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NAD T778 vs Arcam AVR20 and/or how do I listen to an Atmos music stream on an AVR.

tedh1979

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I found out, that I can launch AppleMusic on the IPhone, play an Atmos tune and send that to an AppleTV 4K with no hdmi output switched on. At first it will use Airplay and play 2ch only. After 10 sec it will launch AppleTV’s version of AppleMusic and play my tune in Atmos. That is a perfect solution.
This thread is a bit dated, but you said no to Denon which I agree. They sound horrible. In picking between NAD, Rotel, and ARCAM, I picked the NAD T778 and the sound was amazing but it didn't last long. Tons of articles on groups of how many problems and how unreliable the NAD T778 is. Mine started popping and then went into protection mode. After rebooting all the time it finally wouldn't work anymore. The solution for the fix is to replace the surround L and surround R Hypex amp modules. There's a separate problem with DC leaking into the coupling caps. NAD customer service was non-existent. Price to repair was insane. Long story short I just ordered an ARCAM AVR21. I've never heard two channel audio sound, with my external amp added, that sounded as good as the NAD. I couldn't see buying a Rotel as their one model is ancient technology. That left me with ARCAM. I know the screen won't be as nice and I'll miss that. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the same sound quality or even better if it exists. And yes, every brand has a bad unit here or there but I'm expecting the ARCAM to be reliable as the NAD's rep is absolutely awful for this model. Someone told me NAD= Not Always Dependable and I ignored that and that was a mistake.
 
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JoachimStrobel

JoachimStrobel

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This thread is a bit dated, but you said no to Denon which I agree. They sound horrible. In picking between NAD, Rotel, and ARCAM, I picked the NAD T778 and the sound was amazing but it didn't last long. Tons of articles on groups of how many problems and how unreliable the NAD T778 is. Mine started popping and then went into protection mode. After rebooting all the time it finally wouldn't work anymore. The solution for the fix is to replace the surround L and surround R Hypex amp modules. There's a separate problem with DC leaking into the coupling caps. NAD customer service was non-existent. Price to repair was insane. Long story short I just ordered an ARCAM AVR21. I've never heard two channel audio sound, with my external amp added, that sounded as good as the NAD. I couldn't see buying a Rotel as their one model is ancient technology. That left me with ARCAM. I know the screen won't be as nice and I'll miss that. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the same sound quality or even better if it exists. And yes, every brand has a bad unit here or there but I'm expecting the ARCAM to be reliable as the NAD's rep is absolutely awful for this model. Someone told me NAD= Not Always Dependable and I ignored that and that was a mistake.
I read posts like this and hold my breath. My NAD T778 has been performing absolutely flawless for 2 years now. Not even fan noise. And I am using all internal amps. I keep my fingers crossed.
 

Beershaun

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This thread is a bit dated, but you said no to Denon which I agree. They sound horrible. In picking between NAD, Rotel, and ARCAM, I picked the NAD T778 and the sound was amazing but it didn't last long. Tons of articles on groups of how many problems and how unreliable the NAD T778 is. Mine started popping and then went into protection mode. After rebooting all the time it finally wouldn't work anymore. The solution for the fix is to replace the surround L and surround R Hypex amp modules. There's a separate problem with DC leaking into the coupling caps. NAD customer service was non-existent. Price to repair was insane. Long story short I just ordered an ARCAM AVR21. I've never heard two channel audio sound, with my external amp added, that sounded as good as the NAD. I couldn't see buying a Rotel as their one model is ancient technology. That left me with ARCAM. I know the screen won't be as nice and I'll miss that. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the same sound quality or even better if it exists. And yes, every brand has a bad unit here or there but I'm expecting the ARCAM to be reliable as the NAD's rep is absolutely awful for this model. Someone told me NAD= Not Always Dependable and I ignored that and that was a mistake.
I have been very happy with my anthem mrx1140. So if you haven't considered the current line of Anthem AVRs they have measured well and perform well.
 

tedh1979

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Well my popping noise was caused by pop. Yes that's right. I sold my NAD at a huge loss and then bought an Arcam AVR21. The Arcam wouldn't play sound from back surrounds. I decided to look at the speakers and my daughter left her glass of pop on my speaker that she's not allowed to do. The pop got knocked over probably by the cat and when the glass fell, it disconnected the wire and put bare wire into a puddle of pop. The Arcam AVR21 is awful in pretty much every single way compared to the NAD including sound quality. I'm so disappointed with the Arcam, I'm going to buy another NAD T778 and I'm buying a 5 year warranty with it as well.
 
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