Arcam CD62T

Arcam's entry CD player

By Michael Jones

May 2003

Arcam CD62T. $1599

UK hi-fi manufacturer Arcam has been flat out making CD players lately. Their range of players (the CD72 and CD92) was joined by both this entry-level model and a new model (the CD82T) in-between their existing models.

One selling point of Arcam CD players and amplifiers has been their upgradability – that you can buy one Arcam model and later swap the internals for the next model up. According to various hi-fi retailers I’ve spoken to, this has been a popular reason for people to buy an Arcam over another brand.

But to hit the lower price point of the CD62T, something had to give. And upgradability was it. A power transformer smaller than that of the other models needed to be used which made the upgrade mode unviable.

Fortunately the CD62T can stand on its own as a strong model in this part of the marketplace.

Inside-outside

Externally there’s nothing but the name on the disc drawer to differentiate the CD62T from its bigger brothers. The 62 has the same understated look as the rest of Arcam’s Diva range. The 62T is available in both silver and black.

Internally, the CD62T uses a 24 bit multi-level Delta Sigma converter. The output stage is a little simpler than its bigger brothers and is AC, rather than DC coupled.

The output of the CD62T appears to be slightly higher than some other CD players (the tech specs list the output voltage at 2.3 volts instead of the standard two volts. This can become important when comparing CD players, as one that is slightly louder will often sound better (more dynamic with better bass) than another model. So take care with any comparisons.

Sounding off

But taking that into account, how did the CD 62T sound?

It’s easy to see why the Diva range has been so popular with hi-fi buyers since their introduction. For the CD62T is an excellent CD player at a very good price.

On Alison Krauss + Union Station’s Live CD Krauss’ voice had both her purity of tone and body to her voice that often goes missing with lesser players. Her voice can often sound light and sibilant on poorer hi-fi gear, but through the Arcam there was no excess sibilance.

Even the crowd noise at the beginning of the CD was reproduced well. Crowd sounds and applause in live recordings can easily become spitty; here the applause sounded realistic and you gained some idea of the hall size.

Cyrus Chestnut’s jazz trio CD Revelations really showed the strengths of the Arcam. The CD62T revelled in showing the great timing between these jazz musicians, something the Marantz CD7300 couldn’t pull off to the same degree. Both the piano and double bass on this recording were very solid and meaty sounding, with plenty of body and weight to the sound.

However, I did become aware that the Arcam didn’t have the free-breathing dynamics of the Rega Planet 3 or Rotel 1070. This can make the music sound a little homogenised through the CD62.

Playing other music through the Arcam confirmed the positive attributes of the CD62. Listeners found their feet tapping and head bobbing along to the music, showing that this player reproduces a great sense of pace and does an tremendous job with rhythms.

Conclusions

Arcam’s CD62T is a very good CD player and excellent value at its $1599 price. It bops along nicely, not slowing the musical pace as some CD players (and most DVD players when spinning CDs). The 62 reproduces music with body and power and is always enjoyable to listen to.

For your nearest Arcam dealer