I am looking at buying the 990 and the new 5 channel amp. But the review from Widescreen Review the other day on the Arcam got a great write up. AVR 300 Review I know the power differece would be big but I am using NHT M5's so the 300 woukd have plenty of power to dive my speakers. Cost for the 990 and amp would be a little more than just the avr300. I am not looking for anything with HDMI because I have nothing with HDMI. Which ever one I buy I plan on using until HD-DVD becomes almost main stream. (Don't want anything to do with format war) So I am asking should I just go a head and get the 990 and amp or should I get the Arcam 300.
Allen

Dek,

I recently got the 990 and am absolutely satisfied with its performance. However, I have heard very good things about Arcam. If there is any way you could test both of them (Outlaw is easy with the 30-day trial period) I would suggest you try them both out. I think though the Arcam AVP700 might be a closer match to the 990, but then you are looking at throwing anohter $1000 into the mix. I feel no need to upgrade from the 990 as it does very well, but without ever hearing the Arcam I can't say which one would sound better to me.

The Arcam is a nice unit. I recently auditioned the 300 for a friend who wanted a system for his boat (long story). As you noted already, it is about the same price as a 990+amp. For the money, I think the 990+amp is a better deal as I feel the 990 is a little more transparent. Also, the M5 is quite inefficient...probably quite taxing on the amplifier stage of the Arcam at anything close to reference sound levels. The AVR300 is only rated at 100 watts/channel @ 8ohms when all 7 channels are driven and only goes to 120wpc if you're only driving the mains.

Good luck!