£500 av amp

spookywillow

spookywillow

spookywillow

Soldato
Joined
3 Mar 2006
Posts
3,234
Location
Atcham, Shropshire
what shall i get? i'm ordering it sometime next week.

i only use 1 hdmi port,
i listen to a lot of music but not in stereo mode but in 5.1.
i want it to upscale and not just upconvert.
i also want the latest audio formats.

speakers are as follows,

kef q55 - fronts
kef q35 - rears
b&w lcr 3 - front
yamaha yst-sw300 -sub

so far the only one that stands out is the onkyo 806 for just under £500, are there any others that fill my needs?
 
Ive had the 805 for quite some time and think it was worth every penny of the £700 I paid for it - so Im sure you will be happy with the 806 (and it sounds like you have better speakers, even though I have an SVS sub)
 
FYI, the 806 isn't an evolution of the 805 it's a completely new mid-range design hence the much lighter weight and price :)
 
g0th2000 said:
FYI, the 806 isn't an evolution of the 805 it's a completely new mid-range design hence the much lighter weight and price :)
Click to expand...

yep the 806 is inferior in more ways than one.

there's still some 805's around for £500 if you know where to look, don't be put off by the Arcam fans...the Onkyo has a lot more power for movies but the Arcam has a more laid back sound for music, you don't get the best in both for that price so pick your preference.

i'm far from anti Arcam as i run a Arcam pre-amp and power amp for my 2 channel needs but the Onkyos are stonking for movie playback, the 130w per channel on the 805 is real and been measured by plenty of experts versus 80w for the AVR-280 ....it's no wonder the Arcams have a weak centre channel they're just a bit underpowered for HT imo.

i could happily live with an Arcam 300/350 but i've first hand experience that the Onkyo and the Yamahas are superior for movies, there's more punch and excitement in the delivery.
 
Last edited:
marscay said:
the Onkyos are stonking for movie playback, the 130w per channel on the 805 is real and been measured by plenty of experts versus 80w for the AVR-280 ....it's no wonder the Arcams have a weak centre channel they're just a bit underpowered for HT imo.

the Onkyo and the Yamahas are superior for movies, there's more punch and excitement in the delivery.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you've said that about power output, I thought that might be the case. That's why I liked my old Pioneer for movies, the 170w per channel just sounded more powerful in action sequences than the Denon.
 
if it were my £500 i'd go for the yammy 863. It's been closely compared to my onkyo 875 with the yammy being slightly better with music but the onk beating the 863 with movies.
 
Have to disagree about power output. The avr280 is far from underpowered. And as for a week centre. It's 7 x 80w so each channel in the same unless you know something I don't

I listened to quite a few amps before going for the arcam. The yamahas I really liked for movies. Being subtle and daynamic. But I didn't like the onkyo at all. It was just all crash and bang IMO great for the odd action movie but to much for day to day use. It also sucked for music.

Each to there own though. That's the thing with hi-fi. It's all subjective.
 
WantoN said:
I'm still trying to justify the £500 budget to myself, but if I stretch to it I too will be buying the 863.

If not itll probably be the Sony DA2400ES.

Ant :cool:
Click to expand...

My reasoning is its the heart of my home cinema and whats an extra 150 quid in the grand scheme of things over say a Onkyo 606?

Thats what I am telling myself anyway :p
 
kidloco said:
Have to disagree about power output. The avr280 is far from underpowered. And as for a week centre. It's 7 x 80w so each channel in the same unless you know something I don't

I listened to quite a few amps before going for the arcam. The yamahas I really liked for movies. Being subtle and daynamic. But I didn't like the onkyo at all. It was just all crash and bang IMO great for the odd action movie but to much for day to day use. It also sucked for music.

Each to there own though. That's the thing with hi-fi. It's all subjective.
Click to expand...

i'm not the only one or the first to comment that the centre channel with the Arcams is a bit limp, i don't know why but it's something quite a few ppl have noticed and i've noticed myself it when demo'ing them in 2 different setups - it's not limited to the 280 either as the 350 sounded weak to me also.

personally i love my current setup of 805 with pre-outs to my a90/p90 ....great mix of HT and Stereo for not a lot of cash.

FMJ will be my next port of call pretty soon though :)


easyrider said:
My reasoning is its the heart of my home cinema and whats an extra 150 quid in the grand scheme of things over say a Onkyo 606?

Thats what I am telling myself anyway :p
Click to expand...

the 606 isn't a great amp imo, worth spending the little extra.
 
Last edited:
Ive found the 606 to be pretty poor when listening to music in 5.1. Stereo using "pure audio" is comparable to the pioneer vsx d 912 I have.
 
now my 875 has bed in a little, everything sounds a whole lot better....even with music, but movies is amasing!

It's OK people recommending the old arcams if you like music, but the reviews will show that they can't touch the latest AV amps for HT sounds. For £500 i think the 863 is the only option. If you want better music than the AV amp can supply, buy a second hand stereo amp for £200 later on and you'll have better stereo than any AV amp under £1000 can supply you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom