800 Series: Listed to the Arcam AVP700/P1000

[nick.h]

I dropped into the local HIFI shop today and had a listen to the Arcam AVP700 & P1000 Combo, very impresive and I think would be a suitable upgrade from my Harman Karon AVR5550 & DVD30.

I'm hoping to get an in home demo on the weekend and put it through its paces on the 803D's and HTM2D.

With the P1000 being 7 channels the extra 2 in a 5.1 config can be used to bi-amp the front for alittle extra punch.

Any AVP700 & P1000 owners with B&W out there?

[KWong]

Arcam + B&W

I'm also starting to look at the top Arcam model FMJ AV9 multi-channel pocessor, together with the power amp P7. I currently reside in Hong Kong.

Currently my main setup is:

Receiver: Arcam350
Speakers: B&W805S
CD Player: Cambridge 840C

I listen to CDs as well as watch movies regularly.

Music performance: I enjoy the sound a lot, but keep thinking there must be more. I think the main weakness in the setup is the receiver. While rated highly, it is still only an integrated receiver. I also suspect 840C is not as good as some reviews make it out to be, since often it takes some effort to tell the difference between it and my Oppo DVD player. There are certainly some distinct differences (centering of vocal, heightened sound level) but they are not extremely obvious.

Movie performance: very good but I have not set up the back speakers yet and so cannot be sure.

I therefore would like to upgrade the receiver.

Does anyone have any comments, particularly about where I can demo Arcam AV9 and power amp P7 and the price of those units in Hong Kong? I saw some Arcam equipment in Hong Kong, and they are much cheaper (30-35%) than the price in New York. I paid net US$2,500 for my AVR350 (with a small discount that I did not have to pay sales tax). In HK, I think the price would be around US$1,700 net (not certain, but another Arcam FMJ unit that sells for 2,500 in US sell for 1,700 in HK).

[nick.h]

Hi,

Yeah I landed up purchasing the MF A5cr pre & pro with A5cd player