Arcam Black Box DAC - any good?

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by nsherin, Apr 13, 2005.

  1. nsherin

    nsherin In stereo nirvana...

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    Hi all,

    I noticed Audio T have one of these on their website for about £100. If I ran this using my NAD C521BEE as a transport, do you reckon I'd get any noticable improvements?

    Thanks,
    Neil
     
    nsherin, Apr 13, 2005
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  2. nsherin

    mr cat Member of the month

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    I'll tell ya after I've bought it...it's what I'm after...! ;)
     
    mr cat, Apr 13, 2005
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  3. nsherin

    Will The Lucky One

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    From what I have been told/read, the Arcam Delta transports and 'black box' DACs are pretty outdated and not really anything special sound wise, but not having heard one myself thats only going on hearsay :)
     
    Will, Apr 13, 2005
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  4. nsherin

    nsherin In stereo nirvana...

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    Mr Cat - is that the one from Audio T you are after? Be interested to hear what you think. Will you may have a point there - my CDP is pretty recent.
     
    nsherin, Apr 13, 2005
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  5. nsherin

    Hodgesaargh

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    I wouldnt bother with it, it's very old and doesnt compare to today's offerings. Get a NOS-DAC - miles better and about the same price.
     
    Hodgesaargh, Apr 13, 2005
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  6. nsherin

    garyi Wish I had a Large Member

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    Also they go for about 60 quid on ebay.
     
    garyi, Apr 13, 2005
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  7. nsherin

    MartinC Trainee tea boy

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    Which black box is it? There were at least three versions: 5, 50 and I think 500.

    I owned a 50 for a while and it was nothing special really. I got this with my Arcam Delta 250 transport and as a combo I preferred this to the fairly new (~2 years ago) NAD player I had at the time. Embarrassingly I can't remember the model number but it's RRP was £250. The thing is though the sound of the Arcam pairing was totally dominated by the transport, making the overall sound very smooth. The BB 50 I had was significantly bettered by my current DAC20 mind.

    Gut feeling this, but if I had a fairly compentent modern player I wouldn't be looking at buying a BB for £100. As others mentioned, trying one of the cheap NOS DACs might be a more interesting thing to go for.
     
    MartinC, Apr 13, 2005
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  8. nsherin

    nsherin In stereo nirvana...

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    Thanks all, I think I'll give it a miss. If it was going to offer any significant improvement, I'd have gone for it, but I'm honestly quite happy with the sound, so I think I'll leave well alone for a while...
     
    nsherin, Apr 13, 2005
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  9. nsherin

    mr cat Member of the month

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    was only joking mate! but actually I am thinking about buying a cheapish dac - just to see what it's like...

    seen some Musical Fidelity X-ACT DACs around...may check them out... ;)
     
    mr cat, Apr 14, 2005
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  10. nsherin

    nsherin In stereo nirvana...

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    That's OK mate :) Would be interested to hear about the MF DACs - I start a new job on Monday which means more spare cash for toys, so I could well be looking at one in a month or so.
     
    nsherin, Apr 14, 2005
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  11. nsherin

    Dynamic Turtle The Bydo Destroyer

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    Don't bother - they're terrible. Bought one to go with my Pioneer DV-565 and sold it three weeks later. Way too bright and muddled to give any positive benefit. I think MF spent 98% on the fancy casework, 1% on the components and 1% on the PSU :rolleyes:

    TBH, I doubt you'll find a dac for less than £300 that will provide a worthwile improvement over your BEE.

    (Those NOS dacs also seem to have a very good rep though.)

    DT
     
    Dynamic Turtle, Apr 14, 2005
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  12. nsherin

    mr cat Member of the month

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    yeah, cheers for your input - but I think you've got me mixed up with nsherin - as I've got a yammy cd player, I probably wouldn'y use it on my dvd player...

    if I get one and it makes no difference then I'll sell it on...I could possibly look at upgrading my cd player, but the one I have is a multi-player (can hold 5 cds) - and with me being a lazy sod, thats a boon...unless someone knows a really good multiplayer cdp..?
     
    mr cat, Apr 14, 2005
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