Anthem MRX Receivers - 300, 500, 700 Owners Thread & Tweaking Guide - Page 447

Originally Posted by AVfile 

Yes, good idea - even a good 2 or 3 channel amp to beef up the fronts. I would not use the MRX to drive 7 large speakers alone (at loud volumes).

Originally Posted by drhankz 

Doesn't Everyone Own the Anthem Pre Pro and Anthem MRX?

I own BOTH since I have two Theaters.

Originally Posted by dmpavs 

Most people don't have two theaters.

Originally Posted by drhankz 

I really have three but I only use TWO

Originally Posted by bhawes 

@drhankz what anthem receiver do you have and is the ARC easy to set up. And have you used any of the aps that are available with the anthem. Also i have a android phone. Do you know if you are playing XMradio on your smartphone, can you plug a adaptor in the headphones of smart phone and plug in RCA cable in back of anthem to play xmradio on your ht system.

Originally Posted by drhankz 

I really have three but I only use TWO

Originally Posted by dmpavs 

You bastard....no Im kidding....you suck though

Originally Posted by Legairre 

What not Anthem equipped? In that case it's not a theater.

Originally Posted by Legairre 

Nope still not a theater if it's not anthem equipped. You'll just have to call it a play room.

Originally Posted by drhankz 

You don't want me using the (1) Theater that is NOT Anthem Equipped.

It is Pioneer - before the days of Anthem.

Originally Posted by bhawes 

I went to listen to the the studio 20 and CC-490 with the anthem 500mrx receiver and the Integra 40.4 and Integra 50.4 receivers. Wow the paradigm sounded great.
The salesman at the store told me if im listening to 70% music go with the anthem 500 If 70% HT go with Integra because of the better video processing.
But he told he had some customers that have both anthems 500 and Integra 50.4. And they use the anthem for music and the Integra for HT. I ended up buying studios 20 and CC-490 and the Integra 40.4 for
a great deal all brand new for a total of $3000.00 including taxes. Already had a sub and rear and rear surround ceiling speakers. I will now move my old studio 20 V2 and center channel and denon 3802 to my master bedroom.

Originally Posted by bhawes 

He told me anthem are better for music listening and Integra is better for HT because of better video processing.

Originally Posted by dean-l 

If I was heavy into music I'd go --- with something else altogether. Arcam, for example. I'm not terribly impressed by my Anthem MRX for music. Seems to just push noise out. But I had much better 2 channel HW, back in my music days, apple to oranges, I suppose.

I can believe the Integra has better video processing. Your more "boutique" AV brands tend to often be inferior, in this respect. However, I can't say my Anthem has any issues. I use it to upscale everything to 1080p. I've gone back and forth, and the Anthem doesn't seem to inflict any negatives vs. bypassing it. But then, I'm mostly a DVR(TiVo) video watcher, not so much Blu-ray, which is more dynamic.

As for Integra for sound, well, you are already looking at an Anthem in comparison. So you can move on from that.

Originally Posted by dmpavs 

Without really specifying any particular models it seems like a biased choice to say Arcam. I wouldn't consider their products to be anything superior than Anthem by a long shot. Separates can sound better, sure but there are also a lot of very poorly recorded cd's and sources that won't sound good on anything. I went from the Emotiva UMC which sounded very good at times to an MRX and it has been a lot more comforting on the ears over extended listening periods. I am finding that I really like the clear sound of this, as it pairs very well to the Paradigm studio speakers. The one thing that inhibits the MRX is that you cannot use an external DAC so there goes any chance of getting better sound if say, you buy a very nice cd player. At least that is the way I understood it to mean as I asked Anthem. Which would really suck if you have an expensive cd player.

Originally Posted by dean-l 

Picking ANYTHING is "bias".

I directly compared the Anthem MRX700 to an Arcam AVR400. But that's my opinion. I'd also recommend the Cary Audio C12(movies OR music), but that's pretty expensive, but WOW! the sound! If YOU have suggestions of models/brands for music vs movies, feel free to stick your neck out on your own.

I just gave my opinion. If he chooses to use it or not is completely up to him. Or anyone else who may find it interesting.

My last tryout, will probably be with the CA 651r. LOL! AVS groupthink mindblower there. Nothing is right on paper with THAT one.

Most Paradigm speaker owners do enjoy Anthem AVR's. ARC is great at helping get boomy bass under control. It can also help clear up some speakers tendencies for muffled voices, due to a weak upper end and that can lead particularly to a slightly clearer center channel. A good RC system can really help tighten things down, especially with HT based purchases. (And then there's the actual "room correction" aspect of RC. for those more comfortable with that being the main reason for RC)

On the other hand, many people do not need as much help with their speakers(and room ), maybe a little better speaker placement and such can do the trick for them. For them the need for an advanced RC system is not as necessary or advantageous.

Originally Posted by dean-l 

If I was heavy into music I'd go --- with something else altogether. Arcam, for example. I'm not terribly impressed by my Anthem MRX for music. Seems to just push noise out.

Originally Posted by pkane2001 

About 12 years ago, I was heavily into music. I built my dream system that sounded so good that I stopped upgrading for many years. System consisted of Thiel speakers, Pass Aleph monoblocks, and Theta digital front end, and some extremely expensive, custom made cables and interconnects. I still have most of this equipment and it all works great, but for convenience sake I made the decision to switch to a good receiver that can integrate all my video/HT and audio needs.

So, about a year ago I got an MRX700 hooked up to Thiel speakers, plus some nice HT equipment (surrounds, sub, blue-ray dvd, etc). Now, my iPhone is playing through HDMI directly into MRX. It took a bit of time to configure MRX properly, but it sounds amazing now. I've tried swapping various components with my old system, but I find that there is very little if any improvement. I hooked up Pass Alephs to the preamp output of MRX -- not much better than what I get from built-in Anthem amps. Tried doing D/A conversion with an outboard DAC... Can't tell the difference between that and the MRX doing D/A. To my ears, the 700 sounds really good for music, even when compared to my high-end reference system.

The key configuration change was to turn off ARC for music playback, to use standard Stereo output processing, and to turn off the surrounds. That, plus using losseless compression for all my audio files and a direct digital feed into the receiver.

I certainly wouldn't call the music that this configuration is pushing out 'noise', not by a long stretch!

Originally Posted by dmpavs 

You couldn't tell the difference with the outboard DAC and the MRX because there isn't one. The receiver only uses its own built-in DAC. I emailed Anthem and inquired about using one and the reply was, "There is no point since it would only be converted to digital by the Anthem before being processed anyway. While the sound is great, this was the only thing I found to be a little disappointing.

Originally Posted by dmpavs 

You couldn't tell the difference with the outboard DAC and the MRX because there isn't one. The receiver only uses its own built-in DAC. I emailed Anthem and inquired about using one and the reply was, "There is no point since it would only be converted to digital by the Anthem before being processed anyway. While the sound is great, this was the only thing I found to be a little disappointing.

Originally Posted by Apgood 

I believe from what others in this thread have said you can avoid a/d conversion by using the zone 2 function as it is analogue only (i.e. no ARC or digital dsp). Trigger or Jayray could probably confirm.

Originally Posted by dean-l 

I directly compared the Anthem MRX700 to an Arcam AVR400. But that's my opinion. I'd also recommend the Cary Audio C12(movies OR music), but that's pretty expensive, but WOW! the sound! If YOU have suggestions of models/brands for music vs movies, feel free to stick your neck out on your own.