Summary: Very polite and classy suond. Proper amount of detail, good stero image, wonderful sund all over the spectrum with very good bass and midrange, sweet highs, never fatiguing. Very natural with acoustic instruments, produces the best piano I have heard for under 3000 USD. Not the best in terms of dynamic and puch made it not confortable with high energetic fast electric music. Works amazing with classical music and acoustic jazz. Trasparent souirce, internconnects and speaker cables reccomended.
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Summary: The Arcam Diva A90 is a very good performer - I especially like that I can switch everything from the remote(turning a/b speakers on,gain etc.) the bass is very authoritive and clean and the midrange/treble can be magical depending on the speakers used - It wouldnt push my Vandy 2ces very well but with a pair of B&W cdm2 or dm602;s speakers the sound really comes alive - vocals are tube like and smooth - in a medium to small room the amplifier really shines - it has pre outs along with amp in - it also has HT bypass if used with a HT system - its basically the same as the A85(fantastic reviews) with a little more power(bigger power supply)
Strengths: Very smooth with good bass
Weaknesses: more power for bigger speakers
Similar Products Used: Jolida,Musical Fidelity,yamaha,Luxmanonkyo, etc,etc,
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Summary: I certainly agree with the previous comments on audioreview.com. I would add that this unit has plenty of inputs: 6 counting a VCR input and a phono/aux. You'll need to pay extra to make the latter accept magnetic phono cartridge output. It does not have features for dubbing between decks.
My ear says that this amp has a beautiful sound. These things being pretty subjective I still would say that this unit sounds a little mellower than some past solid state amps.
Digital controls now allow for seperate settings for each input.
I give this a high recommendation except for one small but irritating design flaw. See below.
Weaknesses: The balance control has a design flaw. If you ever change the channel balance you will get silence when selecting another input. However there is a workaround: changing inputs again will bring the sound back.
I have contacted Arcam about this problem and they seem to have no intention of fixing this problem as they are busy on new products.
Similar Products Used: I tried the lower powered A80 which is otherwise the same. Strangely it had no design flaw in the balance control!
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Summary: I purchased the Arcam A90 to update my Rotel BX 960 (60 watts per channel - circa 1995) to better complement my Dynaudio 2 way bookshelf speakers and Cambridge 500SE CD player I have owned for about 2 years. I was looking for something with a fairly neutral yet powerful sound that could drive the Dynaudios. Being 6 ohms and with very weighty drivers they sound a bit thin with the Rotel. I compared the Arcam to Cambridge and Rotel amps. The Arcam to me sounded the most balanced and cleanest of that group. The Dynaudios have now woken up and sound fantastic. Even my 10 year old Dali 2a Mk II's sound revived! The importance of good amplification has been highlighted me through this aquisition. The Acram goes about its work effortlessly with everything from Eva Cassidy, George Winston to heavy rock. Even my wife (who is not an audio enthusiast commented that she could hear the peddle and key strokes from her George Winston favorites. I would highly recommend this amp for people who like a couple of features (eg. A & B) switches combined with neutral (not to bright / dull) 2 way sound. One thing to note - I upgraded the power supply cable from day 1 (a not unsignifcant AUD$350) but I could tell a noticable difference. I also upgraded the power to my Cambrigde 500SE CD player (another marked improvement to the feeling of airyness - especially for female vocals).
Strengths: Great all rounder
Very neutral (neither bright or dull)
Look good on the rack (black or silver)
Weaknesses: Remote is a bit light and plasticy (say compared to the Cambridge Azur stuff these days)
Similar Products Used: Rotel 2 way amp
Cambridge 2 way amp
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