A19

Great amp for the price.

I've read the previous review and have actually owned one of these amps for just over 12 monthsAs a previous owner of the Arcam A60, Arcam Alpha and Arcam Delta 90 amps I think I qualify as having "Old ears"Although all those previous amps had tone controls I can honestly say I never used them other than the Delta's mono button if listening to a weak signal from a tuner.I brought this amp after an extended listening session between the A19 and a Rega Brio which I had started out with every intention of buying. The Brio lasted approximately 15 minutes before being "blown away" by the Arcam. The Brio made everything sound "exciting" but the Arcam made everything sound "right"The hi fi reviewers all picked up on the fact that the A19 is sensitive to what it's partnered with so its best to try and audition it with your existing components if possible.Mine is partnered with an Arcam CD player and Rega turntable with 2M red cartridge and they both sound superb even after 12 months.I'd used a separate phono stage prior to owning the A19 which I quickly discarded once I realized just how good the phono stage is.The Headphone stage is equally as good.I listen to everything from Soundgarden to Elgar and it all sounds fantastic. I wasn't surprised, therefore, when it won the hi fi component of the year award.Please, just listen to this amp.

I needed to upgrade my amplifier to do justice to my Chord Mojo DAC. Following Internet research the Acram FMJ A19 appealed most in terms of sound quality, facilities and price. However, I was not prepared to make a purchase before auditioning through my system. I was very impressed with the sound, very neutral with plenty of detail and good dynamics.It sounds great at home too, powering Dynaudio Emit 10 speakers. Has all the facilities I need and is connected to my Sky digi box and Acram Miniblink Bluetooth DAC, which I sometimes use for convenience through my tblet, when not connecting the PC. The amplifier is more than capable of showing the difference between the Bluetooth and Mojo.As I occasionally spin vinyl via a vintage Rega Planar 3, a phono input was a must. This is of high quality and adequate sound levels are achieved through my high output Denon DL10 moving coil cartridge. I do not consider the lack of tone controls to be a serious omission. Have not used the headphone output as I prefer to have a direct connection to the DAC, but I’m sure it is very good.

This amp is propably overrated. I listened to it about 15 times at a friend's house, the Arcam A19 has been feed by a very good Thorens turntable and a dearer Harman Karon CD-Player with several different speakers. The Arcam was either too bright or too mellow, depending on the speakers (Monitor Audio, Audax. B&W, KEF and Dynaudio). That doesn't mean it's a bad product, but shurely it is NOT versatile ! With this results, it's impossible to recommend this amplifier, even though lots of reviews state completely other results . . . . .

Best amplifier I've ever owned. Outstanding bass and soundstage. Better than marantz and NAD

If you can find a better amplifier for under £1000 you're doing well because for me this one is almost perfect. Every kind of music sounds wonderful: open, detailed and exciting without being harsh or in your face. This is simply an amplifier that plays the music as it should sound, without smoothing it out or making it sound strident. I have a pair of classic Rogers LS35A speakers and it's a marriage made in musical heaven. Another plus is fantastic headphone and phono outputs. The only minor issue I have is that occasionally vocals can sound a bit backward or restrained. I don't know why but other reviewers have found the same thing. Don't let it put you off, you have to give it a listen.

Sound has very little depth. Very disappointed after reading the glowing reviews for this product.

If the Arcam FMJ A19 had been around some 30/40 years ago, then I would probably have said this amplifier was an absolute winner with superb clarity and depth of sound for the price. Jump forward to today and to my ears the A19 sounds flat, with dull top and bottom end which lacks excitement. That's because like me, most people will suffer from varying degrees of age related hearing loss, particularly in the upper register. Yet amplifiers like the A19 have excluded a means of compensating for hearing loss by removing separate bass and treble controls altogether. It is clear that this type of amplifier is only aimed at the customer who has perfect hearing because the many listeners unfortunate enough to have slightly impaired hearing are bound to be experiencing degraded sound through this unit, albeit not the fault of the amplifier. Regrettably, I'm being slightly misleading here because I am actually using the earlier model Arcam FMJ A18 which HAS got separate bass and treble controls and by making adjustments does recover most of the lost fidelity I once heard. Alternatively, turn on the A18's `Tone Defeat' button and you get a rough idea of what the newer A19 sounds like - and I don't like. And yes, I know I am getting away from a true high fidelity sound by using tone controls but that's all a person like me can do to get towards a better sound for themselves. I really don't see the advantage of having an amplifier without separate bass and treble controls, when one with these attributes would sound identical in the tone defeat mode. - who could tell the difference? The HiFi manufacturers and magazines keep plugging these minimalist control units because their designs look and are expensive. For the reasons stated above, I can't really give any meaningful pros and cons for the Arcam FMJ A19 because it does, in my opinion, depend on whether you have A1 hearing or not. For reviewers who absolutely love the sound of the A19, I wish I could still hear what they hear.