Arcam AVR350 AV-receiver
Audio equipment produced under Arcam brand will not get lost on the shelves among respectable Japanese competitors. The receiver has its own style, it is relatively small in size and has a laconic finish - on the black panel there are small buttons in a flat row and an elongate display, which, being turned on, is illuminated with emerald symbols. A list of functions of AVR350 looks concisely too - the British developers have concentrated all attention to sound quality, but not to the functional and switching capabilities of the device. Buying a Japanese receiver, you pay for a million functions, which, most likely, will never even be useful. And here you get a self-sufficient technique: with normal switching capabilities (including HDMI), with an impressive 1.5 kilowatt power supply, with a carefully thought out digital section and analog cascades.
The British receiver is easy to be controlled. For example, any modes are available directly from the front panel. Remote control was best remembered for luxurious matte texture and successful organization of buttons, although it looks a bit simple.
But something in Arcam AVR350 disappoints. There are no AV connectors on the front panel for fast connection of a video camera or game console - they are replaced by an audio "jack" type input, into which it is handy to connect only an mp3 player. Also, there is no speaker selector, so the possibilities of using the receiver in dual-zonal connection are limited.
Arcam AVR350 sounds very detailed, transparent and without any stress. The middle is musical. Bass is confident and biting, but, in my opinion, still not quite alive - it turns out to be as if sculptural, frozen. The transition from direct analog input to any of the digital does not bring fundamental changes to sound, which indicates a high quality of ADC and the entire digital path. The sound space is organized almost flawlessly - only at some specific musical fragments, where the scene consists of many plans, you sometimes note not so confident separation between distant sources. Even the tuner pleases with pure, dynamic and full-range sound. Albeit not all stations in FM are ideally accepted in conditions of a complex city air, but if the antenna is well adjusted, you can enjoy even radio broadcasts.
