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Arcam Sa30, NAD M10V3, Yamaha R-N1000A or something else? Purchase decision

D

dutchman

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Dec 22, 2023
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Hello!
I would be very happy if you could help me with a purchase decision. I would like to decide between the Arcam SA30, NAD M10 V3 and the Yamaha RN-1000a. But maybe you have another idea. My setup is too complicated, at least for my wife: Musical Fidelity M3i, Minidsp DDRC24 with Dirac Live, Airport express for streaming, an Optical Switch, a Thorens turntable, a Cambridge Audio Alva Solo, a Musical Fidelity CD player and an Apple TV. When my wife wants to put on a record or stream music, it just gets too complicated (selecting the input on the Minidsp, switching on the Alva Solo, optical switch for streaming ...).
So I think the Arcam Sa30, the NAD M10 V3 or the Yamaha RN-1000A could be the right choice for these reasons:

1. I need a dsp/eq as i have a 20db room mode at 50HZ
2. it should be easy to operate
3. it should sound great ;-)
4. cd is not important

I would really appreciate it if you could help me.
I am also open to another solution.


Best regards from germany
Stefan Ouwenbroek

Ps.: I´ve got small Floostanding speakers
 
Well I can tell you about the SA30 - the remote is modal, so you push the input you want, then the amp switches to that input and the remote now emits commands for the source device (instead of the amp). It appears a good idea, but sometimes it is irritating when you forget what mode your remote is in, or the source device cannot understand the remote. If a WiFi device initiates AirPlay, the amp abandons whatever it was doing and starts playing that.

If it is not possible to program the remote for a source device, e.g. Samsung TV, then you don't benefit from this stuff and you have to remember to switch back to amplifier mode if you want to turn Dirac on/off for example.

  • I had some difficulties with initial network setup, not sure why.
  • The modal remote is clever, but it still leads to usability problems. Way too many buttons!
  • The source selection buttons on the front of the amp are illegible in certain light
  • Even straightforward usage is too complicated for some relatives, directly related to levels of technical acumen
It sounds great and I'm happy to use it, but I do not consider it a "bug free" experience, and it really feels like a fiddly AVR rather than one-box utopia. Lastly, Arcam have moved onto their newer "radia" line, and it will be obsoleted by the SA35 in due course.
 
nerdstrike said:
Well I can tell you about the SA30 - the remote is modal, so you push the input you want, then the amp switches to that input and the remote now emits commands for the source device (instead of the amp). It appears a good idea, but sometimes it is irritating when you forget what mode your remote is in, or the source device cannot understand the remote. If a WiFi device initiates AirPlay, the amp abandons whatever it was doing and starts playing that.

If it is not possible to program the remote for a source device, e.g. Samsung TV, then you don't benefit from this stuff and you have to remember to switch back to amplifier mode if you want to turn Dirac on/off for example.

  • I had some difficulties with initial network setup, not sure why.
  • The modal remote is clever, but it still leads to usability problems. Way too many buttons!
  • The source selection buttons on the front of the amp are illegible in certain light
  • Even straightforward usage is too complicated for some relatives, directly related to levels of technical acumen
It sounds great and I'm happy to use it, but I do not consider it a "bug free" experience, and it really feels like a fiddly AVR rather than one-box utopia. Lastly, Arcam have moved onto their newer "radia" line, and it will be obsoleted by the SA35 in due course.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for your answer!
Unfortunately, that sounds a bit ambivalent, so I'm not sure whether I should put him on the shortlist.
It's sometimes quite cheap second-hand, but price isn't everything. I also don't particularly like the way it looks and the workmanship doesn't seem perfect either.
I will continue to think about it and hope that more people will reply.
 
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