AV processor £4K or less

[stasis]

My Arcam AVR850 sounds great but it regularly requires me to switch it on and off to find the source signal.
It always requires flicking through the sound modes to lock onto Dolby Atmos.

 

[alebonau]

Apparent the AVM 60 Amir had in for test was a faulty unit.

thats what everyone would like to believe .... not that it will ever be acknowledge. and it couldn't be a case of measuring wrongly and the wrong thing? as has been pointed out ? ... just another case of test done ...fail... send it back to person sent it... too bad too sad...

 

[alebonau]

My Arcam AVR850 sounds great but it regularly requires me to switch it on and off to find the source signal.
It always requires flicking through the sound modes to lock onto Dolby Atmos.

seems to be a bit of a common thread with arcam going back a fair way.... their tolerance that this is ok... is the more worrying ...

 

[tig]

Unfortunately guys, you're all wrong just kidding (ignore the good clean banter) , anyway, all good valid points, but, if you was to ask me, the AVM 70 would sound the best, hands down, all day everyday. Yes the AVM 70 is currently a bit buggy but you can rest assured Anthem will release firmware updates to fix these bugs overtime. Yes the Marrantz is solid with a good feature set but I would like to offer you another solution and a cheaper one at that. I would suggest getting the Anthem AVM 60 for the iconic, amazing Anthem sound, for the ARC Genesis room correction, and more importantly, it will be solid as a rock!! So to me it doesn't make sense to get the Marrantz. You can pick up an AVM 60 for around £1700, way cheaper than the Marrantz and will sound better and equally as reliable, then in the future you can sell the AVM 60 and upgrade to the 70. Job done, case closed.

Hi Ricky. Well I hadn’t considered the AVM60 but I guess I should. I see you picked one up here in the classifieds not long ago. Is the ARC the same version as on the AVM70? Silly question but does it have on screen display for volume?

 

[tig]

Thanks for all the opinions so far. Just what I was hoping for!

 

[Trophy hunter]

Hi Ricky. Well I hadn’t considered the AVM60 but I guess I should. I see you picked one up here in the classifieds not long ago. Is the ARC the same version as on the AVM70? Silly question but does it have on screen display for volume?

Yes it has volume on screen display

 

[Deleted member 39241]

seems to be a bit of a common thread with arcam going back a fair way.... their tolerance that this is ok... is the more worrying ...

My Arcam AVR850 sounds great but it regularly requires me to switch it on and off to find the source signal.
It always requires flicking through the sound modes to lock onto Dolby Atmos.

I don't have any of these issues with my AVR550. Dolby surround needs to be selected for Atmos audio. The other issues sound HDMI cable related, try switching both source to amp and amp to display cables to premium certified ones. The very inexpensive monoprice ones seem to work well.

 

[dfdd]

Which Lyngdorf would you be thinking of?

mp-50.
lyngdorf is on another level to the other units mentioned imo, having tried and listened to many.

 

[tig]

mp-50.
lyngdorf is on another level to the other units mentioned imo, having tried and listened to many.

I don’t doubt a Lyngdorf MP-50 would be very good but do they sell for £4K or less second hand? I can’t find any for sale.

 

[KelvinS1965]

I don’t doubt a Lyngdorf MP-50 would be very good but do they sell for £4K or less second hand? I can’t find any for sale.

I've seen one close to this figure, but that was one off and I wonder if that particular seller maybe gets some extra discount, so wasn't so bothered about getting top dollar for that one. Trouble is that it's still £4k for something without any warranty and I have been caught unlucky with electronics failing 3 times: Only once was covered by warranty and the other two were used power amps.

I don't know the cost, but Markymiles seems pleased with his Monoprice HTP-1 and he's had quite a few amps or processors.

 

[tig]

I've seen one close to this figure, but that was one off and I wonder if that particular seller maybe gets some extra discount, so wasn't so bothered about getting top dollar for that one. Trouble is that it's still £4k for something without any warranty and I have been caught unlucky with electronics failing 3 times: Only once was covered by warranty and the other two were used power amps.

I don't know the cost, but Markymiles seems pleased with his Monoprice HTP-1 and he's had quite a few amps or processors.

I’m with you and I don’t think I’d take the risk at that price, which would be above my top end anyway, without warranty. I’ve put a wanted ad for an AVM60 or an AV8805 in the classifieds here so I’ll see if anything comes up.

 

[Marvin the Android]

I would offer to sell you my Arcam AV40 but I don't know you and therefore I don't hate you enough.

 

[tig]

I would offer to sell you my Arcam AV40 but I don't know you and therefore I don't hate you enough.

Phew!!

 

[Trophy hunter]

I’m with you and I don’t think I’d take the risk at that price, which would be above my top end anyway, without warranty. I’ve put a wanted ad for an AVM60 or an AV8805 in the classifieds here so I’ll see if anything comes up.

The Lyngdorf is not always the better option. A few people prefer the anthem and marantz to it.
Try the Sound Counsel they are getting some anthem AVM60.

 

[mtenga]

I would suggest getting the Anthem AVM 60 for the iconic, amazing Anthem sound, for the ARC Genesis room correction, and more importantly, it will be solid as a rock!!

That’s not my experience. I’ve had an AVM60 for six months and tomorrow it is going back to distributor for fixing for a second time. The network implementation using Play-Fi is flakey which is why they dropped it on the newer series. It also has a nasty habit of just resetting itself to factory defaults for reasons known only to itself. The front display is rubbish as well, frequently flickering like it’s about to break.

 

[Nemoid]

After following the avs threads regarding the monoprice htp-1 it seems that for this kind of price window it’s the leading candidate. Lots of the us guys moved over from emotiva , marantz and the anthems with no regrets.
obviously the downside is having to import it over but by all accounts dealing with monoprice US the customer service is excellent which seems to offset the small hassle involved.

 

[mb3195]

From personal experience, if you want absolute reliability with a very good sound quality, clearly the safest option is the marantz. I loved both of my units, they sounded great (better than Emotiva, arcam or Lyngdorf in my room) and ultra reliable with zero issues in 2 years of usage.

But, buying blind isn’t the best option with sound quality. As I’ve mentioned, I preferred it to a Lyngdorf, but 90% of owners would probably find the Lyngdorf better in their room and environment, same with the Arcam and Dirac, this just sucked all life out of my system.

Try and get a home demo of possible, worst case 14 day return. You really need to try it with your room, your speakers and most importantly, your ears.

In terms of reliability though, the 8805 is absolutely bomb proof.

 

[tig]

After following the avs threads regarding the monoprice htp-1 it seems that for this kind of price window it’s the leading candidate. Lots of the us guys movied over from emotiva , marantz and the anthems with no regrets.
obviously the downside is having to import it over but by all accounts dealing with monoprice US the customer service is excellent which seems to offset the small hassle involved.

I’ll have a look at the HTP-1 but I’m not sure I can be bothered with the hassle of importing one. Plus if anything goes wrong I guess it’ll have to be sent back to the states!

 

[tig]

From personal experience, if you want absolute reliability with a very good sound quality, clearly the safest option is the marantz. I loved both of my units, they sounded great (better than Emotiva, arcam or Lyngdorf in my room) and ultra reliable with zero issues in 2 years of usage.

But, buying blind isn’t the best option with sound quality. As I’ve mentioned, I preferred it to a Lyngdorf, but 90% of owners would probably find the Lyngdorf better in their room and environment, same with the Arcam and Dirac, this just sucked all life out of my system.

Try and get a home demo of possible, worst case 14 day return. You really need to try it with your room, your speakers and most importantly, your ears.

In terms of reliability though, the 8805 is absolutely bomb proof.

I have a Denon 6300H at the moment and I’m quite happy with it, especially the reliability and interface. Plus I already use the Audyssey app. I added a power amp last year and just fancy trying a processor again ( many years ago I had an Arcam AV8 and P7).

If an AVM60 turns up first at the right price I might try that. If not I’m leaning heavily towards the Marantz AV8805.

Thanks again to you all for the help.

 

[Nemoid]

I’ll have a look at the HTP-1 but I’m not sure I can be bothered with the hassle of importing one. Plus if anything goes wrong I guess it’ll have to be sent back to the states!

Tbh there really is no hassle actually importing it, click buy on the website 2-3 days later the unit lands at your house. The delivery company then issues you your import costs bill.
Admittedly a little more hassle returning for repair though, postage is the same but then you need to fill out a form so as not to incur the duty again I believe anyway.

 

[ashenfie]

Tbh there really is no hassle actually importing it, click buy on the website 2-3 days later the unit lands at your house. The delivery company then issues you your import costs bill.
Admittedly a little more hassle returning for repair though, postage is the same but then you need to fill out a form so as not to incur the duty again I believe anyway.

Just check the costs before pressing the button, I have imported stuff and apart from that shock, all went smoothly and quite quick.

I agree the warranty is an issue due to shipping etc

 

[RickyG512]

Lots of the us guys moved over from emotiva , marantz and the anthems with no regrets.

I think this is more true before the Anthem AVM 70 was released. Before the AVM 70, the Emotiva and Monolith were the favorites in the US and on AVS Forums

 

[UMAR 3:16]

I’ve had my 8805 since July and not thing has gone wrong with it. Love it!

 

[mouldy15]

I've had a marantz av8805 and changed to the arcam av40, it may have had bugs but I've virtually had very few and certainly wouldn't swap back to the av8805.... At least one happy customer here.

 

[kenshingintoki]

I've had a marantz av8805 and changed to the arcam av40, it may have had bugs but I've virtually had very few and certainly wouldn't swap back to the av8805.... At least one happy customer here.

could you please elaborate on the sound differences please mate?

hearing this general trend that the marantz is rocksolid and has features galore including auro3D and support for lots of speaker positions but the arcam and the anthems seem to have it beat in terms of what matters most - sound quality.