Which amp is best: Yamaha 3060, Denon 7200 or Arcam 550?

[Deleted member 2457]

Proved the speaker placement and sub placement within your room are the limiting factors.

I wonder who was saying that to you about a year ago..... ??

Yep, you were definitely right and I knew it too I just got a bit blind sided.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

FWIW - YPAO like MCCAC are not that great - Dirac on the other hand is fantastic.

It would be worth getting a home demo of are the arcam 550 - but make sure the person who sets it up Actually knows what they are doing with it. Its very easy to use but you still need half and idea what your looking at

Yep, that's definitely one option, but I will probably keep with my Pioneer now. Did you know Creative Audio are doing the Arcam AVR-850 for £3600? I wonder what they are doing for the Arcam 550?

 

[buzz_lightclick]

I have decided to keep my Pioneer 81, I found the Yamaha very similar too similar. And lacked the special sound of the Pioneer. The Yamaha was only a little smoother and was one powerful beast. Which I didn't like too much.

Did you not like the modern connectivity features like being able to play music on the amp via Bluetooth or AirPlay straight from your iPad?

 

[Q5]

FWIW - YPAO like MCCAC are not that great - Dirac on the other hand is fantastic.

It would be worth getting a home demo of are the arcam 550 - but make sure the person who sets it up Actually knows what they are doing with it. Its very easy to use but you still need half and idea what your looking at

Yep, that's definitely one option, but I will probably keep with my Pioneer now. Did you know Creative Audio are doing the Arcam AVR-850 for £3600? I wonder what they are doing for the Arcam 550?

Where did you see that price.

 

[ellisdj]

£3600 is still a fair chunk for an av receiver.
Better to spend less than that if you can.

 

[bigboss]

I have decided to keep my Pioneer 81, I found the Yamaha very similar too similar.  And lacked the special sound of the Pioneer.  The Yamaha was only a little smoother and was one powerful beast.  Which I didn't like too much.  

So you've just spent £145 for your little experiment (£70 for the loan and £75 for setting it up)?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I have decided to keep my Pioneer 81, I found the Yamaha very similar too similar. And lacked the special sound of the Pioneer. The Yamaha was only a little smoother and was one powerful beast. Which I didn't like too much.

So you've just spent £145 for your little experiment (£70 for the loan and £75 for setting it up)?

£75 in total and it was worth it, how do I know what amps sound like? Saved me £1815. I would definitely do it again.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

FWIW - YPAO like MCCAC are not that great - Dirac on the other hand is fantastic.

It would be worth getting a home demo of are the arcam 550 - but make sure the person who sets it up Actually knows what they are doing with it. Its very easy to use but you still need half and idea what your looking at

Yep, that's definitely one option, but I will probably keep with my Pioneer now. Did you know Creative Audio are doing the Arcam AVR-850 for £3600? I wonder what they are doing for the Arcam 550?

Where did you see that price.

They eventually gave me that price over email. I quoted £4000 from another retailer, they said they can beat that easily! It took a while and they eventually emailed me back with £3600 but you have to pay at the shop. Then of course you probably have to pay someone to set it up.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I have decided to keep my Pioneer 81, I found the Yamaha very similar too similar. And lacked the special sound of the Pioneer. The Yamaha was only a little smoother and was one powerful beast. Which I didn't like too much.

Did you not like the modern connectivity features like being able to play music on the amp via Bluetooth or AirPlay straight from your iPad?

It was very good and the quality was amazing, but I do most of my through the iPad and headphones, I also couldn't search the internet at the same time. Least I have my iPhone the other way around.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

£3600 is still a fair chunk for an av receiver. Better to spend less than that if you can.

Yep, I don't think I will do anything now. It sort of showed me how special my Pioneer was. Not talking down the Yamaha amp it was a beast.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

BTW - if you phone around you can get the Yamaha amp for £1600.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

All gone, Pioneer back setup and a £75 bill. I would definitely recommended a loan to anyone. I think that's it with amps with me now, I sure do wish I bought the Susano from Frank Harvey though, but you live and learn and all that. Pioneer amps are definitely for me. I won't buy the 901 though as I don't believe there will be a change in sound. Nik did say about the Arcam Avr-850 but I don't think I will like that sound either and I can't say I am not too worried about finding out about it.

 

[ellisdj]

Right thing done - itch scracthed and money actually saved even though spent.

However to give up on improving the sound of a home cinema system I think is a mistake - thats still a great goal.

But it needs to be done properly - you cant half ass it with sound - it wont let you get away with it.

 

[Series1boy]

You could demo in a shop for free if they had your speakers..

 

[Deleted member 2457]

You could demo in a shop for free if they had your speakers..

Discontinued now. And all I ever heard them with was Pioneer amps, the Yamaha amp was a bit of an experience for me.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Right thing done - itch scracthed and money actually saved even though spent.

However to give up on improving the sound of a home cinema system I think is a mistake - thats still a great goal.

But it needs to be done properly - you cant half ass it with sound - it wont let you get away with it.

Yep, definitely. This is how I should always buy stuff.

me and Nik did mention the Susano again before he left.

 

[buzz_lightclick]

Right thing done - itch scracthed and money actually saved even though spent.

However to give up on improving the sound of a home cinema system I think is a mistake - thats still a great goal.

But it needs to be done properly - you cant half ass it with sound - it wont let you get away with it.

Yep, definitely. This is how I should always buy stuff. me and Nik did mention the Susano again before he left.

I'm not sure you'd notice a difference with the Susano with your speakers? It's basically a more powerful version of your amp.

Confused as to how the experiment only cost you £75. Wasn't that the setup fee? What about the loan fee, or did you just buy the amp online then return within the period allowed under distance selling regulations for full refund?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Right thing done - itch scracthed and money actually saved even though spent.

However to give up on improving the sound of a home cinema system I think is a mistake - thats still a great goal.

But it needs to be done properly - you cant half ass it with sound - it wont let you get away with it.

Yep, definitely. This is how I should always buy stuff. me and Nik did mention the Susano again before he left.

I'm not sure you'd notice a difference with the Susano with your speakers? It's basically a more powerful version of your amp.

Confused as to how the experiment only cost you £75. Wasn't that the setup fee? What about the loan fee, or did you just buy the amp online then return within the period allowed under distance selling regulations for full refund?

The Arcam was free setup if I bought it from them. But Nik said he would charge me £70 for the setup and loan. Frank Harvey said all it would cost me was the. Return postage so I could have had it cheaper and charge me £300 less for the amp but I wanted it setup too. I could post a picture of the receipt if you like?

 

[buzz_lightclick]

Right thing done - itch scracthed and money actually saved even though spent.

However to give up on improving the sound of a home cinema system I think is a mistake - thats still a great goal.

But it needs to be done properly - you cant half ass it with sound - it wont let you get away with it.

Yep, definitely. This is how I should always buy stuff. me and Nik did mention the Susano again before he left.

I'm not sure you'd notice a difference with the Susano with your speakers? It's basically a more powerful version of your amp.

Confused as to how the experiment only cost you £75. Wasn't that the setup fee? What about the loan fee, or did you just buy the amp online then return within the period allowed under distance selling regulations for full refund?

The Arcam was free setup if I bought it from them. But Nik said he would charge me £70 for the setup and loan. Frank Harvey said all it would cost me was the. Return postage so I could have had it cheaper and charge me £300 less for the amp but I wanted it setup too. I could post a picture of the receipt if you like?

Lol, you just made it sound like the loan fee and setup fee were two separate things before. £70 for setup and loan isn't bad, at least you know what the amp sounds like now!

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Right thing done - itch scracthed and money actually saved even though spent.

However to give up on improving the sound of a home cinema system I think is a mistake - thats still a great goal.

But it needs to be done properly - you cant half ass it with sound - it wont let you get away with it.

Yep, definitely. This is how I should always buy stuff. me and Nik did mention the Susano again before he left.

I'm not sure you'd notice a difference with the Susano with your speakers? It's basically a more powerful version of your amp.

Confused as to how the experiment only cost you £75. Wasn't that the setup fee? What about the loan fee, or did you just buy the amp online then return within the period allowed under distance selling regulations for full refund?

The Arcam was free setup if I bought it from them. But Nik said he would charge me £70 for the setup and loan. Frank Harvey said all it would cost me was the. Return postage so I could have had it cheaper and charge me £300 less for the amp but I wanted it setup too. I could post a picture of the receipt if you like?

Lol, you just made it sound like the loan fee and setup fee were two separate things before. £70 for setup and loan isn't bad, at least you know what the amp sounds like now!

Yep, I a very pleased all in all. The receipt just says installation cost so perhaps the loan and installation fee was all in one. Or he just set it up for free. Who knows?

 

[Andrewjvt]

Right thing done - itch scracthed and money actually saved even though spent.

However to give up on improving the sound of a home cinema system I think is a mistake - thats still a great goal.

But it needs to be done properly - you cant half ass it with sound - it wont let you get away with it.

What av pre amp do you have?
Regards

 

[ellisdj]

Hi Andrew

Its a Meridian 861 V4 with a Linear Power Supply (thats an upgrade when V8 came out)

You then have to have Meridian HD621 for high def soundtracks like dts master audio and Dolby true hd.

 

[Andrewjvt]

Hi Andrew

Its a Meridian 861 V4 with a Linear Power Supply (thats an upgrade when V8 came out)

You then have to have Meridian HD621 for high def soundtracks like dts master audio and Dolby true hd.

Thanks for the info - I enjoy doing research on this sort of thing

 

[ellisdj]

Are you looking to get an AV processor?

 

[Andrewjvt]

Are you looking to get an AV processor?

Hi

Yes i am going to get one.
I watched skull island in an empty theatre and those jbls really kicked out some serious sound