AV Receiver Reviews

Seasoned readers know that Cambridge does not include gimmicks and useless features in its receivers? That Cambridge would sell a receiver for over $2K and not include Dolby Atmos or DTS-X or a form of room correction is grossly unacceptable. Yes, it's an audiophile quality receiver - I get it - but to not have the new surround formats available through future upgrade is unthinkable. One would be better off getting a mid grade a/v receiver with pre-outs so one can use an outboard multichannel amplifier that is likely to have better sound or save and get separates (preamp/surround process and multichannel amp). Let's hope that other audiophile grade offerings like Arcam, NAD and Anthem, when they are refreshed, will include the new surround formats. I don't understand how S&V can grant a top pick designation with these big ticket features missing. Mark, can you or Rob Sabin offer some plausible explanation as to why the company omitted the referenced features in a A/V surround receiver and would you personally purchase it without them given Atmos and room correction are mostly ubiquitous in other brands?

I fully agree with K.Reid. In addition to not having Room EQ/Atmos/DTSX --this "audiophile" AVR has a crappy amp. A Pioneer SC-97 AVR would sound better with its SABRE DAC/better AMP/RoomEQ/Atmos/DTS-X, etc; and it's 400 dollars less. Lots of other better choices for that much money. S&V "Top Pick" lost its value.

At this price, I expect solid all channels driven performance, not necessarily because I need 100x7 actual output but as a proxy for the manufacturer not having skimped. The Pioneer SC-89 is an example of how it's done right.

Inadequate feature set, poor amp performance, but we're supposed to overlook that because Mark is selling Golden Ears subjectivity of sound quality.

Emperor's New Clothes dynamic going in here. "accept that it's top pick because I say it sounds exquisite, and never mind that there isn't anything there to justify it objectively"

Lame.

I think the readers and audio/theaterphiles like myself would really like to get some feedback from Rob Sabin on the issue of this receiver being designated a top pick given Mark's listing of the features in the minus column....nowadays, those are some hefty (emphasis added) missing features pristine audio notwithstanding. Mark, I usually read your reviews in earnest each month and count on your good judgment, so hopefully you can value why many of us are taken aback by the Top Pick designation with those missing features. Perhaps S&V needs to revisit its ratings for Top Picks as it concerns receivers and adjust as necessary for those that don't include ubiquitous useful features. Rob, please respond to this.

Mark, perhaps you might consider being less combative and more open to considering where your readers are coming from?

At any rate, I'm not in the market currently for an AVR so I'll withdraw from this conversation and leave S&V, not you specifically, with the thought that the usefulness and dependability of S&V as a resource is dissolved when top picks are handed out on the basis of little more than subjective opinion, objective factors that matter are inadequately addressed, and an attempt to have a conversation about it is met with hostility.

I apologize if I've caused any offence and I look forward to reading future reviews by you :-)

It's rare that a reviewed receiver gets almost a perfect 5/5 on video and audio. That's an achievement right there. There are many that are not going to go the Atmos route. I could do it - but I don't see the reason to do it...yet. A high performing (yet feature weak) receiver deserves a Top pick just as well as one that has decent performance but high features and value. There are quite a few people out there with Atmos machines that can't do DTS-X, and there are some that are not HDCP 2.2 compliant. I agree with Mark, if it's not for you...don't buy it, but if it fits your desires - and you're performance driven - it just may fulfill your needs.

The Sound and Vision review kiss of death....I've gone back through many reviews, and the the kiss of death is any audio performance under 4. Generally if you can get audio performance of 4 or better - you can get a "top pick".

Seasoned readers know that Arcam and Anthem are audio first oriented manufacturers. Guess what? On The Absolute Sound's website. Both Arcam and Anthem released AVRs featuring room correction and Dolby Atmos and DTS-X. What Cambridge is doing is wrong and fleecing potential customers. S&V, with Rob Sabin at the helm, is wrong for not amending the Top Pick designation. It is akin to catering to a manufacturer and undermines the ratings system that readers factor heavily into purchasing decisions. Shame on Rob for not speaking up....or even letting his readers know he is investigating the matter. I would expect an editor to have some courage to address this issue, but.....I suppose we readers should have known better and tempered our expectations.

Exactly why would you rate this a "Top Pick". It is overpriced and lacks the features of a modern receiver.

The comments are fairly one sided. No one wants to read another receiver review on a product that they would not consider buying.

I have to wonder at the reasoning here. If you aren't catering to the readers tastes, then who are you publishing these reviews for?

Also to reply in the comments by saying "don't buy it" (if we don't like it) doesn't reflect well on your writing skills.

I am not sure I really understand the criticisms here. Looks to be a pretty good review - well done.
Having heard this amp only once, I was blown away by it for music, and am very interested in it but am only starting to look at systems.
I gather from the review that it sounds fantastic enough to earn top marks without some features other amps may have, which seems fair enough if the listening experience is as good or hopefully better without them. I assume it is a "top pick" because this is the case.
What I want to understand is do i realy need these other features? I am not about to install speakers in my roof, so I dont think I will want Atmos feature anytime soon.
DTS:X looks interesting but what is better...DTS:X or just great quality sound ?
Bluetooth - well i am not gonna play anything from my iphone (it doenst hold much audio tracks), so dont really need it.
Am I dont know anything about "Auto setup imposes no room correction " (which is listed as a positive and negative).
I want great sound and was looking to find an amp to match B&W 683S2 speaker system.
So should I buy this over similarly priced av receivers like a Pioneer SCLX59 ?

Hi Mark
Just wanted to thank you for the review. I ended up buying it’s bigger brother Cxr200 as my room is larger. Your review is spot on - the sound of this avr absolutely justifies buying this system. Prior to this I had a Onkyo (admittedly mid-price model). It had all the bell and whistles but sound was average. I keep the same Speakers and simply upgraded the amp to this one and wow. What a difference. The reason I like this website is because it includes the objective measures and judgemental aspects. Having some objective specs and tests is useful; but at the end music is so more complex than a few numbers - anyone trying to match something as simple as even as amp and speaker knows that - keep up your reviews.