Arcam DV137

By Jamie Gemming

February 2007

Arcam DV137 DVD player. $5000.

Arcam DV137 (click for larger image)

Arcam DV137's rear panel (click for larger image)

I’ve been musically ruined by – of all things – a DVD player. I’m an early adopter of the iPod and really enjoy listening to it, through my stereo at home or cans at work. But now my musical bliss has been shattered by the stunning Arcam DV137.

Now before all you anorak wearers write to the editor and say I should have my testicles shocked for comparing a $5,000 DVD player to an iPod - hold on a minute. The iPod is how many of us listen to music. And – speaking of anorak wearers – DVD players aren’t greatly known among audiophiles for their musical abilities.

But in the interests of journalistic integrity, I also compared it back to back with my own Phillips DVP5900 and a mate’s excellent Pioneer S969. When I first heard the Arcam I was shocked and horrified because the iPod and Phillips, which initially sounded fine, were instantly shown to be crap!

Pandora’s box

When I picked up the Arcam for review, I bought it in to work so no one would help themselves to it from my car. I had the same basic conversation with every guy who passed my desk:

“What’s in the big box?”
“An Arcam DVD player I’m reviewing.”
“Arcam - who’s that?”
“A flash English hi-fi company.”
“Oh, never heard of them. How much does it cost?”
“$5,000.”
“$5,000!” they’d gasp. “Is it a recorder? Does it have a hard drive? Does it play those blu-ray things?”
“No, it’s just a plain old DVD player.”

Most followed with phrases like “f#%ken rip off”! Little did they know.

After listening to music through the Arcam, the Pioneer sounds like someone was standing in front the speakers when it was playing. The Arcam presented glorious midrange drive and delivered a soundstage with real width and depth.

Over the past month I have rediscovered my CD collection and noticed detail and subtlety with instrumentals and voices that once I return the Arcam, I will surely miss. The guitar solos from Bonjahbango’s talented lead guitarist Regan Lethbridge gains a new edge and refinement and Norah Jones’ sensual voice was even more so.

See no evil

It’s just as good with video. Pictures came through my Panasonic 500 projector like never before. The dark space scenes in Revenge of the Sith had such depth that it made my brand new Phillips player’s black look like grey. Ice Age and Robots were bolder and brighter. Skin tones in Courage Under Fire and Swimming Pool were much more natural than even the brilliant Pioneer; a machine people raved about and I recommended to a mate about a year ago.

Picture-wise it is the best DVD player I’ve ever seen; head and shoulders above all others and at least a head higher than the Pioneer, until now my favourite for video, DVD player.

Easy on the eye

The machine looks like any other Arcam product, understated but undeniably classy. The 137 has all the features one would expect (including HDMI): a great looking and simple to use onscreen menu and it even outputs in 1080p should you have something that can handle it.

I’m also a big fan the Arcam remote. While it may not feature 10,000 buttons and options like many other high end players it has large, easy to locate buttons that allow adjustment of all the features you may wish to change while watching a movie. Best of all, it looks good enough to keep on the coffee table so your partner won’t go hiding it away in a drawer somewhere, never to be found when required.

Hands down, the Arcam is the best DVD player I’ve ever met. Like James Blake describing Roger Federer, I can’t think of enough superlatives to describe this machine.

My brief for the review was to see how much better a pricey DVD player would be than a budget player and also compare it to a “top of the line for an ordinary person” machine. Simply, it’s so much better than anything under $1,000 you’d swear the cheap ones were playing VHS.

My long-suffering girlfriend has been dropping hints that for $5K I could get her a damn good engagement ring, but I think I need to buy this instead.

For your nearest Arcam dealer