“I would go so far as to say that the SA45 is the best example yet of how far we have come,” says Arcam’s John Dawson of the company’s flagship streaming amplifier, which arrived earlier this year and is the big brother of the newly crowned What Hi-Fi? Award-winning SA35. That’s some statement considering the rich heritage of the British company that turns 50 next year.
Indeed, it was back in 1976 when A&R (Amplification and Recording), as it was initially called, released its first product, the A60 stereo amplifier – some years after John had begun producing sound effects for college theatrical societies, and building amplifiers in his college room for his fellow Cambridge University students’ discos.
