Performance First
The audio lover’s home theater system.

The Arcam $2,199 AVP700 preamp/processor and the $2,299 P1000 amplifier exchange some of the simplicity of an all-in-one receiver for the performance of separate electronics. On the source end, we went with the $1,799 DV79 DVD-Video/Audio player, which brings the total system price to $6,297.

Arcam’s AVP700 preamp/processor (shown below) and the P1000 power amplifier sacrifice some of the simplicity of an all-in-one receiver for the improvement in performance that comes from components that are dedicated to their specific tasks.

The P1000 is a seven-channel amp; you can connect it to the pre/pro via either RCA or the higher-end balanced audio connectors. The AVP700 has the processing modes to accommodate a 7.1-channel speaker system (Dolby EX and DTS ES), or you can go with a 5.1-channel setup and use the remaining two channels for a second zone. The AVP700 has a healthy complement of HD-capable video connections: two HDMI inputs and one output, plus three component video ins and one out. Its digital audio connections are solid but not extensive, and there’s no FireWire connection.

Separate pre/pro and amp combos require more cables by design, but that alone doesn’t make installation more difficult. In both the setup procedure and the owner’s manuals, it’s clear this Arcam combo is geared more toward the enthusiast who already has some knowledge of the subject matter. The pre/pro doesn’t use an automatic setup program, and there are plenty of adjustments to precisely tailor the pre/pro to your system and room, such as speaker EQ, audio delay to sync the audio and video, and separate subwoofer level adjustments for film and stereo. The on-screen display doesn’t work with the HDMI; it does work through the component video inputs, but only with an interlaced (480i/576i) signal. The remote is backlit and laid out well, but some buttons are cryptically labeled. It took a trip to the remote’s dedicated manual to figure out how to switch between inputs.
 
The DV79 player features one HDMI and two digital audio outputs, but no FireWire. It’s a progressive-scan model, but it’s the only player in our roundup that doesn’t let you upconvert the video signal to 720p or 1080i through HDMI. The player’s detail level is quite good, and its deinterlacer does an excellent job with film-based signals, so DVD movies look rich and artifact-free. It doesn’t handle video signals as well, so you may notice shimmer and other jaggies in video-based signals.