installing an ARC system

I would say its probably better to fix the room itself then to start fooling with your system.

Good suggestion from Zd542.
Zd, he might be in a situation where he cannot correct his room - maybe "she who must be obeyed" wont let him?

I don't see why an ARC system cannot be applied to a pre/pro without room correction.
Do you have an ARC pre? Or, are you using the pre/pro as the pre for the ARC system?
If you are using an ARC pre - use the bypass or direct function on your pre/pro to simply feed the ARC pre signal to the ARC amp without the pre/pro altering the signal.
If you are using the pre/pro I bet that you can change the signal any way you want - boost the bass, extenuate the midrange, tone down the highs, etc, etc - before feeding it into the ARC amp.
FWIW.

It is not clear to me what you mean. Do you mean ARC=Anthem Room Correction or Automatic Room Correction or Audio Research Corporation? There are several other meanings for that abbreviation.

If you mean the first of these, it is available only in Anthem prepros or in Paradigm subwoofers. If you mean the second (or third) of these, you can purchase such devices (or software) and use them with almost any system if it has suitable connections.

disregard my comments - I was thinking ARC stood for Audio Research Corp. duh! sorry.

Kal has a bug for acronyms that I think is misleading or a least over limiting. For me the more general acoustic room correction is what I mean when I write ARC. I doubt Anthem has a copywrite on the acronym ARC.

My understanding is that there are stand-alone ARC systems, but I suspect most require a digitized signal, and that's a killer for those of us who use analog sources.

db

I don't have a bug for anything except clear meaning.

The only decent all-analog EQ (and not automatic) is the Rives Audio Parcel. All others are digital with analog or digital in/out.

Thanks for the tip about Rives, Kal. Do you mean by not automatic that it is an multi-band equalizer that displays a spectrum and requires the user to set band levels manually?

db

Info on the Rives PARC, here: (http://www.rivesaudio.com/PARC/PARCframe.html)

You are better off having a pro come in to help. Too many of the ARC's don't always even work the way you want.

Using a pro is one route but the downside is that you have to hire him every time you make a system change that affects acoustical conditions. In addition, he is on the clock and the avid user can (and, probably, will) apply more continuous effort in optimizing the performance. Admittedly, that will demand learning, attention and effort but, imho, the results will, ultimately, be more satisfying.

There is, also, the issue of choosing a "pro." Not all who profess to be, are.