One of the benefits of attending shows such as High End 2026 is getting to meet the legends, the people behind the long-standing brands. Walking through the halls, I know I pass by people who have stories to tell, but it’s not easy to determine who’s who—especially since I have a poor memory for names and faces.
But Doug Schneider has this steel-trap thing going on in his head. So several times throughout the day, I’ll ask him after the fact, “Who was that?” And he’ll respond instantly, firing off a name that makes me go “ahhhh.”
So we were walking through the top floor of the Austria Center Vienna and Doug matched paces with a man whom he evidently knew reasonably well. “How’s it going, John?” Doug asked.
“Well, thank you, Doug. I just ran a 10K race and did it in a very good time,” he responded.
“Without stopping?” I queried, for it’s always surprising to me, with two steel hips, that something like this is even possible.
“Why yes,” he said in response. “I’m very happy to do this at my age.”
And so I was introduced to John Dawson, the co-founder of Arcam. September 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of Arcam, which started off as A&R Cambridge Ltd., short for Amplification & Recording, Cambridge, in (obviously) Cambridge, England. According to Dawson, who was born on July 4, 1950, the name change came about after the company received a cease-and-desist letter from a US legal firm representing a similarly named company that owned the trademark.
Dawson and co-founder Chris Evans (not that Chris Evans) were graduate students at Trinity College and Churchill College Cambridge, pursuing doctorates in materials science and electrical engineering. As a sideline, they began making one-off amplifiers for their friends. Their company’s first product, the legendary A60 integrated amplifier, was built as a proof of concept, the goal being to build an amplifier that was more reliable than the other British amps, and better-sounding than those from Japan. They began selling the A60 to other students and, shortly thereafter, received a favorable magazine review. The A60, which delivered 30Wpc into 8 ohms, was a success, and so the company put it into volume production. Over the course of ten years, Arcam sold a staggering 32,000 of these amplifiers. Dawson and Evans never did finish their PhDs.
To mark the company’s 50th anniversary, Arcam planned a special-edition amplifier to commemorate that humble beginning. “The A50 Signature is a modern reflection of a hi‑fi classic,” Dawson told me. “It’s not trying to be a recreation of the A60, as this is a much more sophisticated product, and it’s built to a very high standard.”
Looking at the A50 Signature, it’s immediately clear that this isn’t a mid-’70s amplifier. First off, it’s loaded with modern conveniences. There’s a digital section built around an ESS Sabre DAC; a class-A MM/MC phono stage with loading adjustment via remote control; a very nice, easily readable display; HDMI eARC; and Bluetooth input and output. The casework is thick aluminum, which makes for an extremely solid enclosure.
“I sat down with the engineering team, and we worked on building the 50th anniversary as something new,” Dawson said. “We didn’t want to just rehash the same thing. I wanted to be happy to put my name on it. I wanted something that would fit with the modern range, but that was a bit special. So, for the A50 Signature, we started from first principles with our class‑G amplification. Then we built the power stages amplifiers as dual-mono from the transformer secondary windings onward. With regard to layout, we shielded the transformer and put the phono stage as far away from it as possible.”
Not being familiar with Arcam’s class‑G amplification technology, I asked for a quick explanation, and Dawson obliged, “The class‑G stage has two sets of DC power supplies at roughly ±30V and ±60V. There are two pairs of 200W paralleled output transistors to enable it to drive low-impedance loads properly. Normally these transistors operate on the ±30V rails and can thus deliver up to about 30W into 8 ohms, just like the original A60. For larger signals two more transistors connected to the ±60V rails come into play, operating as lifters. These modulate the collector voltages of the output transistors, following the envelope of the signal. The output transistors then run with only 5V across them and thus run much cooler, with about twice the efficiency of a normal class-AB design. The A50 Signature delivers up to 150WPC into 8 ohms; it also runs in class-A mode up to about 10–20W with negligible crossover distortion in that range.
“It’s been a pleasure working on this amplifier,” Dawson continued. “I’m working for Arcam now on a consultancy basis, as it’s hard to give up on this stuff. I can’t really see myself retiring.”
The A50 Signature will be available this September for US$2999.95, £2499, or €2799.
Jason Thorpe
Senior Editor, SoundStage!
