Arcam AVR 300 as a dedicated stereo music amp?

I've got a line on a $300 Arcam AVR 300. These used to sell for six or seven times that a decade ago, so a serious step up from what I've got now (a Yamaha C-45 preamp and an Arcam SA200 power amp). I would be using it as the engine for a dedicated two-channel audio system. Normally I wouldn't consider an A/V receiver for this purpose, but the AVR 300 has gotten rave reviews as a two-channel amp and so I'm thinking that at this price, it might be worth it for me to try to jump on one, rather than sticking separates that are 20 or 25 years older.

Thoughts?

 

I hear very good things of the Arcam AVR units. At least worth spending some time considering. A contributor on another forum has long recommended the AVR400, so the 300 could well be a similar performer.

 

Looks like a good way to go to me.
You get the bonus of a tuner, 7.1 M/C input and all the AVR M/C processing bells and whistles.
Looks like you can also set it up to Bi-amp your Mains.

And....(this is for Brother).....

24/192 WOLFSON DAC's TOO!!!!!!!!!!

 

I used an AVR-300 for years. Had it paired with Totem Arro speakers and a Squeezebox Touch and Oppo BDP-93SE as audio sources. It finally stopped working a couple of months ago - it would just power off randomly and then 5-10 minutes later it would come back on. I really liked the sound, both from the digital output of the Touch and the analog output of the Oppo. I also bi-amped the Arros with the 6th and 7th channels of the amplifier. For $300 - as long it's a working unit - I think it's a no brainer.

 

Wolfson WM8770 apparently. What's not to like?!

 

I've had my Arcam AVR 300 in my home theater since it came out and it's not going anywhere soon (even if it doesn't do HDMI). I have been very, very happy with it and as Brother_Rael mentions it's actually got a very good internal DAC if you need it. I have read that the amplification used on the AVR 300 actually exceeds that of the AVR 400, however, it doesn't have any of the latest gadgets (if this is true then it's going to be more suited to your requirements and probably won't cost much at all).

One word of advise, if you decide to go ahead, is that I noticed a step up in sound by bi-amping the speakers, seeing as this is done all internally (read the instruction manual), all you need is the extra speaker cable so it's a very cost effective upgrade.

 

If the unit is in a good condition, I'd say go for it. You are using an Arcam amp, and so I assume that you like Arcam sound (which is too warm for me). My in-laws used to have an Arcam AVR 280. I think the DAC on it alone is worth $300.

 

I got it. I am having the power-off issues mentioned above, but although I haven't nailed this down completely, I think it's cured by keeping it in standby whenever its not in use. Apparently there's a repair or two for this that I may look into. Sounds fantastic!

 

Unfortunately "power-off issues" generally mean a new digital board now or in the near future. I would enquire in your local region if you have a local Arcam repairer and what price/availability there is for a new digital board. It's not a massive cost but not insubstantial either $200/300 AUD I think it cost me here in Australia, fitted. I'm sure it will be less in the US.

As I states earlier and as you are finding out it is a stonking amplifier for the cost - even with a new digital board.

 

I have the current top of the line Cambridge AVR and it is absolutely good enough for a dedicated two channel system. It's freakishly good for stereo.

Don't know about the older units but this is a revelation.

 

You are probably right. To clarify, though, it's not powering down when on, it's failing to go on and then powering down when I take it from off the standby or of to on. My workable solution is to keep it in standby when not using it. This may not work indefinitely, though.

 

I loved my 300. Unfortunatly I had to stop using it a few years back due to the talked about power problem. About the same time I really needed something with hdmi so it's been sitting on the shelf ever since.

Until a few weeks ago when I finally got around to leave it at the shop. I had no idea this was a wellknown problem but they told me that it pretty much seems to happen to all units and that it is getting hard to get them fixed because of lack of parts. I guess I'll find out pretty soon.

Still miss that sweet warm sound it has so it'll easily be worth a couple of hundred to fix for me if they can.

 

I feel the same way--worth a couple hundred to extend the life of this unit, especially at the low price I paid. Where are you located, if you don't mind me asking?

 

I know i'm replying a year after the question but since I also use the Arcam AVR300 as a 2 Channel Amp/Preamp so i'll say a bit about my experiences. I'm using Monitor Audio Rs-6 Speakers, an Arcam cd-192 Player, Thorens 165 MkII w/ Shure 97E Cartridge, Cambridge C1 Phono Preamp, and an Arcam T61 Tuner since the Tuner in the AVR-300 is crap... !

I have been lucky in that the 300 has performed flawlessly since I plucked it off EBay about 3 years ago. It has 120 watt/channel in 2 Channel mode which really helps with these speakers. I took advantage of the bi-amping capability
and the difference was big. Much more detail, presence, depth and soundstage got even better... a mind-blowing articulate stereo experience. AVR-300 is muscular but provides very articulate and non fatiguing listening. I couldn't hope for a better
2 channel setup. Very, very clear and transparent at 80-85 DB which is LOUD ! Listen mostly to Jazz, Classical, and the rock gems from long ago. It works amazingly well with most anything I listen to....

 

I've owned my AVR-300 since 2004 when I purchased it new. I've never experienced the "power off" problem.......knock on wood. But the volume knob is not working properly any longer, so I can only control the volume using the remote. Lowering the volume using the knob usually raises the volume or it responds very erratic at best. Otherwise........I've gotten 14 years of musical and home theater enjoyment with it. I run a Cambridge BD-752 into the multi channel inputs and it sounds excellent. The BD-752 has HDMI inputs so I can run a Fire TV Stick into it and get Dolby Digital Plus encoding, while using the Arcam's amp section. I'll keep the AVR300 until it dies........whenever that day comes, I'll either buy a used more updated Arcam or a new Cambridge A/V receiver.

 

I have an Arcam AVP700, which as a preamp is roughly equivalent to the AVR350 receiver. I think it sounds wonderful, and is my main audio and HT rig.

If I decided to split my HT and audio into separate rooms / setups my first thought would be to keep the Arcam as the music rig and get a new HT receiver.

 

I had an issue where increasing the volume to 78 would be fine, 79 would somehow lower the volume, and 80 would create a weird static sound. Eventually, I got fed up and got an old PC out of retirement which happens to have the necessary serial port to do a firmware upgrade and I flashed it using the latest one. It happens that I already had the latest but I basically flashed it with the same firmware once again,

That fixed the issue entirely. If you know how to do this, I'd suggest trying it. It's free and might fix your issue as well.

 

I might have to look into this. Thanks!