Anthem MRX Receivers - 300, 500, 700 Owners Thread & Tweaking Guide - Page 402

Easy fix. I reran ARC this morning, and I am off to the races. Thanks for the help. Now about that annoying ground loop...but that is for a different thread.


Jono2channel

If you have a cable box attached, they are well known to have caused ground loop problems.
John

^^^ This! I had zero noise in my system until Directv came in and moved my dish and insisted on grounding my system. While not a bad idea, it instantly created a nice ground loop and an ugly hum came through my speakers. I unhooked the ground wire outside and it instantly went away.

This was a dilemna as I understand the reason for grounding my system. My easy solution was to run the satelitte coax through my PS Audio power conditioner. Worked like a champ. Now I'm grounded AND no hum.

No home demo.

I did read that the extra 50% wattage on the 700 compared to the 300 makes no material difference?

The 500 will do fine with your speakers.
John

I am currently using a MRX 500 with Focal 836Vs in the front. I had tried the Marantz 6007 which was rated at more power than the Anthem and it would go into protection mode when the speakers were being driven hard. The are 92DB efficient but can drop to 2.9 Ohms. So they are not the easiest to power and I was afraid the 500 wouldnt handle it, especially when the Marantz couldnt. To my pleasant surprise it handles them great and they sound better than ever.

Just another example of a manufacturer over stating their specs. My brother powers with his 500, PSB Golds(4ohm and below) and he has no problems. His Denon 4310 would go into protection mode even though it is rated higher.
John
Edited by jayray - 8/28/12 at 5:17pm

I have a 5.1 setup with the M&K S125s across the front, and S85s for surround. My room is slightly larger, 22 x 15. I went with the 300, and later added an amp, but the improvement was fairly subtle. I really didn't notice it with movies, but I did with classical music as I turned the volume up.

Perhaps your dealer will let you try a 300 for a week, and "trade up" to a 700 if you don't think your getting all the power you need.

I gave an Onkyo TX-NR818 receiver a try this last weekend thinking that I could use the video processing for my 65VT50 tv. I didn't like the sound of it at all so didn't even get into video quality. My MRX-700 crushed it which could be expected for the price but now that I have found out how good the Anthem really is compared to others on the market it isn't going anywhere. I thought maybe it wouldn't be a significant difference in sound but I was sadly mistaken. It really seems like ARC does a better job compared to Audyssey. The build quality just wasn't there and the Onkyo got quite hot too. Just my opinion though as I am no expect that's for sure.

So, aside from the discussion we've been having about the specific configuration issues for the GoldenEar Triton 2s (which still has open issues, I think...), any specific comments or analysis on what the charts posted above (posts 12003-12005) are telling us? It seems the 5 and 7 panel measurements are identical, so I'm suspecting i must have made a mistake in saving the 7 panel measurements. There are some very weird big dips in some of them i don't understand. Thanks!

Thanks for the reply.

Can I ask why the 500 and not the 300?

Completely agree on Arc vs Audyssey. I had an Onkyo 709 and a Marantz 6007, both Audyssey XT, both removed all the mid range and left my Focals sounding harsh and fatiguing, especially the Onkyo. It was just terrible sounding! I had an Outlaw 900/7700 combo that i loved and was really afraid i would have to go back to separates when the Onkyo and Marantz **** the bed. But I can honestly say after a week or so, that I believe the Anthem sound trumps my Outlaw combination that I loved. The Arc has made a great difference even though my charts are not perfect, it sounds way better than I ever remember. I was able to test the Marantz and Anthem at the same time, lots of hooking and unhooking...lol The Marantz definitely sounded better than the Onkyo in my opinion, but the Anthem is just so much cleaner and "balanced" sounding to me. My Focals sound great, I was actually thinking about replacing them, but that thought is now on the back burner for a while. I know there are people who have had problems, read all product threads, its everywhere. But I am completely satisfied with the unit and Anthem support. Andrew has answered a few questions I have had almost immediately. Cant beat that!
In the last 6 weeks, I have put in a Panasonic 65GT50 Plasma, the MRX 500 and an Oppo 93. If I just went off of the negatives in each thread, I would not have purchased any of them. So far happy with all 3!!

Thanks to all the helpful people on this thread!

The Onkyo was terrible sounding? Did your ears start bleeding or something? I'm pretty sure it wasn't terrible. Maybe not as clean sounding.Most people probably wouldn't even notice the difference. But I do agree about reading these threads. If the average Joe came in here,he would be scared to buy anything. I just got a Panasonic 60ST50 and its is gorgeous!

Clearly most people do notice a difference:rolleyes:
John

As soon as someone says the 818 sounds like crap,you just lost all credibility!

What was the 4310 going into protection mode? What would make it do that? Playing at reference level?

The 500 gives you a little more headroom but your needs may not require that. How loud you play, sensitivity of your speakers and the volume of your room do affect how much power you need.
John
Edited by jayray - 8/29/12 at 10:08am

The Onkyo 709 matched with my Focals became very very harsh with Music and had no detail on movies.. Just didnt sound good at all, now I do understand it was an $800 receiver vs the Marantz $1200 and Anthem $1330. Also to note, I used the Onkyo as a pre/pro with my Outlaw amp and by itself. I was able to test the Onkyo and Marantz at the same time, prefered the Marantz by a large margin, then got to test the Marantz and Anthem together and prefered the Anthem by a wide margin. I could have lived with the Marantz sound if I didnt demo the Anthem in my house next to it. The detail and "clean" sound was evident to my untrained ears. Mucis sounds great and the Movies pick up details I have never heard before. I use U571 as my test movie, and in the scene when the sub was descending, there were creaks and noises in the sub I had never heard before. I have watched and tested with that movie 20-30 times and never heard so much detail.
Even on the Music side, the Anthem makes my Focals sound more balanced that I have every heard them.

Playing movies at typical listening levels at the same level for both units. Do you own an Anthem? If not, as I suspect, why argue with people who do and have compared their Anthems to the other units they've owned. That's called credible.
John

Because it makes zero sense that a Denon 4310 would go into protection mode playing at moderate levels. Even at 4 ohm that receiver should drive those speakers just fine..
Edited by LowTech1 - 8/29/12 at 11:17am

I could care less what you believe, it didn't drive them and it couldn't.

I had the same problem with the Marantz 6007. Playing at -22 it went into protection mode multiple times in three days while playing certain scenes in a movie. The same scene caused it twice in 15 mins while I was testing.

Don't tell me one of Denon's top speakers couldn't drive those speakers,but the Anthem can.. BS! This is the exact crap that mis informs novice buyers. Funny,I just read that the Denon 4310 had a lot of issues. It has 130 watts per channel,which probably isn't true power but enough to drive your speakers easily. I'm pretty sure that 4310 you were using had problems. They were prone to over heating and that right there is why it couldn't drive your speakers. I'm glad your happy with the Anthem,but calling the 818 garbage is fraudulent. Going from a bad Denon to anything would be a vast improvement,not just with the Anthem..

If we are misinforming you, then, troll somewhere else where cognitive dissonance will work:rolleyes:

If we are misinforming you, then, troll somewhere else where cognitive dissonance will work:rolleyes:

What it running hot?

I'm not trolling,you are.. The 818 is garbage.. really? I'm guessing you just didn't prefer it. Being your into pre/pro's you would rather have a stripped down receiver. From what I read ,most people love the 818,instead of saying its garbage,why don't you give a direct comparison. The anthem has 2 things on the 818,power and ARC,and XT32 isn't that far behind ARC to even worry about..

I didn't comment on the 818.

What experience do you have with ARC?

What experience do you have with Audyssey XT32? Probably the same as I do with ARC..