Arcam vs. NAD vs. Rotel AV Units

Any of the three would probably do you OK.

For musical audiophiles the Arcam & Rotel units have the edge - nothing the matter with Nad, it's good budget gear, but more entry level. The Rotel & Arcam are both excellent for music, although I'd give the edge to the Arcam (especially for timbral accuracy, dynamics and transparency, not because Arcam costs more!!). Rotel would be a close second.

However, if you're mostly using your system for movies and rock/pop, and assuming you're matching amp to speakers, I'd just go with the receiver that has the best user interface and the features that best fit your needs.

Since orchestral, choral and acoustic music is a huge deal to my ears, I use an Arcam.

Arcam AVR-350. You can have your cake and eat it too. Great movie and multichannel performance and darned good with music too.

The Arcam hands down! The Rotel is a nice unit also, but they do seem to have some hissssss you can hear through your speakers.

Rotel offers great adjustments Bass and treble for all channels, plus Individual LF roll off for subwoofer and plenty of power just comes down to features between the Rotel and the Arcam......do your homework and it should be fun.

"Rotel offers great adjustments Bass and treble for all channels, plus Individual LF roll off for subwoofer"

Good point!!! I actually think their OSD menus are some of the easiest to adjust and have plenty of options as you've said. Most definitely better than any other receiver on the market IMHO.

Arcam AVR350 also features Bass and Treble adjustments for all channels, in addition to bass management. I just received my AVR350 and completed the setup last Friday; very user-friendly. I'm most happy with the Arcam!

Cdm, what were using prior to the Arcam? I think the AVP-700 pre-processor and AVR-350 (AVP-700 with amps) are two of the best bang for the buck products Arcam has ever put out.

Their software can be a little quirky, but the sound gives you a taste of what real high end sound is like, for music and movies.

You have to spend much more to get better IMO.

I was using the Marantz SR7300-OSE.

Of those mentioned, I would say the Arcam (I have only heard the 300, not the 350 unfortunately). FYI, I ended up with the B&K 507 which I liked best. The B&K excelled in stereo over the Arcam IMHO, but the Arcam was also very good.

HT more of a push between these two.

Did not listen to the NAD for this purchase, but from a cost/reward basis, NAD is fine. Did listen to the Rotel, having owned in the past. Just don't have the same confidence level in the Rotel as the Arcam and the B&K.

For this amount of money (Arcam 300/350) you should listen to the B&K. I can't begin to tell you how happy I am with mine and just as much with the company itself.

ckoffend

I am considering selling my Rotel 1068 Pre/Pro and Rotel 1075 Power amp to get an Arcam AVR350. I've done a brief A-B comparison and I recall liking the Arcam better in terms of musicality. Not that the Rotel was bad by any stretch. They are both great. Would this be a step down going from Rotel separates to the Arcam AVR350? Or would it be an improvement?

I have listened to receiver rotel 67 model and the avr 350 from arcam. Arcam wins. NAD not in the race. I think the Arcam 300 is best buy with recent pricing from the company.

Since you have Klispch, I would go with the NAD as it's a little smoother. Arcam are the most detailed amps I've heard and I don't think Klipsch would sound good with them. I own Klispch, Aerial, NAD, and Marantz. For your purposes, I think the NAD would sound the best. You really have to smooth the Klispch's.

regards, David

Third thread today I have to say....... ARCAM!!!!! Its amazing how good it sounds. I mean... AMAZING!