Anthem AV Owners Thread

[Snoopy8]

8 minutes ago, powerav said:

I have feeling Anthem are due for another model coming out as dealers are offering good deals at the moment if asked for on current models.

Anthem tend to have a slower release cycle than others. The Gen 2 MRX (eg. 710) shipped in Nov 2013.  They announced Gen 3 (eg.720) in Nov 2015 and shipped in Feb 2016.  About 2-3 years cycle which suggests that from mid next year, Gen 4 will be announced ???

 

The other thing I have noticed is that Anthem dealers can offer good deals. I bought my 710 as cheap as USA price after exchange.

[powerav]

28 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

The other thing I have noticed is that Anthem dealers can offer good deals. I bought my 710 as cheap as USA price after exchange.

Will there you go, I got mine for the US Price.

[betty boop]

 

an anthem in the forsales for anyone looking,

[powerav]

First impressions are some what good, set up is much harder than any modern AVR from the more popular manufactures, it really is like going back in time 15 years with these more niche AVR's. Even just doing a simple firmware update you have to use USB, then half the USB's you use don't work because they are not formatted correctly, then you have get the tape measure out to measure the speaker distance......

Sound wise I find it to have much more detail than previous AVR's but one big downfall is no dual bass EQ, compared to a Denon 4300 or Integra models the bass is pretty much non existent except for those big movie moments like explosions and stuff, much more noticeable on music concerts where detail is better but the fun factor is gone from having dual subs. Looks like I'll have to muck around with these MiniDSP things, for a premium product you shouldn't have to.

Is there a way of having subwoofers activated for 2 channel music?

[Snoopy8]

1 hour ago, powerav said:

First impressions are some what good, set up is much harder than any modern AVR from the more popular manufactures, it really is like going back in time 15 years with these more niche AVR's. Even just doing a simple firmware update you have to use USB, then half the USB's you use don't work because they are not formatted correctly, then you have get the tape measure out to measure the speaker distance......

Changed firmware only once, had no issue.  Yes, have to do tape measure.  Read a little while ago that they believed that there are issues with measuring delay with a microphone and entering distances was better.

 

1 hour ago, powerav said:

Sound wise I find it to have much more detail than previous AVR's but one big downfall is no dual bass EQ, compared to a Denon 4300 or Integra models the bass is pretty much non existent except for those big movie moments like explosions and stuff, much more noticeable on music concerts where detail is better but the fun factor is gone from having dual subs. Looks like I'll have to muck around with these MiniDSP things, for a premium product you shouldn't have to.

You will not be the last to express lack of dual sub support on the Anthem.  ARC assumes that the subs are already integrated.  Anthem provided this advice  to set up dual subs:

Quote

First you’ll need to balance the subs to one another, use the subwoofer test tone with one subwoofer connected at a time.  Sets its input level dial so the SPL meter reads 71db from the listening position.  Then repeat this for the second sub.  When both are set, the result should be around 75db

Also, have a look at Calibrate dual woofers with ARC (Poor Audiophile)

 

1 hour ago, powerav said:

Is there a way of having subwoofers activated for 2 channel music?

Press mode button on remote. It is likely to be displaying 2.0 PCM None.  Select some of the other modes to activate the subs.

 

Edited September 29, 2017 by Snoopy8
Typos

[powerav]

16 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

Also, have a look at Calibrate dual woofers with ARC (Poor Audiophile)

Yeah thanks, I'll have a look at that over the weekend.

being school holidays of course the first movie was a kids cgi movie and probably a real good test for it, the detail is incredible, once I get the subs right I should be happy ? 

[powerav]

On 9/27/2017 at 7:50 PM, Hi-Fi Whipped said:

Look out, now ARC is in the firing line! 

Yep it sure is, probably will get more ignoring me now. 

Just like Audyssey, you have to turn it off for music, Arc is actually worse than Audyssey for music. This becomes a pain for me as I have all my Music and movies on the one source, a HTPC.

So i would rather suffer a bit with Movies and have it perform better for music so it stays off. Therefore no real benefit in having it what so ever.

The best Room Correction I have ever used is just the basic AccuEQ Room, found on Integra's and Cambridge AVR's plus more, probably because most consider it to be the worst one but in reality it just sets the basic distance and levels and that's it, doesn't have all the fake hocus pocus processing stuff.

Anyway with ARC OFF! music sounds bloddy fantastic.

Still have no idea why people rave about room correction, are they setting up their HT's in bathrooms or something.

[Snoopy8]

Some interesting observations, which contradict so many Anthem and ARC reviews, as well as views of owners here. Not sure what else I can add?

[powerav]

It's not just ARC but any of the fancier room correction software.

I just thinks it's common sense in that if your room is already correct then you don't need to correct it, msybe it works for set ups that are in an open plan environment or something.

Today I had Dire Straits - Alchemy live DVD on and I was ready to sell the anthem as it sounded lifeless and flat, tonight I turned Arc off and tried it again and yes it came to life, even at low volume it sounds great, maybe you can try it @Snoopy8 and see what happens when Arc is off.

It's easily the best AVR I have ever heard now, just have to set it up the old school way.

[Snoopy8]

22 minutes ago, powerav said:

It's not just ARC but any of the fancier room correction software.

I just thinks it's common sense in that if your room is already correct then you don't need to correct it, msybe it works for set ups that are in an open plan environment or something.

Today I had Dire Straits - Alchemy live DVD on and I was ready to sell the anthem as it sounded lifeless and flat, tonight I turned Arc off and tried it again and yes it came to life, even at low volume it sounds great, maybe you can try it @Snoopy8 and see what happens when Arc is off.

I have posted my observations about ARC for movies, multi channel music and stereo here, as well as in the older Anthem thread.  For stereo, with or without ARC, the DAC on my 710 could not match my Audiolab 8200CDQ.  ARC did help improve the stereo, but not enough to beat the dedicated DAC.

 

Your point about ARC working in open plan environment applies to me.  All my ARC use have been in non-dedicated rooms, have used it in 3 different places.  So, your point about ARC not working as well in corrected rooms may be valid.

 

Can I suggest that you contact Anthem and include your ARC file.  Your experience with ARC is opposite to what most of us have experienced and maybe Anthem can provide an answer.  They are usually quite responsive.

 

34 minutes ago, powerav said:

It's easily the best AVR I have ever heard now, just have to set it up the old school way.

I was half expecting to see the 720 on the For Sale thread! 

[BenH]

1 hour ago, powerav said:

Yep it sure is, probably will get more ignoring me now. 

Just like Audyssey, you have to turn it off for music, Arc is actually worse than Audyssey for music. This becomes a pain for me as I have all my Music and movies on the one source, a HTPC.

So i would rather suffer a bit with Movies and have it perform better for music so it stays off. Therefore no real benefit in having it what so ever.

The best Room Correction I have ever used is just the basic AccuEQ Room, found on Integra's and Cambridge AVR's plus more, probably because most consider it to be the worst one but in reality it just sets the basic distance and levels and that's it, doesn't have all the fake hocus pocus processing stuff.

Anyway with ARC OFF! music sounds bloddy fantastic.

Still have no idea why people rave about room correction, are they setting up their HT's in bathrooms or something.

You can setup two inputs with the same source and have ARC on for one and off for the other if you want.

Ben

[Hi-Fi Whipped]

@POWER AV

 

is is it wrong I had a little chuckle when I read your findings, we all knew it was coming!

 

This isn't about me but i gave up on room eq a couple of years ago simply applying the theory of the purest untouched signal is the best, something a lot of 2ch experts preach. I don't have the perfect room but lots of plush soft furnishings and carpet help I'm sure. I don't even need to add bass and treble tweakings.

 

i must say it's been a game changer for me by making changes to speaker positioning etc. but I do have one of those dspeaker sub eq thingys you speak of as I reckon the sub bass is the critical signal to get right, let the upper frequencies sing  I say!

 

the CA 751r has been the component to seal my theory, the dynamics this thing has is insane for 2ch and surround, I've never heard sound this good from anything I've owned.

 

But no room eq isn't for everyone and it's got to the point where for me ignorance is bliss.

 

in your case, I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water just yet, reckon I've said it before but look at it as a bonus that you can either use or not, if it sounds good with eq just keep it off. Plus I'm sure there's plenty you can do to improve it if you can be buggered too, it's a cracking reciever from all reports so maybe just have some patience man!

[digitalhome]

10 hours ago, powerav said:

 

Sound wise I find it to have much more detail than previous AVR's but one big downfall is no dual bass EQ, compared to a Denon 4300 or Integra models the bass is pretty much non existent except for those big movie moments like explosions and stuff, much more noticeable on music concerts where detail is better but the fun factor is gone from having dual subs. Looks like I'll have to muck around with these MiniDSP things, for a premium product you shouldn't have to.

Is there a way of having subwoofers activated for 2 channel music?

I'm a little perplexed here. Are you saying that even with the mains crossed over at say 80hz, that in stereo mode there is no output from the subwoofers?

[Snoopy8]

9 minutes ago, digitalhome said:

I'm a little perplexed here. Are you saying that even with the mains crossed over at say 80hz, that in stereo mode there is no output from the subwoofers?

There are various modes. You can have 2.0, 2.x, 5.x. But if using crossover, defaults to using subs.

[digitalhome]

5 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

There are various modes. You can have 2.0, 2.x, 5.x. But if using crossover, defaults to using subs.

Yes I know, but my question was in relation to Power AV's findings.

[Dokken]

Perhaps the Marantz 6012 may have been a better choice then!?!

[powerav]

5 hours ago, digitalhome said:

I'm a little perplexed here. Are you saying that even with the mains crossed over at say 80hz, that in stereo mode there is no output from the subwoofers?

No that is all good now, it improved when ARC was turned off.

[powerav]

4 hours ago, Dokken said:

Perhaps the Marantz 6012 may have been a better choice then!?!

Not sure, the only benefit that has is the Sub eq, I will still have to turn Audyssey off. 

[powerav]

7 hours ago, Hi-Fi Whipped said:

@POWER AV

 

is is it wrong I had a little chuckle when I read your findings, we all knew it was coming!

 

This isn't about me but i gave up on room eq a couple of years ago simply applying the theory of the purest untouched signal is the best, something a lot of 2ch experts preach. I don't have the perfect room but lots of plush soft furnishings and carpet help I'm sure. I don't even need to add bass and treble tweakings.

 

i must say it's been a game changer for me by making changes to speaker positioning etc. but I do have one of those dspeaker sub eq thingys you speak of as I reckon the sub bass is the critical signal to get right, let the upper frequencies sing  I say!

 

the CA 751r has been the component to seal my theory, the dynamics this thing has is insane for 2ch and surround, I've never heard sound this good from anything I've owned.

 

But no room eq isn't for everyone and it's got to the point where for me ignorance is bliss.

 

in your case, I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water just yet, reckon I've said it before but look at it as a bonus that you can either use or not, if it sounds good with eq just keep it off. Plus I'm sure there's plenty you can do to improve it if you can be buggered too, it's a cracking reciever from all reports so maybe just have some patience man!

YES, YES and YES to everything you have said.

The CA 651r and the Integra's without Audyssey were the best for me.

I remember when I had the Integrated Amp set up with HT bypass all in same room of course. The Integrated sounded superb against the Denon 4300 but that had audyssey on when I sold that and got a Integra 30.5 there was little difference. Integrated stereo amps don't have any type of room correction.

Now the Anthem with ARC of in stereo mode is just like an integrated amp and a very good one.

All I really need is a mini dsp thingy for the dual subs now and I should be right.

I think all this room correction stuff is like some religious cult as soon as you speak out against it you get people either coming out and supporting or trying to shut you down.

 

Edited September 29, 2017 by powerav

[JSmith]

2 hours ago, powerav said:

Integrated stereo amps don't have any type of room correction.

https://www.anthemav.com/products-current/type=integrated-amp/model=str-integrated-amplifier/page=overview

 

JSmith

[powerav]

30 minutes ago, JSmith said:

https://www.anthemav.com/products-current/type=integrated-amp/model=str-integrated-amplifier/page=overview

 

JSmith

 touché. That is one in about 20,000 ever made! (You'll probably find more now ). I won't be buying that.

seriously though surely what you put in is exactly what you want out, why do you want to fiddle around with processing.

[JSmith]

3 minutes ago, powerav said:

touché

 Sorry, didn't mean it that way, was actually just looking into this the last few weeks as a new option.

 

There seems to be a few here and there now... but generally as you say usually don't have RC.

 

JSmith

[powerav]

Some more entertainment for you all 

Did a complete factory reset of the Anthem, set up subs as best I could as per the guide @Snoopy8 linked, thank you. Re did ARC and i noticed that the curves were much flatter than last time. I also just tried to measure in a 1 to 1.5 Metre radius only. I think this is what did it rather than try to cover a large area, I think.

Anyway fired everything up played just 30 secs of my test pieces. The Police certifiable - Wow that Bass on this one was back in a back in a big way. Billy Joel At Shea Stadium just the first minute and you'll know if it's right and it was. Then on to SACD 5.1 Dire Straits BIA - Your Latest Trick, yep that's the best i have heard that and so on.

I am even leaving ARC on for everything.

2 Channel music, as we all know this is always hard to get right as all recordings are so different, I actually like it with Anthem Logic Music, the stays in the Left and Right channels. Need a lot more listening to evaluate that but positive so far.

 

[Snoopy8]

3 hours ago, powerav said:

Did a complete factory reset of the Anthem, set up subs as best I could as per the guide @Snoopy8 linked, thank you. Re did ARC and i noticed that the curves were much flatter than last time. I also just tried to measure in a 1 to 1.5 Metre radius only. I think this is what did it rather than try to cover a large area, I think.

Anyway fired everything up played just 30 secs of my test pieces. The Police certifiable - Wow that Bass on this one was back in a back in a big way. Billy Joel At Shea Stadium just the first minute and you'll know if it's right and it was. Then on to SACD 5.1 Dire Straits BIA - Your Latest Trick, yep that's the best i have heard that and so on.

I am even leaving ARC on for everything.

I suspect that your 2 subs was out of phase to one another and had slightly different volumes.  With properly integrated subs, ARC does a fantastic job as you have discovered.  Glad this saga has turned up ok.

 

4 hours ago, powerav said:

2 Channel music, as we all know this is always hard to get right as all recordings are so different, I actually like it with Anthem Logic Music, the stays in the Left and Right channels.

Anthem Logic Music and Cinema are both good.  They seem to sound more natural.

[powerav]

@Snoopy8 is there a pure direct mode just so I can compare or is pure direct just as simple as mode set to none and Arc turned off?