[Jon P]

Originally Posted by indus

Hi Jon, thanks for spending all that time with me. sorry about driving you mad with the drum and bass music

I need to listen to the 5507 just to get it out of my system, then hopefully I'll be ready for the 888

My pleasure. There were some tracks I hadn't heard in a while.

Originally Posted by Jon P

My pleasure. There were some tracks I hadn't heard in a while.

Jon, can you demo PMC and ProAc via the Arcam AV888 setup?

[Jon P]

Originally Posted by recruit

Jon, can you demo PMC and ProAc via the Arcam AV888 setup?

Hi Recruit.

ProAc is not a brand we currently stock although we have the majority of the PMC consumer range on dem along with a set of Kef Reference speakers which are being run in as I type. The room has the arcam and denon pre/power combo's and a bryston power amp in currently.

[mwomwell]

[QUOTE=vipers;10832186]As of yesterday I'm a proud member of the P777/AV888 owners club QUOTE]

Hi Vipers

You have certainly got an impressive kit line up - all i need to do now is win the lotto - enjoy you kit - what you going to get next I wonder after your new PMC's- I know SMX Curved 2.35: 1 screen + ISCO III anamorphic lens - lol.

Originally Posted by Jon P

Hi Recruit.

ProAc is not a brand we currently stock although we have the majority of the PMC consumer range on dem along with a set of Kef Reference speakers which are being run in as I type. The room has the arcam and denon pre/power combo's and a bryston power amp in currently.

Jon, I may try and pop up for a demo of PMC and Arcam pairing

[indus]

Originally Posted by recruit

Jon, I may try and pop up for a demo of PMC and Arcam pairing

Don't go there mate! There is some seriously tempting kit there, including a £7k sub! I made sure I didn't even listen to the higher end pmc speakers because if they were as good as I've heard I could see myself leaving there a poor man.

Originally Posted by indus

Don't go there mate! There is some seriously tempting kit there, including a £7k sub! I made sure I didn't even listen to the higher end pmc speakers because if they were as good as I've heard I could see myself leaving there a poor man.

probably good advice indus, but you know what this hobby is like

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

[QUOTE=mwomwell;10840014]

Originally Posted by vipers

As of yesterday I'm a proud member of the P777/AV888 owners club QUOTE]

Hi Vipers

You have certainly got an impressive kit line up - all i need to do now is win the lotto - enjoy you kit - what you going to get next I wonder after your new PMC's- I know SMX Curved 2.35: 1 screen + ISCO III anamorphic lens - lol.

Thanks mwomwell, next up I'm going back to analogue, started researching turntables today Its one of those things where I've got loads of vinyl, mostly from the 80's that hasn't seen the light of day for over 20 years and now I've got a setup I'm really pleased with I'd love to hear my old collection again, at the moment the Rega P5 with an upgraded power supply is looking favourite, although the Linn LP12 keeps getting mentioned, more research required I think.

Any other Vinyl users out there?

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

Originally Posted by recruit

Jon, I may try and pop up for a demo of PMC and Arcam pairing

Hi recruit, Well I can definately vouch for the EB1i's, trouble is once you've heard them there is no going back

[Jon P]

Originally Posted by vipers

Any other Vinyl users out there?

Sounds like some sort of Habit Yes looking forward to our new Demo set of EB's coming I'm getting bass withdrawl symptoms!

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

Originally Posted by Jon P

looking forward to our new Demo set of EB's coming I'm getting bass withdrawl symptoms!

Do you know when you're getting them in Jon? really looking forward to comparing them directly against the Kef Reference.

[Bumtious @ TPS]

[QUOTE=vipers;10842773]

Originally Posted by mwomwell

Thanks mwomwell, next up I'm going back to analogue, started researching turntables today Its one of those things where I've got loads of vinyl, mostly from the 80's that hasn't seen the light of day for over 20 years and now I've got a setup I'm really pleased with I'd love to hear my old collection again, at the moment the Rega P5 with an upgraded power supply is looking favourite, although the Linn LP12 keeps getting mentioned, more research required I think.

Any other Vinyl users out there?

Turntables...... now you will drive yourself mad.

Not just the turntable....its islolation, tone arm, cartridge, clamping device and I would suggest a decent phono pre amp, I doubt the one in the amp (as good an AV amp as it is) will be upto much.

Then its setting it up properly, if the needle aint sittin in the grove correctly, it will sound kak.

Spend the money if you are serious, otherwise don't drive yourself mad and get something that will do the job to reasonable level.

However.... you still cant beat a really good turntable through some really good kit theres just personality to it that is lacking with the dryness of digital..... just need some decent content to play on it and there is some wonderfully produced stuff around. 80's eh.... You wern't a new romantic were you........ Bet you had hair then.

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

Thanks for the advice Bumtious, but you know me, I love to tinker and play around with kit so I think turntables will be right up my street, although looking at the price of some of the upgrades available I could see it becoming quite expensive if you want to get serious.

The amazing resource that is You Tube has been very helpful so far in teaching me about setting up the balance and tracking of the Rega P5, so I feel armed with knowledge and ready to experiment.

I know many people who say that CD can't compete with vinyl, if done properly, so I can't wait to compare my favourite tracks on CD vs Vinyl, already been snapping up bargains on ebay

New Romantics eh, those were the days, I remember them fondly, hair though, thats a different story, my memory isn't that good

Originally Posted by vipers

Hi recruit, Well I can definately vouch for the EB1i's, trouble is once you've heard them there is no going back

On another note vipers, are you happy with the CD37 as I am considering a new dedicated CD player but was thinking maybe the CD17 would suffice, is it a lot better?

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

Originally Posted by recruit

On another note vipers, are you happy with the CD37 as I am considering a new dedicated CD player but was thinking maybe the CD17 would suffice, is it a lot better?

To be honest I never demoed the CD17 as I liked the idea of SACD playback aswell, but I think both the 17 and 37 have the same Wolfson 8471 Dacs so I can't imagine there would be massive differences, if you get a chance to demo both I'd be very interested in your findings.

Couldn't be happier with my CD37 though, can't wait to hear it through the 777/888 and EB's

[rjrodders]

Originally Posted by vipers

As of yesterday I'm a proud member of the P777/AV888 owners club

Wow is the P777 heavy, it really is a 2 person job to move it.

Now all I've got to do is finish decorating so I can get it all hooked up, oh yeah, and wait for PMC to finish building my speakers.

Quick question, does anyone leave their P777 on 24/7 as I understand that it is not good for the amps to keep going from hot to cold, so the recomendation is to not turn them off so they stay at a constant temperature, personally I'd rather just power them up when needed.

Got a chance yesterday to listen to the 777/888 through the Kef Reference 207/2's, I think its fair to say that I'm not Kef's biggest fan but these monsters really do sound amazing, I now know what is meant by a neutral speaker as these don't sound bright or bass heavy, they just sound perfectly balanced and reveal so much detail, I really could listen to them for hours. I know £10K for a pair of speakers is silly money really but I'd say they are actually worth it as they are £3K more than the PMC EB1i's and at best you could call the EB's functional in their design but Kef's look stunning, although £40K for the whole system is crazy, even with that amazing sub. Personally though I still prefer the PMC sound, I just love the bass and really missed that with the Kef's, if they could just sneak the Advanced Transmission Line from PMC into the Kef References it could be the perfect speaker

Hey congrats vipers -

Wow looks like you have been on a amazing upgrade journey ....from our last communication ala Pioneers lx81.Quick question you have had the ability to hear the difference of mid range set up to a high end across all components.

If you had to do the same again with half the budget where would you spend the money i.e or what are the key components you now could not live without ?

reason for asking is i am ready to upgrade my 6 year old amp and have decided to skip the mid range receiver market and go for high end receiver or pre/pro set up.

I was about to pull the trigger on a AVr600 but have been put off by the ongoing firmware updates and its so-called lack of top end grunt.

I have since purchased a parasound 2205 5 x 300 watts power amp to either partner with a AVR600 or a dedicated processor - AV888 ? parasound ? if it ever gets released.

I would really apprciate your thoughts of the AVR 600 versus the AV888 and my speakers will be monitor audio gold gs 20 / 10 etcs.

Also i know you had the silvers - but you seem estactic about your PMC's - what is so good about them.

Apologies for the 100 questions but i know you are on the money right now with real life experience.

cheers

rjrodders

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

Originally Posted by rjrodders

Hey congrats vipers -

Wow looks like you have been on a amazing upgrade journey ....from our last communication ala Pioneers lx81.Quick question you have had the ability to hear the difference of mid range set up to a high end across all components.

Hi rjrodders, good to hear from you again

Yep, I think its fair to say since last we spoke pretty much all my kit has changed, its definately been an interesting few months, my poor credit card

I've basically tried to put all the bits together with music in mind first and films to follow closely in second as I believe there is no reason why a good system can't work well with both and I feel I've achieved my goal, Can I hear the difference from mid to high end? most definately, but again its mostly with music as film soundtracks always sound pretty good when you get to the mid range kit upwards i find.

Originally Posted by rjrodders

If you had to do the same again with half the budget where would you spend the money i.e or what are the key components you now could not live without ?

Now that is an interesting question that has had me thinking for awhile as there isn't really anything I'd like to change but I suppose if I had to choose then I would have kept the Pioneer LX91 and not got the A1UD and CD37, that would have saved a few penny's but I definately would not change the PMC EB1i's as they really are an amazing speaker, just wish mine would turn up, I look at them as a speaker for life, something that will not need upgrading until they are worn out, hopefully.

Originally Posted by rjrodders

reason for asking is i am ready to upgrade my 6 year old amp and have decided to skip the mid range receiver market and go for high end receiver or pre/pro set up.

I was about to pull the trigger on a AVr600 but have been put off by the ongoing firmware updates and its so-called lack of top end grunt.

I have since purchased a parasound 2205 5 x 300 watts power amp to either partner with a AVR600 or a dedicated processor - AV888 ? parasound ? if it ever gets released.

I would really apprciate your thoughts of the AVR 600 versus the AV888 and my speakers will be monitor audio gold gs 20 / 10 etcs.

I think discovering Arcam this year has been my biggest positive and upgrade, I have nothing but good things to say about the AVR600, it just sounds so so good, a different league from anything I've had before, and I was very lucky that other than my Sky HD problems, that a new Pace box sorted, I had no problems with my 600 what so ever. The only reason I sold it was that after deciding on the EB's I knew they would benefit greatly from more power, if I was keeping my Monitor Audios there really would have been no point in selling the AVR600.

Originally Posted by rjrodders

Also i know you had the silvers - but you seem estactic about your PMC's - what is so good about them.

Musicality, quite simple really, I found my Monitor Audios were excellent with films but were lacking when it came to music, not so with PMC, they offer a slightly laid back and very soothing sound that you just don't get tired of listening too, oh yeah and then there is the rich solid bass that once you've heard you can't live without, and paired with Arcam they just sound amazing, you really need to have a demo.

Originally Posted by rjrodders

Apologies for the 100 questions but i know you are on the money right now with real life experience.

cheers

rjrodders

Sorry I can't comment on the Parasound as I haven't come across that before but it certainly sounds pretty potent at 300watts and I'm sure it will partner with either a 600 or 888 perfectly, maybe worth taking it along to your local dealer and try hooking it up with either of the Arcams, see if they have any PMC EB1i's laying around to listen to also

Hope this helps a little.

The AV888 is certainly a step up from the AVR600 in SQ, although the 600 is exceptionaly good anyway and I could of easily lived with it, best AV receiver I have ever heard for both movies and music, it's just that the AV888 takes it to another level

I honestly think that Arcam have jumped quite a way up the AV ladder with these products and was not expecting to be impressed initially as I had a loan unit AVR600 while I was waiting for a new Onkyo, but as soon as I listened I was converted...it just makes all sources and all formats sound amazing...

[TheBlueFalcon]

Originally Posted by vipers

I think discovering Arcam this year has been my biggest positive and upgrade, I have nothing but good things to say about the AVR600, it just sounds so so good, a different league from anything I've had before

Hi. My name's Mat and I'm an Arcam-a-holic.

I remember my first Arcam. 7 years ago, when the AV8 and P7 were released. They kept me addicted with the AV9. It's only since HD came along that I had to get my fix somewhere else, but now I'm working my way back.

[rjrodders]

Hi Vipers -

Thanks for your detailed response - appriciated - only problem now is that i am now thinking of going back down the AVR600 route -

So do you think the 600 has enough grunt to power GS20 floorstanders and GS10's as rears with FX dipoles in 7.1 set up on its own - or would you advise i pare it with parasound amp for the front stage and use the 600 amps for the rears.

Anyone else using the 600 in a similar set up - would be good to hear your thoughts and advice.

Cheers.

Rjrodders.

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

You're very welcome Rjrodders.

You really won't regret going with the AVR600, its as good as everyone says and I don't think you'll have any trouble with it powering your Monitor Audio setup, I know I only had the Silvers but never once found it lacking, its just a matter of volume really, if you've got a big room you may find the 600 runs out of steam a little early.

Personally if I were you, I'd try the 600 on its own and see how you find it, if you feel it needs a little more you could bring the Parasound into the mix to maybe Bi-amp the 2 fronts and maybe power the centre also.

As you've already got the Parasound you may aswell experiment with different setup options and see how you get on and what you prefer, I know when we added the Brystons into the 777/888 mix it really added some extra punch and really helped to fill out the bass.

[awhb]

Originally Posted by rjrodders

Hi Vipers -

Thanks for your detailed response - appriciated - only problem now is that i am now thinking of going back down the AVR600 route -

So do you think the 600 has enough grunt to power GS20 floorstanders and GS10's as rears with FX dipoles in 7.1 set up on its own - or would you advise i pare it with parasound amp for the front stage and use the 600 amps for the rears.

Anyone else using the 600 in a similar set up - would be good to hear your thoughts and advice.

Cheers.

Rjrodders.

I auditioned an AVR600 back in the summer with a 5.1 set-up (GS20 mains bi-amped, GS cntr and FX rears) in a mid-sized room and it seemed to just about have enough grunt in that set-up. So worth auditioning at least.

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

Finished decoarating and Hopefully be getting my PMC speakers next week So its time to start unboxing all my kit and setting up, the fun bit Just wondering is everyone with a AV888 running firmware 1.9? I'd imagine my AV888 has got 1.8 installed and when I had my AVR600 I left that on 1.8 as I was having no problems and I know some people preffered 1.8 to 1.9.
Thanks.

When I first got my AV888 I was running 1.9 but I was getting random lock ups when switching between my Oppo and Sky HD, so I loaded up 1.8 and it stopped locking up but then I installed the hardware MOD into my BDP83 and loaded the latest Oppo firmware and then thought I would reload 1.9 to see if it locked up again, so back to the latest and all is well and infact running better, so I can only gather that the firmware in my Oppo was causing handshake issues...been on 1.9 for a couple of weeks now with no lockups or any hickups just a nicely running processor...

BTW - I have purchased the CD17 to see how I like it and may upgrade to the CD37 if not fully satisfied

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

Thanks for that recruit, I guess I should try 1.9 as it makes sense to use the latest firmware where possible, not sure if 1.9 just tries to fix all the problems with 1.8 or it enhances the audio performance atall, any idea?

I'm sure you'll love the CD17, looking forward to your thoughts though, without comparing it directly to the CD37 even if there are slight audio differences you won't know, sometimes ignorance is bliss as long as you are happy then the money saved can be put to the next upgrade

cheers vipers I am looking forward to getting the CD17, atm I have on loan a higher end Denon CD spinner which is the DCD-CX3 and it is not too bad but it has the usual warmer sound that tbh I am not over keen on, I prefer a more snappier dynamic sound which I am hoping the Arcam will give, the Denon has the similar draw design of the A1UD player some pics attached.

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

With the A1UD as a cd spinner I found that sounded a bit laid back also, almost like it was being held back, must be how Denon tune them to get 'their sound' but I found the CD37 added real width to the soundstage and the music sounded more alive, if that makes sense.

On a side note, this week I got my first listen to the Pioneer PD-D9MK2-K which is getting very good feedback and compared directly against the CD37 you could argue that the Pioneer offered an even puncher sound with more dynamic range and a deeper bass, very impressive CD player to be honest, if you find the CD17 lacking atall maybe see if you can get the Pioneer on demo, personally I'm not about to change the CD37 as it produces a sound I just love

Its funny you should mention that as I was listening to the Pioneer PD-D9MK2-K yesterday and thought it was rather good too, so I'm glad you have mentioned that...look forward to hearing the Arcam, the dealer has told me that it would not be an issue if I wanted to change it out to the 37 if not entirely happy with the CD17 but obviously have to pay the difference, we shall see...or I might even throw a Cyrus CD8SE in the mix also....

[Ashmanuk]

I think you will LOVE the Cyrus CD8se great disk spinner

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

I must admit I haven't heard a Cyrus, even though they get excellent reviews I just couldn't live with something that looks that ugly, be interested to compare one though with the Arcam and Pioneer, if you can get all 3 recruit that would be a very interesting comparison.