This is a review written by Terry Ellis April 2026.

For my video review please see my YouTube channel link here

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High expectations

I am someone with excessively very high expectations for sound quality so it’s no small thing to say the SA45 is the first amplifier from Arcam in a long time that feels built for me. It has everything I could want on paper, high power high quality amplification, music streaming, a good quality DAC, a phono stage, a huge beautiful screen plus what sets it apart from nearly every other amplifier is it includes Dirac Live room correction. It tick nearly every box, but is that enough.

Very HiFi not AV at all

When I say the SA45 feels built for me that is not an exaggeration. Some years ago at the Bristol HiFi Show I had a chat with someone from the Arcam team and I told him this is the kind of amplifier I wanted to see from Arcam. Credit where credit is due the SA45 is not perfect, but it’s a huge step forward in terms of an overall HiFi product offering compared to what they gave us in recent years.

I think that is a great place to start this review, because Arcam also make home AV products and in the past their streaming room correction HiFi amplifiers were more like two channel AV product hybrids. The SA45 is NOT like that and it took me a while to realise and appreciate why it’s not. The SA45 is a two channel HiFi streaming amplifier in the main with Dirac Live I don’t want to say tagged on because that would be doing it an disservice but it’s not an amplifier built around trying to offer the very best Dirac experience. That is fine because I think in order to achieve that an amplifier ends up with a more AV orientated design and there is nothing wrong with that either, I just think you need to know what a product is and then you can decide correctly if it’s for you or not.

That might start with the casework design which is where Arcam have made huge strides to give us something that not only looks nice but feels very solidly built and modern. There are no odd WiFi aerials on display something  I hated about some of their past designs. That extends to their new remote control which is nice to use even though the the buttons are not labelled obvious as to what they all do. You quickly adjust to it and it is a much nicer to use experience than the giant Arcam remotes of old. The theme of improved style and modernisation of Arcam amplifiers is apparent here but none of this I would class as new in 2025 we have seen this already from them.

See it from the moon

What is new and very stand out is the huge 8.8 inch screen on the front that is super bright and clear. It has a modern iPhone kind of brightness about it which is a little unnecessary maybe but I don’t mind it, the screen is a very nice design touch. For some context a HiFi product that would likely class as having the defacto best screen on the market next to a HiFi Rose would be the Eversolo DMP-A10. Looking at them next to each other the Arcam screen is huge and that offers so much potential I think.

This a screen you can see from sat a distance away, well the larger text details or album art you can but it also means we can get some amazing visuals while we listen and this is where I have two complaints. Firstly the screen only has 3 brightness settings I assume 100%, 50% and off and I would have preferred a 75% option too or similar because 100% is mega bright and 50% was a little too dim but maybe you would be happy with these three options and I am just being fussy. Where I have a bigger complaint and its mostly with a missed great opportunity. The SA45 is all about giving us the music information, the album cover art, some text and other bits of info that to be honest I don’t really care about as I have that detail in my hand on my phone controlling the music. What I would have loved to have seen is a beautiful looking and animated VU meter option because you have the best screen for it to really wow audiophiles because everyone loves VU meters, even if they just a nicety to look at. Brands like Eversolo are leading the way in this regard and their popularity speaks for itself,  I think other manufacturers should to take note of this.

Round the back the Arcam gives us an excellent amount of connections, I am sure helped by its larger overall size. There are ample digital inputs including a HDMI EARC input and a number of analogue inputs including a balanced input. There are separate inputs for using either the moving magnet or moving coil phono stage both which have fixed values so take not of this if you use an MC cartridge. The connections that might surprise you are the single ended and balanced analogue outputs one set of which is intended for subwoofers. How often do you see balanced outputs for connecting to a subwoofer in a HiFi amplifier, not very often. There is something very important for you to know about the implementation of this connection that needs explaining and I will get to this.

Inside

The larger size of the SA45 starts to make more sense when you remove the lid and look inside. It has what I am calling a four tier design, with a base layer and three additional circuit layers sat above with quite a space between them. Arcam say the amplifier has fully balanced analogue and digital audio signal paths which is great to know. There is a very tall and large heat sink across pretty much the whole front of the amplifier with lots of transistors attached to it, including two very large ones. This is more impressive than I have seen looking inside other Arcam Class G amplifiers and it explains the impressive 180 watts into 8 and 300 watts into 4 ohms per channel power capability. Speaking of large there is a very large toroidal transformer in one corner that is nearly impossible to see so I assume that it is being shielded from the electronics. You can see it a little better through the vent on the rear of the amp, but it’s a sizeable and heavy transformer. You feel it’s weight picking it up. The capacitors used are sizeable and there are a lot of parts being used here, literally something everywhere you look.

The digital and streaming board Arcam say is a new 6 layer design with a ground plane design that keeps noise away from the digital circuits, all powered from the linear toroidal transformer. Except for when on standby to keep energy consumption down. The SA45 uses an ESS Sabre DAC chip used in a balanced configuration, I believe its a multi channel chip so not a 9038 or 9039 that we often see and I found that interesting.

Importance of Connect

Arcam have a new Radia app that controls the main setup of the SA45 and is used for firmware updates and similar. You can control music playback to some degree from this app but it’s not what I call a full integration app as you can’t change the DAC filter modes for example. It is also not intended for streamed music library control, but you can select radio stations from it and you can use app is how select your different preset options, favourites and a few other things.

For streaming the SA45 supports Bluetooth and Airplay, Google cast and its Roon Ready. It supports UPNP for using a music management app like JPLAY but apart from that its all about Connect’s Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect and Qobuz Connect. I used it exclusively with Qobuz Connect and found this to work perfectly. The connection was rock solid never missing a beat or having any playback issues at all.

You have four different DAC filter modes to choose from to slightly tailor the sound to your preference. I like how these have been graphically represented and the differences explained for once, although in technical jargon only. The menu system is simple to understand and doesn’t need any explanation with the exception of the choice to engage one or two subwoofers as this is not the subwoofer integration you might be expecting or maybe it is.

This needs explaining.  The subwoofer outputs from the SA45 for starters are a sum mono signal, not stereo. There is no crossover options in the SA45 so they are essentially a variable line level output the same as you would see from other HiFi amplifiers. You might question why do we need to be able to turn them on and off in the menu? This is for using Dirac Live so it sees the correct configuration of your speaker setup, subs or no subs. Just as important for you to know with no crossover in the Arcam you will need to use the crossover on your subwoofer to control how high in frequency the subwoofer plays up ti, the same as with any HiFi amplifier.

If you use Dirac you can still correct the subwoofers separate to the speakers but you still have to control the subwoofers higher frequency roll off (crossover) on the sub itself. The only negative of this method is you cannot high pass your main speaker but I don’t understand why anyone would want to do this when you have a quality amplifier capable of driving most speakers. High passing the speaker is only something I would recommend when your amplifier is under powered, but really you shouldn’t use an underpowered amplifier for your speakers.

The SA45 costs £4,499 which is of course a lot of money but the high price tag I understand. Ee have to remember this is a just add speakers high performance do it all for you nearly full system in one box, so maximum convenience. Who is the SA45 for, I think many different people budget allowed, this is a very solid streaming amplifier, DAC and phono stage with the huge benefit of having Dirac Live too. This can be a major advantage for a lot of people with less than perfect rooms and no room is perfect and not many amplifiers give you this option.

Sound quality

I did all my initial listening testing using the SA45 in its entirety and by that I mean as a streaming DAC and amplifier driving some very high end speakers the Audio Solutions Figaro M2 speakers. I also listened to records using the Arcams built in moving coil phono stage and I did some listening comparisons between the two using a few albums including a HiFi show classic London Grammar If you wait. This is a cracking album to revisit I have not listened to it for some time because it can feel fresh again even through extremely familiar.

The character of the SA35 as a streaming DAC and amplifier was easy for me to hear mostly because there were familiar Arcam attributes to its sound but it also had a fresh new vibe that took me a while to adapt to.  The SA45 sounds open and clear with a very nicely layered sound stage, a super star in that regard for a streaming amplifier at this money. I was very impressed by the depth to the music where that is a big thing for that specific song or album such as some Ray Chen modern violin or the layered piano in Gypsy Woman by Levi.Sct. The quality of the sound staging I was hearing from the Figaro speakers was very impressive, with more depth or music coming from behind them than I expected and I think this is a sign of a low overall digital and amplifier noise floor.

I found the SA45 to sound quite lively or crisp in the treble which I liked because it was clean, so there was some nice sparkle to the music combined with quite a laid back overall music presentation. It is not common to have both. The SA45 has what I call a you go to the music presentation rather than it come at you and that makes for a slightly more easy going or reserved sound. This type of presentation is maybe a little less exciting with rock or intense high energy music and I found myself creeping the volume up to up the intensity but I wasn’t suffering listening fatigue in do doing so.

Lower listening volume listening was ok too especially with the treble as with some worse produced music at very loud volumes it could be a little hot. but I know that can be caused by the speakers and how they play with some amplifiers, I think was hearing a little bit of both here and the synergy.  The bass was nicely controlled and quite full sounding in the main and probably the best compliment I can pay the bass is it’s not dry like how some Class D amplifiers sound. The bass is just a smidgen thick which Arcam amplifier owners will recognise and be used to and I don’t mind it as it helps to round off bass notes just a little. I think it gives music a nice flowing vibe, but again we are talking just a little bit here and I think some past Arcam amplifiers were thicker sounding so the SA45 balances this a touch better than I expected so that was great.

Vinyl

The SA45 delivers vocals always with a nice presence about them which was good considering the more laid overall presentation. The vocals maybe did not pop off og the backgrounds as impressive as the much more expensive separates I have here but they did have a nice tone or timbre as part of the overall clean and spacious music presentation. I wouldn’t have minded a bit more fullness and solidity to how vocals sound but apart from that there was not too much to complain about.

Speaking of wanting a bit more fullness and solidity I could have easily achieved this by connecting the REL Acoustics S/850 subwoofer you can see in the shots of the system in my room. I actually think the SA45 suits REL subwoofers perfectly as the high level connection and their crossover implementation is ideal. There is also another way to get more fullness in the sound I wanted and that is using Dirac Live room correction.

Listening to records through the built in MC phono stage sounded  quite a bit better than I expected and everything I have said about the SA45’s sound was all still true, with there being a little more character to the music from vinyl which is why I enjoy listening to some records. The phono stage in the Arcam is very enjoyable to listen to, really quite lively and energetic sounding and there was enough gain not to need to crank the volume overly high and that is great.

I did find the phono stage to be a little matter of fact sounding, it was maybe just a touch dry compared to the very high quality tube based phono stage I use as my reference. It cost significantly more so is maybe an unfair comparison but its important to be honest. It was also a touch noisy or gritty sounding and this was not obvious to me at first  but after a few sides I started to pick it up, excuse the pun. Don’t read too much into these negative comments  the phono stage is a good implementation but it’s not perfect and that is fine. I am using a high end moving cartridge and I wondered if I might had got a get a better overall result using a step up transformer and the moving magnet input I have tested this in the past with some great results so its something to think about.

Dirac Live

One of the best features of the SA45 in my eyes is its inclusion of Dirac Live room correction that puts it into a very small handful of HiFi offering it. Dirac is the only room correction system I would use for a high end HiFi system you can take from that what you will.  In 2025 Dirac has three product offerings and SA45 only includes one Room Correction and not Bass Control for subwoofers and not the very best ART.

For measuring Arcam include a puck style microphone and USB type C cable which I am sure is fine. I instead used a miniDSP UMIK2 because I know it is a high quality calibrated microphone I can trust. The measurements you take matter and I already owned the UMIK and know its ideal and would be what I recommend every serious user invest in. I also recommend you get a cheap microphone boom stand and these are available amazon for often less than £25 and it will makes your measuring life much easier.

I have seen many industry professional’a say many things about Dirac Live and its effectiveness that could put some people off but I can tell you know most of them are plain wrong. What they tells me they don’t know how to use it properly, I mean no offence to anyone by this but I think it needs saying. It only took me about two hours to measure and tweak the target curve to make this system in my room sound night and better with Dirac on compared to off for the full frequency range, from about 25hz to about 16Khz. I don’t correct above that as its not worth it and I say this with no exxageration.

I was able to get a more full and solid sound with a more evenly balanced and solid bass, much more to my taste  without losing any sound stage clarity or space, this actually improved. The vocals sounded more tonally full and solid and I was able to make the treble sound even clearer and this was all because there was a better overall balance of sound from the system in my room. That is what Dirac Live room correction allows you to achieve in every room within reason and I have a fully acoustically treated room with around 50 professional acoustic treatments in it. I could stay make this much difference and improvement and the acoustic treatment makes its easier to achieve because you can more easily hear the changes your making in the software.

Arcam’s implementation of Dirac in the SA45 is one of the best I have played with for a while because it was very fast to load the calibrations files onto it making the whole tweak the target curve listen, tweak again until right process a lot faster. One tip is when your ready to do some listening to your target curve and you can have three different ones saved into three memory slots close the Dirac software otherwise it can mess with the overall volume level and that will effect what you hear,

Coming back to vinyl you can use Dirac Live for vinyl playback too and any of the analogue inputs and that will be great for many however if you are more of an analogue purist Arcam told me the SA45 will bypass all of the digital circuitry automatically until you turn Dirac on. Only then is the signal routed through an ADC into the digital circuitry and that will be good to know for those who are squeamish about their analogue seeing anything digital. With one exception if you engage dual subwoofers the signal with be sum mono’d and that is done in the digital domain something important to know.

So with my exceptional Dirac calibration completed this was now going to be very interesting comparing the SA45 to other amplifier products around the same money.

Comparisons

The ideal like for like comparison to the SA45 would be with the NAD M33. I think that is the amplifier Arcam are looking to better with the SA45 for a little less money. Sadly I did not have access to an M33 here but I have calibrated a  umber of them for people and I have had the M66 and M23 here in the recent past so I know the NAD sonic approach pretty well.

I think NAD are looking to make HiFi products that sound extremely clean, clear and precise and that can be great with some speakers but it can also end up sounding leaner and tonally undernourished with other speakers. The Arcam sounds like this to a degree as well, however I think it balances it a little better with a slighter warmer tonality but with some trade off to bass control so its pro’s and cons situation as always.

I think I would prefer the Arcam to the NAD based on the sound I like however take that comment with a massive pinch of salt as I don’t have them both here. I was more interested to see how the Arcam would stack up to the Eversolo A10 / F10 power amplifier pairing that I do have here. The Eversolo do cost about a £1000 more and you need more cables and space and you don’t get Dirac Live which is a real shame as that is really missing.

The Eversolo system sound totally contrasts what the Arcam is looking to do. The Eversolo pairing sounds big, full and weighty and really heavy weight and solid, I find this very pleasing. Is also has a much darker sound compared to the Arcam which can help very treble lively sounding music sound less raw or edgy such as Where is my husband by Raye. This type of presentation does however smothers the sound stage to some degree pulling the music more into one mass in the middle of the room, rather than it being very open, clear and spaced out like how the Arcam sounds all the time. It’s really quite a striking difference and I think again largely a pros and cons situation but in the main I preferred the Eversolo paired with the Figaro speakers because big and solid suits my taste with them better. I did find myself missing the clarity, speed and precision of the Arcam and I was missing definitely that awesome sound balance I was able to get with Dirac Live, so it was not all one way here and the Arcam has some big advantages over the more expensive Eversolo.

This comparison did show me that there are some sonic compromises for having everything in the one box compared to two boxes and that is important for people to know however if you prefer clarity, precision and open wide sound stage you might outright prefer the Arcam so then your saving money and space and getting a phono stage too.

Final thoughts

I did consider comparing the Arcam to the much more expensive and excellent Canor Audio Virtus A3 as it has a more similar sound profile and I was interested to see how the SA45 compared to an amp costing 40% more but that it didn’t feel sensible in the end. I had already learned enough about the SA45’s good and less good points to be able to sum things up.

To answer the question is the Arcam SA45 the best room correction music streaming integrated HiFi integrated amplifier in 2025 and beyond, I think it makes a very strong argument for it being so yes. It’s definitely not perfect but it’s a much more satisfying Arcam HiFi product to live with than anything I have seen from them since I started PPS and by a considerable amount. I can see it being great for a lot of people not even using Dirac Live and that is very important to know but don’t overlook this edge and what it can do for you when you learn how best to use it.

An Essential Audition Award is granted in recognition of a products high performance but with a certain uniqueness that makes auditioning even more essential.

For the full specification of the Arcam website here