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Silver Member Username: MyrantzPost Number: 238 Registered: Feb-04 | Check it out here - http://www.homecinemachoice.com/news/frame.html?http://www.homecinemachoice.com/ cgi-bin/displaynews.php?id=6138 |
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Silver Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 197 Registered: Dec-03 | i know i just recently saw this too and suggested to ghia on another post. it looks very impressive and well priced. i went to a local dealer to check it out but it hadn't come in yet.i got the brocure. |
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New member Username: RapierPost Number: 2 Registered: Dec-03 | Anybody try any of the Arcam recievers yet? The AVR 200 looks real good at my price point, but no dealers near by. |
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Silver Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 226 Registered: Dec-03 | rapier the avr200 is last years model and is basically a nad. i forget what nad model it is though,it's a descent unit. but the avr300 is a ground up new model with a lot of the features and parts from their flagship prepro. |
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Silver Member Username: GmanMt. Pleasant, SC Post Number: 487 Registered: Dec-03 | On todays currency exchange rate, 1300 British Pounds is equivalent to $2,330.90. It looks like a nice receiver, but inexpensive--it is not. |
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Silver Member Username: LandrovalPost Number: 111 Registered: Feb-04 | KEGGER: I'm not entirely sure about this, but as far as I know the AVR200 utilises the same chassis than the T75x (1, 2 maybe?) and probably the power supply, but it sounds a bit different. The Arcam sound is a bit colder but it has the same punch and full sound that the NAD has. I dont think it's a wise choice, because with the same money you can have for ex. a versatile Yamaha or H/K AVR for pre and a Rotel power amp or a better AVR. Does somebody know about other NAD-Arcam products using same components? Congrats for Canada for beating us today at IHWC. Lots of weird goals. Yeah, ok, maybe NHL is more interesting right now... |
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Silver Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 229 Registered: Dec-03 | landroval i know that's what i said! the original post is refering to the avr300. gregory i know it's not cheap but compaired to a highend elite or denon it is much less and if it has was it is suppose to have inside, it would be three times the elite or pioneer. i'm curious! supposadly the guts of this unit is very simular to their flagship prepro which has gotten very good press. some may consider using this unit as a prepro. |
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New member Username: RapierPost Number: 3 Registered: Dec-03 | Thanks guys, I did not know the earlier Arcam was related to the NAD. It really doesn't look it from the photos I've seen, and the features and power ratings don't seem to match up. |
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Bronze Member Username: Black_mathPost Number: 77 Registered: Dec-03 | I am pretty sure that the AVR200 in Manufacturered by in Arcam's Cambridge factory. If anybody has one, it should have a made in england stamp on it. I know NAD outsources most of their components to China (or Japan)and I don't think they are the same...I may be wrong. Any AVR200 owners care to coment? There are only so many makers of power supplies, displays, capacitors, boards, and chips. Many component manufacturers may use a combination of the same parts. Arcam does make excellent products and I am supprised more people don't reccomend them. |
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Silver Member Username: LandrovalPost Number: 113 Registered: Feb-04 | AVR100 rear: http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/Amplifiers/Arcam/ArcamDivaAVR100_rear. jpg AVR200 rear: http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/Amplifiers/Arcam/ArcamDIVAAVR200_rear. jpg NAD T751 rear: http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/Amplifiers/NAD/NADT751_rear.jpg |
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Bronze Member Username: MarkuspToronto, ON Canada Post Number: 20 Registered: Apr-04 | I believe that the both the Arcam avr100 and avr200 were manufactured in China to save costs, as were the NAD. That said, there are some differences between the NAD and Arcam. I will post the link if I can find it. |
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Bronze Member Username: MarkuspToronto, ON Canada Post Number: 21 Registered: Apr-04 | See the following links: http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/frame.html?http://www.homecinemachoice .com/testbench/Amplifiers/NAD/NADT751.shtml http://www.smr-group.co.uk/components/avr100.html (Be sure to click on the bottom link that reads Nad T571) |
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Silver Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 232 Registered: Dec-03 | im sure there are differences between the nad and the arcam my point was that the avr200 was an old design and that the avr300 is a new ground up design.(from arcam) what i said originally was the avr200 is basically a nad. that does not mean it is excactly like it all i was trying to say was this was not something new. where as the avr300 is and that was the original post! and again! supposadly the guts of this unit is very simular to their flagship prepro which has gotten very good press. some may consider using this unit as a prepro. this thread has gotten off the original topic we knew a long time ago what the avr200 was! we are now trying to find out if this avr300 is as good as advertized! |
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Bronze Member Username: MarkuspToronto, ON Canada Post Number: 23 Registered: Apr-04 | No offence was intended Kegger - I was just trying to clarify some of the points listed above. I too would love to know if the 300 lives up to the hype. That said, Arcam said similar things when the 100 and 200 were launched. On paper, the 300 looks (and hopefully sounds) amazing. |
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Silver Member Username: HawkHighlands Ranch, CO USA Post Number: 552 Registered: Dec-03 | The AVR 200 is essentially an NAD T752. They use the same power supply and output stages, although NAD uses a second power rail in its design. They were made in the same factory in China on the same assembly line, so it is likely that there are other common parts used--I just don't know what they are. I first learned this in an equipment review of the Arcam AVR 200 from a British hifi magazine--don't remember which one, but I believe it was the April 2003 issue. I had this innformation confirmed by my local Arcam dealer, who nevertheless insisted the Arcam has higher quality. The AVR 300 is new and I have no information at this time about its relationship to the current NAD line. |
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Silver Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 234 Registered: Dec-03 | hey markus no offense taken you were just responding to others questions. it was just that i mentioned the 200 was simular to the nad and the post went on to try to figure if it was.(we allready new it was.) i will probably get a chance to check it out next week.(the avr300 that is) |
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Bronze Member Username: MarkuspToronto, ON Canada Post Number: 24 Registered: Apr-04 | Can't wait to hear your review. Thanks |
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Bronze Member Username: Gatt767Malta Post Number: 54 Registered: Feb-04 | The AVR200 is basically a T751. It is based on an upgraded Crystal DSP, as it decoded DLP2, and the T751 decoded only DLP, while the toroidal power supp. is installed on the the avr200 instead of a laminated PSU. two extra optical in and 1 out plus an added Svideo in. Else its all the same! Same OSD, Ins and outs, Internal PCB layout etc. etc. (even the layout of the front buttons) No info yet on the AVR 300, but it have been surely outsourced by the same manu. in China to keep the costs down as much as possible. The only thing that worries me in the design is that a switch at the back has been installed, to select the ohmage of the speakers when driving a 4 ohm load! |
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Bronze Member Username: W9cwUrbana, IL Post Number: 36 Registered: Mar-04 | Having a switch on the back panel of a receiver to select minimum speaker impedance is the way NAD approaced the design with their 2-channel stereo receivers in past years. In fact, all three NAD 2-channel receivers I own have a Speaker Impedance Selection switch. This is a very typical aspect of amplifier design, necessary to maximize efficiency with the expected minimum impedance load. |
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Silver Member Username: LandrovalPost Number: 116 Registered: Feb-04 | What does the switch do with the NAD or others? Because with my old Sony I think it connects resistors in serie with the speakers so that the 4ohms will look like 8ohms to the amplifier. It's not very efficient, but it works somehow. |
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Silver Member Username: John_aPost Number: 923 Registered: Dec-03 | I wonder if there is a confusion over Arcam and Cambridge Audio? Cambridge Audio is certainly "OEM" and made in China, and I am fairly sure Cambridge Audio units have many major components, and probably whole boards, in common with those from NAD. That makes sense at that end of the market. But design and construction can still make a big difference. Arcam is a different sort of operation. They really do have a UK factory, though maybe not for everything. Meridian is another. But sourcing components is inevitably going to give the same choice for different manufacturers in some cases, all the way through to "high-end". |
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Bronze Member Username: Black_mathPost Number: 82 Registered: Dec-03 | John A, I thought the same thing. My Arcam CD player was made in UK, but I read where the AVR's are outsourced to China. Hopefully this is not a growing trend with Arcam. |
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daniel benatar Unregistered guest | How is the sound of Arcam compare to NAD ? Daniel |
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Silver Member Username: John_aPost Number: 926 Registered: Dec-03 | Ben, I really do not mind. I think it is marketing. When the country of origin is part of the brand "image", they keep it. They are all at. I was told most Volvo cars are made in the Netherlands. My very American Apple computer comes to me from Singapore, shipped through Ireland. I myself have felt a bit cheated finding something is made somewhere else than I thought. However, I am fairly sure Arcam keeps hold of its all its R&D, and China just beats all other options for skilled assembly at lower cost, for some items. NAD seems to have dropped all reference to countries. NAD started in UK, was bought by a Scandinavian company, AudioNord in Denmark, and is now owned by Lenbrook in Canada. My new NAD T533 has big letters on the box "Custom manufactured to NAD specifications in the People's Republic of China". They are quite up-front about that. |
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Silver Member Username: John_aPost Number: 927 Registered: Dec-03 | From the Arcam web site. DV79 DVD AUDIO PLAYER: As Arcam uses its own bespoke designs and builds its own DVD players in the UK, the R&D team were able to achieve a remarkable price / performance ratio. AVR300 RECEIVER: The AVR300 is a completely new platform developed from the ground up by our design team. This agrees exactly with what you say, Ben. |
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Silver Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 245 Registered: Dec-03 | yes i have no problem with outsorcing and even multiple companies using the same chassis and doing their own internals to taylor the system into how good they want the unit to be depending on the quality of inards they use. in fact i would like to see more, it should keep the cost down. but as JOHN A reiteraited the avr300 is suppose to be a ground up design with very nice inards. now we just have to see if it's that good! |
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Silver Member Username: LandrovalPost Number: 118 Registered: Feb-04 | AVR300 could be completely new design, but AVR200 and AVR100 are basically NAD, no matter what. I dont know the older CA product line very well, but there should be no relation to NAD. CAs have always been weak at driving low impedance, wich NAD definitely isn't, so I dont think they are using same stuff. The new 540R is different from anything else I have seen and it doesn't have that very round and warm sound of the other Azur line, at least not as much. |
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Bronze Member Username: Gatt767Malta Post Number: 55 Registered: Feb-04 | Don Allen, NAD have moved from the switch at the back, and few are the models that have been installed with this switch. The current receivers are using power drive Technology, basically its a sensing circuitry that adjust the NADs power supply to the demand of the speakers while later models example T751, T761, T750 Etc. etc used to use ISC (Impedance Sensing Circuitry) Even older models like the T711 weren't installed with this switch. As regards to the imp. switch at the back, this is what a respected MAg. had to say as regards to a switch installed on a receiver: "Most disconcerting is the presence of an impedance selection switch. Its purpose is to limit current output when driving a 4ohms load and so prevent weedy components from wearing out early. You'll usually find that an amplifier increases its output capability as the impedance drops, but in this case, the power output actually decreases into a lower impedance load, from 100W per channel at 8ohms to 90W per channel at 4ohms (20Hz-20kHz all channels driven" |
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Silver Member Username: KeggerMICHIGAN Post Number: 269 Registered: Dec-03 | well i finally got a chance to see and listen to one of the avr300 today's. first off i don't have much time right now and i didn't get to listen to the unit that long. but first impressions it sounded better than the denons/elites/yamahas and an anthem 2channel amp and 2channnel preamp that they had setup in the room. it had the same toneality as the anthem but the speakers were giving off a larger presence. the onscreen menu was nothing fancy to look at but did the job fine. bass managment is strong. it doesn't give you bass managment in direct mode like some of the newer units do. it does have the impedence switch on the back. and i have both of the b&m's that i went to looking into a few questions i had including how the switch is implemented. when i get more info and a little more time to see it again i will repost. |
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Gold Member Username: John_aPost Number: 1041 Registered: Dec-03 | Sounds great, Kegger. Yes, please write more when you get the chance to check it out. |
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New member Username: David_belBelgium Post Number: 12 Registered: Dec-03 | I'd also be interested in a review of the brand new Arcam AVR300. I'm not able to test it myself as my local dealer just told me today that they would only get one by July... |
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Silver Member Username: Black_mathPost Number: 111 Registered: Dec-03 | Try http://www.aslgroup.com/ There is a review link here. |
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Bronze Member Username: David_belBelgium Post Number: 13 Registered: Dec-03 | Thks Ben, I've already bought What-Hifi July Issue, which draw my attention with the new Arcam. But I'd be very much interested in other reviews and especially comparisons versus for instance, the new Rotel RSX 1056. |