Arcam SA30
Not everything is desperate to be seen for what it really is. Some go to great lengths to conceal their true identity – speakeasy bars, masked singers, Bruce Wayne – while others, such as this Arcam SA30, simply don’t feel compelled to show it off.
Based on its appearance, the SA30 could easily slip into a line-up of Arcam amplifiers from the past few years. But while there are few aesthetic clues, this Arcam is actually a fully fledged streaming system and a shoo-in for our just-add-speakers product round-up.
Complementing its widely heralded Class G stereo amplification (120W per channel) with streaming architecture as well as digital and analogue inputs, Arcam has further satisfied the ‘complete stereo system in a box’ concept.
Providing the SA30 is hooked up to a network via ethernet or wi-fi (once you have screwed in the supplied antennae), Airplay allows music to be streamed directly from IOS devices, while Google Chromecast functionality caters for similarly straightforward, one-touch streaming from apps such as Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer and Tunein Radio.
Nas-drive compatibility
There’s also UPNP streaming. so that hi-res networked music from a NAS drive can be accessed through Arcam’s dedicated Musiclife app or, alternatively, any third-party UPNP control app such as mconnect or Bubbleupnp. These are preferable alternatives in our opinion, with Arcam’s own software being fairly bare-boned. Roon subscribers will see the Arcam as an endpoint option in the Roon app, too.
Not only is hi-res music supported by the Arcam’s 32-bit DAC, but MQA files, including Mqa-formatted Tidal Masters, can also be played.
The Arcam’s streaming abilities may steal the headlines, but it’s the physical inputs that can make the SA30 the nucleus of a multi-source system. Digital connectivity features two opticals and coaxials, one USB and an earcsupporting HDMI. Turning to analogue, it has three pairs of RCAS plus compatibility with both moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges. We think that list ensures that pretty much any audio component or TV can be connected to it.
A customised sound
Arcam has built support for Dirac Research’s proprietary Dirac Live room correction technology into the SA30, designed to correct the connected speakers’ performance for the system, and reduce unwanted resonant frequencies introduced by the room.
All you, or your dealer, have to do is download the Dirac Live desktop application onto your computer, follow the simple procedure and the software calculates and corrects the colourations. It’s an encouragingly straightforward process, and in our room does noticeably clean up the sound.
There are no touch controls or presets, and we miss a decent-sized screen on which artwork can be displayed; watching letters scroll slowly across the display is about as visually painful as modern hi-fi gets. Once we start listening though, our mood quickly improves.
The A30 has all the sonic smoothness, scale and powerful muscularity we’ve come to expect from Arcam components and their Class G amplification. As we revel in its versatility – we stream our hi-res library from our Naim server, play Tidal and Spotify streams over Chromecast, and give our reference turntable a spin – we are thrown into the most consistently pleasant of easylistening states.
The Arcam’s rendition of L.A. Salami’s When The Poet Sings is full, clear and detailed: the tender acoustic plucking is lush and tangible, and his conversational vocal is engagingly dynamic, with all the quirky intricacies that make his storytelling so compelling left intact.
While fast and fluid, the SA30 doesn’t quite have the rhythmic aptitude of the Naim Uniti Atom,but the Arcam’s bigger, easier-going presentation is sure to find favour with many listeners.
The SA30 is willing to offer the scale, openness and low-end impact to communicate the sinister tone of Bon Iver’s We, while also injecting the spaciousness necessary to keep the dense production nicely intelligible..
Choose your filter
Of the seven digital filters available, we prefer the default ‘Apodizing’, although the others all offer subtle differences and are worth experimenting with.
The Arcam SA30 is a fine example of how well music streaming can be implemented into traditional hi-fi, and just how discreetly too. All you require is a control device and pair of talented speakers (such as the KEF LS50S, Revel Concerta2 M16s or Fyne Audio F501s) and the Arcam’s open, smooth and detailed presentation is yours to relish.