Anthem MRX Receivers - 300, 500, 700 Owners Thread & Tweaking Guide - Page 436

There are definitely a number of co's that do HDMI better, especially the Japs. Luckily the SQ (even before the "amazing" ARC ) and the largely livable flaws make up for it.

But like most AVR's, especially the more boutique brands, Anthems are not perfect.

It's important to be able to hear/read BOTH sides of a product to make an informed decision. Not everything can be pure rosy perfection. Althought, you'll usually find one or two nearly everywhere.

Agree!!! I'll live with sloppy handshakes just because of your quote about sound quality.

How would one do that? I have a Comcast Scientific Atlanta for instance. Wouldn't I be changing the output setting form the box all the time? Wouldn't that be just as much hassle?

What model box is it? Is it an 8300HD or 8300HDC? If so turn the box off and press Guide and Info on the front of the box at the same time. Then go through the setup wizard to set the output. What you'll be doing is setting the box to say 1080i

What you'll be doing is setting the box to output a constant resolution for all channels no matter what resolution they broadcast in. So set the box to say 1080i and no matter what the channels resolution is you'll get 1080i for channels all the time and no more handshake issues because the DVR's output resolution will be a constant 1080i for all channels.

The reason you get the handshake issue is because every time you switch to a new channels it could be broadcast in a different resolution than the previous one and an HDMI handshake is required to lock on every time the resolution changes.

Edit Now that I think of it Comcast has changed the way you access the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD and 8300HDC resolution setup. Turn off the DVR and press Channel + and Channel - on the front of the box at the same time. Also make sure your TV isn't plugged into the back of the box because that's a switched outlet and the TV won't come on with the box off and you won't be able to see anything
Edited by Legairre - 12/21/12 at 6:17pm

Everyone needs to start emailing Anthem to fix this. This is a great AVR, but if can work smoothly, email Anthem for a fix. I used to believed that it was my Oppo. Apparently, it is not. I discovered this when I got the new Oppo.

Since I refused to buy a mumbling Japanese unit, It was the best of a flawed group. With issues I could live with vs. the competition. Actually, the Anthem has MORE issues, but none that are "completely intolerable" for me.

NOT a ringing endorsement. In the end, I wish I could've just waited another year or two, but I was locked into a purchase.

Hopefully, the static issue stays under control for a few years. But we'll see. It still comes and goes. Plus, the strange noise at the end of DVR recordings. I don't feel it's a reliable unit. In the end, I'm disappointed in the product, especially for the price and the ENDLESS hype. People need to know not EVERYONE has a RAGING h*rd*n for Anthem AVR's. But most of those people tend to be pushed out or minimized and then it's back to the same people again. I need one of those forum gigs.
Edited by dean-l - 12/22/12 at 9:21am

Just a question.. I have a hi-end. Transport and DAC for CD playback
Since there is no pure direct on the Mrx does this mean my DAC is useless?
Since it goes digital from transport then analog from DAC to Mrx I assume its going thru the Mrxs DAC once again before heading to the speakers..I don't think that's a good idea!..anyone out there using transport and DAC with good results?

Use Z2 for your DAC

Could you be more specific?...use zone two???

You can use the analog input infront of the mrx then assign it to zone 2.

I do not think I would want any cables going in the front inputs on the Mrx..it is behind a glass cabinet..would like a clean look,without cables in front,just wish it had a pure direct option..also I have read that the Mrx is awesome with anything digital,but analog thru the Mrx is not good at all..not sure how to go about this...unless I get rid of my DAC..that actually cost more than the Mrx!

Going analog direct would bypass ARC, a big loss for what Analog would give you over Digital.
John

He can compare them and then make a decision which one he likes.

He'll like the one that costs more
John

anyone have any ideas why the keyspan serial to usb is so special?? i bought a monoprice adapter for like $3 and it didnt work, so i went to my paradigm dealer and got a generic adapter but looked similar to the keyspan one and it was $44 + tax, it didnt work. So now i have to order one and have to wait prob over a week now. I tried everything to get these to work. my last computer had serial on the mobo so i didnt have this problem before.

I'm not sure that there is anything special about the Keyspan, other than the fact that the drivers may be very compatible with the MRX.

I used a cheap generic one and it worked once for me. Couldn't get it to work a second time but I wasn't worried since I have a HTPC with a serial port.

Just purchased the MRX 500 a little over a week ago and found time to hook it up this morning. I was able to use it about 15 minutes before it read, "amp protection powering off" and shut down. I now have nothing hooked up to it except power and as soon as I power it up, it powers down. Not impressed

Did you unplug the power cord for a few minutes before powering up again?

Great info here. I now have a MRX500 on the way. (replacing my old B&K AVR307) (NHT Classic 3 front, Monitor Audio Bipole rear, and M&K V75II Sub)

Question about setup. As a source, DirectTV ouputs 1080p at 24 frames and my Monitor (Sony) only works 1080p at 60 so at this point I'm at 1080i because of the frame thing. (Though both TV and source are 1080p)
Could the upscalng on the Anthem work to resolve this issue, with the output set to 1080p/60? Would the Satellite receiver "see" this upscaling and allow the setting of 1080p?

Anyone with any experience or knowledge who could share would be great.

Weird. My local paradigm dealer located one for me within 10min and said he could hopefully have it for friday! so hope all goes well. Wish anthem would have just went with usb in the first place.

May also want to check speaker connections, maybe an load issue for the transformer.

So you have no recourse from the store you bought it from?

I was going to suggest that as well until I read his complete post....

Below are my new graphs with the recent 2nd sub I have added to my system (Outlaw LFM1 Plus). My old (one sub) cutoff was at 120 Hz which I believe is what I want to shoot for.What do you guys think with these new graphs.Keep in mind my space is very limited so I cant really move them around all that much. I was thinking of calibrating with just the one sub getting the 120Hz cutoff and than firing up the 2nd one and leaving has is....thanks


ARC10.jpg 158k .jpg file

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ARC14.jpg 186k .jpg file

I've tried unplugging the cord for a few minutes. I've removed all inputs - ps3 (hdmi) and cd player (rca). It will still shut down. Twice I've had it start up again.Once, after it started up again, I shut it off and and plugged in inputs and speakers - turned on and it automatically shut off. The other time I got through the quick setup to have it shut down.


I bought the wire from the dealer so I'm assuming that is ok.


I have just opened today so I will contact the dealer tomorrow to see what they say.


I will see if I can get it on again and just install inputs and not speakers to see what happens. Thanks.

If you just put in new speaker wire check the wire at the speaker end. If a stand of the wire is shorting to the other terminal it would cause the amp to go into protection mode and shutdown.

The dealer soldered the ends that I'm to put into the receiver.

I've unplugged the speakers and turned it on. I'm just going to leave it on while I cook supper and see if it stays on. I may try the setup again without speakers after that.

Check the ends at the speaker.

Well apparently it doesn't have anything to do with the speaker wire. It shut down somewhere between 10 & 15 minutes as I wasn't in the room when it shut down.