Arcam is a British audio manufacturer who specializes in high end and rather pricey CD/DVD players, receivers, surround processors, amplifiers and pre-amps.  Arcam’s DVD players are particularly noteworthy as some of the best DVD players available according independent testing by Home Theater Secrets. 

If you look into Arcam’s Diva line you’ll find gear that can be considered affordable in the real world.  I personally don’t live in the world of most hi-fi reviews who call a $6000 Arcam processor affordable and pretty good for its price range and offer anecdotal comparisons with processors that cost twice that much.  The Arcam AVR line of receivers is one way us common folk (you know, mortgage, kids and family to help spend our money) can own something designed by the same team of engineers who design some of the hi-fi equipment we can only dream about.  Arcam has struck balance with their AVR line, designed by the same award winning team at their small UK factory but manufactured overseas to meet a price point that puts them in competition with Japanese manufacturer’s you might find at the local big box store. 

AVR 200 
AVR 250
AVR 300

The AVR200 has recently been replaced by the 250 and 300, both newer models boast a few added features but the basic look, feel and most importantly the attention to detail remains largely the same.  My reviews can really only stick to the 200 and 250 models as I’ve been able to hear both intensively and haven’t listened to a 300 yet but I can only conclude it’s more of the same.

When the AVR200 first came out a few years ago it lagged slightly in one particular feature most competing multi-channel receivers included, that is support for the extended 7.1  Dolby Digital EX and DTS ES surround formats.  The AVR 200 only supports 5.1 and has 5 discreet amplifiers built in at 70 watts per channel.  This shortcoming has been remedied with the AVR250 now with seven separate channels capable of up to 70watts of continuous power and support for extended surround formats.  Both receivers offer 70 Watts per channel in multi-channel listening mode but use an alternate two channel amplifier circuit that reaches 90 Watts per channel when listening in stereo or 2.1 (stereo with sub).  While 70 Watts may seem slight, in their literature Arcam claims their AVR300 upgrade, at 100Watts per seven channels, is designed for larger rooms and if the two channel 90W circuit is any indication it’s almost as if Arcam is apologetic about the seemingly slight power output of their AVR200/250 models.  Considering Watts law, you must double the power output to get a mere three decibels of extra volume from any given amplifier/speaker combination.  The power output of the AVR300 would require 140 watts per channel to give three more decibels in any given speaker load.  The difference between 70 and 100 watts in an amplifier is negligible.  General public’s attraction to the watts output specification and the number 100 seems a purely psychological product of marketing.  Remember the old commercial?

“100 Watts per channel, baby!” 

More volume can be produced by more efficient speakers; my own experience with the AVR200 is with the remarkably inefficient NHT ST-4 speakers and I never found them wanting for volume in a 30x30’ room.  I don’t see where a larger room would be served better with twenty extra watts per channel.  Because power output isn’t Arcam’s forte, more emphasis is placed in other areas; and rightly so!  The key to a great sounding receiver isn’t the amplifier’s power output but the power supply.  A high capacity power supply should be able to draw more than enough current for the output transistors providing gain to the speakers.  All the AVR models boast a large heavy Toroidal power transformer in its power supply.  The Toroidal transformer is a high current circular style transformer used in some high end equipment and provides much of the weight when you pick it up.
A high quality power supply and high current circuitry, simple circuit design with short paths and not a lot of bells and whistles provides the Spartan performance you expect from components with the Arcam name.  When you’re immersed in a movie and the front channels kick in with a musical score that takes you away, it’s not some silly extemporaneous processing chip giving that scene the oomph it needs.  It is clean unobstructed power provided to the outputs who in turn can rise to the occasion of lofty peaks in the soundtrack without clipping, giving you every note, every decibel the film’s sound director intended, this is what makes the home theater system.

What about the sound quality of the Arcam AVR receivers?  I don’t go for a lot of adjectives to describe the sound produced by an amplifier.  Amps provide speakers the ability to do their job, that’s it.  I won’t go into a dissertation about the “musicality” of the Arcam AVR200/250, although those that do claim the Arcam receiver is designed as much for music as it is for Home Theater.  When using Arcam’s built in DACs for processing CD and DVD through its digital inputs the Arcam puts most CD/DVD players within its price range to shame.  With its extra 90W stereo circuit the Arcam AVR has engineered a Home Theater receiver that hasn’t forgotten their company roots in the audiophile quality stereo market.  You can be sure that when the soundtrack really kicks in, whichever Arcam AVR you chose will be able to keep up and brings out the true beauty in your speakers.

The AVR 200 has 5.1 channel outputs, labeled S/PDIF ins, which is a bit of nuisance, only so many optic/coax not for each digital input but the good news is there are both coax and optic available, but if you’re relying on all coax or all optical you’ll be disappointed.  The AVR 200 has pre outs for every channel allowing you to transfer power duties to another unit or bi-amp your speakers.  It also includes 5.1 inputs for high resolution audio formats like DVD-Audio and SACD.

• Five discreet amplifiers at 70W continuous
• Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby Pro Logic II processing
• Both coax and optic digital inputs
• 5.1 channel analogue inputs for hi-res audio format
• Arcam’s own high quality DACs that produce amazing sound for its price point.

The AVR250 has 7.1 capability and extended surround processing.  The same hard labeled s/pdif inputs (you cannot rename their source) but missing on the AVR250 are pre outs for every channel.  Only the front L.R has pre-outs and the manual calls this a zone 2 feature.  I find this a bit cheesy of Arcam and a slight step backward from the AVR200.  One place the 250 makes up lost ground is in bass management, now with the AVR 250 you can manually set the crossover frequency for your small speaker setting.  This is a huge improvement from the AVR 200 which has the ambiguous “small” speaker setting with an unpublished crossover.  Rumour has it the crossover is 80hz on the AVR 200 if you’re interested.  But this isn’t a problem for the AVR 250, you can select from list of crossover frequencies and fine the one that best suits your sub.

• Seven discreet amps at 70 Watts continuous power
• Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic II and Dolby Digital EX, DTS ES.
• A variety of coax and optical digital inputs, hard labelled
• 5.1 channel analogue inputs for hi-res audio formats
• Arcam’s own high DACs that produce amazing sound for this price point.
• Missing pre-outs for all but the front two channels, you can only bi-amp the front L, R channels.  Renders that external five channel amp useless.