Yamaha Z11 or Arcam 600

[admin_exported]

I am just finishing a home demo of Yamaha Z11 which I have been offered for £3300.00 as an ex-dem

It was very difficult to set up and the auto setup is useless in my view as it cut all high frequencies on my left channel on one EQ setting, and all low frequencies on another EQ setting which took ages to discover as I initially thought my speaker was faulty then I tought it was the amp.

I have it working fine now and it is very good , just needs some fine tuning on EQ but before I purchase.

What would members views be between the two amps?

The only shorfall I see with the Arcam is if you bi-amp ,which I do, you are then reduced to a 5.1 amp

looking forward to your comments

Regards

Andy

 

[d4v3pum4]

Lucky you! What speakers are you driving? If you are going to use the system with music, the Arcam would be the pick for me but numerous owners are reporting bugs. Sorry but I wouldn't spend £3.5k on an amp unless it was perfect and tbh, if my budget was that big, I would be looking at separates.

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

The Z11 is an amazing bit of kit, very versatile and a first class sound. As you have found out it takes a bit of setting up, I am surprised your dealer didnt handle this for you.

I have always found the eq to be very good and the results close to bang on everytime. It does depend on your room though and even the best stand alone EQ cant solve the problems in the worst of rooms. Your results are slightly unusual, are your speakers on the wall on on the floor in corners?

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

Infinity Kappa 80s 1 meter from wall to back of speaker away from corneres.

I adjusted the EQ settings to match the right hand speaker which cured my setup problems but there is an audible difference between the two speakers when I run my DVE demo disc (Stereo demo), how do you setup EQ manually as I am not sure what the variables actually do?

 

[Anonymous]

Disappoined to hear about bugs,wouldn't have expected that from ARCAM so 2 points against going for that one.

Thanks for the reply

Andy

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

lesmor:

Infinity Kappa 80s 1 meter from wall to back of speaker away from corneres.

I adjusted the EQ settings to match the right hand speaker which cured my setup problems but there is an audible difference between the two speakers when I run my DVE demo disc (Stereo demo), how do you setup EQ manually as I am not sure what the variables actually do?

Something doesnt sound right there. I would get your dealer to have a look at the overall set up and your Z11 settings.

Nick

 

[Frank Harvey]

Most amplifiers will revert to a 5.1 system when bi-amping the front speakers, as they are 7 channel amplifier. The reason the Yamaha can do it is that it has 11 channels, so has spare amplification to bi-amp and still do 7.1. But this 'problem' isn't the be all and end all - the AVR600's amplification is good enough for the likes of KEF Reference, Monitor Audio Platinums etc etc, so bi-amping isn't a necessity.

Yamaha's are pretty simple to get up and running out of the box, but can be as complex as you want them to be. A little time reading the manual and liaising with your dealer should get most things sorted pretty quickly.

 

[ALTANPSX]

I did not try Arcam, and it looks good, but I tried Yamaha. Movie performance as good as it can be, 5 star rating. For 2 channel performance, I had some doubts, untill I hear it. It was better then good. Like I said I did not listened Arcam, but depending on my experience with Yamaha, I can easily recommend.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all respondends your views are appreciated,why is Home cinema so complecated seems like everyone buys there kit is happy till they are used to the sound then looks to upgrade dealers must love us.

Anyway thread closed

Regards

Andy