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a&r cambridge c200 sa200

Erskine Ears

pfm Member
Very hard to find out much about these. What I can gather is the power amp is meant to be good but the one not so much.

Has anyone heard these?

Thanks, Dave
 
Yes I have and its me again !
I have both in the inventory of A&R "stuff".

I like both the SA150 and the SA200 - they sound good with some of my bigger speakers ( that like a bit of punch with the wattage ) and also with the JR149.
I did a replacement of the power supply caps on the amps - and there are eight of them my local parts supplier in Toronto took pity on me and gave me a substantial discount.

To be frank the C200 is not as good as the A60 used as a pre-amp. Yes you can use the AP version of the A60 to the SA150 or SA200.
Lots of novelty about the C200 with different modular "cards" that can be plugged in.
There is some info about it here:
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/arcam/c200.shtml

Also the front fascia of the C200 is a composite plastic and with such a big volume knob opening in the centre they tend to break in this area - top to bottom. I have seen a few in poor state.

My advice stick to the amps and not the pre-amp unless you want one for the complete history. I can sell you mine !
Happy listening
Julian
 
I'm recalling a weird set up with the casework on the power amp which allowed the pre to slide into a gap under the power and look like the whole thing had wood end cheeks... or I may have dreamt it:Do_O

About the time the speakers came out which, again IIRC, were called Arcam 1 and Arcam 2 when the amps and company were still A&R Cambridge... even remember "Upstairs at Eric's" by Yazoo playing through them at hi fi show... weird the stuff you remember..
 
Arkless

You remember well. There were two versions of the wood cheeks. One sized just the height of the amp itself and one with taller sides so that the C200 could be slid underneath as you describe.
There are some nice photos of one here on Canuck Audio Mart.
http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/deta...am_sa200_amplifier__100_wattsch/images/98475/

There is a nice picture of the inside of the C200 here:-
http://stereonomono.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-cambridge-c200-pre-amp.html

There was a New Zealand company who made an even different combination.
https://solidstatevalvetube.weebly.com/a--r-cambridge-c150--sa-150.html

Cheers
Julian
 
Thanks Julian for all your comments. Really appreciated. I'm definitely curious about using the a60 as a pre. You posted something to me regarding that a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't quite understand what was required to enable my standard a60 to have outputs.

And what would happen sound wise? How much of the lovely A60 sound would make it through the power amp? And using it in as a pre, does that only use it's pretty amp and bypass it's power amp to then send signal to the external power amp?
 
Hi there again :)
A&R made a version A60AP with an extra circuit board. You can "spot them" without taking the top cover off by the fact that the tape input DIN is upside down in relation to the other inputs. There are some other post here on Pink Fish about that circuit board and even a Pink Fisher ( Mistrale ) who built their own one.
https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/converting-a-r-a60-to-ap.169219/

In regular use the after pre-amp signal can be "shorted" back into the A60 with a modded DIN plug and thus work as a normal A60 but with the tape input using the spare pins on the tuner DIN.

Anyhow back to the SA150 or SA200. If you look inside there is very similar A&R circuit design and components to the A60 so that much of that listenable but slightly warm and woolly comfort sound is still there.

So in AP mode the power amp section of the A60 is just taking a rest !

Though I have to add the A60 does sit rather nicely on the top of the SA150 - looking retro cool. But that is also saying something about my age...

Have fun finding out and listening.
Julian
 
If anyone wants to read my contemporary review of the C200 SA200 combination and manufacturer's spec (from Practical Hi-fi Sep 1982) I can PM a PDF - just don't all shout at once (irony mode off)
DGP
 
If anyone wants to read my contemporary review of the C200 SA200 combination and manufacturer's spec (from Practical Hi-fi Sep 1982) I can PM a PDF - just don't all shout at once (irony mode off)
DGP

I'd love to read that thanks.
 
Yes - they can sound very nice indeed.
I have used the SA to drive a range of speakers.
Great with the JR149, pleasant with monitor audio 252, better with B&W 110’s and punchy with a pair of Arcam Ones ( in passive mode).
Have a good listen. Julian
 
Hi, like to read that


If anyone wants to read my contemporary review of the C200 SA200 combination and manufacturer's spec (from Practical Hi-fi Sep 1982) I can PM a PDF - just don't all shout at once (irony mode off)
DGP

thanks.
 
I had a C70 and I got very practiced at opening it up to change tantalum beads that had exploded.
The dual concentric volume control was crackly too
 
Hi spikeanded - your need to reply to my PM with an email account where you'd like to receive the pdf as I cannot post it through the forum - Thanks
DGP
 


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