Arcam Home Theater Receivers & Processor Overview
Arcam AVR11 AV Receiver
$1,799.00
Arcam AVR21 AV Receiver
$3,199.00
Arcam AVR31 AV Receiver
$4,499.00
Arcam AV41 AV Processor
$3,400.00
Arcam AVR11 HDMI 2.1 Class AB AV Receiver
The AVR11 has all of the features we talked about with 12 channels of surround sound decoding onboard. There are seven powered channels built-in rated at 80 watts per channel. The amps are the class AB type and are pretty beefy. There are preamp outs for all of the channels. This means you can start out with the very popular Dolby Atmos configuration of 5.1.2 with 5 main level channels, one pair of Atmos, and a subwoofer, then later if you want add a 4 channel power amplifier to get to 7.1.4.
While the AVR21 has the same number of powered channels on board, it has some big upgrades. First, the power supply is much more robust and is a toroidal transformer type. It is rated at 110 watts per channel, but what is interesting, while the AVR11 is rated at 80 into 8 ohms and 100 into 4 ohms, the AVR21 comes closer to the ideal amp of doubling power into 4 ohms and gives you 175 watts into 4 ohms. The AVR21 will give you a lot more dynamics and control compared to the AVR11.
With the AVR21, you also get another 4 assignable outputs, with 16 channels of processing power built-in. You can assign these to be something like 9.1.6 or you can make each subwoofer channel individual for better calibration in a 7.4.4 setup. It is just super flexible even allowing you to make the subs stereo or mono and even base this by input!
Simply add more amp channels to the AVR21 and you can totally max out on any of the three surround sound formats.
The AVR31 has the same decoding features as the AVR21 and is purely a better sounding unit. It does not give you any more than the 7 built-in channels but changes them to Class G power. If you know much about very high-performance audio, you know the ultimate amp is a Class A type. With Class A the transistors that do each half of the waveform never shut off. The advantage is super pure sound, but the disadvantage is they run very hot. Class G was invented to provide Class A power up to a point, which here is around 20 watts per channel, then switch over to Class AB when you go above that power rating which is speced at 120 watts per channel.
We see the biggest advantage of this for someone who wants to really get into enjoying music as well as movies in their home theater. For speakers that are fairly sensitive, you will be using Class A for all but the loudest passages, giving you this eerie sense of realism only a Class A amp can provide.
If you see yourself being more a movie buff without much critical stereo listening, the AVR21 is the better way to go as it still sounds darn good as well.
Take everything you find in the AVR21 in terms of inputs and outputs without any amplifiers built-in and you have the AV41. You get 16 balanced and 16 normal RCA outputs and you can mix and match as to which suits your system the best.
We are fans of balanced audio in the way it totally eliminates any noise the cable might pick up which is why all professional touring audio systems use balanced audio cables. This type of connection is also super solid as it is a much more massive physical connector.
When you look at the world of separate surround sound processors, the AV41 gives you a ton of great options and is possibly the best value even at its price when you compare it to the competition. It has 16 channels of processing, great DACs, Dirac, and some very flexible ways to configure it, and has all of the modern age music streaming tech on board too!
