Topic: Arcam AVR300/AVR350

[dmonterisi]

Anyone have any experience with either of these HT receivers?  The 350 appears to be very similar to the 300, but has improved the pre-amp section, includes HDMI upconverting and video switching, and has a substantially improved transformer.  Both are reviewed very favorably and the 350 is seen as a step-up feature wise and sound-wise.  It gets extremely good reviews for its handling of both 2 channel material and HT applications.  I understand at $2500 there are a lot of options available and  i would certainly consider what other things you guys might suggest as well.  I'm looking for the best compromise i can get in HT and 2 channel performance...and space is a consideration, so while i know there are some options in separates, I'm not sure it's that feasible.

Arcam and reviewers refer to the 100wpc output and talk about it as "real world power" and continuous power output.  I'm not really sure what they are referring to.  100wpc is a bit weak to be pushing the B&W 804's, but if this idea of real world power and continuous output is actually something that means it's going to perform similarly to higher power rated amps, then it's not an issue.  additionally, this is a 7.1 channel amp and the 2 additional surround channels can be reassigned to bi-amp the front 2 channels, which is something that drew me to this amp to begin with.  How does 100wpc bi-amped compare against simply bi-wiring higher-powered amps? 

also, anyone have experience with other arcam gear and/or have recommendations on where to buy (DC or NYC preferable)?  it seems it is not widely distributed.

In the end, i understand that purchasing a HT receiver is always a compromise.  based on my research, this seems like a pretty solid compromise for both HT and 2-channel performance as well as pushing pretty demanding speakers that i do not think i am getting the most out of right now.

[MBecker]

i can't comment on the AVR300 or 350, but I do have the AVR200 and I'm a big fan.  I recommend checking out

http://www.avforums.com/frame.html?http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1058284#post1058284

The board above is a dedicated to arcam owners where you can probably get a lot of your questions answered.   Regarding the power specs (a non technical explanation), arcam's receivers actually put out the amount they say they put out with all channels driven.  IE a denon receiver may only put out a fraction of they claim when all 5/7 channels are driven (their specs come from one channel driven).  I'm going to assume scott brown will comment, but if he doesn't, he might be able to answer some questions.  In the NOVA area, I know sound images is a arcam dealer, although I didn't have the greatest experience with them prior to buying my receiver.  Also check out the site below as its the US distributor of arcam products.

http://www.audiophilesystems.com/

[scb]

Arcam and reviewers refer to the 100wpc output and talk about it as "real world power" and continuous power output.  I'm not really sure what they are referring to.  100wpc is a bit weak to be pushing the B&W 804's, but if this idea of real world power and continuous output is actually something that means it's going to perform similarly to higher power rated amps, then it's not an issue.

my arcam P7 power amp apparently pushes out between 50 and 100 more watts per channel than it's rated at.  so i'm guessing the 100 per channel in the avr350 is also a conservative estimate

but yeah, check out:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=119

[terrapinj]

sweet, thanks for the links to the Arcam Forum!

[dmonterisi]

thanks for the links guys.  unfortunately, the 350 does not appear to be in very wide usage yet so the comments on it are minimal and relegated to the "I think it's great" variety.  one good thing that comes out of it is that the 350 is able to pass 1080p through its HDMI switching so it won't be a concern when hd-dvd or blu-ray wins out.

[scb]

check the 250/300  comments and assume it's better?