ARCAM AVR 500 or 600

[iainl2005]

I have decided to go for a new amp to power B&W 803s fronts, B&W 805s rears, B&W HTM3s and PV1, would the AVR500 be sufficient or should I go for the AVR600 with a bit more wattage? Would I notice the difference or should I save myself a grand and get the 500?

 

[bigboss]

Wattage doesn't really matter. If you're not bothered about the digital network card (Internet Radio, Streaming, and IP control capability) in thr AVR600, save yourself some money & go for the 500. But definitely demo both of them & make sure that you're happy with what you're buying.

 

[iainl2005]

I have the AVR500 on demo at the moment, it sounds great, I'm just wondering if the 600 push my speakers better, also I could add a power amp at a later date.

 

[d4v3pum4]

If you're planning on using external power amps later on, you can forget the 500.

 

[iainl2005]

I'm not planning to get one straight away, to be honest I dont know if my room would be able to take it. I would love to hear from someone who has done a good comparison between the two.

 

[Anonymous]

excluding the "wattage" - the AVR600 has a slightly different (higher quality) power amplification on board

the AVR600 has Class G style of power amplification and the AVR500 is normal Class A/B

 

[Sorreltiger]

How are you finding the 500 that you have on trial in relation to your DSPZ7?

 

[Anonymous]

Got the avr500 at the weekend, sounds awsome, still tweaking it about at the mo. could not justify the extra grand for the 600. The network card i belive is upgradable at a latter date if need. One thing i have found that the speaker set up was way off on my speakers distance so i have done it manually. but man is it easy to set up and use. if you have one on long how are you finding it, I was also concerned about the lack of pre outs as i have a fairly big lounge but it fills the room no probs.

 

[iainl2005]

Sorreltiger:How are you finding the 500 that you have on trial in relation to your DSPZ7?I must admit I was very happy with my Z7, but the 500 blows it away, much bigger soundstage, it really has brought my speakers to life, and the base is much more punchy, the dialogue coming throught the centre speaker has so much more depth. Really impressed so far.

 

[Frank Harvey]

iainl2005:I have decided to go for a new amp to power B&W 803s fronts, B&W 805s rears, B&W HTM3s and PV1, would the AVR500 be sufficient or should I go for the AVR600 with a bit more wattage? Would I notice the difference or should I save myself a grand and get the 500?

Speakers like that require the best possible amplification in order for you to hear them at their best. Even if there's no specific reasons for you to go for the 600 over the 500, I'd do it just to make sure I was getting the best from the B&W's. We used an AVR600 at one of our musical evenings (it's first dealer showing) We were going to use it with the XQ series, but when Arcam turned up they wanted to showcase it on the Reference rather than the XQ. It ran the 4ohm KEF Reference for a good 5/6 hours non stop with no issues at all, which I didn't expect at all!