Arcam fmj cd23 vs cd33

Ihcho,

No, I haven't heard of a ring DAC going bad, but I don't personally know a lot of people with that player.

"I wonder how many people would care about fixing a DAC when it goes wrong in a CD player".

Good point. I like the cd23 and alpha9 players well enough that I would certainly look into it if something went wrong.

Good luck on whichever your choice is.

Jim S.

I love my Cd23. I can listen for hours on end without a hint of fatigue. Haven't spent time with the 33. I think the Ring DAC-derivative chipset in the 23 is very hard to top for overall refinement to the sound. I hope my DAC board never fails.. ever! I'm pretty sure Arcam no longer stocks replacement parts for their older stuff.

I noticed on their website that they are no longer supporting/servicing/upgrading the older Alpha/FMJ pieces. Kind of a sad change for them since they built their brand around the concept of longevity/modular design and solid upgrade paths for many of their components in the past.

Now they just say some remark like "see your Arcam dealer for a demonstration of the latest model".

John,

"see your Arcam dealer for a demonstration of the latest model".

The change is sad. I have had the little Alpha 10 amps and an Alpha 10 integrated, along with the players, for almost ten years. Arcam and the local dealer have supported them well, when needed, during that period. For the money I think the equipment is pretty sound. I would hope that they never stop supporting their older gear.

Jim S.

Hi Jim,

I agree their equipment is very sound and good value for money. I have a 10-year-old Alpha 10P x 3-channel amp in my system (it's a brick!) driving my front L/C/R and it still sounds great!

My only (mild) beef with Arcam is their shift from producing really good integrateds for stereo music that could be transformed into Home Theater/Surround units (remember the optional "DAVE" (digital audio/video entertainment) plug-in board for your Alpha 10? But something happened in the early 2000's where their integrateds went pure stereo in favor of producing receivers for HT.

I know they build a very nice receiver, but there are still compromises that must be made to fit it all in one box. If Arcam had stayed with the DAVE concept and you wanted to upgrade your system after all these years, instead of ponying up $5,000 for their new A600 or buying brand X, can you imagine just upgrading your Alpha 10 with an updated version of the DAVE home theater board to support HDMI and the latest codecs? Probably could have been done for much less $ than buying a new comparable receiver and you could still enjoy your Alpha 10 and separate amps for years to come in your system and it would still hold it's own or sound better than their Diva receiver line.

John,

Points well made. I don't have a great interest in true HT (yet) and didn't consider it in that context.

I wonder if Arcam was having a hard time getting "mainstream" HT folks to buy into the more complex multi box set-up? I remember reading a review of the P1's when they first came out and it was promoting a 7.1 system with 7 mono amps. Might have scared some customers off.

Jim S.