Anthem MRX Receivers - 300, 500, 700 Owners Thread & Tweaking Guide - Page 47

Oops....I meant when I was uploading the ARC file that it shut off. Corrected my previous post. Stayed up too late last night playing around with all of this stuff

I hate to ask this question but I am possibly looking into getting an MX700. I am new to this so I apologize up front. I have a Cambridge 650r that I have been having issues with. I am looking to possibly replace it with an MX700. Can someone who has experience with both comment on how they sound, the difference with per channel power, etc...? The Azur 650r supposedly has 100 watts per channel in surround and 120 in stereo but the MX700 only has 90 in surround. I understand that isn't much of a difference but the Cambridge is no where near as loud as my old Sony and I have a larger room which needs some good power. Yes, I know it is a Sony so you can't compare quality but I am looking for quality and some decent power in the $2000 price range.

Again, I apologize for being so new to this and asking such questions.

Guy's can I do the Multimedia firmware update in the front USB port, or do I have to use the one in the back of the receiver?

I used the front one and it worked fine.

Actually, most people don't raise the sub levels after ARC for two reasons, first ARC usually gets it right and second, it takes some listening before you can get used to the now properly corrected solution. Whether you like it or not is personal preference and not what was intended by the sound engineers.
John

Hello thanks. But when I put the USB stick in it doest not ask me if I want to update the firmware. When If I choose folder view I see the update, It says no playable media. Is it the USB stick I am using? scan disc.

Forget it guy's it is the USB stick.

does the mrx700 decode 192/24 pcm thru hdmi with no down resing or degradation? nowhere does anthem say it does, nor do they say it doesn't. even anthem in canada couldn't answer my question, as the customer service guy wasn't sure.
my intention is to play blu ray music at full resoloution thru the anthem. when playing neil young's le noise blu ray, my pioneer elite correctly indicates 192/24 pcm 2.0. the mrx700 handles it fine, it seems, as it sounds great. it's just that the anthem doesn't say anything more than pcm2.0 on the display. does the fact that it is playing so wonderfully mean that it is playing and decoding at the full 192/24 rate, as the disc intended? thanks, mark

Hi,

what Blu-Ray player are you using to output the signal over HDMI? Is it sending PCM or Bitstream?

The Blu-Ray disk doesn't advertise any other options (e.g. 96/24) so I would guess you are getting the full 192/24 LPCM signal. Since the Anthem handles Dolby TrueHD which is also 192/24 (and DTS-HD Master Audio at 192/24 for stereo) I would be pretty comfortable telling you it is processing it natively ;-)

Hope this helps. Cheers.

Tony

cheers tony -

i am using a pioneer elite bdp-05fd blu-ray player. running the latest version software. over hdmi, the player tells me that it is streaming 192/24 pcm which is the only track on the disc...neil young's "le noise."

i appreciate your kind reply - mark/new hyde park , ny usa

Did the sound engineers intend for my sub to be set +4dB hot, because that's where ARC set mine? +4dB hot just happens to be my preference. If you go and do some research over in the subwoofer forum, you'll find that most folks are running their sub systems in that +3dB to +5dB hot range.

Personally I would buy a 500 instead of the 700 and pick up a used multichannel amp to power your speakers....oh wait a second thats what I did

Do they use ARC? Check the Anthem statement thread where many posters have expressed their pleasure with how ARC sets up their sub levels.
John
John

You lost me here... Does it really matter if they are using ARC?

And, you didn't answer my question. Which sound engineers are you referring to, those at Anthem, or those who created the master?

ARC sets the volume trims on your speakers and subwoofer in order to get the volume levels to be balanced, compensating for speaker differences and room effects. If you want to run your sub hot, you'd have to increase the volume trim that ARC set (or increase the volume on the sub itself). What I don't know for sure is, on the MRX, does ARC use the calibrated microphone to set 0 dB on the master volume to reference level (85 dB), since an SPL meter is not used. I assume it does, since this should be possible.

I've been planning to add a separate amp but I'm getting really nice sound out of just the MRX-700 in a 5.1 config. I guess I'll do it eventually but in my medium size room I wonder whether there will be a material benefit. Been keeping an SPL meter next to me because I'm still paranoid about frying my S-8-s but at 11 feet I get to 100db average peaks without apparent strain.

Is anyone else messing around with Internet radio? I couldn't have cared less about it when I got the MRX and while I don't know that I'd pay much extra for it by itself, I find myself using it more and more. The French provide an interesting slant on hip hop.

Hi,

and that's why the audio engineers added tone controls ;-)

Actually there is a technical issue though when you decide to change the reference levels after ARC (or other room equalization systems) has set the channel levels. You are effectively becoming a speaker designer and modifying the crossover frequency to the main speakers. By raising it +3dB across the band this means that the filter slope at the crossover point is now modified and that the duplicative frequencies that occur between both the subwoofer and the main speakers is increased. The seamless blend of frequencies is no longer the same.

On the other hand it is better to do it in the subwoofer so that the amplifier doesn't have to work as hard ;-) +3dB is double the power.

Cheers.

Tony

I've been told that speaker distances are not a factor in setting individual trims. That said, ARC did in fact set my sub ~4dB hot. If the goal was to be balanced with the other speakers, then it missed the mark by a fair amount. And, I brought this up awhile back, "0" is definitely not reference on my MRX. I watch at very high levels and my MRX only shows -18 on the display. I'm guessing that I'm "actually" in that -5dB from reference area. My former 3808 with Audyssey set levels with "0" reference being the goal.

This statement was a little confusing to me, so I did a little digging over in the Audyssey thread. Everything I read seems to imply that changing individual trims is ok. The below quote was taken directly from the Audyssey Setup Guide:

"H. If desired, trim level adjustments can be made in the receiver / processor to boost subwoofer levels for those who prefer more bass output."

There was no mention of possible adverse effects on the correction by making such adjustments.

I would love to but it just isn't in the budget right now. Also, I don't think my current power situation can handle it. I have all intentions of remodeling the room soon and redoing the power but for now a power amp is out of the question. In the next year or two I have plans to get a P5 so I would rather wait to get the power amp instead of buying some used and them buying something new.

I'm just curious if it is worth it to return the Cambridge and get the MX700 or just keep the Cambridge and send it in for repair.

Hi,

sorry I was under the impression you were increasing the physical volume knob on the subwoofer etc. after ARC was completed.

Setting the trim levels within the system's settings is a different issue and it most definitely is changing the frequency response and the ability for ARC to perform at its optimum. Remember a trim setting applies across ALL of the frequencies that the subwoofer reproduces. Look at your graphs and see where ARC has applied the target/calculation lines. This is where ARC believes that it can best reproduce the frequencies to provide an accurate frequency response line (e.g. close to flat at a given dB reference level). Normally this line is halfway between the peaks and the dips. At lower frequencies (e.g. <300Hz) the room is in control of the frequency response. So at a frequency where ARC is crossing over from the subwoofer to the front speakers (and all speakers) this change means that the seamless blending of the frequency response between the two is no longer at its optimum. E.g. the subwoofer is reproducing frequencies at +3dB (or more) exactly where the main (or other speakers) should be producing them at that level. With the crossover slope the subwoofer would also play them but at a lower volume, except that the trim increase is doubling up the bass frequencies. By manually adjusting the trim after ARC has made the measurements and calculated the target response you have effectively made the ARC calculations meaningless.

Increasing/tweaking the subwoofer volume in the past was a standard practice, and I did so as well, before comprehensive DSP filtering capabilities like ARC were available. Now that ARC and its competitors with very sophisticated room correction/equalization are available this practice is no longer as desirable and the frequency response is no longer consistent with the reference level.

YMMV. ;-)

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Tony

Hello All,
All I can say is that this AVR is built for HD Sound via HDMI. True Hd, and DTS Master audio sound absolutely incredible! Movies and Concerts. I gave up my analog set up for this trade off. ARC is light years above Audyssey!

When doing the MM update, does it have to be a USB flash drive?...or can it be a USB hard drive?
-Peter

I don't think it has to be a flash drive. Strange thing I bought a new 2gig scan disc flash drive, and it did not see it when I put it in the AVRs USB port. I tried a better scan disc model and it worked like a charm?

Hi,

I experienced the exact same problem and documented it in this post. Still don't understand why the MRX didn't recognise it.

Cheers.

Tony

Can internet radio be played in zone 2 without turning on the main zone pls?

Room correction systems are not all the same which is why I and many others bought and Anthem with ARC. I have two of them and having compared the MRX with a Denon 4310 using Audyssey, I can tell you they handle sub leves differently and by that I mean, the Denon had to be turned up and the MRX was left at what ARC set it at. It was set up using the generic, set sub to 12 o'clock. This doesn't mean the sub will be set at the same level as the other speakers, it doesn't happen that way with my D2v and sub 25. I don't know why the values fluctuate but I do know that ARC levels generally are close to what was intended in the source material. BTW, Audyssey didn't produce a chart that I could compare with ARC so listening was our only criteria. If yours is set to +4 and it sounds good then I'm not sure what the problem is. In the end the only thing that matters is how it sounds, not what the charts look like or what the values are in the setup or Targets window. Generally they do compliment each other but sometimes weird things pop up. I was referring to the sound engineers that produce the source.
John

can someone explain the 1st to 8th order filter you can select in the target window for subs? i know they are high pass filters, but what exactly is the difference between 1-8? also, i have been playing around with the target window and got the best house curve when i set both "music" and "movie" to 8th order 20hz. so what exactly is this doing in my setup?

The simplest way to define it is the slope (rate) at when the frequencies are attenuated...

1st has a shallow slope, 8th about as steep as you need (first order reduces energy by 1/2 per octave, 2nd double that, etc..)....

Filters don't completely cut off everything about or below the selected frequency..

They do it at a rate, i.e. if you put a high pass filter at 120Hz, it might attenuate everything above it at 24db/octave.... they aren't what we would call "brickwall" filters.

Most stuff below 20Hz is junk, and really should've been removed in the mastering/mixing stages... a steep filter is a good thing to have down low..

Only three more sleeps until I pick up my MRX 500! My head will be spinning until then, thinking of as much as I can to have a seamless setup on Saturday morning. I'm sure I'll be fine. If not I'll probably be driving you guys crazy. Speaking of setup...is that where you can check what firmware & multimedia versions have been installed?
-Peter