The guys at my local audio store swore by the 82T, saying it was much better. I think it was salesmanship because they then demoed 4 units for me, back to back to back:
NAD 541i $500
Arcam 62T $600
Arcam 72T $900
Arcam 82T $1200
They did NOT tell me which units were which, thus allowing me to hear the differences without judgement. Each unit had a diminishing advantage over the last one, as one would expect. Obviously the quality jumps are harder and harder to make as the level gets better. Honestly, I could not hear the 82T's improvement over the 72T and thus bought the 72T. It was also all I could afford (recent college graduate).
Bottom line: the 82T was definitely AS GOOD as the 72T, and probably better, but not worthy my money at this time. If you decide to upgrade your DAC, you won't get anything WORSE than what you have and you'll probably see the same difference as if you had cleaned up your power supply with a new power filter or upgraded your interconnects. Also, if you're like a lot of people on this board (mid life, has money) then go for it because it's not an expensive upgrade... comparatively. (I'm assuming it's between 2 and 4 hundred dollars?)
NAD 541i $500
Arcam 62T $600
Arcam 72T $900
Arcam 82T $1200
They did NOT tell me which units were which, thus allowing me to hear the differences without judgement. Each unit had a diminishing advantage over the last one, as one would expect. Obviously the quality jumps are harder and harder to make as the level gets better. Honestly, I could not hear the 82T's improvement over the 72T and thus bought the 72T. It was also all I could afford (recent college graduate).
Bottom line: the 82T was definitely AS GOOD as the 72T, and probably better, but not worthy my money at this time. If you decide to upgrade your DAC, you won't get anything WORSE than what you have and you'll probably see the same difference as if you had cleaned up your power supply with a new power filter or upgraded your interconnects. Also, if you're like a lot of people on this board (mid life, has money) then go for it because it's not an expensive upgrade... comparatively. (I'm assuming it's between 2 and 4 hundred dollars?)