Arcam - FMJ 420W 7.1.4-Ch. Network-Ready 4K Ultra HD and 3D Pass-Through A/V Home Theater Receiver - Black

Years ago I used a Asian brand (starts with a Y) AVR. Good unit, but was only rated for its power with two Chanel’s, when at 7.1 Chanel’s it’s power was not impressive. My first foray into British AVR’s started with another brand( starts with a C). The British KNOW how to make a AVR. They say sound is king(and it is) but they know how to give the video end a boost as well. They have a habit of under rating the power they put out. I have speakers that like that. I bought a new 4K TV (the plasma finally gave up the ghost), so my older AVR didn’t pass 4K. Hence the need for a new AVR. The pervious AVR’s company quit making AVR’s, I looked at all the British higher end brands. I did my research before listening to a few. I looked at which brands were less buggy and lasted for years. I found Arcam to be the most reliable, I listened, I liked, I bought. Best Buy’s price is the best on this living room owning AVR! The power satisfies my speakers power demands well. The 7.2 system I run sounds great and the 4K pass through is second to none. It has all the inputs I need. I also have a turntable (with a phono preamp), the analog sound is AMAZING! I have a CD player with a built in DAC that sounds AMAZING in analog as well. Digital is handled very well by this unit as well. I have yet to get DIRAC room correction set up, but this unit sounds great just with a manual speaker set up. That is a step you will need to do before DIRAC is set up anyway. If your on the fence with this one go ahead and make the jump, you will not be disappointed.

The 420 watts is plenty enough for a Home Theater. I run BW cm9 and cm5s. they can take more power than this receiver can put out per channel. But what makes this receiver worth the money is the THD level. Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) 0.02 %, 0.2 %. good luck finding a receiver at this THD level for under 1500 dollars. You want crystal clear sound then this is it. The only downside is you cant use banana plugs on the receiver side. That is due to banana plugs being banned in Europe. (this is a UK receiver)

I picked this up during the Black Friday deals for $1500. Speakers as well. My setup is this avr390, 4 klipsch reference 8000, Klipsch 15"sub, Klipsch center, and 2 8" sonance for the Atmos overheads. Big upgrade from my 10 yr old Sony 5.1 setup. This is a great receiver. Once you run the Dirac setup, holy cow does everything sound great. Even my wife, who is really mad about this purchase, had to admit that everything, and I mean everything, sounds amazing. If you can pop in the overheads for Atmos, do it, I'm glad I did. Just make sure you understand it's limitations. If you want to go with a full Atmos setup (7.1.4), {Center, Front Left, Front Right, Surround Left, Surround Right, Rear Left, Rear Right, Four overheads, Subwoofer} you'll need to get an additional Amp. As it is out of the box, you have to choose between using the last 2 channels for your overhead Atmos speakers (2), or as your rear channel. You can't have both as is. So, if you want those rears, and 2 additional overheads, you'll need to use the pre-amp outs and get a powered amp. So, to clarify, for an Atmos setup, you can only do a 5.1.2 setup out of the box. My only complaint about this system is that you can't make changes on the fly. For example, when playing music, you obviously want the bass cranked up. Well, I do anyway. Or when watching movies. But, at times it's nice to turn down the bass, so you're not disturbing others in the house. Or the neighbors... If you want to adjust the bass trim, you have to go into the Receivers menu, which isn't just a matter of hitting a button on the remote. You have to go into a menu that you bring up on your tv, which makes you stop whatever you're watching or listening to, then start making changes. Or, as I've found, you can download an App, and make changes from there. But it loses those settings every time the Receiver is powered off. Pretty cumbersome. If there's an easier way, I haven't found it. If someone out there knows a different trick, please, let me know. Oh, and you really have to read the instructions to get this to work with the ARC on your TV, it's not just plug and play. You have to configure the port in the receiver's menu. The only reason it's 4 instead of 5 stars is the menu/interface. Otherwise, this thing really cranks out the sound.

First, I was a little concerned about trading our separates Marantz system for the Arcam AVR390. Not that I didn't trust the brand reputation, but 60 watts X 7 channels? Was that going to be enough power? I was getting ready to remove an actual 150 watts per channel separates system. Second, I had never been happy with the sound of my equipment. Although I was powering Bowers and Wilkins speakers, something was always missing. Subs felt wrong; the sound felt weak, even after several calibrations with the Marantz processor. But I saw an opportunity—the opportunity to test out something new and see if I could hear something different. I was able to pick up the AVR390 for $999.99. I figured if I didn't like it, I'd return it. Before running the Direc calibration, I could already hear the difference. The sound was powerful, and I don't understand it. I could listen to sound everywhere, surround sound. The bass pushed me back into my seat, and I could not wait to calibrate the system. I had to wait until I could buy a movable mic stand; this is a must as you will run at least seventeen placements for sound measurements. I also had to watch about five videos to learn how to use the software. Do not prepare for an easy task, but it will be worth it. I was frustrated a few times because it did not set up like a Marantz. But after all, the Marantz didn't perform. You have to go into the menus and activate all the speakers and run the calibration software from your computer, but once you get going, it's pretty easy. The sound is terrific; I believe they have found a customer from life if the performance holds up.

Just getting to experience my new receiver but everything so far is great. This receiver definitely delivers the power to all my Kef speakers. My room is 20’ X 14’ and the sound is plenty to give you the experience of a theater.

I was looking at a $1500 receiver for my Martin-Logan speakers then my associate switched to this Arcam … unbelievable!

This receiver is a good receiver for its sound quality and power, but it’s integration within a home theater is pretty poor. Antiquated menus, abbreviations that are not obvious, and lack of communication with the tv give it just 3 stars. I wish I could give it more, but even 3 stars is pushing it, for a receiver that doesn’t even get used.

I am new to high end audio and purchased the AVR390. At first I was so frustrated. Then i got the hang of Dirac Live and holy moly! That sound quality was amazing! But I returned the unit. Seems there was a bug in mine that caused a loud "clack" when volume went above 37 (of 99). The sound would cut off, then another loud clack when volume went above 40, and the sound would come back. I can observe the woofer going full-pull at 37 and full-push at 40, with no sound between 38 and 39. Very strange. This only happened on the FR channel. Happened with more than one set of speakers, too. I wanted to cry, but I had to return it.