HARMAN Luxury Audio Group recently announced the launch of its ARCAM Radia Series, which includes the ARCAM A5, A15 and A25 integrated amplifiers; the ARCAM CD5 CD player; and the ARCAM ST5 high-resolution streamer. The Radia Series is the first family of ARCAM products designed under the brand’s new industrial design and marketing refresh that will inform how ARCAM products come to market in the future.
“When we set out to create the Radia Series, there were a number of technical innovations that we wanted to put into the product and we ultimately settled on a design that we think is one of the best sounding amplifiers we have ever created,” said Jim Garrett, Senior Director, Product Strategy and Planning, HARMAN Luxury Audio. “In addition to a sleek new design that will define ARCAM’s image for years to come, with the Radia family, we’ve renewed our focus on intimate performance and embraced the very latest audio technologies. For today’s audio enthusiasts, especially younger ones looking to get into a luxury audio system at a reasonable cost, the resulting solutions surpass not only our past offerings, but any product that’s come before.”
Radia family products offer a subtle symmetrical design that compliments their aluminum shells. They are adorned with front fasciae, redesigned knobs, and gentle lighting effects. The products showcase a smooth, matte black surface cut through with the new signature Radia yellow highlights. On the top, ventilation cutouts are hidden within a pattern of dynamic lines. The rear sports a connector cowl, reminiscent of ornate rear diffusers found in performance cars, that effectively hides unsightly connector housings from view. And, to ensure optimal user interaction, the redesigned knobs are curved, finished in satin black, and textured to mask fingerprints.
ARCAM equips the new Radia amplifiers with Bluetooth aptX Adaptive receivers, internal antennas, digital inputs, and ARCAM’s signature MM phono stage. The 2x50W A5 and 2x100W A15 Class AB amplifiers include new digital circuitry based on the ESS ES9018 DAC. The 2x100W A25 steps up to a Class G amplifier and the ESS ES9280AQ DAC, in addition to USB-C inputs, LED illuminated highlights, and a seamless OLED display on the front panel.
Sporting an internal Wi-Fi antenna, the ST5 music streamer supports several music services, including Amazon Music Unlimited, Qobuz, Internet radio, podcasts, Tidal Connect, and Spotify Connect. In addition, the streamer offers support for MQA, Google Chromecast, Apple Airplay2, and Roon. The CD5 CD player offers CD, CD-R, and CD-RW playback; playback from USB mass storage; and support for FLAC, WAV, and MP3 formats. Both the ST5 and CD5 feature an ESS ES9018 DAC and boast 24-bit/192-kHz resolution.
ARCAM officially unveiled the new flagship family at an event held on October 3rd at the Vinyl Factory in London. Products will be available from retailers in the fourth quarter of 2023. For more information, visit www.arcam.co.uk.
See also: Tivoli Audio Debuts Model Two Digital Streaming Speaker
