Arcam AVR600 Bugs

[pete321]

Got home this afternoon and decided to watch a movie, one press of the Harmony One and the TV, AVR600 and the Oppo come on the disc drawer already open for me to pop the disc in. Sit down, get comfy and find that there's no picture or sound and the AVR600 has frozen again! Turn the power off to reboot it, get a thunderstorm around the speakers, it comes back on and it works OK. Accidently hit the AVR600 standby button, whilst watching, turn it back on and the volume is louder even though it's showing the same number on the display.

I'm getting fed up with this, seriously thinking about getting me money back and getting a Yamaha DSP-Z7!

 

[JoelSim]

Call the dealer

ÿ

 

[TKratz]

pete321:

I'm getting fed up with this, seriously thinking about getting me money back and getting a Yamaha DSP-Z7!

I can definately recommend the Yamaha DSP-Z7! Just bought it myself after extensive testing

I can tell it goes really well with B&W and KEF speakers.

It's a wonderful amp, but based on the Arcam reviews I doubt there will be any competition.

 

[pete321]

I have, and Arcam. Trouble is it's not just me, I don't think I should have to wait for fix (if it ever comes) on a product costing £3.5K.

The way I see it I would be within my rights to ask for my money back as it's not performing as you'd expect and it's a firmware issue rather than a faulty unit.

 

[pete321]

TKratz:pete321:

I'm getting fed up with this, seriously thinking about getting me money back and getting a Yamaha DSP-Z7!

I can definately recommend the Yamaha DSP-Z7! Just bought it myself after extensive testing

I can tell it goes really well with B&W and KEF speakers.

It's a wonderful amp, but based on the Arcam reviews I doubt there will be any competition.

Yeah, but it works doesn't it! I'd save over a grand which could go towards a decent power amp for the fronts, or the Z11 can be had for well under £4000 now.

 

[Anonymous]

A totally unacceptable situation for a £3.5k piece of equipment! How can Arcam possibly release this product when it clearly has 'bugs' in it, I will never understand.

This was suppossed to be Arcam's big foray back after producing a string of 'not-so-great' products and looks like they've screwed this one up too!

 

[pete321]

It's not good is it. It's not as though they're subtle faults either, I don't know how they could have missed them when they did pre-release testing (assuming they did).

 

[Anonymous]

It certainly isn't good for a company like Arcam, which is firmly established. ''The FMJ AVR600 is the result of thousands of man-hours of research and represents the largest project undertaken by Arcam''. Unfortunately, the end product, a premium one at that, does not reflect this statement.

 

[Big Aura]

good thing I didn't win that competition, then...

 

[Anonymous]

Well, if you won it in the competition, it would be fine since it would be free. But can you imagine spending £3.5k of your own money on it and be bogged down by niggling problems, when you have every right to expect perfection?

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear about your problems with the Arcam AVR600, Pete.

This must be really disappointing and frustrating for you, especially on a premium product with a premium price-tag.

Looking around on-line, it does appear that the Arcam AVR600 does indeed suffer from firmware bugs.

This is very negative, really, considering that Arcam took a fair while before churning this unit out. It is not as though they were the very first to churn out a new HD A/V Receiver.

Manufacturers such as Denon, Yamaha, and Pioneer - ages ago - brought out their flag-ship A/V Receivers, and as far as I am aware, have had no firmware issues.

Even lower-end A/V Receivers that sell in their droves don't seem to have any firmware issues.

If you can get your money back, perhaps that might be the way to go.

If you can get a Yamaha 'Z11 for a great price, that would be awesome, as it is a sensational unit.

Here in Australia, there is a special for AUD$6,500.00 for a Yamaha RX-Z11 AND Yamaha Blu-ray Disc Player. This relates to about 3,200-3,500GBP - somewhere there anyway. Absolute bargain!

Dan.

 

[pete321]

dantan:

If you can get a Yamaha 'Z11 for a great price, that would be awesome, as it is a sensational unit.

I don't know whether I'd be paying for a lot of features I won't use with the Z11, if the amplification is far superior to the Z7 then it'd be worth it, good stereo sound is my priority over movies for 1-box solution.

 

[JoelSim]

EvilWolf:
A totally unacceptable situation for a £3.5k piece of equipment! How can Arcam possibly release this product when it clearly has 'bugs' in it, I will never understand.

This was suppossed to be Arcam's big foray back after producing a string of 'not-so-great' products and looks like they've screwed this one up too!

I think that really depends on which magazine's reviews you read, but I do agree the AVR600 should have been tested better.

ÿ

 

[Frank Harvey]

The majority of AV amps have or have had bugs over their life span, it's due to them being heavily software based due to what they have to do.

The AVR600 is an amazing AV amp with extremely good 2 channel performance, with very little competition. If that's not a good enough reason to own one, the fact that Arcam can and will produce firmware updates to overcome bugs is an even bigger plus. Japanese manufacturers will only do this if there is a serious issue - Arcam will do this for niggly little things as well.

Whenever a new feature or addition is made to an AV amp, it produces it's own set of issues and bugs. So if Arcam delayed a products launch because of bugs, by the time it would come round to releasing it, it'd be out of date and need newer features - back to square one.

 

[pete321]

These aren't niggly little things and I fail to believe they didn't show up in testing. £3500 is a hell of a lot of money to me and every time it mucks me about I can't help but remind myself how much money it cost me for the pleasure! Yes, it's a good sounding amp as it should be at the price, but the issues that affect it druing most periods of use overshadow that I'm afraid.

I've been told by the shop that Arcam are confident that firmware release 1.9 will cure the problems (as 1.8 was supposed to) and it's due out soon, if not we've agreed I can get a refund. If it goes to that, there isn't much choice for a good sounding stereo AV amp, don't like Denon, so I guess it would be between the Yamaha Z7 or Z11.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

pete321:

These aren't niggly little things and I fail to believe they didn't show up in testing. £3500 is a hell of a lot of money to me and every time it mucks me about I can't help but remind myself how much money it cost me for the pleasure! Yes, it's a good sounding amp as it should be at the price, but the issues that affect it druing most periods of use overshadow that I'm afraid.

I've been told by the shop that Arcam are confident that firmware release 1.9 will cure the problems (as 1.8 was supposed to) and it's due out soon, if not we've agreed I can get a refund. If it goes to that, there isn't much choice for a good sounding stereo AV amp, don't like Denon, so I guess it would be between the Yamaha Z7 or Z11.

Hi pete321

Yamaha's DSP-Z7 and DSPZ-11 are both stunning AV amplifiers that can punch well above their weight and with the DSP-Z7 imo being the finest vfm AV amp currently on the market.

Btw, I do hope that the current issues that you are experiencing with the AVR600 are resolved asap.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[pete321]

MUSICRAFT:Btw, I do hope that the current issues that you are experiencing with the AVR600 are resolved asap

Thanks for your commiserations.

Have you heard the AVR600 against the Z7? Is there any major difference in stereo performance? Thanks.

 

[iainl2005]

I was considering selling my Z7 and getting the Arcam, think I might just hold off for now, although to be honest the Z7 sounds absolutely stunning and wonder how much better things will sound with the Arcam. I mainly use it for movies and games and dont listen to any music.

I would love to hear some unbiased opinions on someone who has compared them side by side.

 

[pete321]

I think if you've already got an AV amp like the Z7 and don't listen to music, I can't imagine you'd notice a great deal of difference for the extra outlay you'd have to make after selling the Z7. The AVR600 is marketed as AV amp for music lovers, that doesn't really sound like it's the perfect choice for your requirements, albeit that I haven't heard the Z7, most owners seem to give it very good feedback for both music and movies.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

pete321:

MUSICRAFT:Btw, I do hope that the current issues that you are experiencing with the AVR600 are resolved asap

Thanks for your commiserations.

Have you heard the AVR600 against the Z7? Is there any major difference in stereo performance? Thanks.

Hi pete321

Thanks for your post.

The AVR600 has better stereo performance than the DSP-Z7 but i don't think it's (at RRP) worth £1540.00 better.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Frank Harvey]

pete321: I think if you've already got an AV amp like the Z7 and don't listen to music, I can't imagine you'd notice a great deal of difference for the extra outlay you'd have to make after selling the Z7. The AVR600 is marketed as AV amp for music lovers, that doesn't really sound like it's the perfect choice for your requirements, albeit that I haven't heard the Z7, most owners seem to give it very good feedback for both music and movies.You'd still notice a difference with the AVR600, but those just into movies will more than likely go for something like a Z7 or AVR4310. One of the benefits of the Arcam is it's ability to drive demanding speakers and much more expensive speaker packages than an amp in it's price range really should be able to. This is something that amps like the Z7 just cannot match, as good as they are.

 

[pete321]

FrankHarveyHiFi:One of the benefits of the Arcam is it's ability to drive demanding speakers and much more expensive speaker packages than an amp in it's price range really should be able to. This is something that amps like the Z7 just cannot match, as good as they are.

So for my easy to drive Proac Studio 140's, I assume you'd say the Yamaha Z7 wouldn't be a massive step down in music?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi pete321,

Sorry to hear you are having issues with your AVR600 - have you contacted Arcam support and detailed your faults to them?

Regards,

Nick

 

[pete321]

Nickclk: Sorry to hear you are having issues with your AVR600 - have you contacted Arcam support and detailed your faults to them?

Yes, I emailed them about 10 days ago, got an automated reply that someone would contact me and have heard nothing since. Either way, it's not just me, I think a large majority, if not all AVR600 owners are having problems. The shop I purchased it from have been in contact with Arcam at a high level and we've agreed I'll wait a short while for the next firmware, it after that there's still problems I'll be getting a refund.

It would be nice if WHF could add some clout to the AVR600 problems, you don't have to look too far to find there are a number of owners all suffering with the same problems.

 

[Clare Newsome]

It's something we're pursuing, and - stunning though the Arcam's performance is - if we're unsure about the firmware issue being satisfactorily resolved by the time it comes to Awards-judging time, it could have an impact.....