@audiotroy
Yes I totally agree with you. And the OP wants an AV receiver with bells n whistles and I think the Arcam has them plus good sound and tonality for both music and HT (movies).
The NAD and Cambridge Audio make great sounding receivers but lack features or bells n whistles. The Rotel RAP-1580 amplified processor, which is basically an AV receiver minus AM/FM tuner or radio, sounded spectacular too especially for music but the Rotel lacks bells n whistles and lacks an automatic room correction but instead Rotel provides manual PEQ which requires proper tools and equipments and knowledge to implement it properly.
When it comes to features and bells n whistles I would say the Rotel RAP-1580 is the most barebone in comparison to all other AV receivers. But the Rotel RAP-1580 sounded spectacular and is built like a tank. that thing weighs around 54 pounds. has huge oversized main toroidal transformer power supply with generous power supply regulator and capacitors. Its amplifier section runs in class AB, unlike Rotel's lower end AV receiver, eg RSX-something, which amp section runs in class D. The RAP-1580 is Rotel's flagship AV receiver and retails for $3800. Rotel, like the NAD, Cambridge, Arcam, Audio Control, focus on sound quality, unlike those Japanese mass produced AV manufacturers eg Denon, Marantz, Yamaha, Onkyo/Integra, Pioneer Elite, Sony which focus on features and bells n whistles but sound quality is compromised.
However, I've never compared the Rotel RAP-1580 with the NAD, Cambridge, Arcam, Audio Control & Anthem in the same setup and system. For basic sound quality alone and amplifier section IMO the Rotel RAP-1580 is on par with the NAD's flagship, Cambridge's flagship, Arcam AVR 850 & AVR 550. But I think the Anthem's ARC2 and Dirac Live onboard the Arcam & Audio Control are superior room correction compared to Rotel's manual PEQ (Parametrix EQ).
But I've heard one negative thing about all Rotel AV gears both AV receivers & AV pre pros. Rotel's HDMI switchings are buggy and always have issues. So I always told people to stay away from buying Rotel AV receivers and processors. They sound great but their HDMI boards are failing all the time and constantly have software bugs and glitches. Rotel has always been aware of the issues but has done nothing to fix it, which I think is totally unacceptable.
However, Rotel makes very good sounding stereo gears and amplifiers (class AB) for the money. Their RMB-1585 five-channel power amp is spectacular especially for the money. It's massive built like a tank and weighs in around 80 pounds. And it sounded and perform very good esp for the money. It retails for $3k. Sounded very musical, highly dynamic, very rich and very quiet has really low noise floor. Its tonality is warm with rich midrange bloom. Has plenty unlimited reserve of clean power to be able to drive just about any difficult speakers. For $3k it is a total bargain.
