Robert Follis Associates Limited - Hi-Fi Plus - Aug13

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EQUIPMENT REVIEW

Arcam FMJ A19 integrated amplier

by Alan Sircom

bonuses. It's a 50W per channel integrated amp, set in Arcam's seemingly unchanging Full Metal Jacket livery (which already makes it heavier than many of its similarly priced rivals), but the kind with a display. It comes with a built-in - and by-passable - MM phono stage and ve line-level inputs and tape loops - probably more than any mortal might need at this time. There's also a decent headphone socket (more on that later) and a power feed for one of Arcam's ever-increasing range of digital rProducts. The cynic might say the absence of a built-in DAC is to force people to use that Arcam link with something like an rDAC; Arcam says its because putting a DAC inside the case undermines the sound of the entire amplier. Whatever, the host of rProducts on offer does add reasonably-priced exibility that might be lost with just one on-board DAC (there's four different models in total, including a natty Bluetooth DAC) and we should give Arcam the benet of the doubt, because the brand isn't known for its hoodwinking skills. It comes with a small, but quite natty little remote too. We could bang on about run-in, placement, cables, conditioners and the rest and although the Arcam can talk that talk, it's a more down-to-earth product at its core. Although the key to the FMJ aluminium and steel cases is noise and resonance reduction, the company has quietly dropped buzzphrases like 'Mask of Silence' or 'Phono Plug of Incredible Fortitude' (I made one of those up). This is a plug it in and play it, no nonsense kind of amplier. It just so happens that its no-nonsense approach comes in the shape of a very competent amplier. It's neatly load-tolerant compared to many of its rivals, with a meaty 320kVA power transformer, unless you are hooking it to some kind of amp-crushing abomination (unlikely given the price tag of the A19).

how far along the audiophile road you might be, no matter how good or big or expensive H e r e ' s t h or e posh thing your . N system o matt is... er there's always room for less. Maybe you are downshifting, maybe it's a recommendation for someone not so far along the journey, maybe you are in the market for a second system, or maybe - just maybe - you never quite bought into the whole high-end dream and kept your nancial feet on the ground. Whatever the point, sometimes you need an amp that isn't a statement piece or an extravaganza. Sometimes, you just need a bloody good amp. The Arcam A19 is a bloody good amp. On paper and externally at least, it's a fairly run-of-the-mill affair, albeit with some handy

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Robert Follis Associates Limited - Hi-Fi Plus - Aug13

EQUIPMENT REVIEW / ARCAM FMJ A19 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

Here's the thing. Those who go by the spec sheet - but don't really 'get' the spec sheet - will stop at the following term; it's a chip-based amplier, using monolithic output stages in place of discrete output devices. Cue the inevitable snorts of derision from audio's arsonists, who have no need to hear something in order to pour scorn on it. But here's the other thing. If you weren't in possession of that little 'monolithic' nugget of info, and simply heard this amplier hooked to a pair of good loudspeakers, you'd never know. Instead, you'd just think "what a bloody good amplier!" and be done with it. I say this because that was precisely my voyage of discovery with the A19, albeit with a little twist. I spent the majority of the listening test completely unaware of what went on under the A19's hood, and just enjoyed it as an amplier in and of itself. It was only after the bulk of the test was done, that the nature of the amp revealed in research, never in sound. In a way, lower priced ampliers have a tougher task than their higherend brothers, because the music played through them is not the reasonably predictable mix of classical, jazz and well-recorded rock that audiophiles gravitate toward. This amp is an amp of the people (by price and performance) and as a consequence has to do well without too much pampering and with popular tastes. Put another way, this has to be just as good at playing Skrillex as it has to when playing Stravinsky while using speaker cables from Wickes. And it's here where the Arcam shines. It's an unassuming amplier that goes well with everything. It's one of those designs that makes the best of impressive cables but doesn't demand them - buy some if you fancy treating yourself, not as a mandatory part of the whole audio process. It's also extremely load tolerant (within broadly dened parameters - it will make most loudspeakers at the price sound as they should, rather than as the A19 allows them to sound, but it will struggle to make a great sound from a speaker with an impedance that drops too low). Best of all though, it's equally adept at everything you can think of musically, within reason (and yes, I did play Skrillex' 'Bangarang' and Stravinsky conducting himself on the Rite of Spring). The A19's strongest point is its equanimity. Play Rutter's Requiem on Reference Recordings and it's all about the large-scale imagery and the sheer detail. Put on Leonard Cohen and it's all about the vocal articulation, put on Daft Punk and it's all about the rhythm. It doesn't do any of these things with the absolute precision of the 'anointed one' ampliers that excel in those particular facets of performance, but instead it does everything well. This has the great advantage of not drawing your attention to the audio chain, but the music. The good stuff extends the test listening sessions, but

"Put another way, this has to be just as good at playing Skrillex as it has to when playing Stravinsky, while using speaker cables from Wickes. And it's here where the Arcam shines.

the really good stuff gets played way beyond formal listening tests, and this got a lot of playtime. I could happily live with this amplier for the longest time, if my magic reviewer powers were suddenly to leave. And this is the cheapest amplier I've been able to say that of in some time. The little Rega Brio R has some competition on its hands. The only specic aspects I'd highlight about the A19's performance is the outstanding bass and OK dynamic range. There's a sense of grip and order to the bass; it's perhaps not the deepest around (although the wubby-wub-wub dubstep beats of the rst James Blake album was portrayed with a lot of earth-moving energy) but it's precise enough to delineate the fast playing of Stanley Clarke on his School Days album. The limits are those of any 50W amplier that doesn't have the sort of power reserves of a big old Krell. Large scale orchestral pieces with great dynamic sweeps (such "

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EQUIPMENT REVIEW / ARCAM FMJ A19 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

Robert Follis Associates Limited - Hi-Fi Plus - Aug13

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Continuous power output (20Hz20kHz at 0.5% THD), Both channels, 8Q, 20Hz 20kHz: 50W Inputs Phono (MM) cartridge Input sensitivity at 1 kHz: 5mV Input impedance: 47kD + lOOpF Frequency response (ref. RIAA curve): 20Hz20kHz ldB Signal/noise ratio (Awtd) 50W, ref. 5mV input: 80dB Overload margin, 50mV at 1 kHz: 20dB Line and AV inputs Nominal sensitivity: IV Input impedance: 10kQ Maximum input: 4.6Vrms Frequency response: 20Hz20kHz 0.2dB Signal/noise ratio (Awtd) 50W, ref. 1V input: 105dB Outputs Preamplier output Nominal output level: 630mV Output impedance: 230Q Heaphones Output Maximum output level into 600Q: 4V Output impedance: lohm Load range: 16Q2kQ Accessory power output Using accessory power cable supplied, provides two 2.1 mm DC connectors: 6V, 1A Dimensions W x D x H (including feet): 43.2 x 27.5 x 8.5cm Weight: 8.5kg Price: 650 Manufactured by: Arcam URL: www.arcam.co.uk Tel:+44(0) 1223 203200 as the rst and last movements of Solti's rendition of Mahler's Eighth Symphony, on Decca) get to sound hard and harsh unless played at very low levels. However, the soundstage rarely folds into itself unless pushed to the extreme, so the double-whammy of an amplier approaching its end-stops is avoided. Personally, I think there will be many who would live happily with the compromise of not playing perhaps ve pieces of music as loud as they might like, for the nancial savings made. And if you use a pair of speakers that make good partners for the A19, chances are you are not going to notice those limits in the amplier anyway. When it comes to loudspeaker partners, I used the A19 with my discontinued but still excellent Avalon NP2.0 oorstanders to great effect, feeling no great need to change a thing. And, although I didn't have chance to test it personally, the Arcam A19 has been used with the KEF LS50 often enough at shows, and is recommended so heavily by those who put systems together, that it seems an obvious recommendation. And the amp is more than good enough to partner the LS50 well. Finally, there's that headphone socket. It's both detailed and powerful enough to benet from and warrant the use of some of the more rewarding, but hard to drive headphones currently in circulation. However, as all of those are worth more than the amplier itself, we're unsure how many HiFiMAN or Audeze headphones will end up benetting from the A19's output. But that just means, every headphone commonly used with such a design - even including more meaty 600-ohm professional headphones - shouldn't pose a problem. Arcam rarely makes a dog's breakfast of an amplier, but there are good amps and good amps. This one's exceptional. This one is Arcam hitting it for six, knocking one out of the park, and all the other vaguely sport-related cliches that point to something excellent. +

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