Anyone own an Arcam AV9 Processor ?

Well in my view the problem with my mates set up, was the amp is not good enough to drive the speakers.... He demo them in the shop with a much bigger Pioneer amp, and was impressed.

Well the other bigger issue for me is music, and the simple fact these single box solutions are not getting anywhere good enough to compete with 2 channel stereo. This being where my Linn "multi channel" pre will take on all and come out on top. Then it does a superb DD/DTS job, and will accept 5.1 in from a BD player should I want.
So for me it was justifiable to spend out, as it's used for movies and music, which would be everyday.
So I just need to add an Audyssey processor into my system .... How much are they ?????
That said if you set you room up properly, positioning speakers for best music performance, and add some room correction as I have done, it gets pretty dam good.... :)
 
9designs2 said:
So I just need to add an Audyssey processor into my system .... How much are they ?????
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how much are you willing to spend on a pre amp? a grand on an av9? £1500? if i was spending that on a pre, i wouldnt mind spending that on a audyssey processor and then some.
That said if you set you room up properly, positioning speakers for best music performance, and add some room correction as I have done, it gets pretty dam good.... :)
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yes it does :) audyssey would still step it up a gear, even on a 2 channel setup. if you have the chance to demo a processor on your system, take it!

Phil Hinton raved about the benefits of an audyssey processor over his lexicon mc1

The first thing I did was play some music. I have a Lexicon MC1 in the reference system at the moment, and if I am really honest the music performance of this processor is not great. It sounds far too clinical at times and lacks any real sparkle. However switching the EQ on and off (using the default button on the front of the unit) provided all the evidence I needed that my room had been destroying my sound quality before I installed the Audyssey. Playing Annie Lennox: Cold (From the CD Diva) was a revelation. With the EQ active the soundstage was wonderfully wide with a large sweet spot as I changed chairs, that voice always anchored as close to centre as possible. And I was suddenly hearing things within the track that I never knew existed. There is an almost silent sigh after the first verse on the right hand side of the soundstage; I have never heard this before, ever!
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http://www.avforums.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=5&pageid=3

The main thing that got me going was the mid range frequencies that obviously had been taking a holiday in my room for the last three years. Suddenly the whole sound had a warmth and kick that was never present beforehand, and a vocal from Lennox that was now something to get lost in. Did I mention the bass performance? Well again this is just another area that I obviously have been missing out on, big style! Just look at those result graphs above! Bass is now tight with no lag, and I am also tempted to say in time! That’s right, it stops and start on a dime, where in the past it would have a terrible lagging feel. Now the bass was what it should always have been - tight, tuneful and in time!

Now comes the fun part. Lets switch the EQ off and listen again. WOW, what a mess! I really can’t believe that I was happy listening to my system before this unit arrived; well I thought it was reasonable, but boy was I wrong! The soundstage collapses with a mushy bottom end and the vocal just doesn’t have that same creamy texture, the mid range gets completely lost and that sigh, I know it’s there now and yes I did hear it this time, but only just.
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people dismiss audyssey far too quickly, but ironically its the audiphile high-enders who are the worst offenders!

........ could have gone on with my results from the listening tests, but if what I have written above hasn’t made you curious in the slightest, I don’t know what will. In all seriousness this piece of equipment is probably the most important product to hit the market, yet. It is a truly mind blowing technology which has finally cured the biggest problem that anyone who loves hi fi and home cinema has - their room.

I cannot stress enough that you really should get to a dealer and check this magic box out now! Don’t even consider buying another piece of equipment until you hear this unit, this will be the biggest and most cost effective upgrade you will ever make to your system……period.

The Audyssey system truly is an industry changing product; you could see that at a recent trade show where most manufacturers seemed to be running scared and in denial. The power and flexibility, along with its simple set up and stunning performance envelope will change the way many of us approach building a system in the future. For everyone else, you don’t know what you are missing. The Audyssey MultEQ Pro is a reference quality product that is set to change room acoustic problems for good, and let us all enjoy our movies and music in the best way possible, and in stunning detail!
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james.miller said:
how much are you willing to spend on a pre amp? a grand on an av9? £1500? if i was spending that on a pre, i wouldnt mind spending that on a audyssey processor and then some.


yes it does :) audyssey would still step it up a gear, even on a 2 channel setup. if you have the chance to demo a processor on your system, take it!
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Well I don't need to change my pre for an AV9, The Linn Kinos I have is about 4.8K new, and I picked mine up for around 2.2K from a guy off the Linn Forum....(For power amps I am running Active front and centre, passive rear)
I wouldn't put any processor that "digitised" my 2 channel performance. Once it's converted to analogue by my Akurate DS media streamer, it stays analogue ;) :D
 
9designs2 said:
Well I don't need to change my pre for an AV9, The Linn Kinos I have is about 4.8K new, and I picked mine up for around 2.2K from a guy off the Linn Forum....(For power amps I am running Active front and centre, passive rear)
I wouldn't put any processor that "digitised" my 2 channel performance. Once it's converted to analogue by my Akurate DS media streamer, it stays analogue ;) :D
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thats your loss!
 
james.miller said:
thats your loss!
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why, "perfect ruler flat" frequency response is not the be all and end all. If the effect of re digitizing the sound, processing and back to analogue can degrade the sound. Then the DAC's in the extra processor would need to be as good as the ones in the source.
So the performance as measure HiFi may be better, but is it more musical and tuneful in a musical sense. As every step stage in the audio chain will only degrade the sound a little bit more.
Truth is I've not had the chance to try one, and for AV use and getting a surround system to work, with multiple speakers and channels I see the advantage in easier set-up.
 
9designs2 said:
why, "perfect ruler flat" frequency response is not the be all and end all. If the effect of re digitizing the sound, processing and back to analogue can degrade the sound. Then the DAC's in the extra processor would need to be as good as the ones in the source.
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its not about a ruler flat response. far from it, as i said previously, what it can do in the time domain is far beyond the scope of any parametric or anything else-equaliser. just read that review and look read what Phil had to say. audyssey is about correcting time-delay across the frequency range, destroying room feedback, centering and at the same time expanding the sound stage.... a ruler-flat frequency response is the last thing on the agenda, but still important nontheless.

Truth is I've not had the chance to try one....
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i'd already guessed that;)

http://www.audyssey.com/technology/graphs/timedomain2.html

no standard equaliser can correct in the time domain like that above:)
 
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james.miller said:
its not about a ruler flat response. far from it, as i said previously, what it can do in the time domain is far beyond the scope of any parametric or anything else-equaliser. just read that review and look read what Phil had to say. audyssey is about correcting time-delay across the frequency range, destroying room feedback, centering and at the same time expanding the sound stage.... a ruler-flat frequency response is the last thing on the agenda, but still important nontheless.



i'd already guessed that;)

http://www.audyssey.com/technology/graphs/timedomain2.html

no standard equaliser can correct in the time domain like that above:)
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Sorry that graph doesn't mean much to me, what was the input signal, pulse, wave, multi frequency, sweep...etc etc.....
So we see the amplitude in db ?.... with a variance less than 0,5... which if I remember correctly the ear can't detect such small values in amplitude.

So if it's correcting in the time domain, then I am guessing it's correcting the the vary times a sound take to reach the ear, due to to different reflective and absorbing surfaces in the listening room..... yes ?
Is this a closed loop system, or does it work off a calibrated map ?

Not doubting it can do this, just I would prefer to use less electronics, and try and correct the room in a passive way....absorbers, diffusers traps etc.
But in an AV sense can see it would help with creating a bigger soundstage and "impressive" sound.
So how much do they cost.... can't find cost in google
 
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