Back in February I wrote a blog about forthcoming Arcam speakers including a historical reference to Arcam speakers that we sold in the 80s. I also said that the new Arcam speakers looked awfully like Revel speakers that the Arcam group was promoting about 5 years ago with varying degrees of success. That's true they do, but they also claim that Arcam input has improved them. Interestingly there is a new Revel range that looks similar too, so have Arcam breathed on them too??

Anyway forget the industry speak and gossip. are these any good??

Started with the biggies, the Radia R45s, tall slim floorstanders with treble unit, mid and 3 bass units, these guys are heavy and solid!

System synergy fans will tell me that these £6k towers will work best with an Arcam source so let's appease with an Arcam SA45 streamer £4.5k amp

Immediately impressed, these are pretty good! Having 180 watts of Class G helps, they have that signature sound of easy power and control, deep bass and vocals standing out. 

Don't want to make this an amp review but a Linn Selekt Organik sitting in the dem room had to be plugged in. It's often a test for me of how good something can be when a better source makes a big difference and here it really does. More precise, articulate and dynamic sound is what you are looking for and with a £ 9600 source you definitely get it.

So what's the competition? Linn 150s, cleaner and clearer but less bass. Spendor D7.2 better midrange, famous for vocals and string tones. Sonus Faber Sonetto Vs, more open, big image, great strings again. Dynaudio Contour 20 Black Editions, open and expressive, beautiful.

Can you believe we have so many amazing speakers here between £ 5500 and £ 7000?? Who pays for all these? That would be us.

With their 5 drive units, the Arcam R45s are also excellent at low volumes, as you would expect. If you're aiming for a speaker in this price range give us a call and book a listen. Will keep you out of trouble for an enjoyable hour or two!