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. Offering 110W per channel of performance the 551R delivers movie soundtracks, TV and music with power, punch and superb dynamics.

The 551R’s audiophile pedigree is apparent from the very first audition and even a mere glance at the specification suggests it’s no ordinary AV Receiver. 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.

And 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.

In 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).

AVRs 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.

But 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.