Alas, I am moving slowly from an integrated, 8 year old Yamaha RX-V1 to separates, and since I have kids and future college bills (and less time to research) need to stay within reason and a budget.

So, pretty please (does taht help out here (-: ) provide your thoughts on the following 7 or 8 channel amplifiers at their various price points in context of the others:

Arcam P1000 7 ch ,135 wpc - $1400, demo from the floor
NAD T975 7 ch, 140 wpc - $2,100 new or a $1,400 used o
Marantz Z MM-8003, 8 ch, 140 wpc – between $1500 and $1990 new
Adcom GFA7707 7-Channel Amplifier, 7 ch, 200 wpc – likely in the $2 to $2,200 range

My local guys are partial to their NAD and Arcam units; and I do not want to overpay for a unit that will not really step up enough: i.e. if the Adcom GFA-7707 is not $600 better than the used Arcam P1000, I’d pass and go Arcam.

I am looking to bi-amp my Paradigm Studio 100s, and in the future will add either a rear center or go fully to 7.1 – for the time being though, the new amp and the RX-V1 will get married.

I appreciate any opinion and insight – thank you for sharing – I apologize if this is well-covered territory out here, see the opening to this post – three kids and hours of research do not mix well.


Thanks