New Products

Today in London, Arcam unveiled its latest audio line, the Radia Series, during a live event at the Vinyl Factory. The series features three integrated amplifiers: the Arcam A5, A15, and A25, alongside the Arcam CD5 CD player and Arcam ST5 high-resolution streamer. This initial offering represents a harmonious blend of Arcam’s established British audio heritage with modern design aesthetics and technology.

The Radia Series is the inaugural lineup under Arcam’s refreshed industrial design and marketing approach, showcasing a combination of bold aesthetics and contemporary audio technology. This new direction aims to appeal not only to Arcam’s traditional clientele but also to younger audio enthusiasts looking for high-quality sound and modern design at a more accessible price point.

The event is more than just a product launch; it is a revelation of Arcam's new branding, a symbiosis of its revered British audio heritage with a modern design ethos aimed at broadening its appeal to a wider audience, including younger audio enthusiasts.

Tim Giblin, Director of Global Marketing, Harman Portfolio Brands, shed light on the philosophy behind the rebranding, emphasizing the drive to cater to a "third core customer" - younger audio enthusiasts ready to venture into high-end audio systems without overstretching their budgets.

Jim Garrett, Senior Director, Product Strategy and Planning at HARMAN Luxury Audio, shared the ethos behind the Radia Series. Without making performance claims, Garrett emphasized the effort to balance technical innovation with a design appeal to a broader customer base.

Aesthetically, the Radia Series exhibits a clean, symmetrical design. The products feature seamless fronts, redesigned knobs, and subtle lighting effects, all embodying a modern, sleek look. The smooth, matte black surface is accented with Radia’s signature yellow highlights, contributing to a fresh and contemporary look.

We demoed the new gear mere moments after its unveiling.

On the technical tip, the new Radia amplifiers come with Bluetooth aptX® Adaptive receivers, internal antennas, various digital inputs, and Arcam’s signature MM phono stage. The A5 and A15 amplifiers have new digital circuitry based on the ESS ES9018 DAC, while the A25 amplifier steps up the features with the ESS ES9280AQ DAC, USB-C inputs, LED illuminated highlights, and a stealthy OLED display on the front panel. Its class G topology delivers pure class A output up to 15 watts and tops out at 100 watts per channel.

The ST5 music streamer is equipped with an internal Wi-Fi antenna, supporting a variety of music services like Amazon Music Unlimited, Qobuz, Internet radio, podcasts, Tidal Connect, and Spotify Connect. It also offers support for MQA, Google Chromecast, Apple Airplay2, and Roon. The CD5 CD player supports CD, CD-R, and CD-RW playback, playback from USB mass storage, and FLAC, WAV, and MP3 formats. Both the ST5 and CD5 feature the ESS ES9018 DAC and handle up to 24-bit/192-kHz resolution.

The Radia Series will hit the shelves of retailers in the fourth quarter of 2023. For more information on the series, you can visit www.arcam.co.uk.