This review compares the Arcam SA30 and NAD M10 V2 streaming amplifiers, focusing on their features, user experience, and sound quality to determine which offers better value and performance, particularly given a significant price difference.
Mind Map
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In front of me, I have the Arcam SA30
and the NAD M10 V2. And these are what
you might call future, to borrow a
phrase, streaming amplifiers that
feature DRA, DRA life room correction.
So, if you're looking for a streaming
amplifier around this kind of price
point that features DARK, well, then I
think these are your two main choices,
the two different products that you
might be choosing between. So, I wanted
to find out once and for all which one
out of these two is the best or maybe
which one is offering the best value
because I think the value proposition is
really very interesting here because at
the time of making this video, September
2022 here in the UK, there is a really
big price difference between these two.
with the ARMSA30 costing £1,899.
The price has come down from £2,199,
whereas the NADM10 V2 costs £2,399.
But then you'll also need to buy the DRA
4 license for about another £85. So we
are in about a £600 price difference
between these two here. That's a very
significant price difference. So is it
worth it? Is the NAD M10 V2 worth 600
more than the RCAM SA30? Well, that's
also something that I wanted to find out.
So, let's start with the Arcam SA30. and
maybe what I like and don't like about
it. Well, definitely what I do like is
what we are getting here for our money.
Let's not, I think, underappreciate the
value of these all-in-one type streaming
amplifiers because we are getting almost
a full hi-fi system built into one
chassis for one cost. And with the
Arcam, we are getting a wired and
wireless network music streamer that's
room ready and supports Tidal Connect
and Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2 and
UPMP and chcast. And we are getting an
ESS Pro Saber DACK with MQA support, a
class G integrated amplifier. We are
also getting a moving magnet and moving
coil phono stage, a headphone amplifier,
direct room correction with a decent set
of connections for feeding other analog
and digital sources into the SA30,
including ERC via HDMI. So connecting to
your TV is easy. And you know what? I
don't think we can really ask for much
more than that in this type of product
in a streaming hi-fi amplifier except of
course we can because there are a couple
of bits missing. I think one thing
that's definitely missing with the arcam
is some modern design flare. I think you
know it looks the SA30 looks very
rudimentary which is kind of fine but
also you know a bit more design flare I
think wouldn't go a miss. But the build
quality is very good with one one nigg
and one exception. The buttons on the
front, hopefully you can hear this. If I
they clunk in use, which is fine, but
then you get like a resonance that
happens, I think, through the the the
heat sink vent that's at the front.
Quickly do it again.
Ah, it's far from the end of the world,
but I don't think it it's perfect. And
then my next complaint is the screen.
And this is an interesting one because
there is nothing wrong with the screen,
but I don't think it's modern enough for
this type of product category anymore.
But don't get me wrong, you can clearly
see all of the information on this
screen sat at 12 or so feet away. So,
it's very functional. But let's be real
about it. It's quite a primitive screen
when we compare it to its main current
competition, the screen that's in the
M10 V2. Because again being honest, the
M10 V2 screen is about a thousand times
nicer and it does make a difference and
it does matter. And I think that is an
indication of one clear defining
difference between who I think NAD and
maybe ARAM are targeting or thinking who
will be their core key customer for
these products. I think ARCAM are
assuming their key customers for the
SA30 will be what I would class as you
know experienced dieh hard audio files
that have maybe been around the block 20
or so times. They may be existing or
previous ARM customers. So this design
this form factor of hi-fi amplifier is
familiar to them and it's kind of what
they expect and what they are used to.
Well as I think NAD are thinking of
their customer base being much wider
than that. thinking their customer base
might be this could be that someone's
very first ever hi-fi system or maybe
it's just someone's first ever NAD hi-fi
system and they are looking to make a
different kind of impression on that
customer. They're looking to make a
product that looks and feels more like a
smartphone, I think, in terms of just
the appearance and the way it all works.
And the NAD has real modern style to its
design, real modern thinking to how it
looks. Even the illuminated NAD logo on
the top is just very cool. And of
course, the form factor being so small
is going to appeal to many. The feature
set of the M10 V2 is very similar to
that in the SA30. So, wired and wireless
network music streaming, an ESS Pro
Saber DACK with MQA support, AirPlay 2,
Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Rune
Ready, analog and digital inputs,
including HDMI with EAC, Durac Live, and
Blue OS, which is a key difference
feature that we will talk about shortly.
And one other huge difference is the
amplifiers in the M10 V2 are digital.
They are Hypex Encore class D modules
whereas the amplifiers in the Arm SA30
are ARCAM's class G. So you know
different letters they are obviously
different completely different
technologies. So at this point I think
this comparison is pretty evenly split.
we have, you know, price in favor, price
in favor of the Archam SA30, design in
favor of the NAD M10 V2, but the spec
and and feature list is pretty
comparable across both of them. So, what
about interaction? The NAD's touchscreen
is a much nicer experience or thing to
use and visually nicer, too. Except
touchcreen means fingerprints are
inevitable. And I don't know about you,
[Music]
But I can hear you sitting at home
saying, "Terry, it's 2022. Who uses
remote controls anymore? Tell us about
the control apps." Well, for the Arcam,
you have Harmon's Music Life, which is a
very simple, very straightforward, very
functional, easy to use music control
app, but it's maybe just a little bit
basic and plain. And you can access your
music easy enough. You can have music
playing easy enough. You can access the
main controls of the SA30 to change its
volume, change its DAC filter, sound
mode. You can dim the display. You can
change inputs. You can even put the unit
into standby. And that is all fine and
works well. But for me, the bit that is
lacking is the easy building of a play
queue because you can choose from a set
of defined options for what a finger
press does. But the only way to be able
to load a full album and then maybe a
few individual tracks from other albums
is to bring up the full menu every
single time. And if there was just a
button at the top that said add album to
the queue next to where it says play
album now, then I think that would make
this whole user app experience that bit
more slick. I also think being able to
see your play queue while you're
browsing other music would be better. So
the music life app is more than okay,
totally usable and gives a very decent
experience and it plays gapless if
that's important to you. But I
definitely wouldn't say that it's class
leading. But we have to consider here
the fact that you may well use the ARM
SA30 with say Tidal Connect or Spotify
Connect or Rune. Well then if you are
then your user experience with using the
SA30 will be consistent with what those
apps offer you. So that is obviously a
completely totally different user
experience with the Arcam. Blue OS on
the other hand is more featurerich and
more visually satisfying to use and you
can do a similar set of essential tasks
such as play music, build play cues and
I like how you can see your playlist
while you're browsing other music
especially as I couldn't do this with
the music life app. Beyond this, you can
control all of the settings of the M10,
such as tone controls, useful for some,
such as 100% worth of front screen
dimming control, dimming control for the
illuminated logo on the top, and more.
This all feels nice and feels modern to
interact with, and I like the way the
options are all presented in the app. It
feels personal, customizable, and it's
just always visually satisfying. And for
me, having Blue S as part of the overall
package, as part of what you're buying
with the NAD M10 V2 is very appealing
and I think it actually forms quite a
big part of the product really or the
appeal of the product. But what if
you're in a situation where you're going
to use one of the connects, Tido or
Spotify Connect or maybe Rune? Well,
then maybe in that situation, you're
paying extra for something. You're
paying extra for that Blue OS within the
M10 V2 that you're not going to be
using. So, you're then paying for
something you're not using. And I know
I'm reaching there and I am reaching
there. But, you know, I'm trying to, you
know, ascertain the value proposition
difference between these two. One major
defining difference is the NAD allows
users to engage one or two subwoofers
and select a crossover point,
essentially sending just bass to your
subwoofers and then highpassing to the
main speakers. So, the M10 just powers
the speakers for mid-range and treble.
And this option is completely missing
from the RCAM. Yes, you have preouts to
connect line level to subwoofers, but
there is no crossover options. So, no
highpass filter option. So, the
subwoofer crossover and highpass filter
options within the M10 V2 could be great
for some audio files, of course. But
here is why I don't think it's the kind
of gamechanging home run type feature
difference. Definitely the difference
that it could be. That is because I
think there's some really important
features or things here that's not been
implemented or are missing. And the big
thing that's missing for me would be
subwoofer level control and maybe also
time delay control. Time delay would be
so that I can really fine-tune the bass,
really integrate the bass as fine-tuned
as possible. But the level control, I
actually think would be even more
important. Just think of the situation
where you could actually adjust the
subwoofer level and adjust the subwoofer
level independently for the different
inputs. So that means when you're
watching a movie, say using the HDMI E
RC, you could maybe have the subwoofer
level set hotter for more bass. Your
movies Yeah. for a bit more fun. And
maybe you want the bass to be a bit less
for your Blue OS for your music
streaming or for your turntable or
something like that. Or maybe you just
want a late night movie, your late night
TV watching mode where the bass is set
really low. And if we had subwoofer
control, subwoofer level control
independent for the inputs or maybe even
just for different profiles, that would
be the gamechanging difference. I think
the game-changing feature because of
course we can adjust the subwoofer level
on the subwoofer itself. But that's
really not easy, especially if we've got
a subwoofer with analog controls. So
it's a shame. I think that feature would
be better implemented and it would be
really good actually to see that in the
M10 V2. But let's not take away, we
don't see any of that at all in the Ram
SA30 either, which is an interesting one
because the product that the SA30
replaced, the SR250, it had all of those
features that I've just mentioned. So,
it's an interesting choice that Arm have
not included that in the SA30. And I
think in future for products like this,
if they're giving us subwoofer outputs,
if they're giving us crossovers for
subwoofers, give us level controls as
well. Now, you can do everything that
I've just mentioned using DRA. You could
do it for both of these two products,
but I don't think it's necessarily that
obvious. I could do it because I'm a
professional Durac calibrator, but for
an average person, I think they might
struggle to use Durac to do what I've
just explained. But I am very pleased to
report with both the Arcam and NAD,
Durac works flawlessly. The user
experience is excellent with both, and I
didn't see any real problems here for
this review with both the units on the
most current firmwares. One difference
is the NAD has five memory slots for
different direct profiles, whereas the
RCAM only has three. If you know what
you're doing with DARK, then you
probably only need one memory slot.
Three is definitely enough. Five is
probably wasting two. So, you're
probably starting to form a strong
opinion now about one either of these as
being maybe more suitable to you or your
preference here. Maybe the NAD for its
design, its lovely screen, maybe it's
highpass filter option, maybe the RCAM
for maybe it's phono stage or maybe its
price. But we haven't spoken about the
key thing here and that's sound quality.
Because I think all the features, all
the stylish design in the world, it
stands for nothing if the products don't
deliver the sonic goods. I'm sure you
will agree with me there. [Music]
[Music]
And I've got to say the Archam SA30
delivers a strong sonic performance for
the money in some key areas. Its sound
does change a fair bit depending on the
DAC filter mode that is applied and
apping is selected as default, but for
me it's a bit soft and squidgy sounding
with less than perfect timing. When
music gets complex, I preferred linear
fast because it's seemingly the mode
with the best timing where the sound
cuts through best for transients, but
you do lose a little warmth to the sound
as a tradeoff. And the SA30 in this DAC
mode sounds lively, still just on the
warmer side of neutral with a decent
amount of bass drive and authority. The
sound stage is tall and quite wide and
can be three-dimensional depending on
the music. And I think vocals are also
very good for size with there being some
emphasis on good tone and tombra which
is always pleasing. But it's still a
little bit of a leaner sound than I
think is ideal for vocals, especially
with the Mission speakers. But I could
easily listen to the RAM powering the
Mission 770 without the need for a
subwoofer. With the negatives of the
SA30 sound being that the timing could
be better still. Definitely could be
better still. I think the vocals there's
just a little bit of a metallic kind of
sheen to the vocals and there is just
some tension. There is kind of tension
to its overall sound. But now engaging
durac the sound will depend on how good
you are as a calibrator. It really is
that simple. and I am a professional so
I could use DRA to its full potential
and make about as big a difference as is
possible even though the missions
measure very good in my room in the main
and during
sound stage and clarity was improved
with me doing what I do I better tonally
saturated the sound especially for
vocals added more bass presence for a
warmer overall balance and tightened the
whole sound up from top to bottom and
with der engaged there was still some of
the shorter comeings of the arcam SA30
to the sound. So, still that kind of
metallic kind of sheen that is on the
vocals and still the tension in the
sound. But with the rack engaged and
everything that I did with it, it
created a much nicer, more balanced
overall sound. So, I could then listen
for longer periods of time, actually
louder as well with much less fatigue. A
huge surprise to me was the built-in
moving magnet phono stage because it
delivered a very similar standard of
sound compared to streaming digital and
it provided a really good amount of gain
to the signal. So the music from vinyl
sounded about the same volume as
streaming digital with the amplifier
being at the same overall volume level
and the signal was really rather quiet
for noise floor and pops and crackles
seem more suppressed than I am used to
and I could use my direct calibration
for the phono staging for listening to
vinyl and I know this is not something
that everyone would want to do but I did
my testing between using my direct
calibration and using the arcam in its
direct mode which is bypassing all of
the dig digital circuitry. And I think
in direct mode, the sound was slightly
cleaner, but with my calibration, the
So, how did the M10 V2 stack up for
sound quality against a pretty solid in
every area SA30?
Extremely well. And the first thing I
noticed is it sounds cleaner and clearer
in every regard. compared to the Arcanam
starting with the blackness of the
background. So, the sound stage is more
open with more defined space between the
instruments or musical elements, but I
think most people would noticed the
improved rendering of the musical
images, especially the vocals. They are
more in focus and you can hear more
inner details of music because there is
more control and resolution to
everything. And I noticed this most with
treble because it's presented more
clearly and better resolved. symbols
just sound more detailed and seem to
extend up more in frequency with more
information. And it's not brighter. It's
definitely not brighter. It's just
clearer and more welldefined, more
wellresolved treble information, the
fullness, the fullness of frequency of
the treble information. But there is
maybe just a little bit of digital sheen
glare a little bit with the treble. But
I am being ultra ultra critical there.
And vocals also have more tonality and
fullness compared to the SA30 and sound
more like a mouth singing into a
microphone because again they are more
focused and more clearly resolved. And
the sound stage is also more dramatic
compared to the RCM. You are more aware
of the difference in some music sounding
more forward into the room and other
music sounding deep like you're
listening to instruments in a space. So
I think the M10 is just resolving is
more transparent and more honest to the
music. And the bass is also extremely
impressive for being tight controlled,
really quite punchy and fast. Bass is
really fantastic for being presented as
bass notes or bass samples in space
happening in front of you. These bass
notes forming in the sound stage in
front of you. Real control, real kind of
tortness, quite a bit of impact as well.
And it's really damn impressive. really
damn impressive to have that base
presence, but also the control and
resolution of it from this package, from
the price and from this size of package.
Really very impressive. And I think that
aspect to the M10 V2, that control, the
resolution, the way everything is
organized around the sound stage is its
big strength, its big sonic
characteristic, the thing that stands
out actually the most. But if I was to
be a little critical of this because
it's so clear, wellresolved, and maybe
technically very good, it's maybe just a
little bit dry, but again, that's real
nitpicking. But it's important to
nitpick because the price difference is
so big. But let's be honest about it.
You know, the M10 is a little bit dry
sounding, but still less dry sounding
than the ARM SA30. But it's not all
gravy with the M10 V2. I did find it to
sound a little reserved at lower volumes
with the Mission 770. I can hear it's
always favoring composure and control
over excitement. But when you get the
volume up, for me it was around 65 to
70, it's a different story. The M10 now
sounded much more exciting and alive.
And it's a fine line sometimes for
composure, but even at this volume, the
M10's composure stays intact with the
benefits of just having a larger sound
stage with it being bigger and more
expansive. But I do think that maybe
more power still would be a good thing.
And then it was time to engage Durac.
And I'll be honest, I could have quite
happily listened without it until after,
of course, because once I'd engaged DRA,
Derek had done what it it does and I
done what I do.
Then things really went up several
several notches because with DARC
enabled, the M10 was able to create an
amazing overall sound. richer, bolder,
more dynamic, more lively with even more
scale and perceived dynamics, coupled
with musical images or instruments that
now have a nicer, more rounded edge to
them. And the treble was now smooth. And
that sheen that I mentioned to the
treble was gone. And that dryness I
mentioned before was totally gone. Now I
feel like this was me truly hearing
truly hearing what the M10 V2 is capable
of. And wow, what a cracking, really,
really cracky sounding unit. Excellent
in every single area. And that control
and composure when it's mixed with a
more bold and rich sound really is an
enjoyable overall sound. And I think I
could have sat 100 different audio files
in this listening room, blind blind
listened or blind tested the system to
them and they would have swore blind I
was listening to a a much more expensive
system than than the missions obviously
with the M10 V2, which is about the
highest praise that I can give to it.
Obviously, it's not totally perfect, of
course, but wow, for the money, for the
size, it really can deliver the sonic goods.
[Music]
I think it's the perfect time to wrap up
this comparison review and answer the
three important main questions. The
first one being, is the M10 V2 worth
£600 more than the Archam SA30? And I
can very easily say yes, it is. Yes, it
is. I think the package, everything
that's rolled into it, what you get, how
it looks, how you interact with it, the
remote control, the app, and the sound
quality is definitely worth the £600
more than the RAM SA30, which actually
answers the second question. You know,
the NADM10
V2 is the better. It is the best
streaming durac future fire amplifier of
the two. But what about the third
question for best value? Does that mean
the the NAD automatically wins that as
well? Well, actually, no, not at all.
Actually, I value proposition wise, I
actually feel like the Arcam could offer
better value because £600 is still £600.
It's still like a quarter or so of the
price. And I think to fully appreciate
the sonic differences between these two,
I think an audio file would need to have
very good speakers set up very well in a
room with fairly good acoustics. And if
that's not the situation, I feel like,
you know, the sonic differences between
these two could get squashed or could
get kind of blurred a little bit whereby
there is still a difference there, but
maybe a difference that some audio files
would call diminishing returns as a
difference. So then the features of the
RCAM, the phono stage and the bits that
the RCAM offers while keeping £600 still
in your pocket could easily make it the
better value proposition here could
quite easily make it the better value.
But I've got to say, if it was my money
and I was looking to buy a streaming
direct future amplifier to pair with
emissions, then I would spend the extra
on the M10 V2. I really would, given my
situation, because of what my
preferences are, where my
it ticks the important boxes for me. But
I could fully see the RAM SA30 ticking
different important boxes for someone
else. Most notably being price. But I do
think from the two, yes, it's more
expensive, but I do think it is a cut
above the AR Cam in a lot of really
important key areas. So, that's where
I'm going to finish the review. I hope
you found it useful, interesting, and if
you enjoyed it, make sure you hit that
thumbs up button. And if you'd like to
see, you know, more comparisons like
this and other hi-fi reviews, make sure
you subscribe to the Pursuit of Perfect
System YouTube channel. And I hope
you've enjoyed the video. Thanks for
watching all the way to the end, and
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