Arcam makes some nice equipment, so when a customer asked me to service his Arcam Alpha 9 integrated / power amplifier setup, I was happy to assist.

The Arcam Alpha 9 amplifier was a mainstay for Arcam for many years. The amplifier is fairly straightforward in design and neat in internal layout. There is nothing serious about this gear, it is modestly designed and constructed, but well-made if that makes sense. The power supply is again modest, with two fairly small main filter capacitors and a smallish toroidal transformer of good quality. The design features a pair of Sanken output devices per channel.

The integrated amplifier can be separated into pre and power sections and partnered up with a matching Alpha 9 power amplifier, as the owner has done here, providing a pathway for sonic improvement.

There are not many service adjustments that can be made with the Arcam Alpha 9, but the switches and controls on these examples were dirty and needed cleaning and lubrication. The input and output connectors similarly needed cleaning. The photographs below illustrate the cleaning and service of these two pieces.