Stick with the old or in with the new?

[admin_exported]

Hi all

We're moving back into our renovated home in a few weeks and while there's going to be a completely new setup in one room (MA in-walls with a Yamaha 767 and Sony 570) we will still have our old Arcam DV88P and AVR200 going through some Castle Harlechs, a Keep centre and a couple of Bose satellites. The TV there is a Sony 46ex503.

So, I was wondering whether keeping the two Arcams is really worth it, what with BluRay players and HDMI-equipped receivers as cheap as chips these days?

All suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks in advance!

 

[kevinJ]

You could always install the old system in a different (kids) room?

At least keep the Castle Harlechs, they are still great speakers.

 

[chris hollands]

I had an Arcam AVR200 and a DVD88PLUS many years ago with a B&W CM surround speaker package and Rel Quake sub and it sounded awesome ,certainly as good as a lot of newer ones that you hear today, i have just sold a Denon Amp with Mission M-Cube setup and the 7 -8 year old Arcam sound system was far superior,and the Picture was superb as well,

Save your money and enjoy what you have.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies.

I suppose it would be a shame not to be able to watch BluRays on that TV though - what would be a good player that could go through the AVR200? It would need analogue outs wouldn't it?

 

[rendu]

Hello, I use a PS3 with my AVR280 and it does not process HD sound. What I do is send the sound via optical to the Arcam and the video via HDMI to the TV. I am not too concerned with HD sound because I believe that the format is only a small piece of the puzzle. You can play CD music in a rubbish system and it will sound worse than an MP3 in a good system. Only for being CD will not sound great if the rest of the system is not good. Having said that I will also considere in the future the possibility to add a blue ray with multichannel output for HD sound.

 

[Anonymous]

My opinion is that the HD formats represent a bigger leap in quality over standard DD or DTS, than the gain in going from SD to HD picture, so my view is that it is the larger piece of the puzzle.

If I where the OP, I would invest in a blu ray player that has analog outputs and take advantage of the new sound formats, I'm sure others will agree.

 

[rendu]

markjaspi:My opinion is that the HD formats represent a bigger leap in quality over standard DD or DTS, than the gain in going from SD to HD picture, so my view is that it is the larger piece of the puzzle. If I where the OP, I would invest in a blu ray player that has analog outputs and take advantage of the new sound formats, I'm sure others will agree.

Yes, I could agree with your statement about HD picture vs HD sound but this is not the point I was trying to make. Which of these 2 systems do you think would sound better for cinema with the same set of speakers?:

1) Onkyo 508 - 300 pound receiver HD capable.

2) Arcam AVR200 - Originally 1000 pound receiver not HD capable?

Without having listned both side to side I would probably vote for the Arcam with normal DTS.

I agree that if he can get a blue-ray with multichanel analog ouput + HDMI then it would be the best as it would have it all.

 

[Anonymous]

What would be a good one to go for then? Something that would take advantage of the Arcam, although old, might be nice.