Cambridge Audio Azur 551R 7.1 HDMI AV Receiver - Control4 Certified
15/May/2013 11:24 Filed in:
Home Theatre | Control4
An AV Receiver that sounds like a hifi!As TVs become impossibly thin - and sound quality gets even leaner - there's never been a better time for a home theatre system that sounds sensational but is also simple to use.
Music is at the heart of Cambridge Audio and this all new AV Receiver is designed to deliver sound that's in every way as epic as the picture quality from your movies, music and TV shows.
So, as well as all the latest processing features you'd expect, the 551R's ability to reproduce music with incredible richness and authority really separates it from the herd.
A staggering 110 Watts of power is achieved by combining Cambridge Audio's audio design expertise and the choicest selection of audiophile components.
From an all-metal and surprisingly compact design, the 551R features a multitude of connections and is guaranteed to revolutionize the audio potential of Blu-ray players, video streamers, satellite boxes, iPod docks, games consoles and of course hi-fi source components.
Like our entire range, the 551R was created at Cambridge Audio's Research and Development Centre on London's Southbank by a team with an uncontested passion for making music sound sensational!
Control4 Key Driver Features:
• 2-Way RS-232 Driver
• Supports Control4 OS versions 2.0 and above
• Control of AM/FM Tuner also available
In more detailOur all-new 551R offers everything you could need in a home cinema receiver from a surprisingly compact chassis.
Delivering truly great sound as well as all the latest processing features is the ultimate test of any home cinema receiver and its ability to reproduce music with such richness and authority is what really separates the 551R from the competition. With seven 110 watts capable channels (measured at 6 ohms) the 551R delivers movie soundtracks, TV and music with power, punch and superb dynamics.
Audiophile specification...Seven discrete amplifiers driven by a low-flux toroidal transformer are separated from the processing and input stages guaranteeing performance without compromise. And because typical set-ups now include a multitude of sources with digital audio connections, special attention has been given to the 551R's digital to analogue conversion process thus giving it the ability to maximise the audio potential of every connected digital device such as Blu-ray players, satellite boxes, iPod docks, games consoles and more.
Processing tour de forceAnd whilst musical performance is at the heart of the 551R, it also offers all the latest processing technologies to excite the most avid home cinema enthusiast including the most current Cirrus Logic DSPs and support for the latest CODECs such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio. Meanwhile, a Faroudja 1080p video scaler vastly improves performance from lower resolution TV broadcasts and DVDs as well as transcoding analogue video inputs to the digital domain for simpler and neater connection to the TV using just one HDMI cable.
ConnectivityIn terms of connectivity, the 551R boasts four HMDI inputs and a single HDMI output which fully supports 3DTV/Deep colour pass-through and Audio Return from newer digital TVs. It also features a wide selection of analogue video connections (ready for transcoding), four digital audio connections and a total of six analogue audio inputs.
Furthermore, the 551R includes a host of processing and adjustment features to get the most from every multi-channel movie soundtrack. These include full individual crossover adjustment and bass management, lip sync adjustment, Dolby Dynamic range control and DTS-HD speaker re-map (these features are explained in greater detail below).
Ease of set-upAVRs typically have a habit of causing much head scratching but the 551R has been designed to ensure simple set-up and ease of use for all the family. Cambridge Audio's Microphone Controlled Auto Set-up (CAMCAS) tailors the 551R's performance to any room and comes complete with a microphone to complete this simple procedure. Day to day operation is equally straightforward from either the clear front panel controls or the supplied remote.
Clever cooling = compact designBut perhaps the most surprising feature of the 551R is its diminutive size - made possible thanks to a unique cooling design system called X-Tract™. A perfectly balanced combination of forced cooling and natural convection effectively draws heat away from the substantial transformer and output stages and means the 551R can operate extremely quietly, at a low temperature and enables a more compact enclosure than would normally be possible for such a powerhouse.
Tags: Home Theater, Surround Sound, Control4, Cambridge Audio
