Home Theater Week in Review, September 14-18, 2009: Arcam A/V Gear; Denon AVR-4810CI 9.3 Receiver.

by Oliver Amnuayphol

If you've been around the audio/home theater block a couple of times, chances are you've heard of Arcam, a UK-based manufacturer of enthusiast-oriented hi-fi/home theater gear. If you haven't, it may be high time you've acquainted yourself: Arcam has a long and well-deserved reputation for very high performance gear at unbelievably sensible prices--not a bad feat considering the exchange rate premium when purchasing their gear stateside. Lately Arcam's been making waves on the home theater front, such as with their AVR600 receiver. Part of their famed "FMJ" (Faithful Musical Joy) range of components, Arcam obviously have placed high priority on sonic goodness with the AVR600; in fact, many enthusiasts consider it to be one of the best-sounding receivers currently available--even surpassing many separates. Still, to compete in today's hotly-contested A/V marketplace one has to include the latest, most relevant features, which Arcam certainly have: Internal processing for Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio; Analog Devices ADSP-21366 & ADSP-21367 DSPs; and 5 in, 2 out HDMI 1.3 connections. Here's a clip of Arcam's CEO John Dawson talking about the new AVR600, courtesy of Cinenow. 

Hot on the heels of Onkyo announcing their "00" line of 9.2 capable receivers comes Denon's 9.3 channelreceiver, the AVR-4810CI ($2999). In addition to offering 3 sub inputs, the 4810 features the latest Dolby Pro Logic IIz and Audyssey DSX processing in addition to the now standard mix of A/V receiver features--like onboard Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding; HDMI 1.3 ins/outs with Anchor Bay VRS upconversion; Audyssey MultiEQ XT 8-point room acoustic measurement and correction; and Dynamic Volume and EQ. What's more, word on the street is this Denon features something the latest Onkyos don't: simultaneous operation of height and width channels. Whoa. With 12-channel preouts and a host of other featuers too numerous to mention, the Denon should prove to be a home theater tinkerer's delight. Look for the 4810 to drop sometime in October.

Movie Releases for This Week.

DVD:  Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection; Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf or Death; Ghosts of Girlfriends Past; Observe and Report; Wallace and Gromit: The Complete Collection; Adam Resurrected; Lymelife; O'Horten; Tulpan; Mandie and the Secret Tunnel; Rage.

Blu-ray: Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection; Shaun of the Dead; Wallace and Gromit: The Complete Collection; Observe and Report; Ghosts of Girlfriends Past; The Complete Monterey Pop Festival - Criterion Collection; Pierrot Le Fou - Criterion Collection; Lymelife.