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Arcam AVR20 vs. Denon AVR-a110 anniversary edition...

As the title suggests, I am looking for feedback on these two specific AVR’s... I currently have the Arcam, and I love it’s musicality in my setup, which is mostly used for two channel audio. I have had Pass Labs preamps in my rig with Carver Raven 350 power amps in the past, but having a family means trying to get the most out of my rig while taking up less space.

The Arcam is a great piece for that purpose, but I am currently on my 4th one in just a year. Reliability has been their downfall. I have an opportunity to trade for the Denon pretty much even on the dollar side of things, and was hoping someone here might be able to offer e bit of insight as to what the anniversary Denon sounds like. I know they are highly regarded in HT, but I am curious as th how they compare to the Arcam in stereo operation. My speakers are Polk Audio L800’s and sources are Yamaha CDS2100, streaming audio from computer, and soon a Pro-Ject P6.1 turntable that I am restoring....

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soix
8,983 posts
 

If 2-channel and reliability are important I’d go with Anthem, but if that’s out of the budget Yamaha Aventage line would be my next choice. I got to compare Yammy directly with Arcam, Denon, and Marantz driving B&W 804 D3s in stereo and the Yamaha was the clear winner and also very reliable. It was the only one that displayed the characteristics of my much more expensive separate amp and preamp. Best of luck.

audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,645 posts
 

if you love the arcam but want reliability look at audio control

 

audio control builds  in the usa but shares parts and design with arcam

 

audio control is sold primarily through custom Installers and so reliability is paramount

 

we have been selling their products for years very rarely ever any issues

 

Dave and Troy

Audio intellect nj

Audio control dealers

 

 

erik_squires
15,980 posts
 

I don’t know it will be exactly the same, but I’d take Anthem over a lot of mass market designs.

If you are looking at 2 channel integrateds I’d strongly suggest hte Parasound as a close match, as well as Ayre on the higher price side.

I can't speak to every brand out there, but in the past I had a Theta casanova and thought I could substitute an Onkyo or Emotiva with the (then) new HDMI connectors.  I was very wrong.  They sucked at the time.  Point is, you really should listen cause the Arcam is a very sweet sounding piece of kit and you are not going to be happy with a generic AVR.

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