Arcam AVR450 & BDP300

A little while ago I wrote a blog on the fantastic new Arcam AVR750, now I'm following up with the smaller brother, the new AVR450. The AVR450 is £2200 which makes it far more attainable than the 750, and yet it still retains most of the features.

I chose to use the excellent Arcam BDP300 blu ray player with the AVR450 when I listened to them. With Arcam offering a £400 trade in on the BDP300 until 30th November 2013 it seemed the perfect time to see how good £2800 of home cinema electronics can be.

So how good are they? Stunningly good is the answer. Most people that buy Arcam home cinema equipment do so because the stereo sound for music is great. This combination is remarkably good with music. I listened to two different premium brand stereo hi-fi systems as a comparison, and the Arcam combo more than held its own, which for home cinema electronics is a hugely impressive acheivement. The Arcam sounded dynamic, detailed, and musical with everything I threw at it.

Home cinema was also handled brilliantly, as you might expect. Picture was pin sharp and vibrant, the sound was powerful and dynamic whilst still retaining the subtlety. My only concern is that the AVR450 is a little too good! It comes pretty close to the performance of the £4000 AVR750 for a lot less money. So if you are in the market for some top quality home cinema electronics I would definately recommend giving the Arcam combo a listen.