Questions about Watt and Ohm regarding P90 an AVR 300.

K

Knusse

Guest
;) Anyone who knows something about the questions under?

1. How much does the P90 deliver with 2 channels in 4 ohm?
In the specifications it says 165W in ONE channel, but how much in TWO?

2. How much VA does the AVR 300 deliver when using 2 channels? And why cant we use the power from 6. and 7. speaker outlet?
 
AVR300 has a 1200 VA toroid and delivers 2x120W into 4 or 8 ohms (switchable)

P90 is designed to handle an extra amp for a third channel so I think the rating per channel holds fine for both channels, i.e. not so far from 2x165W at 4 ohms. The toroid is 800 VA. In any case, I think it will deliver enough current to give fine dynamics at 4 ohm up to unhealthy levels, unless your speakers are extremely hard to drive.

THD at 80% gain is probably a bit lower on the P90 and the wattage might also be specifiied at different THD on the P90 and the AVR300.

Of course, this all means everything - and absolutely nothing for the experience of music and audio...

It is more interesting to ask how well it plays at a few watts, and this is impossible to tell from tabulated numbers - though one could probably come up with more relevant numbers than the max/sustained current/power and corresponding THD. The good thing to say about Arcam, is that they seem to be very honest about these numbers and this indicates good policies and great engineering - qualities that a necessary for designing something that also plays well.

And yes, I would think the P90 would give you an improvement, but personally I would first take another look at the source, the preamp, and the speakers before going for a P90, unless you get one very cheap.
 
Thanks KenX for the explanation and clearing...
I'm just thinking that my Dynaudio Audience 82 are hard to drive, they are 4 ohms, and do not deliver at few watts I think. Some lack of bass.
 
I have no experience with those speakers, but rated at 87dB@4 ohm some amps may have problems with them. The AVR300 should do a good job, but for sure my Linn Espeks (91dB@4 ohm) sound alot better when I'm biamping them with my P1000 then with single amps. I'm curious whether a P90 would do a better job than biamping with P1000 - doubt it.

Borrowing a P90 and testing it is the best thing to do for you.

Have you checked that the AVR300 is set to 4 ohms? It is not recommended to run it at 8 ohms, since alot of heat will develop in the AVR300 instead of punching your speakers, but I've heard people being a bit unhappy with the 4 ohm mode, saying that the 8 ohm mode sounds better with their speakers...
 
The P1000 is much more expensive, I think it's worth trying the P90 and "see" for myself.
I have also read that the 8 ohm sounds better, theres no scientific way to tell whats the best sound :)
 
Hie Knusse, Jeg er ogsa i Norge, og ARCAM er ikke billig, the CD36 goes for Kr 19K, that's around 1640GBP!!!! And the P7 is a truely obscene Kr 40K... that's 3500GBP... I think there's a bit of price fixing going on and ARCAM importers are rippping us off!!!

Anyway, I've got an AVR300 with a P90/3 driving B&W804 fronts, B&W HTM3S centre, and B&W 603S2 rears. All big speakers with a minimum impedance of around 3 ohms. See http://avforum.no/minhjemmekino/memberlist.php?c=0&s=colinjohnson&order=vurdering. I have bi-amp'd the fronts and centre using the AVR300 to drive the hf and the P90 to drive the lf. Since doing this I have noticed a lack of 'thud' in the low end and am still experimenting to find the best combination. I'm tending towards removing the P90/3 altogther as I don't think it's adding to the sound, partly because ( I think ) the line level outputs from the AVR300 have a limited bandwidth and are loosing detail in both the hf and lf.

I hear someone saying 'it's your cables'.. now I'm not a believer in high tech cables and I know what works and I know when I'm being sold snake oil. I'm using solid cored air spaced RG6 and you don't get much better than that.

I also have a McIntosh MC2500 that I have connected to the line level outputs of the AVR300 and it sounds bad. If I connect my CD36 directly to the Mac then it sounds pretty cool...:cool: .. so I suspect there's a problem with the AVR300 pre-amp or line level outputs... But having said all that... the best combination I have found so far ( again.. I think ) is with the CD36 connected to the AVR300 and reverting to using channels 6+7 to bi-amp the 804 fronts.

So, do I sell my P90/3 or not???? :confused:
 
Hi cjohnson6! Er det Jar ved Oslo eller vestfold?
Well, from what I've been reading here theres nothing to it regarding P90 and AVR300. It's not worth it I'll gues. Even further, Dynaudio can't be bi-amp'ed or bi-wired. The best thing for me would probably be P1000 or two P1 FMJ. I like to stay with Arcam design.

Nice speakers, cjjohnson! Are you satisfied?
 
Det er Jar i Baerum... ikke Vestfold

I bought the 804's from a guy near Stavanger.... Kr 16K... and they are worth every ore. I had to go to HiFi-Klubben for the centre. The AVR300 came from HiFi-Klubben ex demo... the P90/3 I imported in a suitcase....but it came from SevenOaks ex demo. The CD36 I got from a place in Sandvika... 20% off list price and the 3910 was brukt... And I just rescued my MC2500 from my garden shed in the UK... the roof was leaking so it took in a few litres of rain water... but it's working and just needs some tweaks..

But I'm happy with my toys! And yes, ARCAM is good....
 
They are not for sale anymore...SOLD!
But, I'm not sure whether I should go for a P1000 or 2xP1?!
 
Read the thread on the AVR350 vs AVR300..... That's supposed to be a really good upgrade.....
 

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