Arcam Owners...

I can't comment directly to your specific question. But I will share my general impressions.

I have a C30 (C31's predecessor) that replaced an Alpha 10 integrated and a CD23 but haven't heard the CD192. I have only compared the Rotel to Arcam in a dealer showroom, not at home, and not those specific components.

I preferred the "Arcam" sound to the "Rotel" sound on everything I heard them on, B&W, Castle, Martin Logan, and Magnepan. A little cleaner and more precise while still "British". (Not startlingly precise like Levinson/Martin Logan, if that makes sense?)

The C30 seems competent, and was an improvement over the Alpha 10 integrated. Better air and darker background. But it is the first pre I have had in my system, and I can't make a direct comparison.

I am sorry if this isn't quite relevant to your question and needs, but I posted to help if you haven't heard the Arcam. For a long time the CD23 was a great bargain player, but as things change, Bob's advice may be more useful.

Regards, Jim S.

Check out AVforum.com,there is the club Arcam subsection.I also own the C-30 preamp and is great sounding SS preamp.Compared to RC-1070,it has much better separation,dynamics and lower noise floor.The newer model,C-31 is said to be even better in the micro-dynamics retreival.If you dont need many inputs and remote,i,ll second the use of Lavry or Benchmark. Good luck.

Like Stilljd, I can't directly comment specifically to your question. I have owned Arcam Alpha 10 integrated amp, Alpha 8 CD and listened to the CD23. The Arcam house sound is very British, refined and polite. In fact, I find it to be too polite and for my tastes especially the amp. Some folks can live with that but for music that requires burst of dynamics and life, there are other units out there that can do much better. However, I like the Arcam players better than the amps.

I would still think Arcam gears are better-sounding than the Rotel. Just like what Stilljd had mentioned, they would be slightly cleaner and precise.