Initial review. Setup is a pain. You must have a LAN line with a computer hooked up to the network to setup. Little to no instructions. APP is 2 1/2 out of 5. Mind you I’ve only had it 24hrs. Still can’t figure out how to stream on it yet. But have it up and running and breaking in via airplay. Sounds good and detailed hopefully to only get better. For someone running a Tekton Enzo XL Origin live Aurora turntable with zephyr arm upgrade while still being able to to have wireless and a HDMI port picking are slim then add in 4 ohm stable and choices get even less. For a true HIFI integrate 2.0 system with room correction this is about the only thing on the market. Costume service is good called and waited less then three mins and talked to ole boy for over an hour before I bought it yesterday. Will update at a later time when I get this thing figured out.

The SA30 is a great do-it-all integrated amp. Plenty powerful enough for my KEF R3s and with Arcam's signature warmth (the "class G" amp is basically a class A at lower listening levels). Lots of streaming options as well, and the kicker is Dirac Live room correction. That will do more for a sound system than any other upgrade.

Pluses - First, the sound: excellent for music. Second, connections: plenty. Third, power: plenty. Fourth: built like a tank, should last forever. Fifth: the price is good at around $2K, do not pay more. Minuses - First, the installation was complicated, but I got familiar with almost everything after a while (be prepared to visit various forums and YouTube videos). Second: not convinced by DIRAC, mixed results. Third: design for the amplifier and the remote control are not horrible, but do not exsude any luxury or even character. Fourth: the interfaces on the amplifier, the phone app or my PC browser are dated. Overall, that's a keeper as it sounds very good, is feature-rich, eliminating a lot of add-ons that make it suitable to stay in a living room without tons of components and cables around.

A lot of sketchy reviews online about the software on this unit, but as of late 2022 it seems like Arcam ironed out a lot of the bugs. There is an Arcam SA30 forum on Discourse that is very helpful if you run into any issues.. fortunately i didnt have any. You need a computer or laptop to get the latest firmware updated, which you will want to do as soon as you pull it out of the box. The unit may be a little plain looking but i feel it is of solid quality..well made and heavy. It does have plenty of power, my speakers get down a little below 4ohms at times and this amp has no issues pushing them at loud volumes. My speakers have a sensitivity rating of around 86db and i have yet to go past vol-40 out of max vol-99. Remote is decent, can be programmed to control just about any type of home audio/TV equipment. Hdmi E-arc works perfect, i can control the Arcam's volume with my Firestick remote if i wish. The internal streamer sounds good, ive had or have a Node, Cambridge CXN2, Ifi Zen Stream, and a WiiM mini. On Sound quality alone I'd say the Zen is the best of those mentioned..the Arcam is just as good or better. The Arcam Musiclife streaming app is worthless in my opinion, I'd keep the SA30 wired with the Lan/Ethernet port and use Tidal connect app or Quboz or whatever your choice thru Mconnect, Upnp, or whichever app you like. Although a great feature with this amp is Chromecast built in and AirPlay. You can basically stream whatever you want to it. I have yet to use the Phono input but ive read other user reviews that had nothing negative to say about it, all positive. So how does it sound? Initially i was not impressed, but after about 5 days of this i decided to reboot the Firmware. I told myself there is no way this amp sounds like this and gets all these great reviews for sound. I was right, i basically reset the amp and forced it to reboot the latest firmware and the amp came alive. I would say it is very clean, clear, transparent, neutral. Not overly warm or rounded like a tube but not cold and thin either. Its nice sounding, the amp is in control of the woofer, quick with nice bass and a soft but detailed treble range. I feel this amp could push most speakers, it does have a preout if you needed more power for some reason but i use the preouts for a subwoofer. No tone controls or Bass management like you find on most AVR's but it has Dirac Live. Take your time setting it up, look at youtube video's..get yourself a microphone boom stand, take your time and you will be rewarded. With Dirac you can basically set the tone to your liking while smoothing everything out..less resonance and tighter bass. If you are in the market for an all in one music box with Dirac this unit is worth a try. Its a little pricey but atleast Arcam has fixed most of the issues it once had. Its a very neutral amp, what you put in is what it puts out. When i compared the Arcam's internal dac to my $1k RME dac i couldnt hear much of a difference. So one is getting a better than average dac, better than average streamer, phono input, Hdmi, and a very good amplifier with good power and able to handle low ohm/sensitivity speakers. Pre-out for sub and Dirac to smooth it all out. This unit checks a lot of boxes, but you need to be able to update firmware if necessary, navigate Dirac on a separate computer to load it up initially, and see if Arcam produces the type of sound you are looking for. Good luck on your journey.

Arcam has consistently introduced technologies that will lead audio trends, and has steadily developed smart products while adding the latest features, such as installing the Dirac Live function, a space correction function, and supporting MQA and Rune Ready. It can be said to be the best all-in-one amplifier in its class One-touch streaming is possible from Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast, and compatible apps such as Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, and Tune In Radio. In addition, NAS music sources can be loaded through DLNA/UPnP streaming, and accessed through Arkham's dedicated MusicLife app or general-purpose apps such as mConnect or BubbleUPnP. In addition, you can enjoy streaming in a variety of ways, and can play not only high-quality music supported by the 32-bit ESS ES9038 DAC, but also MQA files included in Tidal Master.