They are the central hub that connects diverse, demanding home entertainment devices, so we are now used to seeing home cinema amps capable not only of handling movies in every flavour of HDR, but also the bandwidth demands of next-gen gaming consoles and an excessive quantity of immersive sound formats – as well as the swelling number of amplifier channels they require. On top of all this, users also expect a range of streaming options, room calibration and app control.
So when it comes to building an entry-level AVR, the question for manufacturers is: where to trim the fat? While some brands take the approach of reducing channels of amplification or using cheaper DACs, Arcam is taking a different tack with the AVR5, its first-ever ‘entry-level’ home cinema amplifier.
Entry-level is, of course, a relative term. At £2000, the cost of the AVR5
