Arcam Movie 5.1

[scazzy]

I'm contemplating purchasing an Arcam Movie 5.1 to reduce the box count and improve usability of my system. But I'm conscious that it has been around for a few years now and the mini and movie 2.1 systems have been launched recently, which leaves me wondering whether an updated version of the movie 5.1 was imminent. It would be rather frustrating to part with £2k only to hear about a replacement being launched shortly thereafter - especially if they chose to launch a Blu-Ray version... Has anyone heard any rumours - or have any thoughts on the movie 5.1? Many thanks.

 

[matengawhat]

I have one and i will be honest - if you are after a complete system and want only one box and don't have too many other sources it sounds fantastic with both music and movies and is very easy to make region free - i have however just purchased an Onkyo 805 as fed of not having enough connections for my HD dvd player, PS3, Xbox Wii Freeview PVR ect - the one big thing to remember though is this will only outputs upto to 720p - it has no audio connections except for optical so no HD audio as can't accept sound over HDMI - it was prob top of the range 2 years ago but things move on - my movie is now being used in my bedroom to bi amp a pair of great speakers and as a dvd player to my tv - i am about to make it a 3.1 system in there. if you want a one box solution thats great with movies and music buy it if you have a lot of kit look elsewhere and buy an 805 and a really good blu-ray player for less money.

 

[scazzy]

Thanks for the comment.

I need to connect my Sky HD, Apple TV and Sonos (yet to succumb to a Wii) and had assumed that the two HDMI inputs would handle the Sky and Apple boxes and that I could use one of the audio inputs for the Sonos. But if the Arcam can't deal with audio over HDMI, does that mean that I would need both an HDMI and an audio (optical?) link between each of the Sky and Apple boxes and the Arcam?

It's starting to sound as though I'm going to be stuck with multiple boxes for a while longer yet...

Thanks.

 

[matengawhat]

yeah you would need optical cables for the sound - the HDMI switches just pass the image and sound straight to your tv - it does nothing with it internally

 

[scazzy]

Thanks for the confirmation.

I'll go back to looking at replacing my receiver with one that includes video switching - and I guess I might as well go HD at the same time!

Thanks for your help.

 

[matengawhat]

So what you planning on getting now?

 

[scazzy]

No firm plans. The most likely route must be the Onkyo 606 which seems phenomenally well specified and is dominating the reviews. It would give me all of the features I might realistically require - including easy switching between Sky HD, Apple TV and anything else I ever want to connect and all at a pretty ridiculously low price.

I'm not sure whether to buy Blu-Ray, try an upscaling DVD player or stick with my existing Pioneer DV868. I have an old(ish) Pioneer PDP434 screen, so 1080p is irrelevant until I upgrade that, but I would be interested in hearing the new HD audio. On the other hand, I also want to replace the CD player on my audio system (a Cyrus / Wilson Benesch system in a separate room), so that might take priority!

Choices, choices...