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Amp for Arcs

R

rbrierle

pfm Member
I am shortly to be ampless. A severe amputation indeed (will get my coat on my way to the door...)

I'm looking for suggestions of amps people have enjoyed with Arcs. Up to around £1200.

I've owned in the past entry Naim (90/92), NVA, exposure xxv, sugden a21 and no doubt one or two more. The sugden has been driving the Arcs for a number of years but I got itchy feet/fancied a change.

I've been mulling over some obvious options - exposure, creek, rega and half a dozen more but am interested in what others have enjoyed.

Cheers,

Rob
 
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I’ve liked Nord Acoustic stereo,Wyred4sound steroe and Teddy MB. All tried after naim 250 with Avondale mods.
 
Hi Rob,

These are the ones I have tried or heard.

The one most suggest is a Dynavector HX 75 or a HX 1.2, both are very good with Arcs, have heard them both and they do sound great with a Dynavector pre amp.

It depends on what pre amp you have, if all Naim go for a 250.

If you have a Linn pre amp already go for a dynamik'd 2250 amp.
Currently my Arcs are being driven by a Linn Majik DSi, they sound amazing, one box, does streaming, pre and amps, also loads of inputs.

If you use any other pre amp try a Meridian 556 it is very good. A 557 is better but very heavy.

Cheers

John
 
Thanks for views so far.

Once I've posted several items I've sold then I have no amp so am open to either integrated or pre/power.

Speaker cable is mogami 2972 and source is also in flux albeit primarily cd. The constants are the Arcs!
 
Olive Naims work really well with Arcs and from personal experience I know they’d work well with Avondale’s as they did with my Obs. Dynavector is of course the default choice.
 
I think someone on this forum has one of those rather good JVC AX-Z1010 amps for sale which will happily drive Obs so shouldn't break a sweat with the Arcs.
 
Thanks. I'm a fan of buying products I know I'll be able to pass on without too great a loss - models like high end JVC aren't familiar enough for me.

A number of expected suggestions here of course. The issue with most is the frequency of these brands/models coming up for sale s/h. I would certainly have tried a recent dynavector pair for sale but the timing was out by a couple of weeks.

I'm keeping my eye on an exposure, a creek and a rega elicit r - all with big followings.

I have to confess to having an itch to scratch at Naim again which would certainly be a change from the sugden. Anyone tried nait xs with Arcs?

Cheers,

Rob
 
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To start of with I didn't get along with Arcs (or Elves) at all. Shahinian ain't for me.
But I was surprised to find my Exposure 23/38 combo was easily bettered by my little Onix OA21s on the ARCs.
Much more soundstage and space/air to it, whilst the Exposure sounded closed in and somehow wrong.

On ALL other speakers, I prefer the Exposure....
 
I bought my Arcs MK1 about 18 months ago and have only ever used them on a Naim Nac52 / NAP300 combo. I find the system very good and could easily live with it for evermore. Despite what you hear, experimenting with the position of the Arcs pays dividends. Mine sound best when 7ft apart, 15" from the wall and slightly toe-ed in.
 
I used Arcs with 52/72/82/supercap-hi and 250. I was perfectly happy with 72/hi/250 for over a decade.
I did get hold of a Hx1.2 to compare with the 250 and it was different but not definitely better to both my and a friends ears. Given the price difference at the time, no contest: There's a reason Grahams flogged the olive Naim + Shahinian combo for years.
 
My Arcs sound great with olive Naim 72/180/HiCap or Primare stuff, heard them with Densen too, plus they like that funny woven speaker cable (cos apparently they are wired with it) or that funny Japanese studio/musician's cable, god my memory...

Kimber- had to look it up, and Mogami- looked at my cables!!
 
Mick P said:
I bought my Arcs MK1 about 18 months ago and have only ever used them on a Naim Nac52 / NAP300 combo. I find the system very good and could easily live with it for evermore. Despite what you hear, experimenting with the position of the Arcs pays dividends. Mine sound best when 7ft apart, 15" from the wall and slightly toe-ed in.
Click to expand...

My Mk1s also like about 12-18 inches from the wall, depending on the ceiling height, and also very slightly toed-in too. But much less fussy that any other speakers I've owned
 
Sorry to hijack this thread but I don't suppose anyone is considering selling their Arcs? Just a thought incase anybody is trading up to Obs or something else!

Apologies rbrierle .
 
rbrierle said:
Thanks. I'm a fan of buying products I know I'll be able to pass on without too great a loss - models like high end JVC aren't familiar enough for me.

A number of expected suggestions here of course. The issue with most is the frequency of these brands/models coming up for sale s/h. I would certainly have tried a recent dynavector pair for sale but the timing was out by a couple of weeks.

I'm keeping my eye on an exposure, a creek and a rega elicit r - all with big followings.

I have to confess to having an itch to scratch at Naim again which would certainly be a change from the sugden. Anyone tried nait xs with Arcs?

Cheers,

Rob
Click to expand...

The JVC AX Z1010 won’t lose you money! Well not more than NAIM etc.
Take a punt, you will be impressed! I replaced a 72/135s combo, the JVC was better in every way.
Even the phono stage bettered a NAIM Prefix.
 
Thanks for all your suggestions. Although one or two (Naim 52 :) ) fell outside my budget.

Interesting re arcs positioning. I pull mine slightly away from the walls but don't worry beyond that. Because for me one of the things I like about them is that they don't need much effort to sound good. Getting them perfect is for when life becomes quieter.

Slight impulse buy in the end.... I picked up an elicit r. I expect this to give me a noticeable change from the sugden (for better or worse) and the phono stage gives me the excuse to get my first turntable a.k.a. spending more money.
I grew up with the arrival of cd and have built up as small collection of vinyl in special editions etc that have never been played.

All the best.
 
rbrierle said:
Thanks for all your suggestions. Although one or two (Naim 52 :) ) fell outside my budget.

Interesting re arcs positioning. I pull mine slightly away from the walls but don't worry beyond that. Because for me one of the things I like about them is that they don't need much effort to sound good. Getting them perfect is for when life becomes quieter.

Slight impulse buy in the end.... I picked up an elicit r. I expect this to give me a noticeable change from the sugden (for better or worse) and the phono stage gives me the excuse to get my first turntable a.k.a. spending more money.
I grew up with the arrival of cd and have built up as small collection of vinyl in special editions etc that have never been played.

All the best.
Click to expand...

I ran my Arcs with a 52/250 with NCC200's & it was very good in every way. I then acquired a Teddy PR1/MB100's which showed a great improvement over the Naim kit. I am now in the fortunate situation that I don't look for upgrades I just enjoy the music. Good luck with the turntable, I suggest a second hand LP12 & you can build on that . I had one for 32 years, no mods just set up every 10 years or so.

Good luck & enjoy.
 
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