So..my Arcam Alpha 8 cd player is finally dying. I love my 8 and it’s been a sweet little player for 16 years. However, it has developed a stunning skip/shuffle skill set.

Oh, don’t worry the Audio Dr has tried to repair the little guys wee heart, on several occasions over the years but, sadly this time Alpha 8 has gone terminal. I have started looking at a new player and so far have demo’d the new Arcam cd27 and the Rega Apollo-R. I also tried the Rega with said DAC.

Arcams new 27 is bloody awesome paired with my 8 amp and power amp. A belter! Rega not quite as detailed but richer and weightier with more warmth. Add the DAC ….corrr bugger me! Not sure for the money I’ll find ought better.

Anybody got any other thoughts and suggestions?

Only downer is the wife says I have to sell a bike to get a new player.

My Whyte 905 is a belter so that’s staying
Orange Blood is a belter so that’s staying
Spesh Camber expert is a belter…you get the idea!

What would you sell to upgrade the Audio?

Started looking at bike parts to sell too. It’s amazing the kit you collect over the years. I could open a small shop. Most of it’s crap but a few items may find there way onto this site.

What would you sell to upgrade the Audio?

Wife seems the obvious suggestion.

Wife just read that…..Awh HELL NOOOOO.

CD collection?

Only downer is the wife says I have to sell a bike to get a new player.

You’re replacing something that’s broken after providing 16 years of enjoyment. Replace it. Does “one in, one out” apply to shoes?

Only downer is the wife says I have to sell a bike to get a new player.

Jesus, do you do everything she tells you? Be a man and just buy what you want (assuming you don’t have kids that are going to starve etc). Do you control her spending?

I’d have just replaced it – doubt the wife would have noticed.

Got a decent DAC? If so, rip to HD & play from PC/NAS/etc? My ancient Arcam 170 transport gave up the ghost after twenty years and I CBA to get a replacement.

See if you can find a second hand Rega Saturn (not the Saturn-R unless you are feeling flush which it does not sound like you do).

I have one and it is just stunning. So so musical, every single cd I play on it has me tapping my foot. I would sell the wife to replce it…

Spend £200 on a replacement generic hi-fi separates cd player and another few hundred on getting your room acoustics dialled in to control erroneous frequencies, you’ll notice a far greater measurable and genuine benefit than any amount of money thrown at a cd player or transport/dac.

I went the other way. To help fund a new bike, a few years back, I sold my Naim CD5. That was a sad day, in a first world problem way.

What would you sell to upgrade the Audio?

I’d sell all the audio bollocks to buy more bike. Sort your priorities out man!

Do people actually still buy CDs? I have boxes and boxes full of the damn things in storage, can I turn them into beer tokens?

Do people actually still buy CDs? I have boxes and boxes full of the damn things in storage, can I turn them into beer tokens?

Yep, I’m building my vinyl collection as well. If you’ve got any CDs that interest me I might be willing to throw some tokens your way.

iPod and be done with it. I can understand the fetish for vinyl, but who bothers with expensive players to read 1s and 0s off a disc?

Only downer is the wife says I have to sell a bike to get a new player.

My Whyte 905 is a belter so that’s staying
Orange Blood is a belter so that’s staying
Spesh Camber expert is a belter…you get the idea!

What would you sell to upgrade the Audio?

Would you get enough for selling the wife to cover the new CD player ?

Have you auditioned a Cyrus player ?

My wise words of wisdom in a complex situation like this are that “forgiveness is easier to get than permission”

Unless you want to sell a bike, don’t.

If you can’t afford it yet, save up.

Only downer is the wife says I have to sell a bike to get a new player.

Get a cheaper CD player seems the obvious answer.

Can I throw a spanner into the works here?

Some time ago I bought an Arcam Alpha amp. It was pants and a channel kept dropping out. In the end I rang up Arcam (just up the road in Waterbeach) and said I’d bought one of their amps second hand and it was awful, could they help? They suggested I pop over or send it to them and they’d see what could be done. One Friday afternoon I dropped it off and waited.

A cou[le of days later they rang up. At some stage, someone had ripped the guts out of the amp and replaced it with junk and they hadn’t done the job very well either. They said they’d see what they could do, if I didn’t mind taking a chance. By the end of the week it was finished and I wandered over to pick it up.

One of the engineers popped out to see me. He had tried to sort the components out to make them work but couldn’t so he replaced the whole thing with brand new Arcam components, put it back in the existing box and it was as good as new.

The bill? £48. He suggested they were more than happy to repair old kit so….that might be an option for you. Give them a ring.

One advantage of buying British IMO.

Dial in room acoustics…now that does sound expensive! Spent many a time in recording studios over the my late teens and 20s.
I think our room will stay as is! Yes,it would make a huge improvement but it’s easier and cheaper to buy a new transport.
I have a large CD collection and vinyl.I enjoy listening to them.. prefer the old black disc to any thing else.

Sell my wife…I love my wife and to be fair she’s allowed me to spend many thousands on bikes and bike bits/hols over the years.We don’t have a spare grand or so to blow on a new player. Therefore some thing has to go. I enjoy music as much as riding..nowt like a pint after a hard day in’t saddle and chilled down taking in some quality tunes.

I’d like to try the Cyrus. I hear they have major reliability issues though and the local Audio chap stopped selling them as they kept breaking…worth a shot?!. I’d love the Saturn-R…if I get enough for sales..IT WILL BE MINE ‘OH YES’ IT WILL BE MINE

So, come on, what would you sell out of that bike selection?

Anybody got any other thoughts and suggestions?

Just the usual, you know… four letters starts with “N”… 😀

The bill? £48.

That was probably the complete parts bill for them 🙂

I’m selling a Linn Ikemi if you’re interested. £300 in perfect condition

You do know Arcam is now made in China. It’s also owned by a Canadian firm. Yes,it’s is designed in ole blighty (mostly) but it can hardly be called British any more.

It’s had so many bits replaced over the years that it’s more or less new..where as the early repairs had British made quality components from Arcam the more recent are Arcam/China.

I think time has called for my trusty 8. To be honest the rega blew it away and convinced me to go new.

At the risk of being flamed entirely – you do realise that most modern mobiles have DAC’s equal or better than virtually all high end CD players/DAC’s?

It’s really not worth spending a huge amount on a CD player these days.

Whatever you do I’d recommend testing things blind too – else it’s all pointless. Expectation has a huge effect on our perception of sound. Feel free not to believe me but unlike some self appointed experts I do have a degree or two in the subject 🙂

So are you guys saying my Arcam Alpha 3 amp is outdated?

Slowjo are you sure the amp wasn’t always like that?! When I worked at Arcam stuff was sent out as new with all sorts of dodgy looking fixes in place. If kit passed the TDH/response tests it was sent out regardless of whether it was soldered together with a MIG welder … 😀

Don’t think a mobile will sit well with the 90’s Arcam amps 😉

I’ll stick to a cd player..call me a stubborn old fart.

Not sure the mobile does records too well either..in my humble non educated self it sounds better than digital.

All my listening/testing is at home on my own kit.I like what I like.

I have to agree with RopeyReignRider – having studied Sound Recording with the bloke who recorded Pentangle, I can remember him being quite adamant about expensive HiFis being a waste of cash as there were so many inconsistencies in the recording, mastering and pressing processes that the different amps etc make no difference(as politely as he ever was about stuff 🙂 ), also that by the age of 30 you’ve lost so much from the top range of your hearing that it’s all academic.

[edit] holy hell this his him, he was always reticent about talking about the stuff he did in his career !!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Leader

🙂 yeah sorry I wasn’t suggesting using a mobile I was merely using it as an example.

My ancient Marantz CD player died and I’m using a PS3 which if anything is better.

I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t get sucked into spending loads on a CD player as there’s no point really.

@Ropeyreignrider – I can’t claim to be an expert but there was evidence of ‘tampering’ when I got it which I should have looked into at the time. The screws securing the case were all over the place and it sort of rattled inside when I moved it… For some unknown reason, I chose to ignore all this.

It kept blowing fuses too.

So….you may be right but there’s always a chance they weren’t being totally economical with the truth!

I get you and agree.Will take time, demo at home etc

Looks like the Scott Speedster s35 and Orange blood will be sacrificed and a bit of kit.

Any other players you would suggest?

If you want to keep the budget below a “suitable business case for the expenditure level”, have a look for an Arcam DVD player on Ebay, some bargains about. They are very good for music.

I got a Arcam DVD player off Ebay for about £90, it was very difficult to notice any difference from the Rega Apollo I had.

I sold the Rega for £250 on Ebay and kept the Arcam DVD.

I still have an Arcam Alpha 8 CD deck, the DVD is better.

Seconded the Arcam DVD/CD – universal players – I also snapped up one of these
faulty – it could not play DVD`s – simple fix with a replacement Hitachi laser/transport + one solder suck for the anti-static protection.

Look out for the DV135/137/139

Highly regarded as DVD/SACD players + being sold as they are not blu ray players

Or the now discontinued fmj 17.Some what of bargain new, if you can get one.Not sure how it’ll compare to rega and I doubt I’ll get a home demo..blind buy.
Has anyone got one..if so will it be better than my old alpha?

Mine is the FMJ 27.

It’s better than my Alpha 8 and as good as the Rega, as I said above I couldn’t notice much difference. To my ears they were almost identical.

I can thoroughly recommend the DV range of players as an audiophile quality CD player. I have a CD192 in a system and its superb player. Arcam make some very good kit indeed.

Well taken the plunge and went for the Rega Apollo. I also managed to save rather then sell my Blood.

However, after some deliberation and due to health issues I’ve decided to sell my Orange. So if any one is interested it’s now on ebay. Please note that we’ve had issues with editing of the item…ebay are trying to resolve the issue. I guess I may go wild and upgrade the amp.

If any one has any suggestions on how to resolve the editing problem with my listing please do contact me-very obvious when you see the listing.