Arcam ST60
£1299
The Arcam ST60 is the British company’s first dedicated streamer. Unsurprisingly it uses the streaming architecture from its premium amplified sibling the SA30 (and naturally strips out the amplification stage), gifting owners Airplay 2, Google Cast, upnp playback and internet radio, as well as analogue and digital connections and support for MQA and Roon. That’s a sweeping offering in today’s streamer market – one inclusive of the popular streaming platforms that boast broad music service and device support.
The ST60 is self-assured in its delivery, big, full, solid and expressive, while its tonality, muscularity and clarity are sonic characteristics we’ve come to expect from Arcam products over the years.
For comparison we have the NAD C 658, last year’s winner at this price point, and its precise, coherent presentation comes to the fore as we play Oneohtrix Point Never’s We’ll Take It, and yet one play of the piece through the Arcam is enough to tell us much more about it. The ST60’S fuller, clearer delivery better captures the atmospheric echo around the percussion. The percussive strikes and thorny synths take on extra dimension through the Arcam, too – not just in terms of shape and texture but also how they all work together as a musical pattern. Experimental instrumentation like this depends on its ability to pique your interest and keep your attention, and the Arcam’s greater detail, dynamic insight and tighter timing does this better.
While we like the modern stylistic flourishes of the Cambridge Evo 150 and Naim Uniti Atom, we’re also fond of the ST60’S no-nonsense, traditional look, which could pass for any source from a pick of decades, and matches every other in Arcam’s HDA component range.
Arcam has carried its decades of sonic expertise into the streaming sector seamlessly. The ST60 is the best-sounding performer available for this money, and a shoo-in for inclusion in our Awards this year.