[JBNY]

There is not much out on this amp. I picked mine up from the dealer on Friday and thought I would post my thoughts.


My old amp was a 5 channel Nakamichi PA1 100-watt/channel amp. I was very satisfied with the sound and quality of this amp. Unfortunately a lighting strike rendered it a paper weight so a new amp was needed.


In a nutshell. The P1000, great soundstage, lots of power when needed. Music and movies have a very good presence, meaning sound is large with lots of bass, midrange and highs.


Amplifiers are tough to describe so I'll try and write a few words that can help out others looking at this amp since it is so new. Music sounds very natural. Good overall sound across the whole frequency, no area sounded strained or lacking. Soundstage was very large and dynamics are very good. To me this is a very musical sounding amp.


Home theater. Here is where I noticed the largest difference. The overall presence was just so much more expansive than I was used to. I was really impresspresed and happy with the sound put out by this amp. It seemed that with the few demo materials I threw at it, SW1, Matrix, LOTR that the P1000 was able to drive all channels to really high levels without straining or sounding harsh at all. Material sounded just as good at -10db (that's as high as I had it) from reference as it did at lower levels. IMO this amp does an amazing job with home theater.


I know it's hard to quantify how good an amplifier is, but my overall impression is this a very good quality and solid amplifier. I am very happy with this purchase and would recommend it if you are looking for a multi-channel amp in the $2000 price range.


Associated equipment.

Amp. Arcam P1000

Pre-amp/processor: B&K Ref30

CD: Arcam CD72

DVD: IO-Data LinkPlayer2

Sat receiver: DirecTV R10

Display: Mitsubishi : VS-60703 (older RPTV, need to fix that )

Sub: SVS SB12-Ultra

Main Speakers: Von Schweikert VR4.5

Center Channel: Von Schweikert LCR-15

Rear channels: DefTech UIW

Interconnect and cables: Audioquest


-Joe

 

[gostan]

Congrats on the new amp. I understand that this little brother of the FMJ P7 is no w available for sale. I have yet to find one available to listen to. How efficient (or inefficient are your Von Schweikert and DEf Tech speakers? The P1000 is supposed to use the same amp modules as its' big brother FMJ P7, without the second poroidal power supply.

Good Luck and sweet listening!

 

[JBNY]

Thanks! I was surprised when I got the call that the amp was in. I didn't expect to receive it for at least a few more weeks.


The Von Schweikert VR4.5 is 90dB @ 1 watt, 1 meter. The LCR-15 is 87.5 dB @ one watt/one meter. I can't find the specs on the DefTech but I think it's about 88 dB @ one watt/one meter.

 

[Hifi addict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cnidaria Thanks! I was surprised when I got the call that the amp was in. I didn't expect to receive it for at least a few more weeks. The Von Schweikert VR4.5 is 90dB @ 1 watt, 1 meter. The LCR-15 is 87.5 dB @ one watt/one meter. I can't find the specs on the DefTech but I think it's about 88 dB @ one watt/one meter.

nice speakers !

and you can set the P1000 to 3 different levels: arcam, thx and 1 setting for very insensitive speakers so it would drive yours easily

 

[JBNY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hifi addict nice speakers ! and you can set the P1000 to 3 different levels: arcam, thx and 1 setting for very insensitive speakers so it would drive yours easily

Thanks. I am very happy with the Von Schweikert speakers. At this point I've listened to most speakers in the $10K and under crowd and I still come back to my house liking the sound of mine over what I've heard at the dealer demo.


Yeah, the adjustable amplifier gain is a real nice feature. I was pleasantly surprised when I first read about it.


My next adjustment is to bi-amp the main speakers. I only run a 5.1 setup so I'm going to take advantage of the Arcam's easy ability to be bi-amped. Hopefully I'll get around to it next week. That should make a real nice improvement.

 

[Hifi addict]

cool ! bi-amping is soooo sweet

 

[gostan]

I plan on ordering the AVP700 today and am considering the P1000 to run B&W Nautilus 803's, HTM1 & 805s. They are all 90db SPL @ 1 m with the 803's and HTM1 capable of handling 50-250 W @ 8ohms unclipped. I am not sure if the P1000 is the best choice to handle the B&W's. The P1000 manual states that the switchable gain controls provide that the Arcam A setting has a gain of 31.5db which is the normal Arcam amplifier gain. The THX setting has a gain of 29db which is to be used for THX amplifiers like the Arcam P7. The C setting has a gain of 26db which is to be used with other amplifiers having this gain. All in all these are similar to a lot of pro models that have adjustable gain controls, except that these are preset and cannot be overridden.


Joe, your review would indicate that the P1000 has enough juice to provide a good soundstage and dynamics, but I am still on the fence as to its' ability to run my speakers long term, so I will be curious to see if you hear a discernable difference when you bi-amp your mains with the two extra channels.


I am also considering a Parasound Halo A51 or a Parasound Classic 5250 (both 5 x 250 @ 8 ohms) and the NuForce Reference 9's (but the latter only after ability to demo as they are new radical design).

 

[Hifi addict]

if you buy this 7-channel amp, you might as well use the 6+7th channel to bi-amp your 803's. I bi-amp them using the AVR300 and it's a sonic upgrade ! use it, they will love you for it

 

[gostan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hifi addict if you buy this 7-channel amp, you might as well use the 6+7th channel to bi-amp your 803's. I bi-amp them using the AVR300 and it's a sonic upgrade ! use it, they will love you for it

Yes, if i purchased the P1000 I would definitely bi-amp the 803's. And I think that the amp would sound very good in my system. And I would like to consider going full-Arcam for the pre/pro and amplifier, But as I am only 5.1 right now, I think that for a little more money I will not only future proof my amplification needs, but I may also have a better sounding system. That is why I am thinking about a Parasound Classic 5250 or Halo A51 5 channel amp (or the NuForce Reference 9's). 5x250 with low distortion and high current would help the 803's to reach their full capabilities.

 

[Hifi addict]

tough issue.


I believe the A51 would be overdone for your rearspeakers. Also the parasound, sounds a bit different compared to the Arcam. Are you in the position to review them both?


bi-amping with the P1000 will put it next to, or above the A51 on your 803's. But I think you don't even need bi-amping with the P1000 as it is comparable to the P7 and that is a a good choise for the 803's as well.


But I see where you are coming from, my 803's are powerhungry as well and I am trying a chord amp this weekend to see what improvement that is making

 

[wrg2]

Hifi addict...tell me, I seem to have gotten lost in all the post between this forum and the AVF. I don't mean to be redundant but what were your final findings with the AVP700? Did you keep it? Did you go back to the AVR300? I didn't find any clarity on those issues sorry... It seemed though you were pretty hyped on the AVP700 you had in your home...did you keep it and kick the AVR300 to the curb? I love what I read about the AVP combo but it's just way too overkill for my size audio room, besides being quite happy with the AVR300/DV29/CD33 components. I'm really sold on the AVR300 and if I just needed a bit more juice I would be thinking about the linking it to the P1000 just for a bit more power and clarity, but I'm still very happy with the AVR300...What are your thoughts? Somewhere the continuity of your posts between the AVS and the AVF seemed to lose some direction in your review of the AVP700 vs the AVR...can you reiterate your newwly found conclusions? Thanks...

 

[Hifi addict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrg2 Hifi addict...tell me, I seem to have gotten lost in all the post between this forum and the AVF. I don't mean to be redundant but what were your final findings with the AVP700? Did you keep it? Did you go back to the AVR300? I didn't find any clarity on those issues sorry... It seemed though you were pretty hyped on the AVP700 you had in your home...did you keep it and kick the AVR300 to the curb? I love what I read about the AVP combo but it's just way too overkill for my size audio room, besides being quite happy with the AVR300/DV29/CD33 components. I'm really sold on the AVR300 and if I just needed a bit more juice I would be thinking about the linking it to the P1000 just for a bit more power and clarity, but I'm still very happy with the AVR300...What are your thoughts? Somewhere the continuity of your posts between the AVS and the AVF seemed to lose some direction in your review of the AVP700 vs the AVR...can you reiterate your newwly found conclusions? Thanks...

My goal was to review the AVP700 and secondly see if it was an option for me to move into that direction. However, the P1000 is not yet available in my country (will take 1 more month) so I can not audition them both.


I used a P35 to see if and how much the AVP700 was better compared to the AVR300 and.... yes, the AVP700 is better, but it's always a matter of improvement to what price. I currently own a AVR300 so if I would go into the 700/1000 direction it would cost me 3000 euro's, approx $3750 (incl. interlinks) and is that worth it?????? don't know yet. I am trying a different amp and velodyne in my set this weekend to see which is the most value for the bucks.


The AVP700 is indeed an improvement on the AVR300, I would guess 30% (a subjective procentage I know), so it basically comes down to the question: what do you miss in your setup en what do you want to spend on it....

 

[JBNY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gostan I plan on ordering the AVP700 today and am considering the P1000 to run B&W Nautilus 803's, HTM1 & 805s. They are all 90db SPL @ 1 m with the 803's and HTM1 capable of handling 50-250 W @ 8ohms unclipped. I am not sure if the P1000 is the best choice to handle the B&W's. Joe, your review would indicate that the P1000 has enough juice to provide a good sound stage and dynamics, but I am still on the fence as to its' ability to run my speakers long term, so I will be curious to see if you hear a discernable difference when you bi-amp your mains with the two extra channels. I am also considering a Parasound Halo A51 or a Parasound Classic 5250 (both 5 x 250 @ 8 ohms) and the NuForce Reference 9's (but the latter only after ability to demo as they are new radical design).

I think it will have enough power to drive the B&W speakers.


I notice no problems with getting my setup to play very loud. I never listen to anything a reference levels so I can;t help you there. Normal listing is about -20db which gives me a lot of volume. Occasionally I listen to music at -15db and -10bd on rare occasions. For my room (22x17) it's plenty loud.


I will say that when I setup my levels I found that I had to up all the speakers by about 2db over what the setting was when using my Nakamichi amp. That said, I find that I get a fuller sound with the Arcam, and in real world listing I have my volume slightly less than (by about 2db) t was when running my old amp.


Either way bi-amping should give you plenty of power.


I let you know what differences I hear when I bi-amp next week.


FWIW, I had listened to the Halo A52 before I bought the Arcam (I compared it to the P7 at the time). I thought it sounded a little more sterile than the Arcam.


-Joe