Neutrality, flexibility, power, ability to trim all inputs separately for bass/treble/level, excellent ergonomics.

Complexity - it's a computer with a rather nice amp attached, so you'd better have the manual to hand if you're not to get lost at times!

Bought the A85 because the Arcam Alpha series was too soft - the phono stage in particular required the treble to be turned up full to provide any clarity. The A85 is outstanding in every respect, with enormous flexibility and effortless authority (read power), while the MC phono stage is a marvel - GBP100, say USD160 - and fully up to the the standard of the other inputs. I'm rediscovering my 1,000+ vinyl collection. All in all, a totally class act, with just about everything you could want in terms of capabilities and performance. I suspect this will be my last amp ever....

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Alpha 9 pre-amp and amps

Involving, dynamic sound, great midrange (vocals, horns, piano sound great). If not taking the time to strictly listen, often find myself sidetracked by the music (I suppose this would be considered a weakness by some).

Garbage in equals garbage out.

Instead of Audio Enthusiast, I would have prefered Music Enthusiast to describe myself. I purchased this piece of gear to increase my enjoyment of the music. I''ve owned my A85 for just over 3 months now. It has taken me a bit of time to adjust to "hi-end" sound - tight, controlled bass, output that plots pretty much flat from 20Hz - 20KHz, etc. Sound is fairly dependent on the quality of the recording. Now that I''ve spent some time with my system I''m enjoying it quite a bit. It is a lot more involving than the NAD 7250 receiver that had been driving my system for the past 15 years. I listen to a lot of jazz, blues, folk and rock (with some classical thrown in via the local public radio station). The A85 seems to do quite well with all of the above. I ended up pairing this amp up with some Dynaudio 1.3 mkII''s. My turntable sounds good through the optional phono stage ($150), and I''m planning on updgrading my current CD player: As the A85/Dynaudio combo is pretty reflective of the quality of the source material and a CD upgrade will help bring everything up to snuff. Regarding power output: When auditioning, my local store had the A85 set up with some Dynaudio Contour 1.8''s. Out of curiosity, we swapped out the A85 for another integrated that puts out 175 wpc and costs $3000. I could detect some differences, but it didn''t sound like $1350 worth to me. And while the other amp could probably drive the Dynaudio''s to louder levels, the Arcam can take things as loud as I care to listen to and then some in the room I have it placed in. The usual disclaimer: note that this "review" is simply a statement of my opinion and a reflection of my preferences. If nothing else you should try to give this piece of gear an audition if you have the chance. If you''re near Austin, Audio Systems is a great place to do business with and I highly recommend them. In the end, I think 5 stars are deserved for the Value Rating and 4 stars are deserved for the Overall rating because there is always room for improvement - if not, what else would Arcam do for a follow-up?

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This is my first integrated amp but I did listen to a number of others before buying, including the Creek 5350SE, NAD C370, and the Musical Fidelity A300 - all sounded good in their own way.

Detailed yet extremely musical. Very refined sondstaging and dynamics.

None so far

I listened to this amp with the diva 92 cd player and was stunned at how good this gear sounded and how completely different compared to the alpha series. I will buy both of these and would very much appreciate suggestions as to what speaker to get that particularly compliments these electronics. Specifically I would like to know if it has enough power for the dynaudio audience 52. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

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Alchemist, Copeland, Audio Research

Along with its musical reproduction talents, convenient setup with an a/v receiver.

Yes, it won''t make your ears bleed. Might be inclined to give only 4 1/2 because of it but since I just like the sound so much, i still give it a big fat five stars. PS - If you wanna audition British audio kits and live in the Toronto area, make sure to drop by Hi Fi Fo Fum (Eglinton/Mt.Pleasant area). A great place to hang out, listen to gear and chat with an owner who has no b.s. and is passionate about this stuff.

... is an exceptional, musical integrated amplifier. Auditioned this arcam mainly against the musical fidelity a3. A85 is $150 more in my neck of the woods. Though the MF A3 was a clear winner in the power department, the rythmn, musicality, and transparency of the A85 won me over. Sure, it won''t make your ears bleed, but its plenty loud enough. My listening environment measures 17 by 14 ft and the A85 fills it up to headbanging levels. Absolutely no distortion till you reach the upper limits of the volume dial. For an extreme loudness/guy needs to rock-out comparison, my old HK PM640xvi high current integ. amp needed to be turned at the 1/2 way mark vs. 2/3 for the arcam. However, you can keep turning up the a85 volume w/o distortion while the HK quickly runs out of clean power. The cool thing about the A85 is that when I walk to another room, the amp actually sounds louder. The sound out of the A85 is just so clean, you don''t notice how loud it really it is playing while sitting in your favourite listening chair. While living in a semi-detached house with an even larger than my current listening space, I had my neighbour come over complaining how loud my system was playing. I''ve since moved and don''t have to worry about that neighbour anymore. So for those cautious about getting the A85 because of a supposed lack of power, I''m here to tell you, the A85 plays plenty loud enough plus you get that oh so sweet sound. In the end, the A3 reminded me of the old HK amp. Powerful and enjoyable but doesn''t reach the sweet transparent and rythmic level of the A85. My System: Arcam A85 Paradigm Studio 80 v.20 Harman Kardon FL8380 (looking to replace w/ a single disk player but just biding time till sacd vs dvd-a smoke clears) Ecosse cable and wires

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MF A3, Cambridge/Anthem MC2 pro/power, NAD 370, HK PM640XVi

Controlled bass. Detailed, comfortable sound. Nice features

The one and only(but a big one): Power. The amp lacks abillity to play loud.

I bought this amp to replace the Denon pma1500 to drive my Tannoy S8 speakers. It has a very warm, detailed sound. I can now hear details in the music i didn''t notice with my old Denon. The bass is tight and controlled, the sound is very comfortable and easy to listen to. I can listen to this sound for hours without getting tired. It just sounds so right, and i love it. But this is no powerful amp. It is rated 85w, but it is able to play only half as loud as my old denon rated to 70w. With the same spakers, and input trims asjusted to maximum. The A85 has a lot of nice features, like possibility to connect an extra pair of speakers, a nice software menu system ++. I couldn''t ask for more features. If you listen to music at moderate volumes, and want an amp with lots of possibilities, this is just the right amp. If you like to turn up the volume from time to time, check out some other amps before you buy. Three stars because the lack of power.

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Denon, Marantz

Warmth, detail, mid range.

None that I can hear at this price

This really is a lovely amp, worth every penny, and a much better investment than the NAD 350 or 370, which might give more kick and are cheaper, but are less subtle and less revealing of low level detail. I have no regrets about making this purchase. Add the power amp if you want more slam, but honestly, it works fine on it own. I used: Arcam A85 Integrated Amp B+W 603 S3 Speakers Marantz CD6000ose KI Signature

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Nad C350, C370

Open and detailed in a subtle way (ie smooth). Not harsh. Good feature mix, upgradeable. Established brand name.

Remote poor, not as much slam as higher powered units.

Bought the A85 after much searching and auditioning. It had the best combination of features and sound in my price range. (2K Canadian). Firstly, give this unit time to break in. It took a good 6 weeks before it really started to open up. Initially it will sound compressed and lifeless. As time goes by the openness and effortless, unexagerated detail will begin to show itself. It will also ''warm up'' and smooth out. At first I was disappointed to the point of returning the product. I now realize that would have been a mistake. The ability to add a phono stage is appealing, it''s something I plan to do in the near future. You can also fix the volume if using with an external processor. (This was particularly useful because my processor and the Arcam use the same remote codes). Newer models have this feature built into the menu system. On older models press and hold the ''Tape'' button, then press ''Menu''. That''s it. Now when you press ''Tape'' the word ''Pro'' will appear on the display and the volume will be fixed at 46db. This amp is revealing much of the detail my previous system was masking. I''m hearing instruments and low level deatil that simply was not there before. It does this without being harsh. Bass, though not overpowering is articulate. I''m also going from a pre/power set-up so one less set of cables. With my speakers, in my room, this amp is the answer to my quest. I don''t listen to it anymore....I listen to the music. Aracm A85 Arcam CD72 Harmonic Tech Truthlink Copper KEF 104.2 Marantz SR7000 KEF 100 Kef Q55.2 DVD, LD, DSS

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Creek 5350SE (Nice!) Rega Mira Musical Fidelity Rotel Linn

Clarity, Detail, Dynamics....

None so far

I purchased the Arcam A85 to replace the NAD C350 to power my B&W CDM1SE. What an upgrade! I was pretty happy with the NAD,I did not expect the improvement to be so huge. Let me tell you, I can hear the difference from another room next to where I play the music, simply because the music are so much more real. I guess I move a giant step closer to High Fidelity. The clearity and detail from Arcam is amazing. The bass is tighter, the dynamic and pace are all better, but I would say the most improvement came from the finer detail and quality on the higher frequency end. The NAD/B&W combo produces very pleasing jazz, and classical, but I felt rock was never inspiring. I thought it was the charateristic of the B&W, or the recording, but now with the Arcam/B&W, the rock comes alive also. The Arcam A85 costs about 3 times more than the NAD C350. I am sure glad that it paid off. I purchased the Arcam purely based on the reviews I read, no audition, and no live comparison with similar priced equipment. But I would give it 5s because I tend to agree with the best reviews I read base on my experience, and the price I paid for it.

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NAD C350

The Dynamic produced which one of the reason I bought this amp in order to match the Mission 782 speaker.

None found.

Recent upgrade: Fantastic machine worth investment for music lovers who liked dynamic and detail out from the music. Current set-up: Listening to cd music: Arcam DIVA A85 Arcam DIVA P85 Arcam DIVA cd72 QED Qunex Silver Spiral connected from cd player to amp. Kimber PBJ connected from amp to power amp. Listening to radio broadcast: Denon Tuner TU-255 Nordost Black Knight connected from tuner to the amp. Listening to DVD music concert: Yamaha DVD S510V (Fantastic budget player) QED Qunex 2 connected from dvd player to the amp. Mission 782 loudspeaker. Currently using Chord Company Carnival speaker cable connected in bi-amping.

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Marantz and Denon

Very satisfying sound.

A little short on power for rock and roll music in mid to large room.

This is a fine product, however it should be at the price level. I also own a NAD C370, which I consider to be a fine product in the $525 price range. Sorry, but I am tired of reviews on this site that compare products in drastically different price ranges (for example $1,450 vs. $525). I believe most people would expect superior performance from a product that costs almost 275% more. In my opinion thought, the sonic difference in the Arcam 85 and NAD is more subjective than objective. Both produce very pleasing music to the ears. The rating, three stars for a fair deal value ($1,425 is the most I have ever spent on an AMP) and four stars for excellent sound. The Arcam A85 unit would have earned five stars in the overall rating if it had more headroom.