Broken AVR250 - Repair or Replace?

[scene]

OK, my Arcam AVR250 is broken. It doesn't work at all - as in I turn it on and it freezes; buttons don't work; volume control unresponsive; no sound output. It does s work if I use the stereo direct override, so I fear that the DSP board is defunct. (I've tried a factory reset, to no avail - all I haven't tried is a bit of percussive maintenance

.)

Now I've had the Arcam since new, so it cost me the best part of £1,000. I'm a little short of funds at the moment, having just acquired a KRP500A

so I'm not sure I've got the funds to stretch to that just at the moment.

The question is, do I repair or replace? I'm guessing that the repair is going to be of the order of £200-300 (anyone got a better idea of the price?)

I was looking forward to watching lots of my DVDs on the Kuro with glorious surround sound over the Christmas break, and my plans have been slightly derailed...

Help!

 

[John Duncan]

First thing's first - have you spoken to Arcam? Their support contact mail is support@arcam.co.uk.

 

[scene]

Thanks John,

I emailed them Friday lunchtime and haven't had a reply yet...

The background to this is that the sound kept cutting out and freezing. Turning it off (for a while) and back on again seemed to fix it. Then nothing worked, no matter how long I left it. Other people who have had problems similar to this with Arcam AVR250/280/350s, with no digital processing + frozen + analogue working (stereo direct) have had to have the DSP board replaced. So I fear I am in that boat and my amp is way out of warranty...

 

[John Duncan]

Agreed, but 1) what a warranty says and what your legal rights are are not always the same thing and b) this is not exactly a disposable item, so is absolutely worth investigating repair.

 

[scene]

Agreed. I am investigating repair. After many years of loyal service an ex-warranty repair is all I can hope for. And I'm pretty sure the cost will be a few hundred pounds. The question is, do I stick with my Arcam, or do I get something newer, with newer features and sadly lay my loyal AVR600 to rest

 

[scene]

I've chatted with my local Arcam dealer and they say it sounds like the DSP board (from the symptoms). Replacement costs: £230.

I think I will be getting the amp's box out of the attic and sending it off for surgery as soon as I get a chance - I want it back for Christmas!

I'll save the money for a blu-ray player to keep it company... bdp-s760 is in the frame - award winner with multi-channel out, which is a must for the Arcam.