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Anthem AV receiver at CES?

163K views 1K replies 152 participants last post by  DongTeamSetup 
#1 ·
Any news or sightings at CES of the Anthem receiver(s) that was mentioned at CEDIA?
 
#1,065 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lpw /forum/post/19449248


I went to the Audio One event yesterday as well and saw/heard the 700 in action. I spoke to the Anthem rep as well. I didn't learn anything new from what's been reported here besides the fact that Anthem has plans to release 2-channel preamps with ARC at some point. I'm thinking of consolidating my gear so it is important to me that 2-channel music listening sounds good as well. Perhaps ARC on these receivers will be the difference maker even if the preamp section isn't as good as some of the dedicated preamps out there. The rep also acknowledged that keeping the RS232 interface instead of using the modern USB connection was a mistake and that the guy responsible for making that call is no longer with the company. Firmwares will also be done through the ethernet port (I'm pretty sure I heard that correctly).


Anyways, they had a good promotional price for the 500 and 700 that day only, so I put my deposit down and I'm now waiting for the week of Nov. 22nd when a big shipment is supposed to arrive. That'll give me some time to track down that RS232-USB cable. I think I'll take a chance on the monoprice one.

What was the promotional price? I couldn't make it that day to Audio One. PM me if that's more acceptable.
 
#1,069 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by gostan /forum/post/19452548


No new owner is willing to give a real review because each has either been unable to run ARC due to lack of a Keyspan adapter, or is afraid to because they do not want to be the starter of the Official Anthem MRX Receiver thread.


....those bastards.




Actually, weekends can be busy. Let them get to work and post on their employer's time.
 
#1,070 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by gostan /forum/post/19452548


No new owner is willing to give a real review because each has either been unable to run ARC due to lack of a Keyspan adapter, or is afraid to because they do not want to be the starter of the Official Anthem MRX Receiver thread.

This weekend I really CRANKED the 700.


First I put in Mozart Piano Sonatas in DTS 7.1, and was really amazed. Not so much by the quality of the amp, I've had NAD's in the room before and I'd say the Anthem MRX 700 is the equal to the NAD 773. Which is to say, the MRX700 amp is very, very good. But when I switched between ARC (on/off) that's when the low end smoothed out considerably and the real value of this receiver kicked in.


Then I put in the DVD-A of Fleetwood Mac Rumors and the second song "Dreams" has a LOT of low end extension. Enjoying this, I kept cranking the volume - going from -14 all the way to 0. Then I went ONE more (+1) and I heard it. My center channel was making a noise. I lowered the volume back to 0 and it went away (0 is still plenty loud). I went back to +1 and heard it again. I then went into the bass controls and moved the cutoff from 60Hz to 100Hz and cranked the volume again (same song). This time I got to +4, no funny sound, but it was just too loud.


So, I'm leaning heavily that my center channel was simply being pushed too hard and it wasn't the amp clipping. That said, I'm running a massive center channel, the Paradigm Studio CC690.


I heard the same problem with a pair of Totem Lynk's Surround speakers hooked up to my NAD, but those Lynk's were real light weight with 4" woofers/midrange.


Regardless if the issue was the speaker or the amp, it's always a bit frustrating that my equipment has a weak link. And, yes, I know that at +1 db the volume was REALLY cranked, but for 3 minutes, every once in a while, I like to really crank the volume. The good news is the sub filled in nicely.
 
#1,071 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Odd I/O /forum/post/19452359


What was the promotional price? I couldn't make it that day to Audio One. PM me if that's more acceptable.

There wasn't any sign posting a promotional price per se. My sales guy was saying that there was an additional 5% savings to be had due to the reps being there. That would be 5% in addition to whatever else you could negotiate.


Denon though had a receiver that listed for $2100 that they were advertising one day only at $1000. That was the kind of deal I was looking for with Anthem/Paradigm. But alas, it didn't materialize for the stuff I was looking at.
 
#1,072 ·
I have an AVM50 in my main theatre room, and an Integra DTR6.5 in my regular room. I will definitely be getting an AVM50v for the main theatre.


For the regular room, I'm debating between a new MRX500, or moving my existing AVM50 over there and getting an amp (PVA2?) to pair it with. I can either trade in my AVM50 towards the new AVM50v (at a considerable loss) and get the new MRX500, or pay a bit more and just keep the AVM50 for the regular room. By the way, paying a bit more is relative. I'm looking at a $20k+ upgrade to my two rooms.


Do I really need ARC for a 2.1 speaker setup? I make sure to buy components that decode the high def audio codecs into LPCM, I don't care about HD radio, and I think 3-D is a gimmick. So a lot of the new features of the MRX series don't really apply to me.
 
#1,073 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by FerretHunter /forum/post/19452897


I have an AVM50 in my main theatre room, and an Integra DTR6.5 in my regular room. I will definitely be getting an AVM50v for the main theatre.


For the regular room, I'm debating between a new MRX500, or moving my existing AVM50 over there and getting an amp (PVA2?) to pair it with. I can either trade in my AVM50 towards the new AVM50v (at a considerable loss) and get the new MRX500, or pay a bit more and just keep the AVM50 for the regular room. By the way, paying a bit more is relative. I'm looking at a $20k+ upgrade to my two rooms.


Do I really need ARC for a 2.1 speaker setup? I make sure to buy components that decode the high def audio codecs into LPCM, I don't care about HD radio, and I think 3-D is a gimmick. So a lot of the new features of the MRX series don't really apply to me.

i would stick with the AVM50 if your using just for music
 
#1,074 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by osofast240sx /forum/post/19452904


i would stick with the AVM50 if your using just for music

In the main theatre (where the new AVM50v and a 7.1 setup of Paradigm Signatures will reside), I would say I use it more for music than movies.


In the regular room (where there is a Pioneer Elite 60" Kuro plasma and a 2.1 setup of Paradigm Reference millenia 200 and seismic 10), I use it more for tv/movies.
 
#1,075 ·
I definitely agree with the new thread approach. I am hardly qualified to do so, seeing as I don't have one as yet, not to mention only a 5.1 setup anyway.

I certainly understand all the fuss about the whole serial port. It just didn't make sense. It was hardly a surprise. I could see all the headaches coming way back when the manuals were released. In fact, it was almost a big reason why I went with one of the new Yamaha Aventage. After following that thread, it seemed that they are good AVR's, but a real pain to set up. So, I figured I will get a MRX eventually (as of this writing) for the better overall product. When that day comes, seeing as I do not have a laptop, I'll use my desktop. A real pain in the arse, but with no adapter thingy, ARC should work better.

In the meantime, I look forward to hearing all the "real world" reviews.

Peter
 
#1,076 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by FerretHunter /forum/post/19452913


In the main theatre (where the new AVM50v and a 7.1 setup of Paradigm Signatures will reside), I would say I use it more for music than movies.


In the regular room (where there is a Pioneer Elite 60" Kuro plasma and a 2.1 setup of Paradigm Reference millenia 200 and seismic 10), I use it more for tv/movies.

then i would consider the 500 or the 700
 
#1,077 ·
FYI for Mac users: I use Boot Camp on a Mac laptop with a retail copy of Windows XP and the Keyspan USA-19HS USB/Serial adapter for my D2v setup stuff including firmware installs and ARC setup. I use that Boot Camp / XP configuration for essentially nothing else so frankly it was less hassle to do that than to get and store a second laptop just to run Windows. (You boot up either as Windows or as Mac OS X. Boot Camp exists in a separate partition on your hard drive.)


There is a Belkin USB/Serial adapter that people have also used, and in particular folks using Fusion on their Macs have reported good luck with it. The Belkin model is the F5U409-CU. (Fusion is software that lets you run a Windows environment that boots up in a window of a normal Mac OS X environment so that you have a virtual Windows display in one Mac window while all the rest of your Mac stuff is everywhere else on screen.)


The trick with these adapters is not the hardware, it is getting Windows software drivers that work.

--Bob
 
#1,078 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SimpleTheater /forum/post/19452868


Then I went ONE more (+1) and I heard it. My center channel was making a noise. I lowered the volume back to 0 and it went away (0 is still plenty loud). I went back to +1 and heard it again. I then went into the bass controls and moved the cutoff from 60Hz to 100Hz and cranked the volume again (same song). This time I got to +4, no funny sound, but it was just too loud.


So, I'm leaning heavily that my center channel was simply being pushed too hard and it wasn't the amp clipping. That said, I'm running a massive center channel, the Paradigm Studio CC690.

Curious, why did you come to that conclusion? I would have said it's the amp. I.e, by setting your X-over higher from 60 to 100hz, the amp no longer has to reproduce the much more difficult lower octave from 60 to 100 (well, there is a roll off so it does reproduce something there), and therefore you had a bit more "volume" left before the amp would distort, approx. 3db assuming +1 to +4 on the MRX equals 3db?


Try hooking up your Main Front or Left (I think you said it was a 100?) to the center channel amp output and perform the same test to see if you get to that "sound" at the same volume as I would think you could push the 100 further than the CC given the extra drivers. Or alternatively, hook up an external amp but I figure that may not be as simple.
 
#1,079 ·
I have been reaching out to the NJ Anthem dealers looking for a MRX demo; so far I got two calls this morning... Total Home Technologies ((totalhomenj.com) Roseland NJ), and Hi-Tech Stereo ((hitechstereo.com) Ocean, NJ) both have MRX receivers up and running. I will check out one or both this week and post my impressions.

Maybe Santa will bring me a MRX-700 next month...
 
#1,080 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by glennQNYC /forum/post/19453694


I have been reaching out to the NJ Anthem dealers looking for a MRX demo; so far I got two calls this morning... Total Home Technologies ((totalhomenj.com) Roseland NJ), and Hi-Tech Stereo ((hitechstereo.com) Ocean, NJ) both have MRX receivers up and running. I will check out one or both this week and post my impressions.

Maybe Santa will bring me a MRX-700 next month...

what about 6ave?
 
#1,082 ·
Just pulled the trigger on a MRX500, and it should be in the rack and running Saturday. I'm coming from an Arcam AVP700 that is no longer fitting my needs. I will post my impressions of the new unit as soon as I can.


Does anyone know if a standard issue RS232 to USB cable will work for setting up ARC? I have access to one of these.
 
#1,083 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boss21xd /forum/post/19454152


Just pulled the trigger on a MRX500, and it should be in the rack and running Saturday. I'm coming from an Arcam AVP700 that is no longer fitting my needs. I will post my impressions of the new unit as soon as I can.


Does anyone know if a standard issue RS232 to USB cable will work for setting up ARC? I have access to one of these.

You need an adapter with Windows software drivers that create a virtual serial port -- a COM port -- that the Anthem software will see just as if you had a real, physical serial port on the Windows PC.

--Bob
 
#1,085 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by glennQNYC /forum/post/0


I have been reaching out to the NJ Anthem dealers looking for a MRX demo; so far I got two calls this morning... Total Home Technologies ((totalhomenj.com) Roseland NJ), and Hi-Tech Stereo ((hitechstereo.com) Ocean, NJ) both have MRX receivers up and running. I will check out one or both this week and post my impressions.

Maybe Santa will bring me a MRX-700 next month...

Better post soon or you're going to be in big trouble


John
 
#1,086 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by madshi
Will the MRX pass unsupported video formats through?
Sorry, it doesn't, just the common CEA formats for SD/HD TV, plus 1080p24.


PC resolutions are not supported even in Through mode.


Update: At some point during the software updates, PC resolutions started being supported in Through mode but I don't know which ones because I only have equipment at hand to confirm that 1360x768 works.
 
#1,089 ·
Between myself and friends, I may be in the market for a D2v, a MRX-500 and a MRX-700.


I really wish there was a dealer in Albuquerque. The idea of driving 1.5 hours to Santa Fe just to see these units is unappealing.


Then, if I bought one and then needed dealer support, that that would entail another 3 hour round-trip drive.
 
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