Anthem MRX Receivers - 300, 500, 700 Owners Thread & Tweaking Guide - Page 446

Originally Posted by Tigger! 

These graphs look really good, your cutoffs are good and so are your levels!

Proper mic placement can make a big difference, so no surprise things changed when you did that!

Now sit back and enjoy!

Originally Posted by esh516 

Sorry to disagree..my parasound halo amp sounds different because its class A amplification
And sounds very very detailed and better than any amp I have ever listened to..and there's nothing wrong with it..lol

Originally Posted by Legairre 

Darn my Rotel RMB-1095(200x5 wpc) and two Rotel RB-1050(80x2 wpc) amps must all be broken.

Originally Posted by adambros 

I've had an MRX 700 since December and loving it!
I have a difficult room configuration - cathedral ceiling, stairs on the back wall, and the center speaker is in a cabinet below the TV. The main listening position on the sofa is further from one side wall than the other (thus the unequal rear correction) but is directly in front of the center speaker.. The sub is partly behind am upholstered chair. But I am making the best of it.
Set up is Paradigm Studio 60's main, CC-490 center, Atom rears, and DSP-3200 sub.

I am thinking of putting some sound absorbing panels in the cabinet to improve the center response. Let me know what you think.

FL +1
C +3
FR +1
LR +3
RR +9
Sub -9

Thanks
Tony

Originally Posted by Spurrier Sucks 

To use ARC with dual subs, I read in the D2 thread, I need to adjust both subs to 73bs, then get the phase set correct on both and then run ARC with both subs on. Is that right?

Originally Posted by esh516 

Hello everyone..I'm picking up my 300 in a few days to use as a pre-amp
I have been reading this thread for a few weeks now,I'm only on page 82 so I have a long way to go still,anyway I'm just checking to see if some of the earlier issues I have been reading about have been taken care of..like I said I'm still reading from back in 2010.. So have the pops and clicks been fixed in firmware updates? And also the problems with the avr locking up a lot and having to unplug it?.. My dealer told me all have been corrected butim just trying to make sure by talking to current owners...also ,how is this avr without using arc? I'm moving in 2 months and probably will wait to set up arc
I'm not good with computer ..so probably have my dealer set it up..can I still manually set up surround with good results?..i just returned my marantz ..love audessy but I'm having HDMI handshake issues with it..and the GUI on screen menu is not very user friendly compared to my older h/k avr254..I know this anthem will play great with my studio 60s,just curious if the earlier issues have been resolved..any feedback from you guys would be great..thank you..oh also I'm selling my new DAC/power supply cause I know I can not use it with the Mrx..its for CD playback only..that's my only bummer..cause I love that DAC...OK I'm heading back to page 89 for more reading..thanks again for any info you all can send my way

Originally Posted by Shrike645 

That's correct but you can set phase and distance either before or after ARC, doesn't matter.

Originally Posted by bkeeler10 

Well you would want to get the phase between the two subs matched before running ARC right? Then you could take care of distance and phase matching between the group of subs and the mains before or after ARC.

Originally Posted by Hostility 

How do you level set the subs? ie" at what volume do you set receiver so you can adjust the gain on the sub to hit 73 or 75db?

Originally Posted by Star Alum 

Hello, everyone. Reading this forum helped me decide to pick up an MRX 700 (Thanks!) But while running ARC, I found my mic s/n and the disc s/n don't match, so I can't proceed past this point, according to the manual. I had some wrong (230v power cord) and missing (mic cable) parts in the box from brand new. My dealer replaced the cord and gave me the mic cable. Is this another problem for them to address?

Thanks, and I'm glad to be a part of such a great forum.

Originally Posted by AV_mike 

Use the internally generated Test Tones accessible from Speaker Configuration - Level Calibration - toggle Noise Sequence to ON - then highlight Movie Subwoofer (set it to 0dB) and use a sound meter to adjust the Subs gain control to get the approximate level you're after.
Once the full ARC sequence has been run, you'll get an idea of what ARC measured - then you may wish to increase or decrease the subs gain if the ARC levels are too far from 0dB.
Using the internal test tones bypasses the volume control.
Regards, Mike.

Originally Posted by mooreatm 

A detailed explanation of my problem.

I really love the sound of my MRX 700 receiver however I have noticed an issue that I find quite problematic.

The only device I have hooked up to my MRX 700 is a PS3 Slim 160 GB. The MRX 700's sound is significantly muted and of poor quality when I have the sub turned on and play PCM audio. I have noticed this on Blu-Ray's such as Apocalypto which have uncompressed PCM audio tracks. Listening to mp3's playing from a usb hard drive they play as PCM and sound bad when the sub is turned on. When playing CD's on my PS3 they sound the same way. As soon as I disable the sub and play 5.0 or 2.0 etc. there is a very noticeable difference in sound almost like a heavy blanket is removed from the speakers. The volume is significantly louder, clearer and the dynamics are much much better. Without the sub it sounds wonderful. As soon as I turn the sub back on it sounds horrible again.

Originally Posted by mooreatm 

A detailed explanation of my problem.

I really love the sound of my MRX 700 receiver however I have noticed an issue that I find quite problematic.

The only device I have hooked up to my MRX 700 is a PS3 Slim 160 GB. The MRX 700's sound is significantly muted and of poor quality when I have the sub turned on and play PCM audio. I have noticed this on Blu-Ray's such as Apocalypto which have uncompressed PCM audio tracks. Listening to mp3's playing from a usb hard drive they play as PCM and sound bad when the sub is turned on. When playing CD's on my PS3 they sound the same way. As soon as I disable the sub and play 5.0 or 2.0 etc. there is a very noticeable difference in sound almost like a heavy blanket is removed from the speakers. The volume is significantly louder, clearer and the dynamics are much much better. Without the sub it sounds wonderful. As soon as I turn the sub back on it sounds horrible again.

I do not have this issue with any other audio types. I have tried Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Tru HD and DTS HD Master Audio. They all sound proper whether the sub is on or off (just the low bass from the sub is missing of course). This problem is the same whether ARC is on or off and also it doesn't matter if it is music or movie sound profile. I have uploaded a new ARC calibration file to this receiver around 5 or 6 times and always seem to have this issue. I just run the auto calibration and do not get into the manual setup.

I always thought this was strange but did not have the time to seriously look into it. I thought it might get fixed in a firmware updates over time so I have never brought it up until now. I have had the issue since I first got this receiver with firmware 50.00, then still with 50.12 and now still with 50.25. I guess I shrugged it off before because I mostly watched bluray's with hd audio which does not exhibit this issue. I never really listened to music much but now that I recently got my studio 20's I am loving listening to music and I was reminded of this issue that I forgot to look into previously. I started reading posts on AVSforum and came across another user (mfilippello) who seems to have the same problem as me in the below post:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1431980/mrx-300-volume-difference-with-sub-on-or-off

I have paradigm studio 20 v.5's as my main speakers so I need the sub playing when listening to music to fill out the sound in the lower regions. So right now the sound is very compromised when listening to music. If I want the sound clear and detailed I have to turn the sub off. Alternatively if want some lower bass I have to put up with poor sound quality from the speakers sounding faint with little detail. This is not good and I hope someone can point me in the right direction to fix this in my settings or maybe my receiver needs to be repaired or replaced. Please help. Does anyone have any suggestions to fix this?

I am also letting my anthem dealer know as well as sending this to Anthem technical support.

Originally Posted by Legairre 

Is Dolby Volume on? if so turn it off and see if that helps. I had a similar problem (not sub related but everything sounded muted). I turned it off and everything is fine now.

Originally Posted by Tigger! 

When you say "turning the sub off" improves things... do you mean that you turn the sub off in the MRX's configuration... or simply that you go behind the sub and hit the power switch?

Originally Posted by mooreatm 

I turn the sub off in the Speaker Management > Bass Management menu by setting the speakers to Large which then allows me turn the sub off. With the speakers set to "Large" and the subwoofer set to "On" the sound is way quieter. When I switch the sub to "Off" in the menu the sound volume increases dramatically and I thought it sounded much clearer but now I am thinking it may just be increasing the volume with the sub off. My toddler is sleeping above my stereo area right now so I can't turn it up too loud but I did dig out my spl meter and it seems like the volume difference from the sub being off and the sub being on is around 15 db on the MRX dial.

Originally Posted by bhawes 

Im planning on buying a new receiver to power the paradigm studio 20, cc-490 and ceiling speakers for rear and rear surround in a 7.1 setup.
If Im using my setup for 90 % home theatre to 10 % music. should i still get the anthem 500 over the denon 2313 or denon 3313 and why.

Originally Posted by drhankz 

Anthem Over ANY BRAND is my Advice.

A HAPPY ANTHEM OWNER

Originally Posted by drhankz 

Anthem Over ANY BRAND is my Advice.

A HAPPY ANTHEM OWNER

Originally Posted by AV_mike 

Before making the changes you mention above, what are the initial settings for your setup. ARC set crossover values, etc. By making the changes that you detail - you have completely 'broken' the ARC solution, and may as well just set everything manually. I understand that you are asking why the MRX behaves the way it does when you make the changes - but I think Anthem would also say - "its not designed to be used that way". If you disable ARC, and then try the various options - do you get the same effect of volume increase/decrease?
Regards, Mike.

Originally Posted by dmpavs 

I would even recommend going with the MRX-300 if you have a nice amp and use it as a pre/pro. It is a very very clear and smooth sounding unit.

Originally Posted by AVfile 

The MRX is not as powerful as the AVM/D separate pre/pros. Unless you have BOTH, you would not be such a happy camper, trust me.

Originally Posted by mooreatm 

The volume difference is there whether I have ARC on or off. I have played around with every possible audio setting on my ps3 and mrx700 to rule out everything i can. My anthem dealer has eluded that he might know what is causing this but he wants to talk to his anthem rep to discuss it before getting back to me. I hope it is a simple solution in the settings or calibration process.

I realize that manually adjusting the settings that ARC sets could mess with the sound in a negative way but I would think that if I turn ARC off I should not be experiencing this issue. I think I will try re-running arc with move mode set to 5.1 and music mode set to 2.1 and see if this does anything. Previously I had used the same 5.1 settings for both.