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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?
 
#989 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hexs /forum/post/19442566


J - Since you seem to be one of the most knowledgeable Anthem guys who is getting a new MRX, can we convince you to be the one who starts the new "MRX Owners" thread? I think we all would appreciate it!

I agree. An MRX owner who is also a seasoned D2V owner would be ideal and jayray has been valuable on this thread from the outset.
 
#990 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jayray /forum/post/19442043


Congrats!!! Another happy Anthem owner. I think drhankz should put out some of those "dancing boys" for new owners.


John

I wouldn't be too quick to judge the happy owner part. I've been f-ing around with 9pin/usb dongles for over an hour now on 2 laptops and am getting very pissed that Anthem didn't simply ship a 9 pin to usb cable in the box. Being Friday night of course I can't get hold of them to Monday.


On 1st laptop - usb adapter installs fine, ARC starts can't get past the find valid microphone message even tho it shows me the right serial number


on 2nd laptop usb adapter installs fine, then it can't mfnd the processor.

Anthem - get your head out of your ass and ship with the required cables for USB - period - this is so aggravating that you force this crap down my throat when I just plunked down close to $2K for your product dammit!
 
#991 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by KB007 /forum/post/19442717


I wouldn't be too quick to judge the happy owner part. I've been f-ing around with 9pin/usb dongles for over an hour now on 2 laptops and am getting very pissed that Anthem didn't simply ship a 9 pin to usb cable in the box. Being Friday night of course I can't get hold of them to Monday.


On 1st laptop - usb adapter installs fine, ARC starts can't get past the find valid microphone message even tho it shows me the right serial number


on 2nd laptop usb adapter installs fine, then it can't mfnd the processor.

Anthem - get your head out of your ass and ship with the required cables for USB - period - this is so aggravating that you force this crap down my throat when I just plunked down close to $2K for your product dammit!

Make sure you have the latest drivers installed. Make sure it is using between com1 and com6.


All us statement guys are using the keyspan adapter. There are been problems with other adapters.
 
#992 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shrike645 /forum/post/19442816


Make sure you have the latest drivers installed. Make sure it is using between com1 and com6.


All us statement guys are using the keyspan adapter. There are been problems with other adapters.

+1

John
 
#993 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by KB007 /forum/post/19442717


I wouldn't be too quick to judge the happy owner part. I've been f-ing around with 9pin/usb dongles for over an hour now on 2 laptops and am getting very pissed that Anthem didn't simply ship a 9 pin to usb cable in the box. Being Friday night of course I can't get hold of them to Monday.

I just got off the phone with my dealer (who lent me his USB to Serial Adapter) and he said it was from Cables Unlimited that he got from Amazon. So I searched Amazon and found this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ms_ohs_product
Quote:
Originally Posted by KB007 /forum/post/19442717

Anthem - get your head out of your ass and ship with the required cables for USB - period - this is so aggravating that you force this crap down my throat when I just plunked down close to $2K for your product dammit!

I couldn't agree more. Not putting in a $10 adapter (I'm assuming a bulk discount) for a $2k product is astonishing. I'm more upset that they didn't include a Serial-to-USB cable. Could you even buy a laptop with a serial port in the last five years? And how many people own laptops more than five years old.
 
#994 ·
Thanks for the kind words. The only problem is I will only be using mine with a 2.1 system which is pretty weany compared to what most of you are going to use yours with. I would still contribute as I have and still do on the Anthem Statement thread. Questions about surround systems will be hard for me to comment on since I won't be using one. Many of you will be repositioning speakers for a while since you will discover things about your room which need to be adjusted. There are probably many more people who are experts in this area and of course, Bob Pariseau is the Yoda of ARC
and I, only at best, Luke Skywalker. So for these reasons I would suggest someone who fits the profile better set up the official thread. This won't make you responsible for everyone else's system.

John
 
#995 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SimpleTheater /forum/post/19442895


I just got off the phone with my dealer (who lent me his USB to Serial Adapter) and he said it was from Cables Unlimited that he got from Amazon. So I searched Amazon and found this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ms_ohs_product


I couldn't agree more. Not putting in a $10 adapter (I'm assuming a bulk discount) for a $2k product is astonishing. I'm more upset that they didn't include a Serial-to-USB cable. Could you even buy a laptop with a serial port in the last five years? And how many people own laptops more than five years old.

I mentioned a few pages back about the Keyspan adapter. It has been flawless for the Statement owners and yes it would be nice to get it in the package but the reason I mentioned it several days ago was so some of you could pick one up before your units arrived. I feel your pain but it will work out in the end and be a simple process from then on.

John
 
#996 ·
I'm slightly disappointed in the ARC software. After reviewing and saving the speaker graphs, I wanted to upload the graphs for everyone here to see. When I go to open the file it can't do it saying the file format is incompatible.
 
#997 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SimpleTheater /forum/post/19442935


I'm slightly disappointed in the ARC software. After reviewing and saving the speaker graphs, I wanted to upload the graphs for everyone here to see. When I go to open the file it can't do it saying the file format is incompatible.

You need to do a print screen. In windows this is the alt key and the print screen key to copy to the pasteboard. then open paint and copy it in. Save that file as a jpg and upload to the forum.
 
#998 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SimpleTheater /forum/post/19442895


Could you even buy a laptop with a serial port in the last five years? And how many people own laptops more than five years old.

My 2.5 year old Dell Latitude has an RS-232 port, so I for one am glad they didn't include a USB-Serial cable, which probably would have raised the price at least $25.
 
#1,000 ·
Second adapter worked better. ARC done. Still not impressed with the "don't include the adapter in the box approach tho. The Serial cable they include looks like it's a high quality piece - geezus... grrr....


nuff said.


Now - back to results.


Didn't notice a huge difference with ARC on 2 ch music, a little more pronounced bass, not too much otherwise at low to medium volume.


For DD from my sat box, sound is good, centre is a little more pronounced but not in a bad way, just tends to draw the attention back to the screen.


Will try to post the graphs later
 
#1,003 ·
hmmm, error opening .arc file - invalid file format...


Might have to re-run arc again just to get a new file and some graphs


It saved OK during the process... who knows.
 
#1,005 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Pariseau /forum/post/19443363


I believe the going price at Amazon is about $30.

--Bob

The one I saw at monoprice dot com was $9.10. I just hate and don't understand why accessories items for the consumer electronics industry are so dang expensive (HDMI cables, speaker wire, adapters etc).



But I to am waiting for a new anthem receiver. The MRX-300 specifically. I will only be using it as a pre/pro here. So, I am only interested in the receiver's ARC and bass management capabilities and performance.



So guys keep the comments coming.

Thanks.
 
#1,006 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Terminator1 /forum/post/19443491


The one I saw at monoprice dot com was $9.10.

They have a 3 ft. cable for $5.54. It uses the Prolific PL-2303 chip. Drivers are here . This seems to be a common chip. We have a few USB to serial converters at work, and they all use this chip.
 
#1,007 ·
Folks, get the Keyspan USA-19HS if you need a USB/Serial adapter.


You'll be glad you did.


When you get it, check on its support site to make sure you are installing the most recent driver for your specific version of Windows.


If you have a prior adapter installed, uninstall it first. Reboot the PC after the uninstall. Then install the Keyspan.


Once you have installed the Keyspan, reboot the computer again.


Frankly it's always a wonder to me when ANYTHING works on Windows PCs.


Oh, I've also found it helpful to draw a chalk pentagram around the computer.

--Bob
 
#1,009 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Terminator1 /forum/post/19443742


I guess the question is. Why did Anthem decide to use such an old style connection (serial) on their new receivers in the first place? They could have put the USB port on the back of these receivers and been done with it and saved people a lot of headaches.

USB cable limit is 12 feet due to the bandwidth, and some equipment rooms are several times that away from the listening room.


Building ARC entirely into the AVR won't be an option until processors become powerful enough.


All our dealers and distributors will soon have Keyspan USA-19HS adapters so they can lend them out. We're just days away from receiving the big shipment. They're the best - I was using the earlier model 10 years ago and tried practically every brand on the market since. They're also the only one designed with Mac in mind, as far as I can tell. Although including one in each box at zero markup was considered, cost is still too high. The lowest online price might give an idea. How well other USB-serial adapters work, and they're all cheaper, depends on your system and driver updates.


Other options are ExpressCard serial cards, or PCMCIA for older laptops, or PCI for desktops which can be found for less than the shipping cost. On newegg.com under laptop add-on cards - not posting link because it keeps changing - they start at prices lower than Keyspan serial adapter, and they work considerably more quickly.


The four possibilities including "I already have something and don't want to pay for another" is the other reason we left this to the user despite how convenient it would have been otherwise. Adapters are the lowest common denominator but some people prefer the other choices. As well, one thing that's almost never apparent on AVS due to its nature is the large number of hands-off people who have their dealer set everything up.
 
#1,010 ·
So it's a 12ft USB cable limit (due to bandwidth limitations issue). Ok that's fair enough. It's just that newer pc's nowadays don't have provisions for serial hookups without the need for some kind of adapter or adapter card. Ok so that clears that up and I am a little more educated on the issue.


Another question I have is with the ARC implementation on these receivers. I have heard that it is not the same as with the other separate Anthem Processors in that the ARC in the receivers don't have the same amount of processing, filtering and resources available. Could you or anyone care to elaborate on this issue? Further. Does anyone know if there will be differences in the ARC implementations across the MRX-300, 500 or 700 models as I am waiting for the 300 model to become available. Thank you for your time.
 
#1,011 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Terminator1 /forum/post/19444043


So it's a 12ft USB cable limit (due to bandwidth limitations issue). Ok that's fair enough. It's just that newer pc's nowadays don't have provisions for serial hookups without the need for some kind of adapter or adapter card. Ok so that clears that up and I am a little more educated on the issue.


Another question I have is with the ARC implementation on these receivers. I have heard that it is not the same as with the other separate Anthem Processors in that the ARC in the receivers don't have the same amount of processing, filtering and resources available. Could you or anyone care to elaborate on this issue? Further. Does anyone know if there will be differences in the ARC implementations across the MRX-300, 500 or 700 models as I am waiting for the 300 model to become available. Thank you for your time.

Due to the lesser DSP power in the receivers, it can't do the job the pre/pros can. However,as I have stated before, comparing the solution of my D2v compared to my MRX500, there are differences but not as much as one might expect. The LFE solution is almost identical while the other speakers have more wiggles but still a very good solution overall. I will post my D2v solution vs these same files processed for the MRX and people will be able to see the difference. As for the three models, they will not have any differences in how they handle ARC. So for you, the 300 will still do a very good job on your room at a very cost effective price. Hope that helps.

Will post my impressions of the MRX vs. the Denon 4310 tomorrow.

John
 
#1,012 ·
MRX 300/500/700 DSP has around the same amount of number crunching ability as anything in the price range, which is around half as much as AVM/D prepros using ARC (and PBK for that matter), which have as much as pro systems in the five figures. This means that MRX 300/500/700 corrected response usually does not meet target response as closely as AVM/D, thought it's also usually not too far off.


The other difference is that correction range not only defaults to 5 kHz but cannot be made to go higher. Correction above 5 kHz is not normally recommended regardless.


Another difference not dependent on ARC is that MRX DSP uses crossover frequencies of 60, 80, 100, 120, and 150 whereas AVM/D allows 25-160 in 5 Hz steps. It relates because ARC selects the crossover frequencies based on in-room measured response.


The practical difference depends on the amount of correction the room speaker/combo needs, and this varies greatly. MRX-ARC still improves things regardless, using the same principles as the other ARC.
 
#1,013 ·
Ok thanks. I will check back here to see your impressions soon. I'm just trying to nail down whether it would or could be worthwhile to get a MRX-500 or 700. As I only plan to use the MRX-300 as a pre/pro. The internet and HD radio features and extra power for the 500 or 700 aren't to important to me.


Possible future MRX-300 owner.
 
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