New DAC for Arcam 7SE

Hi, this may not be related to your question. You may discern an appreciable difference with the V-DAC or you may not. I have owned the Arcam Alpha 8 CD player which should have quite a similar sound to the 7SE. It's a good player at its price point. I feel that you will gain a more significant sound improvement with an amp upgrade. As good as the Alpha 10 integrated can get(this was my first audiophile amp), I find it something like a cold fish ie. little flat sounding across the music spectrum. If more macro-dynamics, transient attack and better layering and separation in music are required, I suspect a better amp would give you more than the CDP. Food for thought. Cheers.

Thank you for your response, the only one I received from the group. After doing some research I had come to a similar conclusion. One of the issues with my system is that the small Castle speakers I use, while perfectly matched to the amplifier, and very precise, perfect for piano music for example, don't have much bottom end and so I have never felt that I was getting the most out of the Alpha 10 anyway. I appreciate your taking the time to write. I am new to the area of high-quality digital music, still play a lot of records. What do you think would be a reasonable priced upgrade to the Alpha 10?
Regards,

I am not familiar with Castle hence not too sure which amp will match the speakers well. However, a few integrateds that are worth considering include the YBA Integre DT, Plinius 9200, Krell KAV-400XI/S300i and Musical Fidelity A308. Even the cheaper Rega Mira3 will be more involving compared to the Alpha 10. Musicality and refinement will most likely be attained with all the amps mentioned above with the Krell having a slight edge over the rest in the bass department. However most bookshelves can't do deep bass so there is a limit as to how low the speakers can go even with an amp that is able to provide good solid bass.

Hi Gferg, please don't throw the baby out with the bath water! The Alpha 10 is a fine-sounding integrated. When it came out it was considered the best amp that Arcam had ever made up to that point. In professional reviews it's sound and inherent virtues were almost always compared to much more expensive amps available at the time.

That being said, and having sold and spent much time with Arcam products from that period, I would make the following suggestions:

1. Source: It may be a long shot, but try to source a DAC-board from an Alpha 8 or Alpha 9 cd player to upgrade your Alpha 7SE. There may be a dealer out there that has one lying around unused as Arcam no longer supports this upgrade. Another option would be to buy a broken 8 or 9 for cheap just for the DAC board. Like I said, a long shot, but possible.

The Ring DAC- derived board from the 9 would be ideal. The Alpha 9 had noticeably more refinement and "air" to it's sound than the stock 7SE and sounds absolutely beautiful on well-recorded HDCD's. I used to demo and double-blind compare the 7SE to the 9 for customers and the 7SE, although a very musical player, sounded darker and not as lively as the Alpha 9 (and later the FMJ CD23) every time when listening side-by-side.

2. Amp: To quote Ryder above: "If more macro-dynamics, transient attack and better layering and separation in music are required..". Exactly, and adding an Alpha 10 power amp to your system and bi-amping your speakers would give you exactly that. Your Castles might suprise you with a depth of bass you never knew they had. The Alpha series of compenents were designed with this upgrade path in mind. You should be able to find a used two-channel Alpha 10P power amp in really good condition for less than $500 either on the 'gon or Ebay if your are patient. A newer FMJ P32 would work fine, too and they are level-matched to your Alpha 10 integrated.

3. Sub: If your particular speakers are not bi-wireable, then adding a small, fast powered sub could really take your system up a notch musically. The smallest Rel from their Britannia series or their little 8" cube might be a good place to start looking.

Just my two cents.. -jz