Price Paid:  $4500.00

Summary:
Searching for a good amp to replace the old Yammie RXV795aRDS Receiver to power my Tannoy D500's I first went to an Audio show in Holland as I'm new to audioland. I was attracted to Arcam because of the musicality of their equipment. Starting with the DV88Plus I tried the AVR200 with a P85 power amp. The combo was too light to control the Tannoys. As the P7 was a little expensive concidering myself not really an auiophile I tried the Myryad MA 500. The demo at the shop gave me a very good impression and i had the chance to listen to it at home too. I was really impressed by the potential it had. Lots of detail, open, tight bass, great power. The dealer offered me to listen to the P7 at home as well. warning him that if there's not too much difference he's wasting his time. Ok, there it was playing after the Myryad. Man did my chin fall down from amazement. Chickenskin causing detail and clarity, amazing tight and stong bass. Actually a little too much for my living room, but using the trick of acoustically damping the speakers with the foam plugs the sound was just right. The fronts were bi-wired then. Having only 5 speakers I used the two remaining channels to bi-amp the main fronts. OMG what a difference. Much more detail and control, even the thundering lows were tight without having to damp the speakers. So in the end the building up of a soundsystem grew a little out of hand actually started wanting a system being around € 5000 including speakers. Now there's all Arcam equipment and Tannoy speakers from the Defenition series. It's an ultra strong homecinema system being a great concerthall too and very VERY musical. Maybe a touch warm but that's personal. You don't really need a very expensive AV8 to enjoy music and movies. It's hooked to an Arcam AVR200 and it sounds great. The AVR 200 is much more musical than the NAD and Denon i tried.

Strengths:
Amazingly stable control, bi-ampable, detail, openness, has a 12V trigger input, clarity, soundstage, actually everything

Weaknesses:
Darn heavy at 31 kg!!!

Similar Products Used:
Myryad MA 500 power amp Denon AVR 3802 NAD T752 Yamaha RXV 795a RDS