Replacement option for Arcam65..Options apprecaited

[soulman]

Hi

Looking for some help here. Ive had an Arcam CD72 and A65 amp for 10 years. Im no audio boff, but when I buy something related to tech’ I do a bit of research and I love my sounds so ..it seems I invested well.

The issue:

On the Amp, there is a row of options with led lights

ie PHONO-CD-VCR-TUNER-AV/DVD. Then next to it directly on its right on its own is the option “TAPE”. For whatever reasons…its stuck on this and as a result Im unable to play my music. In the interim ie circa a year I have purchased 2 sonos speakers to stream my music from my computer. However, Ive an extensive hard copy of music and Im aware of the good sound my cd player, amp and speakers (B and W 601 S3) sound together. I haven’t tried with any great effort to access a replacement A65 on E bay. I have never purchased anything on e bay before but if I did I would go through the correct channels and one of the mates would ensure I did the procedure correctly.

Q. Can anyone recommend another amplifier that would be compatible with my cd player? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Dave

 

[chebby]

Arcam FMJ A18.

Obvious replacement really ...

Example for £349 ('Buy It Now' price.)

Seller looks 'clean' and the amp is fully working, in good condition and has original box, instructions and remote.

 

[plastic penguin]

IMO the A18 and A65 (Plus version that is) is only subtle differences. The one that gave the best compromise was Creek Evo2.

There's an original Evo (MKI version) but it is a little expensive. Alternatives that'll match nicely with the CDP would be Roksan Kandy K2 or a A85.

 

[soulman]

Hey Cheers Plastic Penguin and Chebby for the options. Food for thought. Will do a wee bit of research. Will let you know which I favour.

Cheers

Dave

 

[BigH]

Arcam FMJ A18.

Obvious replacement really ...

Example for £349 ('Buy It Now' price.)

Seller looks 'clean' and the amp is fully working, in good condition and has original box, instructions and remote.

Looks a bit high at £349, as they were £300 new last year, but maybe worth an offer as no bids yet. Ive seen A19s go just over £400, 2 weeks old as well, hifi shop return.

 

[plastic penguin]

Arcam FMJ A18.

Obvious replacement really ...

Example for £349 ('Buy It Now' price.)

Seller looks 'clean' and the amp is fully working, in good condition and has original box, instructions and remote.

Looks a bit high at £349, as they were £300 new last year, but maybe worth an offer as no bids yet. Ive seen A19s go just over £400, 2 weeks old as well, hifi shop return.

Yes, but new ones last year were already superceded by the A19. Like my Pulse, which was new, they probably just wanted to shift their remanding stock.

 

[jiggyjoe]

Does it work if you plug your cd player into the tape input?

 

[BigH]

Does it work if you plug your cd player into the tape input?

Good point, all the inputs are the same apart from vinyl.

 

[BigH]

Arcam FMJ A18.

Obvious replacement really ...

Example for £349 ('Buy It Now' price.)

Seller looks 'clean' and the amp is fully working, in good condition and has original box, instructions and remote.

Looks a bit high at £349, as they were £300 new last year, but maybe worth an offer as no bids yet. Ive seen A19s go just over £400, 2 weeks old as well, hifi shop return.

Yes, but new ones last year were already superceded by the A19. Like my Pulse, which was new, they probably just wanted to shift their remanding stock.

Yes that maybe so, but it still looks high for a used item with no warranty. But many buy it now prices are high, too high IMO. I would say about £250 is a fair price.

 

[plastic penguin]

Arcam FMJ A18.

Obvious replacement really ...

Example for £349 ('Buy It Now' price.)

Seller looks 'clean' and the amp is fully working, in good condition and has original box, instructions and remote.

Looks a bit high at £349, as they were £300 new last year, but maybe worth an offer as no bids yet. Ive seen A19s go just over £400, 2 weeks old as well, hifi shop return.

Yes, but new ones last year were already superceded by the A19. Like my Pulse, which was new, they probably just wanted to shift their remanding stock.

Yes that maybe so, but it still looks high for a used item with no warranty. But many buy it now prices are high, too high IMO. I would say about £250 is a fair price.

As it also has a 'Place a Bid', I would say you could probably secure it for around £280-£300.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

That was a great combo - the A65 was solid amp.

The fix probably won't be that hard if you could get a broken down one on ebay for parts.

CD72 it May be worth putting it in a bag and go auditioning on modern amps.

The A65 you may find has a bit more 'kick' than the FMJ18/19 amps.

Consider the Yamaha as500 for audition - pit it against the FMJ's

 

[soulman]

Well guys, Im slightly embaressed lol to tell yous that, I procrastinated and Ive ended up taking an..easier option.

My friend bought an amp. A £100 amp KA-2USB (50W). he took it over to mines a week ago and well maybe it was the fact that I hadnt heard anything from my speakers (B and W 601 s3 100W) for ages (nearly 2 years) but it did sound good. So, I decided to order one. Yes, i know, in an ideal world i would have forked out the money for a similar one to my A65. hey ho. Money a bit too tight and just to get my 'sysytem' up and running again was too tempting. I ordered one and I got it on returning from tonight.

Now, heres the thing. If anyone can help with these troubleshooting issuess that would be much appreciated. I have to allintents put all the connections in the correct place.

*When I had the amp working

1. when I switched it on the power button an instant pump/reverb' goes through the speaker and you can physically see the circular part of the speaker 'pump'. Didnt do that when I had my A65!!

2. When it is switched on and theres is no cd in/no music playing there is a hissing sound from the speakers. Okay, when the music is playing it sounds okay and just now okay is better than nothing. But, this hissing sound is, im sure going to compromise the sound.

(3. When checking it out I was finding the power button wasnt staying on. This could be a loose connection on my part).

This si the first item ive bought from Amazon. Im aware that they are good with returing items however, I wou;d much rather find out what I can do with the above.

Any help or advice would be greta.

Cheers

Dave

 

[spiny norman]

1. when I switched it on the power button an instant pump/reverb' goes through the speaker and you can physically see the circular part of the speaker 'pump'. Didnt do that when I had my A65!!

That just means the amp doesn't have a muting relay to interrupt the feed to the speakers until the amp has stablised on switch on. Not great for the speakers, and fairly unlikely to do any damage, but keep the volume turned right down on switch-on.

2. When it is switched on and theres is no cd in/no music playing there is a hissing sound from the speakers. Okay, when the music is playing it sounds okay and just now okay is better than nothing. But, this hissing sound is, im sure going to compromise the sound.

Do you have the microphone input level set to minimum? Mic stages can tend to be noisy, especially on inexpensive amps like this, so it could be that, or could just be that the amp is inherently a bit noisy, especially as the amp is designed to mix the mic inputs with whatever you've got connected to the audio inputs.

If the hiss still annoys you, try turning the treble down a smidge and see whether that helps. If it doesn't, perhaps you need to think about another amp: something like this would probably be a better bet for sensible money.

 

[soulman]

Thanks Norman ;-)
Yup, I think I will be sending it back.

Got some good feedback re options. I've done a wee bit of research also.
*Yamaha AS301
*Marantz PM6003
*Cambridge Topaz AM1
*NAD 370 or 352
....and I've seen an arcam A65 on e bay..boxed (£165 in total).
Ive also seen an arcam alpha 7 on Gumtree. Now, the reviews I've seen re the 7 are so so, ..but one person had no complaints about it. Its going for £50. OK, it may not be the most stunning piece, however if it gives a decent sound ..and doesn't have any of the issues that I've encountered with this recent one, then I'm happy enough.

You would recommend the Pioneer. Okay.Food for thought.
Cheers again.
Dave