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Emotiva ERC-1 or Arcam Alpha 5+ fully modified

post #1 of 6
3/10/10 at 4:38pm
Thread Starter 
i am about to purchase a cd player as source. I am between these too at the moment. The Arcam sports the TDA1541A, and some other mods such as the Burson Discrete output stage, upgrade of all critical electrolytics, replacement of output coupling capacitors with Panasonic FCs, removal of muting transistors (not needed), NOS (which disables digital outputs), Heat sink DAC, and modifications to output coupling circuit to reduce impedance etc.

What would you people recommend? Price is almost the same. Emotiva is 100 euro more expensive since it's coming from the US and I will have to pay import duty and VAT but it's brand new. SPDIF on the Arcam is not working due to the onboard DAC. It is in MINT condition though. I cannot listen to them to try anyways. I am hoping someone on the forum has tried them and will give suggestions.
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post #2 of 6
3/10/10 at 4:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by orys View Post
i am about to purchase a cd player as source. I am between these too at the moment. The Arcam sports the TDA1541A, and some other mods such as the Burson Discrete output stage, upgrade of all critical electrolytics, replacement of output coupling capacitors with Panasonic FCs, removal of muting transistors (not needed), NOS (which disables digital outputs), Heat sink DAC, and modifications to output coupling circuit to reduce impedance etc.

What would you people recommend? Price is almost the same. Emotiva is 100 euro more expensive since it's coming from the US and I will have to pay import duty and VAT but it's brand new. SPDIF on the Arcam is not working due to the onboard DAC. It is in MINT condition though. I cannot listen to them to try anyways. I am hoping someone on the forum has tried them and will give suggestions.
Unfortunately, no-one is going to be able to give you a knowledgable answer to that. The Arcam has been modded with VERY specific mods, so a person would have had to have owned one EXACTLY like that in order to give you an opinion on it. So I will not try, but will give you some thoughts instead :


#1 - The Arcam is an older player
#2 - Some modded players DO NOT sound good with mods !
#3 - What is the reliability of the Arcam now ?
#4 - Who will repair the Arcam if it needs it ?
#5 - The Emotiva is a current un-modded player
#6 - The Emotiva benefits from better, more advanced technology in digital

Without hearing them for comparison, it IS a crap shoot.
Good Luck !
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post #3 of 6
3/10/10 at 6:52pm
I was thinking about the Emotiva for my Amphora. 24/384 DAC. Not to mention the slot load drive and thats its built like a tank. This would be my choice.
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post #4 of 6
3/19/10 at 5:46am
Thread Starter 
got the emotiva guys.
great player!!!
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post #5 of 6
3/19/10 at 12:20pm
Agreed.
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post #6 of 6
3/19/10 at 2:52pm
Just how good is the emotiva? What have you guys compared it against?
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