Kef E305 and Arcam AVR360

[jbill]

Hi all,

I have a budget of about £1500 to spend on a receiver and speaker setup. It needs to be of the smaller sub/sat variety because of the better half and I have been reading reviews of QAcoustics Q7000, Mass B & W MT50 and Kef E305. I had anticipated getting one of these along with a fairly reasonable receiver from Onkyo, Sony, Pioneer or Yamaha probably costing less than £500 maybe one of last years models.

I visited a well know high street chain to have a look at some of these and have been advised that they have a good deal on the Arcam 360 receiver. £750 plus £150 pounds off a speaker package. Their advice was that the Arcam would sound significantly better than one of the more obvious brands and although it lacks some of the new fangled bells and whistles such as Spotify, airplay etc it makes up for it in its sound.

Now I have a separate hifi system with an Arcam amp and cd player, Systemdek turntable and Monitor Audio BR1 speakers which I will continue to use (unless an av receiver and speaker package would give me a better sound) and i also have a Sonos Play 3 that I use for streaming in different rooms, so I dont really need the extra functionalities on theses receivers although they would be nice!

My question is therefore, is the Arcam that much better then the Sony's and Onkyo's of this world and does anyone think the combo of Kef E305 and Arcam 360 would be a good one? I am going to audition them on Monday along with Monitor Audio Radius speakers but just trying to gather some info before I go. `I gather it is also better to bypass the Arcam's video processing as this is not its strong point. Upscaling would be better handled by my Panny bluray or Panny GT30 tv?

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

 

[CnoEvil]

I prefer Arcam......now you need to see if you do. We all have different preferences.

 

[themovierooms]

Hi all,

I have a budget of about £1500 to spend on a receiver and speaker setup. It needs to be of the smaller sub/sat variety because of the better half and I have been reading reviews of QAcoustics Q7000, Mass B & W MT50 and Kef E305. I had anticipated getting one of these along with a fairly reasonable receiver from Onkyo, Sony, Pioneer or Yamaha probably costing less than £500 maybe one of last years models.

I visited a well know high street chain to have a look at some of these and have been advised that they have a good deal on the Arcam 360 receiver. £750 plus £150 pounds off a speaker package. Their advice was that the Arcam would sound significantly better than one of the more obvious brands and although it lacks some of the new fangled bells and whistles such as Spotify, airplay etc it makes up for it in its sound.

Now I have a separate hifi system with an Arcam amp and cd player, Systemdek turntable and Monitor Audio BR1 speakers which I will continue to use (unless an av receiver and speaker package would give me a better sound) and i also have a Sonos Play 3 that I use for streaming in different rooms, so I dont really need the extra functionalities on theses receivers although they would be nice!

My question is therefore, is the Arcam that much better then the Sony's and Onkyo's of this world and does anyone think the combo of Kef E305 and Arcam 360 would be a good one? I am going to audition them on Monday along with Monitor Audio Radius speakers but just trying to gather some info before I go. `I gather it is also better to bypass the Arcam's video processing as this is not its strong point. Upscaling would be better handled by my Panny bluray or Panny GT30 tv?

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Yes, this should sound pretty good and should be a strong combination. There are deals on AVR400's out there as well which is a much better sounding amplifier than the 360. I would hazard a guess that with a bit of negotiation this would also be in your price range.

With regards the video scaler, probably best to test it by turning it off to see if you can see a discernable difference.

 

[Leeps]

FWIW I'm extremely happy with the balance of my Pioneer / Radius set-up. There are some stonking deals around at the moment too with the Radius speakers. I've also seen the successors to my receiver (the Sc-2022) at around £400 to £500 (original RRP £800!).

I can recommend the Pioneer for its speed and attack and with my Radius speakers, top-notch for music duties too. The iOS AV control app is fantastic, making it child's play to adjust set-up options and use Internet radio. If you do demo the Radius speakers, just be mindful that the tweeters sound less bright after a few months use and to my taste at least offer a perfect balance. If your budget can consider it, I'd also really recommend you audition the Radius R270HD floorstanders for front left & right duties. They offer a notably more fluid fulsome midrange than the R90HD satellites. Again, these are highly discounted at the mo making these excellent VFM.

You could always get the standard Radius HD10 system first, then as & when the budget permits, add the R270HD's later then use the leftover R90HD's for front-height or extra surround speakers.

Arcam users may be able to offer more advice, but I remember reading about quite a number of glitches with their receivers on forums which put me off considering them. I can't think of much more of a let-down after spending hundreds on a new system only to discover that it doesn't work consistently.

Having said all the above though, you must please your ears (& wallet), not mine! Remember when you demo to take a good supply of familiar music as it can show up weaknesses in a system more readily than some movie soundtracks.

Hope your demo goes well and do feedback your thoughts as these are always helpful to other forum readers.

 

[jbill]

Thanks for the replies and comments, I know its hard to ask for opinions on what is after all quite a subjective experience.

I'm really interested to hear the different setups and will definitely post back with my thoughts afterwards.

 

[themovierooms]

Arcam users may be able to offer more advice, but I remember reading about quite a number of glitches with their receivers on forums which put me off considering them. I can't think of much more of a let-down after spending hundreds on a new system only to discover that it doesn't work consistently.

After a long winded conversation with Arcam last week I can confirm that the new range have had a complete overhaul. My understanding is they don’t bear any resemblance other than the outer jacket to the older models.

 

[themovierooms]

Thanks for the replies and comments, I know its hard to ask for opinions on what is after all quite a subjective experience.

I'm really interested to hear the different setups and will definitely post back with my thoughts afterwards.

Indeed, looking forward to hearing your comments.

 

[Leeps]

Daniel said...

After a long winded conversation with Arcam last week I can confirm that the new range have had a complete overhaul. My understanding is they don’t bear any resemblance other than the outer jacket to the older models.
__________________

Daniel @ The Movie Rooms, Edinburgh.[/b]

That's not always a positive thing in electronics. The path chosen by so many manufacturers nowadays is release the new product onto the marketplace ASAP to let the punters figure out what all the bugs are to be sorted (hopefully) by numerous subsequent downloaded updates later. The more under the skin that's new, the smaller number of proven components there will be.

Arcam (& FWIW Cambridge) are really good at making stereo products; they've refined them over many years. But I'm of the opinion that AV receivers require a big budget R&D department to get their products working reliably, and even then there aren't any guarantees (Onkyo). I'd love to buy an Arcam (or Cambridge, as I've had many years reliable service from their CD, stereo amp, DAB etc) and I'd freely admit that when they work, their receivers probably have the edge on stereo sound. Indeed I listened to an Arcam receiver a couple of weeks ago driving my old Ruark Epilogue II's and was impressed with its timing and rhythm in stereo, but I just can't see me handing over the money for one.

I may just be over-cautious, but there seem to be a lot of happy Pioneer & Yamaha receiver owners out there (including me). I'm perfectly willing to be proved wrong by any Arcam AV owners out there!

 

[CnoEvil]

I may just be over-cautious, but there seem to be a lot of happy Pioneer & Yamaha receiver owners out there (including me). I'm perfectly willing to be proved wrong by any Arcam AV owners out there!

I'm an Arcam owner that doesn't want to prove anyone wrong.......IMO. people should listen to the alternatives and then make the right choice (for them).

 

[Leeps]

Sorry CnoEvil, I don't think I was clear enough there. The comment you quoted was really referring to the reliability aspect more than sound quality. I quite agree with you that in the sound quality department people need to demo and please their own ears, but I was hoping that reliability-wise there might be some happy Arcam AV receiver owners out there who could vouch for their quality and glitch-free use.

 

[CnoEvil]

Sorry CnoEvil, I don't think I was clear enough there. The comment you quoted was really referring to the reliability aspect more than sound quality. I quite agree with you that in the sound quality department people need to demo and please their own ears, but I was hoping that reliability-wise there might be some happy Arcam AV receiver owners out there who could vouch for their quality and glitch-free use.

No need to be sorry, as I picked you up wrong.

The past models are greatly improved, but not totally free of glitches. The new range is yet to be proved, but they should have learned enough to get it right this time......but we'll see.

My dealer had an AVR750 for a short while, and his opinon was that it did indeed improve on the AVR600, in precision, detail and control.....which is remarkable if it's true.

 

[themovierooms]

Sorry CnoEvil, I don't think I was clear enough there. The comment you quoted was really referring to the reliability aspect more than sound quality. I quite agree with you that in the sound quality department people need to demo and please their own ears, but I was hoping that reliability-wise there might be some happy Arcam AV receiver owners out there who could vouch for their quality and glitch-free use.

No need to be sorry, as I picked you up wrong.

The past models are greatly improved, but not totally free of glitches. The new range is yet to be proved, but they should have learned enough to get it right this time......but we'll see.

My dealer had an AVR750 for a short while, and his opinon was that it did indeed improve on the AVR600, in precision, detail and control.....which is remarkable if it's true.

I guess my point is that they have learned, as they assured me.

The 750 we have on demo is also staggeringly good.................

 

[jbill]

So I had an interesting test this week. The Kef 305 and Arcam combo sounded absolutely amazing. It was subtle and so musical. I had earlier tested the Cambridge Audio Minx S325 5.1 and hated it. I suspect it wasnt balanced very well but the bass was so overpowering it was like everything was coming from the sub, this was with an Onkyo amp.

With the Kef system I had to look around the room to find out where the sub was, it all just blended beautifully. I demo'd some scenes I knew well such as the opening to Blade Runner and the effects and detail were great and the music sounded fantatstic. Then the guy at the shop used a scene from Tron legacy to demo, a scene I later repeated at home so that I could hear what detail was being picked up that I had never heard before! Lovely.

I also tried a lot of music and I was incredibly impressed. It sounded better than my seperate hifi system, mainly because of the small BR1's I have I suppose. Realistically I am not going to get bigger speakers there and I am now tempted to have just one system and plug my cd player (or get a nice universal disc player such as Marantz 7007) and get a Phono stage and streamer and put everything through the Arcam 360 and the Kef's, it really was that lovely.

I have subsequently tried the Mass 5.1 system which was good but not as smooth sounding as the Kef's. I haven't tried the Radius speakers, mainly because I don't think I can persuade my wife to go with them as opposed to the smaller more design conscious Kef's.

All in all a good experience.

 

[CnoEvil]

This is exactly why I like Arcam......and it's synergy with Kef.

 

[themovierooms]

So I had an interesting test this week. The Kef 305 and Arcam combo sounded absolutely amazing. It was subtle and so musical. I had earlier tested the Cambridge Audio Minx S325 5.1 and hated it. I suspect it wasnt balanced very well but the bass was so overpowering it was like everything was coming from the sub, this was with an Onkyo amp.

With the Kef system I had to look around the room to find out where the sub was, it all just blended beautifully. I demo'd some scenes I knew well such as the opening to Blade Runner and the effects and detail were great and the music sounded fantatstic. Then the guy at the shop used a scene from Tron legacy to demo, a scene I later repeated at home so that I could hear what detail was being picked up that I had never heard before! Lovely.

I also tried a lot of music and I was incredibly impressed. It sounded better than my seperate hifi system, mainly because of the small BR1's I have I suppose. Realistically I am not going to get bigger speakers there and I am now tempted to have just one system and plug my cd player (or get a nice universal disc player such as Marantz 7007) and get a Phono stage and streamer and put everything through the Arcam 360 and the Kef's, it really was that lovely.

I have subsequently tried the Mass 5.1 system which was good but not as smooth sounding as the Kef's. I haven't tried the Radius speakers, mainly because I don't think I can persuade my wife to go with them as opposed to the smaller more design conscious Kef's.

All in all a good experience.

Great stuff, nice to hear your had a positive experience in the demo.

 

[Leeps]

Glad you found something you're happy with. Enjoy!

 

[Gingerone]

So I had an interesting test this week. The Kef 305 and Arcam combo sounded absolutely amazing. It was subtle and so musical. I had earlier tested the Cambridge Audio Minx S325 5.1 and hated it. I suspect it wasnt balanced very well but the bass was so overpowering it was like everything was coming from the sub, this was with an Onkyo amp.

With the Kef system I had to look around the room to find out where the sub was, it all just blended beautifully. I demo'd some scenes I knew well such as the opening to Blade Runner and the effects and detail were great and the music sounded fantatstic. Then the guy at the shop used a scene from Tron legacy to demo, a scene I later repeated at home so that I could hear what detail was being picked up that I had never heard before! Lovely.

I also tried a lot of music and I was incredibly impressed. It sounded better than my seperate hifi system, mainly because of the small BR1's I have I suppose. Realistically I am not going to get bigger speakers there and I am now tempted to have just one system and plug my cd player (or get a nice universal disc player such as Marantz 7007) and get a Phono stage and streamer and put everything through the Arcam 360 and the Kef's, it really was that lovely.

I have subsequently tried the Mass 5.1 system which was good but not as smooth sounding as the Kef's. I haven't tried the Radius speakers, mainly because I don't think I can persuade my wife to go with them as opposed to the smaller more design conscious Kef's.

All in all a good experience.

Sounds very much like my thoughts when I had a demo of the e305 package, very very impressed with it.

Although the sub is not going to rattle anyones teeth out with it's depth, the way it intergrates with the speakers is awesome and makes it sound like you are listening to large speakers.

At first I was convinced that the floostanders where playing and not the kef's.

The arcam looks great but I need a slimline receiver like Marantz nr1604 to fit into my living room.