical

We think that at the price it's a catehory killer

Sorry I don't have time to continue this thread but do get a dealer demo when it arrives

Cheers Robert

[Unpublished - sales pitch]

 

[drummerman]

Have you got a warehouse trolley sweep competition planned?

regards

 

[plastic penguin]

SORRY! got the price wrong!

Arcam decided to go for broke on performance and not worry too much about exact price point.

The resulting A19 is a giant killer for £650

Hope the WHF team agree (-:

Cheers Robert

As a huge Arcam fan and owned Arcs amps for more years than I care to remember, hope, with the greatest respect, it lives upto the initial rhetoric.

Thanks for the briefing.

 

[plastic penguin]

Have you got a warehouse trolley sweep competition planned?

regards

 

[robfol]

Obviously a Cyrus fan Chebby (plugs ears with cotton wool) (-:

 

[Andy Madden]

Here we go folks. Here's our full Q&A with Arcam, complete with information on new products (and old)!

 

[chebby]

Obviously a Cyrus fan Chebby (plugs ears with cotton wool) (-:

Can't stand any Cyrus stuff I have ever heard. Blackboards, fingernails etc.

I had a Rega amp and tuner for 11 years (superb) and a Naim setup for two years (also excellent).

I actually demo'ed the A18/CD17 a couple of times...

(1) Ended up buying an Arcam Solo-Mini which slayed the more expensive Arcam A18/CD17* and wasn't anywhere near as 'choked' and 'woolly'. Far from it. Delightful little box.

(2) In 2009. Gave the A18/CD17 another chance against Rega Brio 3/Rega Saturn and Naim Nait 5i/CD5i. Bought the Naim gear but the Rega duo came very close. (The A18/CD17 still proved as 'gloopy' as ever.)

*If the A18/CD17 and Solo-Mini were stuck in a burning warehouse, it would be the Solo-Mini that would kick the doors out and save them all

 

[whoam1]

Here we go folks. Here's our full Q&A with Arcam, complete with information on new products (and old)!

So, none of the support questions were actually put to Arcam then? :roll:

If this was merely to serve as a free marketing exercise, what was the point in asking us for our input?

What a wasted opportunity.

 

[Andy Clough]

whoam1, the issue of customer support (or lack of it), was addressed earlier on this thread (page 1) by the company's PR Rob Follis:

'Greetings all,

Arcam are investing heavily in beefing up their support channels and apologise to those of you who have had problems.

In the short-term, please visit the Arcam Facebook page www.facebook.com/ArcamUK

Message me with your contact email and info on what need doing and I will sort it out for you.'

 

[eggontoast]

I think like most people who have experienced the recent poor customer support, it would have been nice to hear directly from the horses mouth, not from a paid up PR man. IMO his post are not raising Arcams PR level, conversely, they are just annoying.

 

[whoam1]

whoam1, the issue of customer support (or lack of it), was addressed earlier on this thread (page 1) by the company's PR Rob Follis:

'Greetings all,

Arcam are investing heavily in beefing up their support channels and apologise to those of you who have had problems.

In the short-term, please visit the Arcam Facebook page www.facebook.com/ArcamUK

Message me with your contact email and info on what need doing and I will sort it out for you.'

Yes, I saw that the other day.

However, you cannot seriously suggest that a PR bloke telling you to put something on a Facebook page is in anyway a substitute for your team questioning Arcam face-to-face?

A wasted opportunity. :roll:

 

[Big Chris]

The r-blink looks good. I was thinking of getting the QED U-Play, but might save my pennies for a little longer.

I don't often use bluetooth, but when I get sent songs/rehearsals from my bandmates via email, I like to be able to hear them on something better than the laptop speakers. I can use the 3.5mm to phono cable connected to the laptop's headphone out but it sounds terrible (I lay the blame with my laptop as my Pure Evoke sounds great when I hook it up via the same cable).

 

[Dazmb]

Sadly I was too late to put in a question which would have been something along the lines of 'when are Arcam going to produce a proper DV139 FMJ universal player replacement instead of foisting the overpriced, user beta-tested budget electronics of the BDP100 & 300 on us'....

Instead I will have to make do with a request to WHF which is that when you get around to testing the rBlink can you take some time please to test it with regular non-APT-X devices, as the normal thing you read all the time is that AD2P bluetooth sounds pretty lousy and only APT-X pushes it toward hi-fi quality.

That would be ok if it were not for the fact that there are very few APT-X codec enabled devices out there. As an example I would like to know if my Cowon X7 will sound equal through it's AD2P BT as it does through a cable into my amp.

Non-APT-X quality would be very helpful to know I'm sure for most BT device owners.

 

[stevebrock]

I find it incredible that a company like Arcam cannot reply to emails and you have to post on a Facebook page?

i can reply and send emails from a mobile phone within an hour of receiving them, so I'm sorry Arcam you have no excuse its simply not good enough and you need to take a look at Naims & Regas service here in the uk.

surely email is a basic part of any business??

 

[drummerman]

Sadly I was too late to put in a question which would have been something along the lines of 'when are Arcam going to produce a proper DV139 FMJ universal player replacement instead of foisting the overpriced, user beta-tested budget electronics of the BDP100 & 300 on us'....

Instead I will have to make do with a request to WHF which is that when you get around to testing the rBlink can you take some time please to test it with regular non-APT-X devices, as the normal thing you read all the time is that AD2P bluetooth sounds pretty lousy and only APT-X pushes it toward hi-fi quality.

That would be ok if it were not for the fact that there are very few APT-X codec enabled devices out there. As an example I would like to know if my Cowon X7 will sound equal through it's AD2P BT as it does through a cable into my amp.

Non-APT-X quality would be very helpful to know I'm sure for most BT device owners.

I dont know about Apt-x (dont use it) but I have just recently bought a cheap logitech bluetooth streamer for non-apt-x and it is very good indeed.

regards

 

[plastic penguin]

I find it incredible that a company like Arcam cannot reply to emails and you have to post on a Facebook page?

i can reply and send emails from a mobile phone within an hour of receiving them, so I'm sorry Arcam you have no excuse its simply not good enough and you need to take a look at Naims & Regas service here in the uk.

surely email is a basic part of any business??

How does that differ from Rega? They don't give a phone number or email address. http://www.rega.co.uk/

 

[Anonymous]

I have had Arcam amp and cd player for many years. CD player needs replacing and due to Arcams poor performance re customer service I will be looking elsewhere.Contact by email,phone needed,not Facebook!!

 

[whoam1]

My Av9 has now been with them for a month. :roll:

No reply to numerous emails and the dealer is getting fobbed off too.

Rubbish.