Official Arcam AV888 Owner's Thread! - Page 6

loaded question here, but would you have preferred something like an integrated Audyssey implementation over Arcam's Sharc implemtation?

No comment.

Eleven days have gone by and still no comments on the Arcam AV888. After all the excitement, what really going on. Arcam sent an e-mail to me which stated that "we have just shipped the first batch". I hope it gets here soon.

Does the AV888 accept DSD over HDMI?

No.

Did you already compared the AV888 against the Primare SP32?

I have been told by Arcam that the 888 would be great for me since I own B&W 802s, among other speakers. I have at present Arcam P7 and P8. I am very anxious to hear how great the 888 is when you have had a chance to test it against other pre-pros. Thank you.

Ive been running 1.9 on an 888 and 2x600s for a week now. Ive had no high volume cracks or pops in that time. The units have been operated very intensely and would have shown a number of cracks with this sort of usage with previous OS version.

Yesterday I decided to to a torture test on the big actives. We achieved 129 db@2m. I backed the gain off to a nominal 120db at the seating position (way, way too loud for comfort) and ran a high number of audio files and radio stations. No cracks at all. A large number of source changes were also carried out (BD, HD-DVD, HD-TV, K-Scape, Sonos etc), again with no big cracks.

Hi CM,

Are you double posting here because of the echo from the 129db??? ;-)

Thank you very much

Fury

Ooops.

Hi guys!

I still would be very interested to hear about some more comparison between AV888 and Anthem D2v. Must admit I was somewhat surprised reading in this thread that Anthem wouldn't sound proper enough for a 2ch music experience.

Though I do not own Arcam or Anthem, and though virtually impossible for me to audition any of them ever over here in Sweden since there are no dealers auditioning High End products unless you actually buy and pay for them first (with no means to return them back later and getting your money back if unsatisfied), still all I've heard and read about Anthem have simply convinced me of it being superior to everything else out there in pre/pro segment related to HT-specific gengre.

Is there anyone else here who actually have a direct A/B comparison experience between the two?!
Also, what DSP chip does Arcam use for its videoprocessing? I can not imagine that there would be anything finer than Anthem's sigma VXP... also Anthem seems to be able to offer more options for loudspeaker signal tweaking along with ARC which everybody praise. Not to mention 8 HDMI:s and so on.

So unless Arcam AV888 offers a substantially SUPERIOR 2ch music quality and capability, I wonder what other pros Arcam might carry over Anthem D2v.


Cheers
/B.

I read mostly similair comments as well. Although the 2ch aspect seems to vary between the various popular separate brand/model pre-pro's.

But the video-processing function on the Anthem (D2V and AVM-50V) is supposed to be exceptionally good.

Actually you're completely correct. My bad... you're right on about 2ch music quality which is probably the only aspect which has been subject to discuss concerning Anthem.
One would also want to add Denon AVP in the same category... on the other hand none of the gears would surpass Anthem video-wise.

To be honest I have been leaning strongly towards Anthems D2v2 lately.
I have been putting things off though partially because I wanted to wait and see what became of Arcam. Since my main purpose for my first high-end gear will be movie watching and not primarily 2ch music listening, then I think I'll rule out all other competition for now and go for Anthem D2v2.

Upon setting up a 2ch musis system only, I believe there should be other alternatives more suited for music listening alone compared to Arcam. On the other hand, Arcam AV888 should be a great piece to own if one would like to combine the best combination of both worlds.

I am going to comment on the Anthem, and don't or hope not to get any feedback against me from the 2-channel affecionados. I have the AVM50v. I love music and HT. If you have more than a stereo setup you are going to need some room correction software. ARC is amazing. You can fiddle with parametric eq all you want on a 5 or 7 channel setup but the human ear and brain just can't process all that. Back to my comment that I wanted to make-Music. I like hearing my 2 channel music matrixed to my surround speakers (I have a 7.1 system) I enjoy the Anthem Logic Music processing (also Anthem and all the other ssp manufacturers have Dolby PLIIx as well). If you have a decent room and good surround speakers the Anthem processing still allows the front L&R mains to do all the heavy work, but fills out the room with some back channel music. Of course there is a growing list of DVD-A and SACD multichannel recordings too that can take advantage of > than a 2-channel system. I don't mean to knock 2-channel, but it is just my personal preference to "fill" the room. I do switch back and forth depending on the recording, but I like the option. If you prefer 2-channel you should just get a separate video processor and a 2-channel preamp. The Arcam 888 and Anthem are called surround sound processors for a reason. Just my 2-cents!

Well said. I'm a 2ch guy myself and the closest a surround processor has come to a dedicated 2ch pre in SQ was the Proceed AVP I had long ago. Had many after that including the Citation 7.0, Lexicon MC12/MC8, Krell S1000, Cary 11A... none is as good as a 2ch pre with music.

I do agree. It's just that having a surround processor would offer a little bit more flexibility should one later choose to favor even more music listening. I think it's a good start getting a surround processor first.

One question BTW... even though I get WAY OT here by bringing up a discussion about Anthem in a Arcam thread! But I promise this will be that last thing I mention about Anthem here.

I know that LPCM audio can be handled for up to 7.1 channels at up to 192KHz/24 bit in D2v2. As for analog multichannel audio input, is it the same or just 5.1? Does Arcam handle up to 7.1 channels as well?

As of lately I have not read many comments of the performance of the AV888? How is the two channel listening and is it all that was expected. Use to love my AV9 and was wondering if the AV888 stood up to or surpassed the AV9 in two channel and also the performance of HT. Are you happy with the AV888 and why? Thanks

CM,

How would you compare the 888 to the AVR600 as a prepro?


Mike

Hello, sorry I haven't gotten back ... I've been so busy lately. I did compare the Primare SP32 and Arcam AV888. I used a Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Concert Grands, Maestro Grand, Waltz Grand for rears, and a REL B1 subwoofer. I used a Primare A30.5 5-channel amplifier, which puts out 200WPC at 8ohms, with unbalanced cables. A Pioneer BDP09FD and Arcam CD37 were my sources (note: the Primare does not decode lossless audio, so I set the Pioneer to PCM via HDMI. I did let the Pioneer decode the audio for the Arcam at first but it wasn't as good as letting the Arcam decode it).

I think both pieces sounded great; overall the Arcam had the edge, especially at louder volumes. The system through the Primare sounded like it had a little bit of "glare" to the sound, whereas the Arcam sounded very refined, even when cranking the volume. It was a natural sound that sounded to me more like film and real music.

I did notice to that to get the volume cranking on the Arcam, volume is set to 65 versus 50 on the Primare, which may or may not say much. The primare seemed to have a little more going on at lower volumes, but once the volume is turned up on the Arcam, the sound really opens up. 2-channel analog was about dead even at moderate level; both offer an analog bypass mode for CD players.

While the Primare SP32 is $5K versus $6900 for Arcam, the Arcam does have it smoked on features. Two HDMI outputs and five inputs, versus one out, three in on the Primare. The Arcam can decode the lossless formats, the Primare cannot. Plus the Arcam has auto calibration and a decent built-in scalar; the Primare does not even transcode through HDMI. Also to get the on-screen menu on Primare, you have to run Component video! If you could get past the features and use an SPL meter to calibrate your audio, you'd get a heck of a processor from Primare. I do like how you can specifiy different crossovers for each speaker in the system on the Primare.

The built quality is very nice on both, but the Primare does look and feel more upscale. Both achieve a simple yet spartan approach, but the text is larger on Primare's display and I prefer the turn knob versus the push buttons on the Arcam. I have to say that the Primare has been very solid too albeit because of the lack of feature, though so far the latest firmware for AV888 has been good. Supposedly the Primare will have an A/V board soon adding lossless decoding and a video scalar which will put it about the same price as the AV888 but personally, if you have a good blu-ray player like a Pioneer or Oppo, you could let the player decode it. Plus, I personally could care less about a scalar since my sources are good (AT&T U-Verse, Vudu, XBOX360, blu-ray) but if you have a DVD or legacy sources, you may fair better with the Arcam.

All in all both are nice, but in the end the Arcam was the more "refined" sounding piece for home theater and kills the Primare on features making it our go to piece. Get past the features and the Primare holds its own. With good sources, it sounds nice and it doesn't murder analog sources with bad audio. Some of our customers don't care about the gadgets per se but want good sound and the Primare fits the bill. For a bit more, you can have even better sound and get all the bells and whistles to boot from Arcam.

By the way, I did go back and compare the Primare SP32 w/ A30.5 and Arcam AV888 w/ P777 ... the Arcam amplifier really outpaced the Primare A30.5. It had so much more control, especially at louder volumes than the Primare. It sounded much more powerful. The driver control was so good in fact, while watching Live Free Die Hard during the apartment shootout scene, I could feel wisps of air from all the speakers! The center speaker grill even flew off! The Arcam was just great; on the Viennas the Arcam simply was the better sounding stack.

I hope this helps ... if you have any more questions, please feel free to PM me.

COMPLETELY OFF TOPIC POST


No, it has a scaler, a device which changes scaled parameters. A scalar is, to quote Wikipedia: "In physics, a scalar is a simple physical quantity that is not changed by coordinate system rotations or translations (in Newtonian mechanics), or by Lorentz transformations or space-time translations (in relativity). (Contrast to vector.)"

Also according to Wikipedia (for my convenience): "Scaler may also refer to a tool used in tooth scaling, or a Video scaler. Not to be confused with scalar (a mathematical term)."

Sorry to take off like this but, probably due to my math/science schooling, it bugs me.

Now, back to the AV888: I pretty much agree with you.

Now the 888 and its interested audiophiles seem to have disappeared altogether. Surely, there must be some news about it even here in the colonies.

Adidino,

Is that you selling your AV888 on Audiogon? What are you moving on to?

Abandon ship, abandon ship......

I may well have missed this, but has anyone had a chance to compare the av888 with avr600...?

Thanks addino,
Although I have been lurking for some time and not involved in discussions, I have to say I really appreciate your input in these forums. It seems you have spent time with a LOT of processors, and it helps to have someone with experience. Well, off to demo the Arcam 888 / 600 ....

Listened to the 888 and 600 both hooked up to P777, speakers were Vienna Acoustics front and surrounds, and REL sub I believe. Sources were Arcam CD37 for CD, Pioneer 09 for blueray. We listened to single ended (non-balanced) RCA and HDMI. Both pre-pros were amazing. However, the AV888 was better. At times, there was a clear audible difference in a specific movie effect or instrumental element. What sold it for me, however, was the visceral effect. The AV888 moved me in ways the AVR600 didn't. In fact, we had planned on comparisons with other processors, but I was so impressed by both, and more so with the AV888, that I didn't feel the need. My wife noted that the processor seemed "like you were there."
So ... AV888 is on order!