stovie_14472@yahoo.com

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $325.00 from used

Summary:
Fantastic cd player. does everything right and is a joy to listen to.

Strengths:
imaging, pace, transparency, natural sound

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
NAD C540, Sony ES

Price Paid:  $325.00 from used

Summary:
The Alpha 8SE is a very good player. I recently bought a Wadia 830 and I did some blind tests with my wife (using a pair of Sennheiser HD-600 on a Audiolab 8000A mkIII as headphone amp). Although the Wadia came more often as the prefered player, the Arcam did win on quite a few albums. And on at least one occasion it bettered the Wadia by a wide margin, to my complete surprise (it was on a Mylene Farmer album). So much that aksed this test to be redone with this album and the results were confirmed! Note that on classical (symphony) music though the Wadia wined easily and the Arcam was no match. Differences in character from one CD player to an other is much smaller than, say speakers. You won't loose much on going with the Alpha 8SE instead of an esoteric player at maybe 5 times the price. I consider the 8SE to be an EXCELLENT value, especially at current going prices on the used market (it can be had for even less than what I paid).

Strengths:
- detailed, yet without coldness - fast - forgiving for some lessed well recorded albums

Weaknesses:
- lack of resolution on crowded music - lack of dynamic

Similar Products Used:
Arcam Alpha 7 Sony CDP-333 (?) Wadia 830 Meridian 508.24

Summary:
I find the Alpha 8 (I own the Alpha 8, not the 8se, so there is no HDCD decoding) to be a very reliable CD player. It performs consistantly well and the sound is great. My system is a bit weak when it comes to reproducing music played on the piano, I think that this is at least in part due to the CD player. In all other areas the sound is just great. I listen to jazz/classical/classic rock etc. and it handles all of it with ease.

It does not like alot of CD-R's, especially the blue ones, which is kind of a pain for me seeing as how I have alot of them. It will usually play them eventually-- if you can get them to load; it just won't always read them in to begin with.

The actual CD mechanism is made by Sony.

It does pretty well on the Digital Test CD from disques Pierre Verany (A two CD set- the second disc is a special CD that tests the CD players ability to deal with various types of CD's- scratched, poorly pressed, or what have you). For those who have the CD it sucessfully gets through tracks 1-33, 40-41, 44-47. The most important thing that this test disc reveals is that the CD player starts to skip/click when it encounters a scratch bigger than 1.25mm. This is above average performance and good for any CD player. I think I once read that the Linn Sondek CD12 (approx. US$20,000) only got to track 31, but I could be mistaken.

I am very happy with the Alpha 8 in general. The remote is a bit cheap but it is not a big deal. I don't think that they are selling the straight up Alpha 8 anymore, but the comments on the CD mechanism probably hold for the other players in the Alpha series seeing as how they all use the Sony mechanism.

Oh yeah, the fact that Arcam sells upgrades if a great policy IMHO.

System:
Arcam Alpha 9 Int Amp
Arcam Alpha 8 CD
Sony WA7-ESA Tape
Yamaha TX-492 Tuner
Phillips 212 Phono
B&W 602s2 w/Audioquest Cables
SIlver Audio Interconnects

Strengths:
Clear revealing sound, robust design, upgradeable

Weaknesses:
does not like to play some brands of CD-R discs

Summary:
Bought my Alpha 8 online used, and it was the best electronics purchase I've made to date. It replaced a mid-fi carousel changer (still doing duty for dinner parties), and the difference is quite noticeable to me (although I can't understand how my girlfriend doesn't seem to get why anyone would pay over $400 for a CD player).

I really like the level of detail that the Arcam brings to music I've heard hundreds of times before. It's like a breath of new life to old favorites.

But after testing other Arcam players, I'm not sure if I should upgrade to the SE or even 9. I've heard the 9 is night and day to the 8. If anyone has any thoughts on the upgrade route, I'd appreciate an email.

Strengths:
clarity and detail

Weaknesses:
possibly a tad too revealing and lacks warms with treble-intensive material

Similar Products Used:
other arcam players and 3 year old Sony ES

Summary:
I FOLLOWED THE UPGRADE PATH WITH THIS PLAYER. THE ALPHA 7 WAS MATCHED WITH ALPHA 8 AMP AND VAF DC-X SPEAKERS. CHANGING TO THE ALPHA 8 MODULE BROUGHT MORE FOCUSE, BETTER BASS; A MUCH RICHER SOUND.AS THE 8SE DAC WAS NOT AVAILABLE AT THE TIME,I SOLD THE PLAYER TO A FRIEND AND BROUGHT A COMPLETE 8SE PLAYER WHICH HAD ONLY JUST ARIVED TO THE COUNTRY.WOW!!ANOTHER DIMENSION TO THE WHOLE PICTURE.I UPGRADED THE 8 AMP TO A KRELL 300i. WITH HDCD I WAS IN A HOLLOGRAM OF SOUND.I AM SURE A WADIA OR KRELL CD PLAYER WOULD EAT IT FOR LUNCH. BUT AT 10 OR 20 TIMES THE PRICE SO THEY SHOULD! I AM VERY SATISFIED WITH THE ALPHA 8SE. THE ONLY REASON I HAVE NOT UPGRADED TO THE 9 IS THE POSSIBLE SCAD OR DVD-A FORMAT ARIVING SOON.THE ALPHA 8SE IS CURRENTLY DRIVING CARVER 760x TO MARTIN LOGAN MONOLITH 111 TO GREAT EFFECT.

Strengths:
HDCD DECODING.VERSITLE SCREEN DISLAY AND MODULAR UPGRADE PATH

Weaknesses:
FLIMSY BUILD

Similar Products Used:
ALFA 7 & 8