Conclusion

       The Arcam AVR350 is easily the best sounding surround receiver or processor we have ever tested, regardless of price. The AVR350 marks a stunning sonic advance, over the already excellent AVR300, and over all other brands of competing units, even those costing far more money. The margin of the AVR350's sonic superiority over other units is dramatic. And the breadth of its sonic superiority is breathtaking, encompassing virtually every important sonic aspect (transparency, clean purity, intertransient silence, spatial imaging, etc.). The AVR350's trump card is its implementation of Dolby Pro Logic IIx, which substantially cures the sonic weaknesses found in all other surround processors, and opens a whole new sonic world for this surround mode, that is so widely applicable to both music and soundtracks, and is so impressive in creating a believable surround spatial image. And the icing on the cake is the AVR350's modest price, only a slight premium over the AVR300, for a souped-up hotrod that dusts everyone else in sonic performance.


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