Arcam AVR280: great cinema sound on a budget

You can pick up a home cinema receiver for as little as £80 these days, but that doesn't mean it will be any good. You'd be far better off spending a more decent amount - £1,200 say - and bagging yourself a 'best ever' product from an AV powerhouse. Arcam 's DiVA AVR280 fits the bill perfectly.

This £1,200 home cinema receiver ticks all the usual boxes with 7.1-channel surround sound, Dolby Digital EX , Dolby Pro Logic IIx and DTS decoders, plus an 80W per channel surround sound output.

Key features for the DiVA AVR280 are:

Built-in Dolby Digital EX, DTS ES, DTS24/96 and Dolby Pro Logic IIx decoders
Built-in RDS FM/AM stereo tuner with 30 FM and 16 AM radio station presets
80W per channel continuous power output into 4 ohms / 8 ohms (all channels driven at 1KHz)
100W per channel stereo output into 4 ohms / 8ohms (20Hz-20KHz)
2x HDMI inputs, 1x HDMI output; 2-way HDMI switching
HDTV-compatible component / RGB video switching
7x 80W per channel power output into 4 or 8ohms (1KHz continuous)
2x 100W per channel power output into 4 or 8 ohms (20Hz to 20KHz)
Second room / zone output with audio and video, plus RS232 port for system control and integration
7x stereo analogue audio inputs (plus tuner); 3x tape outputs (one a tape loop)
3x digital optical audio inputs; 3x digital coaxial outputs
1x digital optical audio output; 1x digital coaxial audio output
Multi-channel analogue input for SACD / DVD-Audio sources
24-bit/96KHz Wolfson D/A converters
Separate subwoofer level setting for film and stereo listening

The Arcam AVR280 is available now.

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