Recommendation in upgrading my Arcam AVR-350

peteavnj

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Hi All, new to the forum. I currently have an Arcam AVR-350 which has served me very well for the last 11yrs. I have it running a 5.1 system consisting of Dynaudio speakers and a JL Audio sub. I am currently in the market to upgrade my Arcam AVR-350. I was looking at the Arcam AVR-550. My budget is $2500-3k, so wanted to see if you had any recommendations in staying with Arcam or if I should consider anything else.

Also considering upgrading my TV in this system to an OLED (either the LG C9 or Sony AG) in case there are any handshake issues I should be aware of with these TVs.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations.
 
If you are lucky there are some good deals on Arcam FMJ's. See if you can get a home demo or sale or return, try it and see how it sounds to you nothing to lose but your time. Maybe do the same with other AVR's you like the look off. You cannot beat a home demo it really is the only way to get what is right for you
 
If you are lucky there are some good deals on Arcam FMJ's. See if you can get a home demo or sale or return, try it and see how it sounds to you nothing to lose but your time. Maybe do the same with other AVR's you like the look off. You cannot beat a home demo it really is the only way to get what is right for you
I found the AVR-550 on sale. Didn't know if I should go that route or look at something like the Marantz 8012 or NAD T778.

Any thoughts?
 
I’m thinking the NAD is looking like a good bet, for now... you will get an option later to upgrade the Video to 8K with the MDC
 
I found the AVR-550 on sale. Didn't know if I should go that route or look at something like the Marantz 8012 or NAD T778.

Any thoughts?
What's the price difference? The Arcam AVR550 is very good, but no eARC, and a fair few other foibles. Sounds superb though. The Marantz should be okay, no Dirac, and a different sound than the Arcam / Nad, I would expect 2 channel music performance to be not quite as good with the Marantz. The Nad looks like a good AVR though, it's quite new but reports are favourable so far.
 
What's the price difference? The Arcam AVR550 is very good, but no eARC, and a fair few other foibles. Sounds superb though. The Marantz should be okay, no Dirac, and a different sound than the Arcam / Nad, I would expect 2 channel music performance to be not quite as good with the Marantz. The Nad looks like a good AVR though, it's quite new but reports are favourable so far.

The AVR550 is $2500 US, so a $500 US difference btw it and the Marantz or NAD.
 
I’d favour the newer tech; and the efficient nCore class D amps personally ...NAD tune their kit warm, which I’ve always liked, less brash treble and someone confirmed recently this is still the case with the T778. I’ve got Monitor Audio Platinum speakers (same as T778 owner) and treble mostly sounds harsh if the kit is tuned with a typical BBC dip (bass and ‘treble’ enhanced)!
 
The nad t778 sounds amazing with my monitor audio platinum PL200 . Far better than the lexicon rv-9 Arcam avr850.
 
Thank you all for your input and advice, I greatly appreciate it!
 
If you like the Arcam sound and are not planning to add a multitude of extra speakers, you could keep the 350 and use its power amp section only. It has a toroidal transformer like the 550 and similar power - I doubt there'd be much difference in performance between the power amp sections of the two.

You could then get an up-to-date AVR or processor with pre-outs which have the latest hi-res DACs, HDMI specs and room correction (which can make a huge difference). Amongst the Japanese brands, I'd consider the Marantz SR6014 or AV7705 or Denon AVR-X4500. If you want better room correction, processor DACs together with the latest HDMI specs (inc. eARC) I believe only the latest HDA range of Arcam AVRs (AVR10, 20, 30, 40) has these but they have notoriously bad reliability issues - see the New Arcam AVRs forum on this site (including my own experience!)

Hope that helps,
 

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