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Anthem MRX Receivers - 310, 510, 710 Owners Thread & Tweaking Guide

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#1 ·
I just received my unit a MRX-510 and did the system configuration in a breeze. This is so much user friendly.


I will start feeding information this week-end.







Anthem just announced their second generation line of 3D ready A/V receivers. The MRX series features three receivers: the MRX 310, MRX 510, and MRX 710.


The MRX 510, and MRX 710 all featuring 7 channels of amplification and 7 HDMI in/2 out.








Link to Anthem MRX Page

http://www.anthemav.com/products/series=mrx-series



Manuals, Data Sheets, and Additional Documentation/Literature:

http://anthemav.com/support/manuals-literature.php



HIGHLIGHTS


•Anthem Room Correction (ARC)

•Video Conversion from Composite Video and Component Video to HDMI

•1080p24 mode

•Dolby Volume

•AM/FM Tuner

DECODING


•Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus

•DTS-HD Master Audio (MRX 710/510)

•DTS-HD High-Resolution Audio

LISTENING MODES


•AnthemLogic – Cinema, Music

•Dolby Pro Logic IIx (Movie, Music, including Center Width, Dimension and Panorama adjustments)

•DTS Neo:6 (Cinema, Music)

•All-Channels (All-Speaker Stereo)

INPUTS


•Analog Video Inputs: 1 Composite + 2 Component

•Digital Audio Inputs: 2 Coaxial + 3 Optical

•5 Stereo Analog RCA Inputs

•HDMI On-Screen Display – setup, video adjustments, status, song/artist info from radio stations


CUSTOM INSTALLATION


•IR Control

•RS-232 Control

•IR Emitter Output

•Trigger Output

•Second Audio Zone

ADDITIONAL FEATURES


•Backlit Remote Control

•Sidemount Rack Kit (sold separately)


WARRANTY


•3 years

Specifications

PREAMPLIFIER

Maximum Output (
 
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#4,032 ·
^ This is one of the v1.2.9 changes - When using ARC v1.1.2882 or later to load a file, there is no longer a 3 dB level reduction when ARC is enabled in MRX. (This is part 2 of a fix for a rare condition resulting in noise - part 1 is in ARC v1.1.2882 and later.)
 
#4,036 · (Edited)
My amp (Anthem MCA 30) has a voltage gain of 29 dB (~ 28x) and will be driven to ~ 120W output (at 8 ohms) at 1.1V RMS, the output beyond which the MRX preamp's distortion begins to rise. The amp has a rated output of 225W per channel so the last 3 dB or so of its clean output will be in the range of higher MRX distortion. You're right, it's hardly a major issue but it is an "issue" which could be avoided by allowing one to disable the internal amps (selectively in my case since I'm using the 310's internal amps for my surrounds) when using the MRX as a preamp.
 
#4,037 ·
it's hardly a major issue but it is an "issue" which could be avoided by allowing one to disable the internal amps
If the need is a reduction in pre-out distortion at higher output voltages, the solution would be a preamp circuit that produces lower distortion at higher output voltages.

With the MRX, there's nothing to be gained by turning off its amp section except the power its idle current consumes. If so inclined, skeptics can see for themselves by comparing pre-out measurements before/after disconnecting amp power internally.

To my knowledge there's been no reported complaint from MRX-as-prepro users about the sound of its pre-outs at higher voltages (and before they start make sure it's not the sound of the amp hitting its wall, same for the speakers, or ears in compression mode). There's also no conflict between our spec sheet, which states pre-out THD+N at 2Vrms, and the review's measurements.

This leaves no apparent reason to change the preamp circuit unless other options are available within cost target during a new platform's development, as is the case with the AVM 60.
 
#4,041 ·
^ That's the main thing - THD doesn't go above 0.1% until after 3.5 Vrms, which is enough for a 1200W amp (8 ohms) if its gain is 29 dB though high-powered amps often have higher or variable gain to accommodate lower pre-out voltages. (Some preamps including our own can put out higher voltage but that's more because of their operating voltage to meet other benchmarks as opposed to serving any direct purpose.)
 
#4,049 ·
AnLog Music has very little Bass. AnLog Cinema is way better currently, even for Musi

Hi Nathan/ Nick -

The lack of bass in Anthem Logic - Music mode as compared to Stereo (2 speaker) and Anthem Logic - Cinema mode is very real. AnLog Music is actually quite anemic when it comes to bass and is currently not worth the bother. Surprisingly though, AnLog Cinema has turned out to be a winner (for me) when listening to 2.0 music tracks. The decoding into 5 channel is quite spectacular, specially if your center channel matches your fronts. For me they are all Paradigm. The only thing you lose is a bit of the pin point focus with the lead singers' voice (in Cinema mode it kind of floats across a wider area in the center), but you gain some amazing imaging and bass. Well worth a try. I had actually quite given up with ARC and the Anthem until I started listening in this mode. It has won me back for now. It is way better than the Dolby and Neo modes. Way better. Give it a try with an open mind, if you are sitting on the fence. It worked for me.
 
#4,050 ·
Hi Nathan/ Nick -

The lack of bass in Anthem Logic - Music mode as compared to Stereo (2 speaker) and Anthem Logic - Cinema mode is very real. AnLog Music is actually quite anemic when it comes to bass and is currently not worth the bother. Surprisingly though, AnLog Cinema has turned out to be a winner (for me) when listening to 2.0 music tracks. The decoding into 5 channel is quite spectacular, specially if your center channel matches your fronts. For me they are all Paradigm. The only thing you lose is a bit of the pin point focus with the lead singers' voice (in Cinema mode it kind of floats across a wider area in the center), but you gain some amazing imaging and bass. Well worth a try. I had actually quite given up with ARC and the Anthem until I started listening in this mode. It has won me back for now. It is way better than the Dolby and Neo modes. Way better. Give it a try with an open mind, if you are sitting on the fence. It worked for me.
What I do to get the vocal image back when using AL-Cinema is make a speaker profile and set center speaker to none. This gets me close enough to how AL-MUSIC used
to sound on my Anthem AVM 30.
 
#4,051 ·
Thanks Nathen. Great idea. Do I need to start afresh with new measurements and then create this speaker profile in ARC or can I simply go into the profile menu on the MRX and add surrounds and sub to the existing profile I have with only fronts? If I do this, will the ARC corrections for the surrounds and the sub be applied automatically to the respective speakers I add manually on the MRX directly? I am guessing not, but thought Id check.
 
#4,054 ·
^ Is this a direct quote or an out of context paraphrase? Tech support asks what the issue is so they can try to duplicate your setup and problem, and then provide notification when a fix or potential one becomes available. At present there is no MRX beta software (there is ARC beta but it has nothing to do with AL-M sub level). The direct contact is also necessary so in case we don't hear back we can follow up before turning beta into general release. The password is so the user understands what beta is, and so that it gets used for the right reasons.
 
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#4,076 ·
Hi @Nick
It is out of context paraphrase. I am aware of the latest general availability version 1.2.9 (I have installed it) and also that there is no MRX beta.

I asked for the ARC beta software to test it, as with current version (1.1.2882) seems to be an issue with the speakers levels. The levels value set on MRX by the ARC should be the ones without room gain(this was the case with 1.2.6).

MRX v1.2.9 firmware adds the room gain which seems to be a bug, that I'm sure would be discovered if...

As a side note, having the beta software out in the open for customers will help ironing problems way more quick. Anthem should not be concern as no one in his right mind will install and play with a beta version unless him/her knows what it's doing.
 
#4,057 · (Edited)
... where you can find a list of all the types of audio these will decode?
AFAIK there is no such list, Dolby Digital plus and DTS HD Master are suppoted and anything less demanding. As long as your source ddevice can push PCM Multichannel it is less of a concern. Maybe Nick can share an "inofficial" list here feat all the parameters/ranges for the types of digital audio via HDMI or optical/coax?
samplin'rate discussions again? ;)
ah - a sec too late
 
#4,056 ·
^ PCM and the formats normally covered under Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA, up to 7.1 24/192. If you're asking about flac, mp3 etc, the source component decodes them and sends out PCM 2.0 or analog. Bitstream-out does not appy to these formats.
 
#4,058 ·
Thanks for the info. Is there any disadvantage to having the source unit decode these and sending them to the receiver PCM vs bit stream?

That explains why my receiver shows these are multi channel PCM rather than bitstream even though the Oppo is set to send bit stream on sacd's. My denon would decode these at the receiver but I guess it does not matter since the Anthem sounds so much better to me.
 
#4,064 ·
My denon would decode these at the receiver but I guess it does not matter since the Anthem sounds so much better to me.
That's music to my ears as I was considering the usual suspects (Denon, Onkyo, Integra, Marantz & NAD) to replace my aging Onkyo AVR before zeroing in on an Anthem. Now if my company would just hurry up and give me my bonus so I can go get one!
 
#4,059 ·
I'm strongly drawn to an Anthem MRX 310 as fitting the needs I have for great audio and video fidelity, excellent room correction and not a bunch of features I don't use (7.1 channels or Dolby Atmos or beyond, audio streaming, multi-zone, etc.). One thing has me pausing though. My wife bloody hates using multiple remote controls to watch a TV show or a movie on disc or something from our media player or whatever. I have a macro-capable learning remote that I have "taught" to do things like "turn on the TV, the A/V receiver and the satellite receiver/DVR and set the A/V input to the appropriate one for the satellite receiver/DVR" when you press the "Satellite" button. That last step is possible because my current A/V receiver has buttons specific for each input.

From what I'm reading in the Anthem manuals, it looks like the selection of inputs from the remotes is all "relative" instead of "absolute". That is, If I'm on input 1 and I want to move to input 3, I have to press the right arrow button twice or hit the Input button, then the down arrow button twice. I could program those steps in, but it only works if I'm starting from input 3. If I start with input 2, I end up on input 4 instead of input 3.

Is there any way to "directly" go to a specific input using an Anthem remote? I've got a Harmony remote somewhere that I can download codes for from Logitech in case they support "direct" input codes but just don't implement them on their own remote.

Thanks in advance for any helpful replies!
 
#4,060 ·
Is there any way to "directly" go to a specific input using an Anthem remote? I've got a Harmony remote somewhere that I can download codes for from Logitech in case they support "direct" input codes but just don't implement them on their own remote.!
I don’t know of a way to do this with the anthem remote.
My wife hates having lots of remotes and she controls our setup (inc. MRX 710) with a Harmony Touch remote control.

The Harmony Touch is capable of doing what you want, the only thing to remember is to set a power on delay of several seconds for the Anthem which gives it time to power up ready for the next command in the activity.
 
#4,061 ·
Regarding MRX input support: Over HDMI: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 and 192 khz at 16 and 24bit, probably at 20 too. In any HDMI compatible channel mapping, up to 8 (7.1) channels. Same applies to optical, but only with two channels. Bitstreamed codecs are the usual DD (AC3), DTS, DTSHDMA and TrueHD, for what I tested, but I believe these are in the spec sheet (along with a few more variants of these). Notice that these do not include DSD (SACD), so that will always be converted to PCM at the source (lets not dive into DSD -> PCM conversion).

In the case of the MRX, I know no advantage of bitstreaming compared to decoding to the appropriate PCM format.
 
#4,065 ·
USB Input asynch

With the increasing prevalence of using media computers do you guys every see you adding asynchronous usb input to your receivers? Most Dac's are starting to offer this and I am surprised I am not seeing this on AVR's. Seems as this would provide the best quality input for a media pc or a mac and allow the receiver to do the timing.

Thanks,
Tim
 
#4,066 ·
With the increasing prevalence of using media computers do you guys every see you adding asynchronous usb input to your receivers? Most Dac's are starting to offer this and I am surprised I am not seeing this on AVR's. Seems as this would provide the best quality input for a media pc or a mac and allow the receiver to do the timing.

Thanks,
Tim
I went down this route of adding a async DAC as all my source is from HTPC via HDMI.

I couldn't tell any difference in terms of sound quality. Maybe that was because I bought a lower end DAC (music fidelity I believe).
 
#4,075 ·
is HDCD a zombie of the past?

Does anyone know if the MRX line decodes HDCDs.
Uh, I thought this tech never really took off and is dead for years already:rolleyes:
Well surely not the CDs themselves, AFAIK depending on the HDCD compatible player/source you will either get an analog signal and/or most likely somewhat PCM compatible HDCD stream. The Anthem will decode PCM just fine, however i-m not sure it will make use of the HDCD quirks in the PCM signal. So you might try to use the analog interface to see if there is better sound quality....
 
#4,081 ·
Hi Nick. At what frequency do the boosts for bass and treble on the remote operate?

Also, how is the level adjustment through the level button on the top of the remote different from the adjustment that can be done from within the level calibration menuu? Which one is better for tweaking?
 
#4,086 ·
Hi Nick. At what frequency do the boosts for bass and treble on the remote operate?

Also, how is the level adjustment through the level button on the top of the remote different from the adjustment that can be done from within the level calibration menuu? Which one is better for tweaking?
The amount of bass/treble boost/cut determines how close to the midrange the tone filters get. For level adjustment, the menu is for one-time system calibration and non-menu level controls are meant for temporary use if the source material needs fixing.
 
#4,083 ·
watch one source listen to another

I'm interested in purchasing a 310 but I am curious if it is possible to watch one HDMI source while listening to another? My Onkyo can't do it. Some Denon models can. I looked in the manual for the MRX and didn't see anything but I thought I'd as anyway.

Thanks for the help
Matt
 
#4,087 ·
Cool, thanks! So this is relatively easy to do and to change back? It's not a feature I'd use a ton but it's nice to have the game on and play music at the same time when family is over...it appeases everyone.
 
#4,090 ·
Can the two MRX HDMI outputs be on at the same time?

And, can they only output the same input, or different sources?


Sent from my iPhone
 
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