Processor Shootout Arcam AV9, Lexicon MC12, Proceed AVP2, Upgrade Company Onkyo SC885

[welwynnick]

This is the thread that I’ve been looking forwards to all year, but I’ve been in several minds about what to call it.

1. Processor Shootout: Arcam AV9, Lexicon MC12, Proceed AVP2, Upgrade Company Onkyo SC885 Or:
2. Which is most important: Playback, Decoding, Conversion, or Amplification? Or:
3. How to Build the Best-Sounding System for the Least Money. Or:
4. Can an AV System Really Play Music?

I did a final year project on HiFi during my final year studying electronics and physics at university, worked in a high-end HiFi shop for a while, and I’ve been into electronic systems, audio and more recently video, ever since. I haven’t stopped learning about HiFi in twenty years, and I’m not about to stop, but a few things are falling into place now. Its been my ambition to get a system together this year that would perform well with both movies and music.

But how to go about it? There’s always lots of advice – advertising, reviews, tests, user feedback etc, but I found myself trusting less and less of the increasing amounts of information available. To find the answers that I wanted to know, I found I had to beg, steal or borrow equipment and use it for myself in order to make up my mind.

DISPLAYS:
Pioneer 42" 1080p plasma
Epson TW5000 projector

SOURCES:
Luxman PD300 / Alphason HR100S / AT OC9
Sky HD
Meridian 200 CDP
Meridian 263 DAC
Pioneer DV-79AVI
Samsung BDP1200
LG BH200
Denon 2500BTCI
Upgraded Denon 3800BDCI

AMPLIFIERS:
Sony DA9000ES MC Integrated
Pioneer SC-07 MC Integrated
Magnum IA 125 Stereo Integrated
Arcam AV9 processor
Lexicon MC12 processor
Proceed AVP-2 processor
Upgraded Onkyo PR-SC885 processor
Arcam FMJ P7
2 x Lynx Stratos monoblocks
2 DIY ICEPower 500ASP monoblocks

SPEAKERS:
Final HT80 electrostatics 5.1
Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo3 5.1
Acoustat Spectra 1100 electrostatics 2.0
Musical Fidelity MC4 2.0

SUBS:
Rythmik Direct Servo DS12
Velodyne HGS-15
Behringer DSP-1124 BFD / REW / RS 33-4050


So by fair means or foul, I’ve acquired a big pile of equipment, and I need to decide what to keep and what to get rid of (out of urgent necessity). I will start other threads about blu-ray players and power amplifiers, but this one is about audio pre-amp/processors.

Despite great experience with a Sony DA9000ES integrated amp, I think processors are central to a high-quality system. But how to chose the right solution from a system-level viewpoint? And how to reconcile the needs for good stereo and music performance with multi-channel AV? And what’s the right architecture to chose? A digital hub that would handle all the current digital audio sources would be very convenient, but I keep hearing how analogue interfaces can perform better than digital with high-end equipment. So maybe a high-quality legacy processor fed by a player with great analogue audio outputs is the way? Or maybe I need to hedge my options, and cater for all sources?

I did a player and processor shoot-out that I described in AVForums earlier this year, and I learned a great deal, but I didn’t have all the big players available then. This time I have some of the pretenders to the title of the best processor (except for the big ticket candidates). The Arcam and Proceed in particular have a great reputation for stereo performance. I was persuaded to get them solely by Zissou’s classic thread in AVS. The Lexicon is well known and I think it sounds great. The upgraded Onkyo is threatening to upset the apple-cart, but the Upgrade Company has an unusual business approach that many people have difficulty accepting. They claim their signature edition products can match any stock equipment at any price, which is a lofty claim that most cynic observers find hard to swallow. Especially those that maintain that all electronics sound alike when you do proper DBT tests. If you subscribe to that view, please stop reading now.

I wanted to put these claims to the test, and I’m concentrating on music performance. This seems to be the most difficult thing to get right. Some people believe that you need a certain type of sound for music (perhaps softer and more harmonic) and a different type for cinema (maybe more exaggerated and aggressive). I don’t really agree with that. Soft music sounds soft to me, and aggressive AV sound just sounds aggressive, and I don’t like either. I don’t believe it’s the responsibility of the system to create a type or style of sound – that’s the producer’s job. The system should replay what its been given, and most systems fall short of this, but do so in different ways that gives rise to discussion of style

So I’m going to listen to TV, CD, SACD, DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray material and give my view on which processors do it best. I’ll compare them with digital and analogue audio sources, in 16-bit and 24-bit formats, compresed and lossless, LPCM and bitstream, and see how they work out. In particular, I will try to get reviews from as many other interested people as I can as well. Processors don’t lend themselves to portability as they are so difficult to set-up, but I’ll see what I can do. I have a friend with a stock Onkyo SC886, which will be interesting to compare as a baseline (one that I’m very familiar with). This will take some time to do, so please be patient with my typing.

I don’t know what the answers are yet, so it’s going to be interesting!

Regards, Nick