To n-Vi or not to n-Vi
Posted by: dan scott on 17 December 2006
Hello everyone.
Well fate has chucked me a wild card today. My Harman Kardon AVR 8500 is refusing to come out of standby.
It's been playing up a bit recently turning itself off and just being a bit "quirky" for want of a better word.
Now it's not turning on and I use it for ALL my TV/Home cinema duties (Through B&W LCR600, 603s3 fronts, 600s3 Surrounds) so while it's out of action i've got the TV going through a set of battery powered Creative Travelsound speakers (Brings a tear to my eye for all the wrong reasons!)
So my eyes turn to alternatives as I really don't want to wait for weeks to get the AVR8500 repaired with the travelsounds (They sound great on an iPod on a beach in Thailand but not so great in my lounge lol!)
In comes the n-Vi... lots going for it and some heavy praise on lots of forums on the net from retialers and users. Also lots of glitches and some very dissatisfies customers for an unlucky few.
Here are my sources that would have to go through the n-Vi-
Pioneer 436XDE Plasma (Built in Freeview) currently connected via Optical cable.
Arcam DV79 connected via Digital Coax to the amp and HDMI to the TV's media box.
XBOX (Original) used as a media player occasionally connected via component to the TV and optical cable to the amp.
Pioneer DVD recorder connected via scart to the TV's media box. Sound goes to the amp via the optical cable from the TV (Gets to the TV via scart) - again rarely used.
I would sell the DV79 if I went for the n-Vi for obvious reasons!
One thing that does worry me a little is that the n-Vi only seems to have 1 digital (Optical) input - am I misreading?
Now most of the time my Harman Kardon is doing Logic7 processing on 2 channel freeview and so I get pseudo surround from standard TV. The rest of the time it is doing Dolby/DTS processing from the DV79.
Will the n-Vi be the solution for me? I guess alternatives would be an Arcam Solo video in the new year or just an Arcam AV350 now.
I'll get the AVR8500 fixed up and then pass it on to a new home in the new year - what an amp i'll miss it! So much power and control - absolute bargain!!! unfortunately it's conked out at Christmas
Also will the n-Vi's 50wpc be enough to push my B&W 603's (I know they're Naim 50WPC not other "lesser" manufacturers claimed figures)
I thought that in the future if I did get the n-Vi I might in the future combine my stereo setup (Nait5i, CD5, Ariva's) into the AV setup as when I buy my own place I won't have as much space as I do now and may not be able to have a seperate AV and stereo setup so could hopefully end up with-
n-Vi
Nait5i
CD5
Ariva's
n-SAT's (After selling B&W's)
Naim Centre (The name of it escapes me)
Please give me your opinions and ideas, I could do with the help (Really wasn't planning this one!)
Well fate has chucked me a wild card today. My Harman Kardon AVR 8500 is refusing to come out of standby.
It's been playing up a bit recently turning itself off and just being a bit "quirky" for want of a better word.
Now it's not turning on and I use it for ALL my TV/Home cinema duties (Through B&W LCR600, 603s3 fronts, 600s3 Surrounds) so while it's out of action i've got the TV going through a set of battery powered Creative Travelsound speakers (Brings a tear to my eye for all the wrong reasons!)
So my eyes turn to alternatives as I really don't want to wait for weeks to get the AVR8500 repaired with the travelsounds (They sound great on an iPod on a beach in Thailand but not so great in my lounge lol!)
In comes the n-Vi... lots going for it and some heavy praise on lots of forums on the net from retialers and users. Also lots of glitches and some very dissatisfies customers for an unlucky few.
Here are my sources that would have to go through the n-Vi-
Pioneer 436XDE Plasma (Built in Freeview) currently connected via Optical cable.
Arcam DV79 connected via Digital Coax to the amp and HDMI to the TV's media box.
XBOX (Original) used as a media player occasionally connected via component to the TV and optical cable to the amp.
Pioneer DVD recorder connected via scart to the TV's media box. Sound goes to the amp via the optical cable from the TV (Gets to the TV via scart) - again rarely used.
I would sell the DV79 if I went for the n-Vi for obvious reasons!
One thing that does worry me a little is that the n-Vi only seems to have 1 digital (Optical) input - am I misreading?
Now most of the time my Harman Kardon is doing Logic7 processing on 2 channel freeview and so I get pseudo surround from standard TV. The rest of the time it is doing Dolby/DTS processing from the DV79.
Will the n-Vi be the solution for me? I guess alternatives would be an Arcam Solo video in the new year or just an Arcam AV350 now.
I'll get the AVR8500 fixed up and then pass it on to a new home in the new year - what an amp i'll miss it! So much power and control - absolute bargain!!! unfortunately it's conked out at Christmas
Also will the n-Vi's 50wpc be enough to push my B&W 603's (I know they're Naim 50WPC not other "lesser" manufacturers claimed figures)
I thought that in the future if I did get the n-Vi I might in the future combine my stereo setup (Nait5i, CD5, Ariva's) into the AV setup as when I buy my own place I won't have as much space as I do now and may not be able to have a seperate AV and stereo setup so could hopefully end up with-
n-Vi
Nait5i
CD5
Ariva's
n-SAT's (After selling B&W's)
Naim Centre (The name of it escapes me)
Please give me your opinions and ideas, I could do with the help (Really wasn't planning this one!)