Anyone own an Arcam AV9 Processor ?
- Thread starter Buckster
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I don't but I'd get one if you stick with DVD. It doesn't support the latest blu-ray HD Audio formats & its recently been discontinued.
The new model, FMJ AV888 and P777 power amp is due out soon (with more features than you can shake a stick at) but will cost mega ££££'s.
The new model, FMJ AV888 and P777 power amp is due out soon (with more features than you can shake a stick at) but will cost mega ££££'s.
well I'm not sticking with DVD - got quite a few Blurays now
but I had a AVR350 Arcam, and compared D.Digital 640kbps via Coaxial vs a Pioneer VSX-LX71 in TruHD and a Yamaha 3800 in TruHD (yes I owned all 3 !!! lol)
guess which one sounded better ! - even though was taking in a worse signal ...
the AV9s are so heavily discounted now - its almost too tempting ...
but I had a AVR350 Arcam, and compared D.Digital 640kbps via Coaxial vs a Pioneer VSX-LX71 in TruHD and a Yamaha 3800 in TruHD (yes I owned all 3 !!! lol)
guess which one sounded better ! - even though was taking in a worse signal ...
the AV9s are so heavily discounted now - its almost too tempting ...
Soldato
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No lpcm isnt really a problem just buy a blueray player with 5.1 analogue outputs and connect it that way.
The AV9 is an excellent processor both for music and movies the internal dacs are supposed tobe very good.
Theres one over on avforums classifed pages with the matching p7 power amp guy wants £2000 for the pair, if i had the money id snap his hand off.
but i I dont. 
The AV9 is an excellent processor both for music and movies the internal dacs are supposed tobe very good.
Theres one over on avforums classifed pages with the matching p7 power amp guy wants £2000 for the pair, if i had the money id snap his hand off.
but i I dont.
Soldato
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Bargin buy it now.
What speakers and power amp will you be using?
What speakers and power amp will you be using?
Well TBH your findings don't surprise me....long since thought a good hi spec amp from the likes of the UK manufactures sounds better than the jack of all trades one box options.
I'd say go for it, and like suggested above, connect via 5.1 with a suitable player... that's the route I will take. (Sony BDP550)....Not that I am feeling the DD sound off BD is lacking through my set up.
I would say get Arcam power amps to match though. Pre and Powers are best kept with their own brand.
I'd say go for it, and like suggested above, connect via 5.1 with a suitable player... that's the route I will take. (Sony BDP550)....Not that I am feeling the DD sound off BD is lacking through my set up.
I would say get Arcam power amps to match though. Pre and Powers are best kept with their own brand.
As said, a damn fine DTS + DD amp with a good source and speakers will sound better than something cheap with all teh fangly dangly codecs.
But i use my tosh XE-1 to decode HD audio on my hd-dvds and send it to the 6 channel analogue connection on my yamaha dsp-e800. HD sound from a fairly expensive hd-dvd player going to my £50 yamaha.
What bliss
But i use my tosh XE-1 to decode HD audio on my hd-dvds and send it to the 6 channel analogue connection on my yamaha dsp-e800. HD sound from a fairly expensive hd-dvd player going to my £50 yamaha.
What bliss
mm well a brand new AV9 is only 999 with 5yr warranty !
bargain of the century, add a Rotel 1575 and you'll be smiling.
no disrespect to the Tannoys but they have to go if you're buying the gear above ....even now the AVR350 deserves much better.
Agreed, take a look at some ATCs, PMC, Dynaudio, and especially the XTZ speakers over at avforums.
You still benifit with bluray, on DVD the highest bitrate for DolbyDigital is 448kbps, on bluray its almost always 640kbps, at 640kbps Dolby starts to get very hard to tell from the PCM Masters. The same is true with DTS, most region 2 DVD's dont include DTS, and when they do the majority use 768kbps bitrate to save space. Bluray uses "Core" DTS at 1536kbps its considerably better. (Although a very small number of DTS DVD's do use 1536 the majority dont).
In A/B tests, a fair number of people can pick out a 448kbps dolby stream from the PCM Master, but the 640kbps stream is so close, that you really need golden ears to tell 640kbps from the PCM stream. Dolby digital is a considerably more advanced codec than MP3, and when you consider that many people are unable to hear the difference between 192kbps and PCM from a CD, it should be no surprise that 640kbps is able to handle 5.1 encoding rather well.
I for one love the performance of the "oldschool" Dolby (640), and DTS (1536) codecs on my AV system. (Tag/Audiolab/Mission). I did try a spangly HD capable reciever briefly, but quickly went back to my Tag.
Dolby Digital may be an old high compression codec, but as mythbusters will tell you.. you CAN polish a $^%".
In A/B tests, a fair number of people can pick out a 448kbps dolby stream from the PCM Master, but the 640kbps stream is so close, that you really need golden ears to tell 640kbps from the PCM stream. Dolby digital is a considerably more advanced codec than MP3, and when you consider that many people are unable to hear the difference between 192kbps and PCM from a CD, it should be no surprise that 640kbps is able to handle 5.1 encoding rather well.
I for one love the performance of the "oldschool" Dolby (640), and DTS (1536) codecs on my AV system. (Tag/Audiolab/Mission). I did try a spangly HD capable reciever briefly, but quickly went back to my Tag.
Dolby Digital may be an old high compression codec, but as mythbusters will tell you.. you CAN polish a $^%".
It's so refreshing to read a post that speaks sense and reality, and not the endless postings we see about "having" to buy the latest "HD" wotsit.....
Nice to read the data behind my gut fell, and what my ears tell me.....
I have mate with a PS3, Onkyo 8xx amp and Linn Komponent speaker kit (He got one bit right
)... I know the speakers are very capable, but it really didn't impress me on a HD sound track..... compared to my set up with DD....Now I see the data rates above of DD/DTS from BD, I'll keep using my PC to feed BlueRay the amp via SPDIF and DVI to HDMI for picture.
Great post Corasik
I for one agree on this (even though It was me that pointed out the lack of HD formats on the AV9).
Now I'd buy Arcam in a heartbeat, no question. I could afford it too. But (& this is a BIG but) I can't justify paying that kind of money considering the use it would get (less than once a month on average these days).
I did have a pretty good AV Receiver (Pioneer AX3) Which was a bit of a beast at about 18KG. I did hook it up to my HTPC via 3 3.5mm jack to stereo Phono in order to get 'HD sound' but the plugs kept falling out & for some strange reason it wouldn't output to the sub in this mode (read the manual in side & out but never figured out why) That annoyed me, so it had to go in order to get a Receiver that would have HDMI & have ONE lead for picture & sound (Though I've been an opponent of that in the past)
I ended up going for the Denon 2808 because it was in Silver & at the top end of my budget. That has the HD sound formats but I cant use them unless I buy the Asus HD soundcard (Again, cant justify spending over 100 notes on a soundcard for the amount of use it will get)
It's so refreshing to read a post that speaks sense and reality, and not the endless postings we see about "having" to buy the latest "HD" wotsit.....
Nice to read the data behind my gut fell, and what my ears tell me.....
I have mate with a PS3, Onkyo 8xx amp and Linn Komponent speaker kit (He got one bit right
Now I see the data rates above of DD/DTS from BD, I'll keep using my PC to feed BlueRay the amp via SPDIF and DVI to HDMI for picture.
Great post Corasik
there's a certain AV forum which is full of users switching from the AVR350 to the latest Onkyos/Yamahahahas ......and not primarily for the HD formats either - you can add me to that list btw. you only had to look at the for sale section in the last 12-18mths to see how many jumped ship and why they had to massively discount the Arcams to clean stock.
don't underestimate the effect newer tech in these newer amps like Audyseey EQ can have on a setup either (if setup correctly), especially with the compacted rooms ppl in this country traditionally have.
perhaps you're "mate" doesn't know how to maximise his setup or the match with his components wasn't right. i know you like your Linn gear but i don't rate those Komponent speakers at all .....nor do many others
so he definitely got 1 right as you rightly pointed out but it wasn't with the speakers.as far as seperates sounding better than integrateds well yes for the most part good clean amplification beats simplification and old age doesn't negate that but for 5/7 channel movie playback you can do a lot worse than "some" of these jap 1 box wonders if you can get them at the right price.
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Soldato
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id give up hd codecs (save lpcm)for an amp of all-round higher quality if and only IF i can keep audyssey. the affect, when its sucessful, is so profound its hard to believe at times. the adjustments audyssey makes in the time domain is so far ahead of what any normal equaliser can do.
if an arcam pre/amp combo and an external audyssey processor was sensible money (ie, a grand) i'd replace my 805 in a flash, regardless of how good i think it still is.
Now, thinking about this subject, i wonder why hard-core followers of seperate systems arent getting in to audyssey more.
if an arcam pre/amp combo and an external audyssey processor was sensible money (ie, a grand) i'd replace my 805 in a flash, regardless of how good i think it still is.
Now, thinking about this subject, i wonder why hard-core followers of seperate systems arent getting in to audyssey more.
Soldato
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I quite agree James. I'm not bothered in any way about the HD codecs that my 875 offers - at the moment i'm not even using them - but Audyssey makes a dramatic difference. I believe the effect of audyssey is far, far greater to the average person than the benefit of sound quality of superior amplifier build quality. You only have to look at the frequency response of an average room to realise this, yet still many people ignore such products.
Having said that, Audyssey can't work miracles - if you've got really bad acoustics or some speakers that don't suit your room, Audyssey may make the problem even more apparent.
this is the problem, i know that to really improve my home theatre setup it's going to cost considerable money on seperates, 1.5-2k+ at a minimum anything less is just a sidestep.
i'd easily give up the 805 for the AV9 + a Rotel 15 series amp though, unfortunately in this climate i just can't justify spending money on anything i don't really need and i'd probably concentrate on higher quality 2 channel amps before i replace the 805 in reality.
Audyssey EQ really is tremendous though, every now and then i turn it off to see if i can still tell the difference ....off = flat on =