Arcam FMJ CD 17 - Wayne Garcia
default -- Fri, 12/11/2009 - 21:04
The '17s review was a joy to read: Arcam has always made excellent players, the CD23 among the best of them.
A question: what did you think of the image specificity of this unit, as well as the soundstaging? Another review of its (much) older brother, the '23, mentioned its low-level detail. And Fred Kaplans' review of the '23, back in 2003, mentioned its "inner detail," giving it the "human touch" was exemplary. Did you find the same in the 17?
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The CD 17 is indeed very fine at capturing low-level detail, and FK's phrase "human touch" is perfect as I described the Arcam using Sinatra's Only The Lonely. Soundstaging is likewise excellent, and image focus, while good, is not as razor-sharp as you'll find on more costly machines. That said, the Arcam is one of the finest players I know in this range, and a terrfic value.
My thought about Arcams is that the CD players have a more liquid sound, and the integrateds are more dry. This is referring to older units like the FMJ A22 and Arcam Alpha 6. The '6 integrated had an extra bit of midbass, which imbued images with a 3D palpability. Interestingly enough, the A22 does not have that .I have the FMJ 22 and I bought the Alpha 6 for a friend years ago. The older units are "dry" up top, too.</p>
<p>This should put Rega into an interesting spot: the Apollo has been THE player in this price range for a while. While I own that, too, I've never considered it's "human touch" abilities to be among its strong points. Arcam's '17 unit is $4 more than the Apollo. Sounds like Arcam decided to challenge the Apollo. I predict the '17 will be hard to beat.</p>
hmmmm....the automatic editor changed a few things above.
That first line should simply read "my thought about Arcam is that the CD players have a more liquid sound."
And furthur on, at the end of the first paragrah " the older units are dry up top, too."
And finally, last line: I predict the '17 will be hard to beat."