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Sam's Arcam DV79 / AVR300 Review
Monday, 9 August 2004 11:25:00 am Australia/Melbourne
The first words out of my mouth were more like deep, gutteral groans of approvement.
Sonically, the new Arcam AVR 300 is superb. I wired it up with a suite of PMC speakers and the most awesome Legend Kurlo sub and the result was, honestly, amazing. It's sad that many of us have become used to the hard and tiring sound that most Japanese/Chinese receivers offer - to suddenly hear a decent movie through the AVR 300 with such beautiful speakers is a revelation.
THAT'S what it should sound like!
Even the best of the Japanese amps, such as the Denons, can't compete with the richly textured, layered and trully immersive qualities of the AVR 300. Previously, we'd have had to put together a system costing twice as much to get this sort of quality so to have this piece of equipment, at this price, I think is very exciting. To add to this the amp offers multi-zoning, pure-direct mode for super-excellent stereo reproduction and a fully-functional, learnable remote control.
Complementing the AVR 300 is the new DV 79 DVD Audio player. This machine offers onboard Dolby and DTS decoding, progressive scan on both PAL and NTSC source material, DVD Audio playback and HDMI connectivity.
The COLOURS!
If the sound from the amp was impressive, the picture from this new player is equally as good. Amazing detail and a richness of colour that I haven't seen before in a DVD player. Even on a plasma, which aren't the best of displays, the difference between this player and a Japanese alternative is like chalk and cheese.
Audio wise, the DV79 excells in all areas, even taking the challenge up to Arcam's own dedicated CD player, the CD 73, The CD 73 just wins out in terms of detail, but for a DVD player at this price, offering detail, expansive staging and MUSICALITY - the DV79 is damn, damn good.
All in all, Arcam have released two pieces of quality equipment that fill a desperate need in the market place for home theatre equipment that does stereo - WELL.
A MUST audition for anyone - even if you don't think you can afford it. Believe me, once you experience it, you'll find the money.
Sonically, the new Arcam AVR 300 is superb. I wired it up with a suite of PMC speakers and the most awesome Legend Kurlo sub and the result was, honestly, amazing. It's sad that many of us have become used to the hard and tiring sound that most Japanese/Chinese receivers offer - to suddenly hear a decent movie through the AVR 300 with such beautiful speakers is a revelation.
THAT'S what it should sound like!
Even the best of the Japanese amps, such as the Denons, can't compete with the richly textured, layered and trully immersive qualities of the AVR 300. Previously, we'd have had to put together a system costing twice as much to get this sort of quality so to have this piece of equipment, at this price, I think is very exciting. To add to this the amp offers multi-zoning, pure-direct mode for super-excellent stereo reproduction and a fully-functional, learnable remote control.
Complementing the AVR 300 is the new DV 79 DVD Audio player. This machine offers onboard Dolby and DTS decoding, progressive scan on both PAL and NTSC source material, DVD Audio playback and HDMI connectivity.
The COLOURS!
If the sound from the amp was impressive, the picture from this new player is equally as good. Amazing detail and a richness of colour that I haven't seen before in a DVD player. Even on a plasma, which aren't the best of displays, the difference between this player and a Japanese alternative is like chalk and cheese.
Audio wise, the DV79 excells in all areas, even taking the challenge up to Arcam's own dedicated CD player, the CD 73, The CD 73 just wins out in terms of detail, but for a DVD player at this price, offering detail, expansive staging and MUSICALITY - the DV79 is damn, damn good.
All in all, Arcam have released two pieces of quality equipment that fill a desperate need in the market place for home theatre equipment that does stereo - WELL.
A MUST audition for anyone - even if you don't think you can afford it. Believe me, once you experience it, you'll find the money.
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