Arcam FMJ-AV8 PRE-PRO PROCESSOR

Offered by your trusted AudiogoN member

with years of experience and over 500 rating at 100%

offered today:

the Legendary, Arcam FMJ-AV8 PRE-PRO PROCESSOR
Used, no original box, manual or remote (price reflex this). 

Flat rate shipping  of $65 to the contiguous USA and will be insured for safe deliver.   Outside this area will be per delivery quote of shipper.  Delivery is expensive, requiring a box and proper packing.

PayPal, please add 3.5%.

Manufactured in the UK. High quality piece.  Although no HDMI, there are both digital coax and toslink inputs. It is great for both 2 channel as a preamp, and home theater with 8 main and 3 sub channel outputs.  Here is an excerpt from a review I found online from Sound and Vision. NO ORIGINAL MANUAL, but you can download it for free. 

Arcam FMJ AV8 Around the Block 
In the world of high-end audio, the more expensive and higher-performance a product is, chances are the fewer knobs it will have. The opposite seems to be true in the A/V world, where more money means more knobs, more complexity, and, usually, more confusion. That there's no reason for this is proved by the sleek, refreshingly simple, and clean-looking FMJ AV8 surround preamp-processor. Its faceplate gives no indication of the complexity and flexibility to be found within. It has almost every feature you could want in a pre-pro, yet it's easy to install, configure, and operate.

Dominating the front panel is audiophile comfort food: a big-ass volume knob. There's also a relatively small, easy-to-read display that shows you volume (via a number and bar graph), source, and mode. A discrete assortment of other buttons provides full control, including access to a status information screen, an onscreen display (OSD), and THX and other surround modes.

The AV8 features switching facilities for eight analog sources (including an optional module for moving-magnet and moving-coil phono cartridges) and seven digital sources, as well as what Arcam calls broadcast-quality video switching for composite, S-video, and three sets of component or RGB signals. There's a single 8-channel analog pass-through facility for SACD and/or DVD-Audio, as well as audio and video analog tape loops. The main line output features 10 channels: 7.1, plus two additional subwoofer outputs, though unlike a few other premium preamp-processors, there are no stereo subwoofer outputs.

While some might wish for two sets of analog multichannel audio inputs, a more serious issue in today's digital audio world is the inclusion of only two TosLink optical inputs. That won't be enough for many videophiles.  Still, for those who need to expand the AV8's input capabilities, inexpensive outboard optical switchers are available from Audio Authority and others.

What's Inside 
If you're going to build a product from scratch, you might as well pack it with top-quality parts, and that's what Arcam has done with the FMJ AV8. Like all of Arcam's FMJ (for Full Metal Jacket) models, the AV8's chassis is made of AcouSteel, a laminated antivibrational material originally developed for Toyota's upscale Lexus brand. Eight channels incorporate British-made, 24-bit/192kHz Wolfson WM 8740 audio DACs. The video switching, which can be used with either component or RGB video, is claimed to be good to around 300MHz.

Even the implementation of the OSD is unusually meticulous, as Arcam's manufacturer's rep demonstrated during the installation. Companies concerned about video signal degradation often avoid passing component-video signals through degrading OSD signal generators, forcing you to either view setup screens via composite connections or use an informationally challenged front-panel display. Arcam lets you access the OSD via the AV8's component-video outputs using a broadcast-quality pixel-switching device that superimposes the OSD on the video signal, pixel by pixel. You can even access it with a progressive-scan signal. 

When you are considering paying $5000 for a processor, you should expect such convenience and attention to detail.

Here are the specs from Arcam's site:

Technical Specifications

System Features

• High quality full analog stereo bypass


• Optional analog stereo bypass + subwoofer


• Optional analog stereo bypass + ambience extraction and subwoofer


• High quality DVD-A / SACD 8 channel analog input


• Digital effect modes:- Music, Party, Club, Hall, Cathedral, Sports Stadium


• 5x nameable presets, each store complete system set up


• Upgradeable modular design


• Universal supply voltage of 85V-265V


• Very low noise, semi resonant, audio clock synchronized, switched mode PSU

Control Features

• RS232 control of all commands


• Software upgradeable via RS232


• RC5 remote jack input for Main zone


• RC5 remote jack input for Zone 2


• Separate RC5 on, off, mute, un-mute commands


• Selectable RC5 system codes 16 or 19 for each zone


• Output of all received IR via cable or IR blinker, to control source components


• 12V current limited 100mA trigger outputs for main and zone 2

Audio Inputs and Outputs

• 8x analog stereo inputs


• 8x channel DVD-A / SACD input


• Headphones output for main or zone 2


• 8x channel main output + 3 sub outputs


• 7x digital inputs, re-assignable


• 5x Coaxial


• 2x Optical


• 1x digital output, coaxial

Video Inputs and outputs

• 5x composite inputs


• 4x composite outputs


• 2x Monitor


• 1x Zone 2 composite output


• 1x VCR composite output


• 5x S-video inputs


• 2x S-video output


• 1x Monitor


• 1x S-Video VCR composite output


• 3x component inputs, HDTV / progressive scan compatible


• 1x component output, HDTV / progressive scan compatible


• Large, clear 12 character dimmable VFD front panel display


• Ground lift switch


• Size – 430mm wide, 360mm deep, 130mm high


• Weight (net) 9kg