[thunderbrick]

Hello, all; I have a chanced to buy an Arcam A-70 integrated amp at a reasonable price.  I want to use just the preamp section and remote control to run a Moscode 300 and Hafler XL280 (for subs), into Maggie 1.6rs and subs, or possibly my vintage stacked DQ-10s with ribbon tweets.  I listen mostly to classical, celtic, folk, or film scores in a very large (600 sft) room.

If I am looking for an under $500 preamp with remote and phono, is this a good contender?  Is B&K, Acurus, Parasound or ? better?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, or if you have something better sitting around?

Thanks,

Bob

[thunderbrick]

Bump.  Any input?  Hello, anybody there?  Hello?

[Bob in St. Louis]

Use a larger font Bob. Some of the fellas here are old and kinda blindish. 

On topic though, I've zero experience with any of the equipment you mentioned, but I've heard good things about the Arcams.
I'm using a Harman Kardon AVR645, mainly for it's master remote, but also it serves as the 'hub' (switching capabilities) for the entire rig (two channel and HT).
Works great for me.

Hopefully somebody else will chime in.......

Bob

[denjo]

The Arcams are very neutral sounding British amplifiers. I once owned an Arcam Delta 290. I believe these is the predecessor of the Diva series. Stereophile did a shootout between the Arcam Delta 290 and the Audiolab 8000 (Corey Greenberg aka "Greenears") and while he felt the Audiolabs were very good, the Arcam was just that bit better! I have tremedous respect for Audiolab and Arcam gear and while I don't have personal experiences with the A-70, I am sure the newer series are better than the Delta series.

Hope this helps!

Best Regards
Dennis

[thunderbrick]

Use a larger font Bob. Some of the fellas here are old and kinda blindish. 

Hopefully somebody else will chime in.......

Bob

WHAT??   I am at LEAST a decade older than you!!  Spend some of your HT budget on better (or some?) glasses!
 

Thanks for the comments, Bro.

[mcgsxr]

I owned a B&K HT preamp for a couple of years, that I used for 2 channel plus sub.

Decent piece, was able to get my universal remote to make it all work.

I later sold it when I had a Hagerman Clarinet tubed preamp built.

I later sold that when I moved to the Bolder modded SB3 I use now, straight into the amps.

[timind]

Unless you had future plans for the Arcam as an integrated amp, I'd think you'd be better served by a Rotel RC-1070 or Nad C-162. Both of these regularly sell for less than $500. There are probably others but these two came to mind.

[saisunil]

I have owned Arcam 65+ in the past - the dealer who sold me said that this is the most musical for its entire range - it was the cheapest of the bunch too

I believe that Arcam's strength is in integrated - if you want to use it as Pre or Power only I think you can find better choices.

I think you can find better choices in the current market for a good used pre with a built-in phono.
I used to have a killer Talk Electronics 3.1 Pre amp with built in Phono - I regret selling it but I could not justify keeping so much gear

Cheers