What next ? (upgrade)

Lord Essex

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Hi All,

I'm very happy with my setup, so of course I'm now starting to think about my next move. At the moment my setup is:

Arcam AV8
Arcam P1000
Arcam A85 (this is used in power amp mode)
Arcam P80
Arcam CD82
Denon 3800 blu ray

Speakers
Linn Ninka front L/R 3way active
Linn Ekwal centre 2 way active
Linn 104's sides
Linn 104's rears
B&w asw610 sub

To run my setup as 7.1 I need a minimum of 12 channels of power, at the moment I only have 11 channels so I have my 2 rear speakers connected in series to make it 6.1.
I've got around £700 to play with and I was thinking that a used P7 would make sense. If I used the P7 with the P1000 I would have 14 channels leaving me able to sell the A85 & P80. However a local dealer suggested that as long as I have the rack space I would achive a better sound if I sold the P1000 and replace it with 4x P85/80's which would give me a total of 6 stereo amps giving me the 12 channels that I need for 7.1

Would anyone care to comment on the above or perhaps suggest a different route for my next move. Replace my AV8 or switch my Denon Blu ray player?

All views are warmly welcomed
 
Ignoring budget limitations, your dealer is probably right. But surely 12 P1's is the only sensible way to go, everything else being a compromise? :)
 
Sell the P1000 and get a pair of Linn 6100 :)

You can get some Linn aktiv cards as well and get the best out of the linn speakers.

Will match your speakers and should be a sonic upgrade...
 
I would love to get a pair of Linn 6100 just one small problem, I don't have the £5500 needed :). My budget to improve the setup is £700-£1000. :(
I'm already running the front three speakers in aktiv mode and agree that it makes a massive difference.
 
Swap the A85 out for a P85/3 then you will have enough power amp channels and some budget left for new music/films.
 
Personally I would either go as Larkone said with the P85/3 or a P7 Amp - my P7 was a superb purchase and certainly didn't regret it. Shame it doesn't have balance inputs however!
 
I picked up a P7 a couple of months ago and I'm very pleased with it :thumbsup:
 
Perfect - how does it compare to your previous setup? You biamping your fronts?
 
My front left/right are three way aktiv so I'm using 6 channels from the P7 to look after them. My centre is 2 way aktiv so the last channel from the P7 plus one from the P1000 takes care of that.

The best way I can describe the improvement in sound quality is that the P7 just seems to give me "more" bass,detail,soundstage
 
My front left/right are three way aktiv so I'm using 6 channels from the P7 to look after them. My centre is 2 way aktiv so the last channel from the P7 plus one from the P1000 takes care of that.

The best way I can describe the improvement in sound quality is that the P7 just seems to give me "more" bass,detail,soundstage

Glad you are enjoying the P7 - I found I could up the volume (even past reference) and still manage to keep the small subtle dynamics from lowers volumes. Superb quality amp - and what a bargain price you got yours for! :smashin:

Just a quick thought with regards to the centre is it wise to mix amplifiers between the same speaker?
 
Using the two amps is not a problem as I am using a Linn Tunebox (this is basically a box that houses the crossover cards) This keeps the bass/mid/treble channels all separate and as long as each channel is powered by an amp with the same gain there is no problem.

And I am very happy with the price I paid :smashin:
 

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