Budget upgrade ideas?

Jubal

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On a nostalgia whim I recently bought some nice condition Mission 751s locally, seeking to recreate the modest system I had from new many, many years ago and sold, never to be replaced. It was paired with an Arcam Alpha 5 at the time. The speakers though came with a Denon PMA 250iii. All for almost nothing!

To my old ears, it sounds great fed by a Sonos Connect. But I really want to buy an Arcam “something” just for old time’s sake. And I have no frame of reference for this stuff these days. The comparison I had was a Sonos Play 3 stereo pair, which this beats easily when warmed up. So I’ve been looking at ads for Arcam gear and wondering what will give me the best bang for buck from their back catalogue? The Alpha 5 seems long in the tooth these days. Maybe one of the low end early FMJ amps? 18/19?

I have also wondered if I’m wearing rose tinted specs and buying some modern budget gear would stop me wasting time and money on a trip down memory lane? Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 have caught my eye as a kind of updated 751. No idea on amp though.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I have a couple of hifi mates but they are in the big leagues. Although, acquiring nice starter cables from the parts bin wasn’t an issue! Other than that it’d be cheeky shop demos or trial and error from reading reviews. Nice to be here btw.
 

ClassikFan

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No knowledge of Arcam stuff but in my experience a lot sonic gains and enjoyment can be had by sniffing out the bargains. Have a bit of fun before you get addicted!!
 

hifinutt

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so i just love arcam . got a arcam a75 and a85 . the a75 is really good at imaging and very enjoyable . the a85 is pretty good too . quite muscular . i put it on my b&w 607s2 the other day and the bass was about 50% more than the denon pma 600 i have !! this amp got good reviews .

now i use it as a power amp currently so its versatile . the sound with a bel canto c5i as a pre is rather good . very live sounding [ with big horns ] but not too much . arcam a85 are plentiful . in fact i had mine up at 250 collection only but a timewaster put me off selling so its still here .

arcam has a non fatiguing sound and great vfm . an 32 on here sold FAST recently
 

karlsushi

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First bit of advice is that it's always worth keeping an eye on the Private Classifieds section for a bargain or indeed post a 'wanted' ad in there (it's incredible what some people have stowed away and will offer you cheap): https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/forums/private-hifi-classifieds.75/

Whilst I completely agree that an old Arcam amp would be a great starter for 10, there are so many options out there that it's difficult to recommend. I believe your missions are a fairly benign load to drive (89dB at 6 Ohms), so that does open the door considerably.

If you have a big room, then you may want something with a bit more power, but if it's a small room you could get away with virtually anything with those speakers I reckon.

Depends on budget, but you can't go far wrong with an old Arcam Alpha 5 Plus for the money they go second-hand (reckon you could pick one up for not much over £50 or so). Surely you'd be spending hundreds on a new one to better it in terms of sound quality, but bear in mind the maintenance risk you are taking with older gear.

Good luck.
 
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Lurch

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I would say if your old Alpha 5 is your frame of reference then go ahead and grab one, they're cheap enough and also easy to move on as they're always popular on fleabay so minimal if any loss. Once you have it inplace then either it does it for you so you can stick with it or you can then have a play with other amps and benchmark them against your Alpha, it's a win win really.
I sensibly (unusual for me) kept my old Cambridge Audio C50/A50 pre power combo (1987) along with a Sansuii tuner & Sony cassette deck when I got the upgrade bug in 2016, and have since added a Rega 3 & Kef 104ab as a 2nd system. The SQ I get from this 2nd system is of the charts so don't write-off older kit just because of its age. They used full size quality components which makes them easily repairable.
 

Jubal

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Thanks, it's all useful comment. I'm nose deep in eBay and have had a look on the classifieds here. I'll do a wanted when I'm allowed as a newbie (10 posts I understand). I do like the hunt, and it was very satisfying to find these speakers literally around the corner from my house (on Facebook marketplace of all places). I'm not ruling anything out, I'm watching about 60 ads in various places to see what sells and how much. It's cheap entertainment in its own right! Meanwhile I'm happy I have a working setup, as I'm also finding the novelty factor is making me hunt out some new music which is fun too.

Looking at what hifinutt says, and exposing my ignorance a bit, will a beefier amp assist with lower volume performance? I like to listen fairly quietly at times to be family friendly but I'd appreciate better oomph even at low volume. It is a bigish room but I'm up at one end as it's seating, office and entertainment all in one.
 

lostwin

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Thanks, it's all useful comment. I'm nose deep in eBay and have had a look on the classifieds here. I'll do a wanted when I'm allowed as a newbie (10 posts I understand). I do like the hunt, and it was very satisfying to find these speakers literally around the corner from my house (on Facebook marketplace of all places). I'm not ruling anything out, I'm watching about 60 ads in various places to see what sells and how much. It's cheap entertainment in its own right! Meanwhile I'm happy I have a working setup, as I'm also finding the novelty factor is making me hunt out some new music which is fun too.

Looking at what hifinutt says, and exposing my ignorance a bit, will a beefier amp assist with lower volume performance? I like to listen fairly quietly at times to be family friendly but I'd appreciate better oomph even at low volume. It is a bigish room but I'm up at one end as it's seating, office and entertainment all in one.
An amp with a Loudness filter switch might be worth looking for, useful in boosting bass and treble at lower listening levels.
 

Jubal

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An amp with a Loudness filter switch might be worth looking for, useful in boosting bass and treble at lower listening levels.
Good shout. The Sonos app has this in the EQ settings. It works too but I’d rather not have to remember to switch it off/on. Probably my only option though if I’m going Arcam!
 

Jubal

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So, updating my budget journey. I bought the Arcam A19. I also picked up some Elac Debut 2 6.2 speakers which were cheap and pretty much as new. Gambling based on reviews.

There is a marked difference. Everything is “tighter” with the Arcam, and bass, with the Elacs is substantially better. Again, my benchmark was low so it’s all subjective but I’m happy with this at the same lower volumes. I’m actually a bit sad the Missions are a second best. But maybe I had rose tints on? The only thing they may do better is little subtleties in the mix. I’m still debating that with myself.

I’m also relying on the artists/producers to set the EQ and doing pass through to the amp. Hurts my control freak instincts but is probably how I should proceed to accurately compare in future.

Onwards, eyes open on the classifieds…
 

hifinutt

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brilliant ... glad you got something . i am currently getting some very good sound from a bel canto c5i used as a pre into an arcam a85 . much better than the a85 pre section . you can get great results by playing with these modest amps . keep us posted how the a19 goes
 

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