Arcam AVR390 AVR Review

[Anterantz]

Makes no sense. I appreciate that English may be a second or third language and that alone is impressive but what are you saying? Try again please Anterantz.

I was saying that to compare the sound, it is better to do it in ranges of the same price, an arcade does not fall below €3,000 and only has 7 amps, which has the advantage of having less electronics that interfere with the thd and having
higher budget for only 7 channels the result is somewhat better than an avr of the same price and 11 channels inside.

The day that arcam makes an 11-channel avr with the same sound quality at the same price, it will have more
respects.

I have an avr20 and it sounds great but I was expecting more oomph from this avr.

 

[Gringoaudio1]

I was saying that to compare the sound, it is better to do it in ranges of the same price, an arcade does not fall below €3,000 and only has 7 amps, which has the advantage of having less electronics that interfere with the thd and having
higher budget for only 7 channels the result is somewhat better than an avr of the same price and 11 channels inside.

The day that arcam makes an 11-channel avr with the same sound quality at the same price, it will have more
respects.

I have an avr20 and it sounds great but I was expecting more oomph from this avr.

Thanks. I understand now. I too have an Arcam. An older Diva AVR350. It sounds okay. It looks fantastic. Nice Industrial Design but unreliable and much of it doesn’t work. Only works on 2-channel Direct. Had a previous identical Arcam Diva 350 that failed completely. The Arcam pieces tested here at AudioScienceReview doesn’t measure very well either. The Japanese units from Denon measured way better. I’ll never buy another Arcam. Nice looking but I doubt they have the quality of the Japanese gear. And I doubt that they sound as good from the measurements. Too expensive. Only have snob appeal. That’s why I bought it. My foolishness.

 

[ImolaRed]

Interesting how this AVR measured out.

I was wondering how it would do as a pre-amp and was shocked to see that it shouldn't do too bad! Anybody have input on how it worked for them?

I have the Lexicon version of this AVR and I'm tired of trying to implement my HT and 2 channel rigs. Right now I have the Lexicon/Arcam front pre-outs going to my Schiit Freya + and then to a Cherry X Amp to power the front 2 speakers. I'm also using an RME-Adi-2 DAC.

Was wondering if it's worth trying the Lexicon as a pre-amp and using it's direct mode, then pre-outs straight to the Cherry amp and use the adi-2 DAC into the analog of the AVR along with my phono pre-amp going into the AVR too.

Or just bite the bullet and get a real HT bypass 2 channel pre-amp.

 

[Gringoaudio1]

Interesting how this AVR measured out.

I was wondering how it would do as a pre-amp and was shocked to see that it shouldn't do too bad! Anybody have input on how it worked for them?

I have the Lexicon version of this AVR and I'm tired of trying to implement my HT and 2 channel rigs. Right now I have the Lexicon/Arcam front pre-outs going to my Schiit Freya + and then to a Cherry X Amp to power the front 2 speakers. I'm also using an RME-Adi-2 DAC.

Was wondering if it's worth trying the Lexicon as a pre-amp and using it's direct mode, then pre-outs straight to the Cherry amp and use the adi-2 DAC into the analog of the AVR along with my phono pre-amp going into the AVR too.

Or just bite the bullet and get a real HT bypass 2 channel pre-amp.

If it’s anything like my ArcamAVR 350 you will not get access to the tone controls using stereo Direct mode. Direct (stereo only) is the only mode I can use now as the digital section is not working and tone control is done in that digital section. The option to adjust tone does not even show up in the menu when it’s on Direct.
If you haven’t bought the Arcam there’s absolutely no reason to buy one. It only has snob appeal, it does not have good build quality or performance. Though it sounds lovely on stereo direct it’s a big box with a lot of unuseable potential and speaker connections.

 

[ImolaRed]

If it’s anything like my ArcamAVR 350 you will not get access to the tone controls using stereo Direct mode. Direct (stereo only) is the only mode I can use now as the digital section is not working and tone control is done in that digital section. The option to adjust tone does not even show up in the menu when it’s on Direct.
If you haven’t bought the Arcam there’s absolutely no reason to buy one. It only has snob appeal, it does not have good build quality or performance. Though it sounds lovely on stereo direct it’s a big box with a lot of unuseable potential and speaker connections.

Like I said above.......I have it already as a HT AVR and it works fantastic. No complaints at all in how it performs (in Lexicon guise) for simple 7.1 home theater use.

I haven't used tone controls for serious 2 channel listening since the 70's maybe? So that doesn't really make sense here.

 

[Miker 1102]

Out of curiosity what firmware version did you use? Very big changes to bass management etc. in later versions. Quite bad performance I have to say! Then at least we know it would be worth going for some of the more expensive options like HTP-1 if the money is there.

Imo though Dirac Live is such a big deal that I would choose this over something that does not have Dirac.

I know this old but I recently purchased a Pioneer wirh Dirac for the same reason you mentioned. Dirac couldn't make up for the flaws found in the Pioneer vsx-lx305. No individual speaker crossover and stereo mode that sounded like an echo chamber. I think I am going to buy the Pioneer and send it to Amir. I cannot figure out a good solution to an Avr with Dirac? I bought a Denon 4400 that is pretty good wit Audessy after I did all the tricks with the 20 dollar app. Seems like everyone I have talked to is going after the Rz50 or waiting for the bass control Dirac to be released on an Integra flagship late this year.
One other thing is the constant mention of the 24/48hz limits. I am unaware of any Avrs that are processing room correction at higher sample rates? The benefits of the room correction vs a barely accepted audible boosting "high res" format..

 

[BlackSpider777]

Does this model and the 550 suffer same issue as the 850 with large/small differences?

I guess Amir only tested with the Speakers set to "Small" on the AVR850.

He reviewed the AVR390 much before he knew about this bug in the Arcam Fmj avrs, i think the bug will be in the 390 & 550 too as they have the same firmware running on them.

 

[Krobar]

I know this old but I recently purchased a Pioneer wirh Dirac for the same reason you mentioned. Dirac couldn't make up for the flaws found in the Pioneer vsx-lx305. No individual speaker crossover and stereo mode that sounded like an echo chamber. I think I am going to buy the Pioneer and send it to Amir. I cannot figure out a good solution to an Avr with Dirac? I bought a Denon 4400 that is pretty good wit Audessy after I did all the tricks with the 20 dollar app. Seems like everyone I have talked to is going after the Rz50 or waiting for the bass control Dirac to be released on an Integra flagship late this year.
One other thing is the constant mention of the 24/48hz limits. I am unaware of any Avrs that are processing room correction at higher sample rates? The benefits of the room correction vs a barely accepted audible boosting "high res" format..

There are no normally priced AVRs processing Dirac above 24/48. The Datasat RS20I is 24/96 on all channels. The Theta prepro is 24/96 when working with a stereo output only.

For more awkward rooms there are also differences in the number of FIR filters that can be applied by Dirac. Current Arcam and Monoprice are 1536, Prioneer/Onkyo 1024 and Storm was around 2536 per channel max.

 

[01svtL]

I guess Amir only tested with the Speakers set to "Small" on the AVR850.

He reviewed the AVR390 much before he knew about this bug in the Arcam Fmj avrs, i think the bug will be in the 390 & 550 too as they have the same firmware running on them.

Sorry to bring this back up. I didn't see where this was discussed. Is the AVR390 considered a good buy now, then? As long as the firmware is updated immediately?

 

[TabCam]

Sorry to bring this back up. I didn't see where this was discussed. Is the AVR390 considered a good buy now, then? As long as the firmware is updated immediately?

Depends on many factors; how much power do your room/speakers need, how much distortion is too much, what new technology dou you need for the foreseeable future, what priice do you want to pay for equipment that gets outdated in say 5 years, etc.

Arcam has not been too shabby with firmware support which I do not expect that to change, even with the new owner. If you do not need the latest HDMI standards for say 4k 60 fps VVR, and are happy with moderate power levels, I can image you being happy for quite some years.