Arcam avr 600

[Eddiek]

Hi, I'm picking up a avr 600 as replacement to my 300 tomorrow and am intending on changing my ae acoustic aegis evo front speakers in the near future and am looking for advice, budget for all 3 (left/right/centre) is around £1500-2000, I would probably prefer floorstanders but would also consider standmounters, my room is 14' x20' with 10' ceiling?</p><p>I'm more biased towards music but it must still be able to cut it for films?</p><p>This is my first post so a big hello to everyone as well

 

[CnoEvil]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum.

IMO You have just got yourself a great AV amp that is amazingly good for 2 Channel (especially when bi-amped).

Before making particular suggestions, can you tell me if 2 channel is important, and whether you would make compromises in the short term, so as to allow for better speakers in the future eg. Kef R series or possibly PMC.

 

[Eddiek]

Hi, yes two channel would be my favoured way to go but (for now at least) I'm going to use it 7.1 ad I do love the extra emersion this gives over 5 or 6.1? What did you have in mind?

 

[CnoEvil]

If AV had been more important, I would have gone with the bigger centre (R600C) with small L & R.

With 2 Channel being the priority I would suggest 2 possible options:

1. To nearly remain in budget - R500 + R200C

2. Initially get the R700 and work with stereo until you can get the centre.

You will need to assess the benefit as the models get more expensive.....it's just that R700 would be better given the size of your room.

The Kefs with their Uni-Q arrangement have a bigger sweet spot than most.....these speakers work so well with this amp that I strongly recommend you try and get a demo (preferably at home - if possible).

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi Eddiek

What rear speakers and sub are you using please?

In the meantime at around £2k Monitor Audio's highly regarded Silver RX6 AV12 speaker system is also worth bearing in mind. The Silver RX6 AV12 system is excellent with movie/music soundtracks and one which also works well with the AVR600.

Alternatively Acoustic Energy Radiance 3 + Radiance Centre, ATC's SCM11 monitors + C3C Centre or SCM19 monitors + C1C Centre are also worth serious consideration.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Eddiek]

Hi, thanks for your opinions, as surrounds at present i use evo 1s (as per the fronts x4 and the matching sub) when I demoed it was paired with the MA silvers and did sound good, I just wonder what the amp has to offer with other brands/models, as a cheaper option there are some very good deals on tannoy revolution dc6t's around and given the reviews on WHF have wondered if the would be any good? Also am curious about stand mounters ie ae ref 1/atc scm11?

 

[CnoEvil]

What are you using as your source?

 

[WishTree]

Hi, thanks for your opinions, as surrounds at present i use evo 1s (as per the fronts x4 and the matching sub) when I demoed it was paired with the MA silvers and did sound good, I just wonder what the amp has to offer with other brands/models, as a cheaper option there are some very good deals on tannoy revolution dc6t's around and given the reviews on WHF have wondered if the would be any good? Also am curious about stand mounters ie ae ref 1/atc scm11?

Hi.. Welcome!

AVR 600 is the best bet for the music lovers as an AVR. I love that receiver but it is just that I never pulled up to actually buy one as my priority has been Music.

I have been auditioning several speakers recently. I owned Tannoy Revolution Signature version of DC6T till recently. The Tannoys are good for the money but there is this challenge with high frequency shouting.

Unfortunately I have no experience with ATC range.

But.. the big hit on sound has been the KEF R series. They are very good natural sounding speakers. Due to the space constraints, I am focussing on R300 in the R series but IMO R500 is the party piece at the price. R700 is definetly improvement over R500 but if it is my money I would have R500 and R600C.

 

[Eddiek]

As a source it will be a dv79 (arcam) for cd's and computer through marantz na 7004 or direct to amp (I'll wait till I hear them back to back) and ps3 for blu-rays/gaming and apple tv if I ditch the marantz?

 

[CnoEvil]

As a source it will be a dv79 (arcam) for cd's and computer through marantz na 7004 or direct to amp (I'll wait till I hear them back to back) and ps3 for blu-rays/gaming and apple tv if I ditch the marantz?

Very good....and you appear to be gradually heading in my direction, as I have the DV79 and AVR600, though I use a Linn DS for 2 Channel.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

As a source it will be a dv79 (arcam) for cd's and computer through marantz na 7004 or direct to amp (I'll wait till I hear them back to back) and ps3 for blu-rays/gaming and apple tv if I ditch the marantz?

Hi eddiek

I feel that you'll find you should gain superior performance from CD's if you use the DV79 as a transport only and let the AVR600 do the digital to analog conversion

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Eddiek]

Ha ha ha, I'm sure you've all been waiting for the slew of follow up questions so here goes;

1 blimey, isn't it illegal for an av amp to sound this good playing my music?

2 it's telling me I'm using small fronts with auto set up (I have the as previously mentioned ae aegis evo 3 floorstanders-by the amps standards are they "small" or is it simply making a mistake?

3 How would I do as suggested make the dv79 transport only

4 I'm an Ethernet connection short of the amount of sockets I want, is there any form of spliter ect to make 4 ethernets 5?

5 Can someone call into work for me so I can stay home tomorrow playing?

 

[CnoEvil]

Ha ha ha, I'm sure you've all been waiting for the slew of follow up questions so here goes;

1 blimey, isn't it illegal for an av amp to sound this good playing my music?

2 it's telling me I'm using small fronts with auto set up (I have the as previously mentioned ae aegis evo 3 floorstanders-by the amps standards are they "small" or is it simply making a mistake?

3 How would I do as suggested make the dv79 transport only

4 I'm an Ethernet connection short of the amount of sockets I want, is there any form of spliter ect to make 4 ethernets 5?

5 Can someone call into work for me so I can stay home tomorrow playing?

Glad you are enjoying it......it's a big achievement for an AV amp to sound this good with music, and it will sound substantially better with something like the R500/R700. Coming from an AVR300, it will sound as if you've had a speaker upgrade, as the power and extension of the bass is a revelation and the sound has much more verve.

Whether a speaker is small is not decided by it's physical size but by its frequency response. Technically a speaker is only deemed as large if it's 20Hz - 20kHz.

Rick's suggestion is a good one, as I find the DV79 (which is good for a DVD player) a little lifeless and "shut in" sounding when compared to the Linn, for 2 channel - so it's worth a go. You will need to connect a digital lead from the "digital out" of the DV79 to the "digital in" section of the AVR600 (P.10 of the manual).

I've never tried doing this so let us know how it goes.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi Eddiek

Some clarification as to where you are at regarding speakers please -

Front L, R & C?

Front L & R?

Front L & R - bookshelf or floorstanders?

What genre of music do you generally listen to?

Btw, from what i recall the DV79 also outputs digital audio via HDMI which you can then use for transmitting your cd's digital data into the AVR600. If not then as CnE has said use the optical or coaxial digital output on the DV79 and connect into the corresponding input on the AVR600.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Eddiek]

Yea sure, I have the ae acoustic aegis evo av set up comprising;

Evo 3 floor standers left & right

Evo (I think 2?) centre

Evo 1 bookshelf for rear surround left & right

Evo 1 bookshelf for back rear surround left & right

The matching sub that was part of the package, the front 3 are bi-wired using qed silver anniversay.

As far as music rock as first choice, but also dance, classical and pop (probably in that order)

 

[CnoEvil]

Btw, from what i recall the DV79 also outputs digital audio via HDMI which you can then use for transmitting your cd's digital data into the AVR600

The DV79 is a bit odd as it only uses the HDMI for the picture.