Anthem MRX 310 / Arcam AVR450 / Cambridge Audio CXR120

BewdyByson

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I have a budget of around £500 at a push, and I'm wondering (rather than buying a brand new amp) about getting one of these slightly older units. My thinking is that I don't need Dolby Atmos, or 7 channels, but I do value good sound quality and I hope I'd get a more 'musically' capable amp which is older might be better than a new one.

I've short listed these three. Having read a lot about them all, it seems the CA one has the worst rep for being buggy, however out of the three it is the only one I could purchase as a manufactures refurb with a 2 year warranty.

The press about the ARC room correction software with the Anthem, sounds intriguing, however I've typically always been a purist and preferred not to EQ my source material in anyway.

Thoughts?
 
I'd go for the Cambridge with a 2 year warranty. I had the CXR200 for a while, and the bugs (at that time) were related to height speakers, so would not affect you in a 5.1 or 5.2 set-up. Sound quality was excellent, I was sad to let it go, but I wanted atmos.
 
Is the warranty the chief reason for recommending the CA over the others? Do you have experience of the other two receivers as a point of reference? cheers
 
My signature shows my current kit. I love the Arcam AVR's but reliability is not their strong point. My AVR550 is doing okay, putting the firmware bugs to one side. But the AVR400 video output is broken, so I am only able to use it for audio, the audio does sound great though.

I have not had an Anthem, but feedback received from people who have, is mixed. There are a stalwart of fans who love them to bits, and then some other users who are unimpressed and report that they are not worth the high price tag.
 

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