Looks can be so deceiving…
Sometimes things aren’t what they seem. In need of a new cd player, I visited The Sound Gallery to take a look at their second hand equipment, of which I found a Denon DCD-715 (mainly because it largely consists of the same components as my DCD-1290, so it made a pretty good reference), a Marantz CD67 OSE and an Arcam α of particular interest. Mainly because of my tight budget, though… In order to compare the players, some equipment was set up in the listening room for me that fairly matches my own: a NAD C 320 and a pair of Dynaudio Audience 52SE, connected with some top line Van den Hul wiring. The first player up was the Denon so that I could get used to the sound of the room to be able to make a fair comparison with the other two. After a few songs I decided that I wanted to try the Marantz… and I do believe that I do not like that brand. Whilst this particular player has been heavily tuned it could not convince me, due to a certain sharpness in its sound, which sometimes could make seem things ’sparkle’ but was just plainly annoying most of the time.
A bit reluctantly I asked for the Arcam then. Yes, reluctantly… because I was somewhat doubting what this little machine would bring. The transport had been replaced, so it won’t break down anytime soon, but it just looks awfully old. Sure, 10 years (about the same as my 1290) is quite old for a cd player, but this unit looks like it comes straight from the eighties. Thoughts like “digital technology has advanced” and “it must be flawed because of its age” zapped through my head, but all of this disappeared when I started listening to it. The detail, the depth… the stereo imaging is awesome and it conveys details and nuances that I hadn’t heard before. At that, the sound quite resembled Denon’s in terms of neutrality and mellowness and I felt very sad about having to leave the listening room when the shop closed. Two days after, I returned to double check my findings. Starting with the Arcam this time, I started listening. I got a cup of tea and kept listening… and listening… it just felt good. So I bought it and took it home.
It doesn’t have a track calendar. I can’t open the tray with the remote. Special screws are provided to secure the transport during transportation. There’s nothing fancy about this player. But it sounds damn good.