Quote:
Originally posted by cappra:
Asx,
You say that the 990 is harsh as usual, bass is bulged up and not deep, pretty much hopeless with music. How come I don't hear this kind of bashing from most of the owners of this unit? I would venture to say that over 90% of the owners are very happy with their units.
How many people have compared the 990 with something like AVP700 or Cary side by side in their own setups, not just listened to them in some showrooms? I tell you, when I first heard the 990 I was pretty happy too, coming from H/K AVR635 (H/K AVR8000 before that which I reluctantly had to sell.) It's only by the end of the trial period I concluded that something was not right. Maybe you too should find a local shop and arrange an Arcam loaner just for the sake of experimenting. You may be quite surprised.

Quote:

I don't understand why you still have the 990. If I was that unhappy with it, I would have returned it a long time ago. Buy the Cary and go in peace...
Why do I still have it? - I guess I still want to figure out what's going on and don't want to spend that much extra money on Arcam or Cary or something else if I really don't need to. Btw, I extended my trial period with Outlaws so I can try out the new firmware and then decide.

Quote:
Originally posted by zest:
i also compared the 990 to the arcam 700 ,as well as an anthem 30. I agree the arcam is very good but to me not worth the additional money. Possibly this is because i use my 990 for mostly movies.
Just curious, did you do the comparison in your house, with you own speakers, all units together? I heard the Cary yesterday in the showroom (before I took it home, which I never even intended to do as I never heard of the company) and was not much impressed - was kind of nice but nothing special. It's only when I brought it home I discovered what it really can do with music (hint: it's better than the Arcam). But I agree that with movies 990 is fine. On the other hand my H/K 635 with movies is just as fine.

Quote:
Originally posted by tmdlp:
I have always had the Tone Defeat=On. So i listened to Bypass and Upsampling. Good as always.
Then i turned Tone Defeat = Off.
I was expecting no real change. I mean nothing really noticeable. But sure enough - the bass was exaggerated and i can see where 'muddy' could be used as a description.
And the image seemed cut down and subdued. The drums/cymbals where compressed in. where’s the image?
I flipped the Tone Defeat = On: The imaged opened up and the bass settled down. crazy – no?!?!?!
Hm, interesting. I had to leave for the rest of the evening yesterday so never had a chance to try. I'll do it today. But the symptoms you are describing are very similar, including the compression and shrank soundstage.
I wonder if only this particular Tone routine or every mode of the DSP colors the sound. For example would having DPLII engaged but the Tone defeat ON result in the same colorization? I'm guilty of using DPLII with music sometimes on certain material (try Mike Oldfield Amarok for example) and would not want to lose this option. On both Arcam and Cary the DPLII with music was wonderful without changing anything in the sound spectrum. Also, what about straight DD or DTS tracks? They go through DSP too, and I found DTS music to be as bad as Stereo in terms of harshness and bass colorization.

Anyway, I'll try today when I get home.