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A38 Integrated Amplifier

They say :

"The design goal for the new A38 amplifier was simple – create the very best integrated amplifier that Arcam has ever built. Which given the company’s 30 year history of audiophile engineering was a wide ranging and challenging remit.

The in house project revealed hitherto little understood information about the influence of thermal conditions on amplifier performance. New features in the A38 practically eliminate thermal modulation preserving the dynamics of musical reproduction with the new Sanken output devices proving extremely stable and linear.

The massive toroidal transformer delivers huge transient current and has an impressively low noise floor allowing unsurpassed detail retrieval. Sealed reed relays in the pre amplifier provide negligible contact resistance and a virtual lifetime guarantee. All these factors contribute to the A38 presenting a startlingly realistic performance in all of the important musical areas of dynamics, detail, rhythm, timing and emotion.

RRP £1200"

And our view?

Wow! Actually a really good product which bodes well for the forthcoming £500 + £1000 CD players and the new £500 baby amp. All will be classed as FMJ products and will have the 5 year warranty.

Really encouraging stuff. Welcome back Arcam!

CD37 CD / SACD player

They say :

As one of the few specialist companies in the world to have developed their own CD and DVD players from the ground up, Arcam enjoy a world wide reputation for music and movie playback. Having produced the world’s first true audiophile CD player in the late 1980’s, Arcam CD and DVD players have gone on to set the standards by which competing players are judged. The new CD37 is the company’s highest performing music player to date.

Using technology from the companies highly revered DVD players; the CD37 plays both CDs and SACD with astonishing musical reproduction. Digital to Analogue conversion is carried out by the very latest Wolfson 8741 DACs using pure DSD conversion unleashing the full resolution of SACD discs for with starling clarity. Electromagnetic interference (EMI), which would normally mask fine details in similar players, is dramatically reduced using Arcam’s proprietary “Mask of Silence” strategy. The use of “Stealth Mat” (unique metal fibre matting) further diffuses EMI to ensure the every nuance of each recording is heard in its full glory.

The CD37s power supply features two separate toroid transformers, one each for audio and digital circuits. The chassis itself features a damped “Sound Dead Steel” construction virtually eliminating mechanical influences on the electronics.

As part of Arcam’s FMJ line of high performance separates, the CD37 is an ideal partner for the new A38 integrated amplifier or C31 pre-amp and P38 power amp combination. The CD37 is available in black or silver finish.

And our view?

Both are a significant step forward from the outgoing (and far more expensive) CD36. A lot of classical music comes on SACD, so this could be a very worthwhile feature. On CD, the CD37 sounds refined, agile and open. The timing and dynamics are streets ahead of our old CD36. With the A38, it makes a genuinely musical combo.

The £500 CD17 (pictured below) is even more of a revelation. Keep this bit to yourself, but is very nearly as good. In fact, it actually could be preferred to the CD37. As a CD-only device, it lacks the ability to play SACD discs but it has a slightly weightier bass and punchier character overall. It is a little more forthright at the top end too, so the slightly more refined and 'cooler' CD37 could be judged more accurate. Both are a fun listen and very good value. With the FMJ 5 year warranty (two years on the laser), these are also very well supported.