Excellent But Pack Your Patience
Bryan from East Lansing, MI on 8/25/2023
The 5-star rating is fully earned for the audio and image quality this receiver puts out. It's far and away the best-sounding receiver I've heard for movies (previous brands owned include Rotel, Cambridge Audio, and Marantz). However, despite my audio bliss this has also been the glitchiest receiver in terms of HDMI handshake issues. Setup is not all that intuitive and the manual could be much better. Haven't tried Dirac Live yet but am optimistic. Not trying to discourage a purchase, just know this unit requires some patience, trial and error and perhaps a few calls to tech support to get it settled in. As of now, it's working flawlessly for all sources. Love the advice and support from Crutchfield team. Really a class act that keeps me loyal. One more comment: 2-channel music on this is akin to what I have heard from separates.
Pros: *Exceptional sound with movies and music *Noticeable uptick in image quality with Blu-Ray and 4K discs *Impressive build quality *Does not run hot or clip during loud passages
Cons: *Takes patience and bouts of trial and error for successful setup (it's not plug-and-play) *HDMI handshake issues
14 of 15 found this helpful
terrific sound, awful user experience
Luis from REDMOND, WA on 7/16/2023
I wanted a hi-fi unit for watching movies and streaming music that worked without separates or a stereo amp. This has great sound (my 5.0 speakers are the KEF R series). Movies are really crisp and the Dolby surround processing is superb. It really creates that wrapping effect needed for movies. Music sounds fantastic as well, via Roon. Dirac really makes a difference. Unfortunately this receiver has issues that make it a pain to deal with. Setup is a horrible experience. It took me 3 days to get everything to work. Connection via ethernet is unreliable (wifi seems stable though), other devices cannot find the unit. When it goes to standby it gets disconnected from the network so I have to do a hard power cycle every time I use it by actually pressing the power button. Sometimes when on standby it turns on without user input (what is the point of a standby button then!?) The Arcam app is a joke. For Qobuz, it worked once, it crashed after one song! I ended up getting Roon, which sounds great but the unit loses connection occasionally. The arc channel is another pain point. Turn off the TV, it mutes the Arcam. Change the input on the Arcam and it turns the TV on. Turn the TV off, it mutes the Arcam. Unmute the Arcam, it turns the TV on. very annoying after spending thousands of dollars. The Dirac calibration simply doesn't work via ethernet. I have to get on wifi each time I need to run one. Thankfully that's not every day!
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29 of 31 found this helpful
It's Not The Receivers Fault, Its Your TV
Dennis from Prescott, AZ on 5/12/2023
I noticed that one of your reviewers mentioned trouble with the E Arc connection, thinking that the issue was the receiver. My experience with owning 3 different models of LG Oled TV's is an inherent weakness in the tv not the receiver. I've tried several top of the line Soundbars's including The Dione from Devialet to no avail. The problem always boiled down to the TV's Arc output. LG customer service never addressed or admitted any fault to the TV. It was always the Soundbar or the av receiver manufacturers fault. Sad series of events that drove me crazy for weeks including a soundboard change out. Bypass the convenience of the E arc channel go directly from your sources to the TV and voila problem solved The AVR 31 is a well built receiver delivering phenomenal performance for your home entertainment.
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12 of 14 found this helpful
ARCAM AVR31
Timothy from Haymarket, VA on 8/29/2022
Absolutely love this receiver and the support from Crutchfield! Still getting educated on all of its capabilities but the sound in my home theater impresses all of my neighbors.
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4 of 5 found this helpful
Perhaps not worth every penny but still worth it.
Bradley from Brooklyn, NY on 8/21/2022
So far so good, this receiver totally out classes my speakers but they do shine brighter than with my previous setup. I mostly picked this this over others for its Roon support which was plug and play which is great. Music sounds amazing and room calibration though fickle to get it to actually play the sounds was great after I did my setup. Biggest complaint is that eARC is still not working despite me trying everything. I don't know if its a compatibility issue with my 2018 LG tv but that part is very frustrating. For not I'm just using optical audio for my TV sound until I have the time to contact Crutchfield for some trouble shooting. Probably would have gone with 21 model instead of this on if it was available at the time just to save some money but hey you can't take it with you.
Pros: Sound Quality Roon compatibility Room calibration
Cons: Price eARC issues
12 of 15 found this helpful
