Anthem MRX Receivers - 300, 500, 700 Owners Thread & Tweaking Guide - Page 126

Wow! Just hooked up one of these in demo room and man, was I surprised! In this room we normally run a D2v/A5 or MRX700. Listened BEFORE running ARC and again WOW! What a great reciever. System is S20s, CC590, ADP590and Sub15. This unit has no right to sound this good! Have sold recievers for over 35 years and never heard one this good(excepting of course the 700 and 500) but for under $1K this baby is a steal. Anyone considering spending $500-$700 should give this a listen and bite the bullet for a couple of hundred bucks. You'll never regret it.
TJG

So far I'm really enjoying the sound with movies out of my new MRX 300. Impressed with ARC so far as well. I have noticed a big decrease in overall bass from my sub. For whatever reason it set my Sub at -8DB. My charts should be on the previous page for reference. Any suggestions?

I think Tigger has covered anything I might say about your charts. They aren't bad. Your sub doesn't go real low, perhaps positioning might help. Sometimes putting it in a corner to get some boundary gain may help but I suspect that you won't get much more from your sub in your room.

Appreciate your response. I'm going to sit with it a week or so and let myself get adjusted to it. I'll probably play around with sub positioning as you mention as well.

Hey brothers and sisters,

Just ordered the 700 today, should receive it in a week or so. Replacing the denon 3808 which begs me wanting for more when watching movies though only powering the center and surround speakers. I utilize the awesome integrated 225 to power my b&w 804's for 2 channel music and movies using the denon pre-outs.

Question is, does anyone have any idea what the power ratings would be for the mrx700 powering only the paradigm center speakers and both surrounds? Too lazy to get up and look for the speaker model number

I will continue using the integrated 225 to power the main left and right.

Thanks for any input.

Failwhale314, looking at your charts, you used to have a sizable subwoofer peak at about 85Hz. This peak may have given you an illusion of bass, but this is really 'upper bass' that actually masked the really low stuff. Therefore you got a lot of boominess but not as much true solid bass. ARC shaved that peak and made the subwoofer more ballanced, allowing lower frequences to be heard. It is also possible that the level on the subwoofer itself was too high, so ARC had to compensate. As we discussed here, in the end it does not matter what the individual settings are (ARC and subwoofer volume) - it is the overall level of bass compared to the rest of the system that ARC is computing.

As with the other members of the thread, live with this setting for a while, let your brain adjust to the sudden loss of the 85Hz 'boom'.

A personal anecdote: a few months ago I went into one of Toronto's multi-cinemas to watch 'The Social Network' with my son. When the movie started, I thought something was wrong with their speakers - there was little bass to speak of. Soon I got swept in the movie and sure enough, when there was deep, strong bass in the soundtrack, it appeared - solid, well defined, perfectly ballanced with the rest. And it is kind of hard to argue with the professionally set system and demand to increase bass 'to taste' . Bass should be there when called for - if everything sounds thick and 'bassy', your system is off the kilter.

Well, if MRX 700 has 120W for two channels driven and about 95W for 5 channels, you can expect around 110W for 3 (a speculation). Considering that these three channels will most likely be crossed over to subwoofer for deep bass, MRX700 will drive them with utmost ease.

One thing though - you would probably be better off using a matching B&W center with your 804s (surrounds are not as critical), but note that 800 series are expensive and fairly tall (hard to fit into most AV consoles - need to be placed on top).

This makes good sense. You'll have to forgive me I'm new to the world of EQ so I wasn't totally sure what to expect. Thanks for your response.

Agreed. Will have to get a matching center. Can't wait for the mrx700, hopefully everything blends in well. Do you know if the Mrx will decode dts HD high resolution? Or is it all in the same family as HD master?

The denon 3808 is rated at 130wpc, I wonder what it's power rating is with 5 channels driven....?

As has been stated many times in this thread... Anthem is very conservative in their ratings compared with other manufacturers ratings.

Before you get to hung up on the numbers, wait and give the 700 a try. It has a lot more power than most people comming from other manufacturers expected. In fact a lot of people planned to use their 700 with an external amp to driver their fronts, as you have suggested you plan to do... and most have decided just to go with the 700!

I think you're going to love your 700 and welcome to the 'club'.

Pricing PM please:

I know price talk is frowned upon so if anyone from the Toronto area would be kind enough to PM me with what I can expect to pay vs MSRP and where to purchase it would be greatly appreciated. My short list is the Denon 3311/3312, Marantz SR7005, and the MRX-500. I'll be upgrading from an old Pioneer vsx-d3s which has treated my well over the years but needs to be replaced.

While I'm asking, though not about pricing, can someone explain the issue with flac files. All my hi-res music is in flac format. Since, as far as I can tell, I can't stream directly to the MRX I could put the files on a usb stick and connect it to the MRX. Could I then play the flac files or do I need another source, like a Squeezebox or BR player to stream the files to and output to the MRX via s/pdif, HDMI, or even rca?

Thanks

yes!!! I'm excited to be part of the club 700 and a all Anthem gear nut

Anybody interested in a denon 3808?

Am also planning to acquire the MCA50 down the road and use the MRX700 as a pre/pro.

The 700 got a nice review from Home Theater's Fred Manteghian in February of this year. The HT Lab measures for the MRX-700 were:

Five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1% distortion at 86.3 watts
1% distortion at 93.7 watts

Seven channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1% distortion at 43.9 watts
1% distortion at 52.6 watts

This graph shows that the MRX 700's left channel, from CD input to speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 128.6 watts and 1 percent distortion at 160.2 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 164.8 watts and 1 percent distortion at 221.0 watts.

Link

The Denon AVR-3808CI was reviewed by a different author, but in the same publication, with the lab tests done by the same person (MJP) in July, 2008. I do not believe the testing methodology changed between the two reviews, but I am not certain of that. The 3808's results were:

Five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1 percent distortion at 118.9 watts
1 percent distortion at 138.0 watts

All channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1 percent distortion at 113.5 watts
1 percent distortion at 130.7 watts

This graph shows that the AVR-3808CI's left channel, from CD input to speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 186.7 watts and 1 percent distortion at 210.9 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 238.9 watts and 1 percent distortion at 277.3 watts.

Link.

Other factors, especially the room correction, will create a more significant difference between the units. The difference in max output, ceteris paribus, is large enough to be audible only in ACD for 7 channels, meaning if a program were to have max output from all channels at the same time (unlikely). The 3808 has a small amount more power in 2 and 5 channels, (still less than 1.5Db, so not likely to be all that audible), but a much higher 7 channel ACD output (which doesn't mean all that much in the real world). Overall, the 3808 puts out more watts, but that is not likely to be an issue with real world material, and at anything other than max output.

I wouldn't worry about power output of one vs. the other as both will be sufficient for most users if they are using moderately efficient speakers in reasonably sized rooms. I only offer the info on power output as I see it frequently asked in AVR threads. Focus on the build quality, room correction, and features is generally more important than watts in and of themselves.

Congratulations on your new receiver. By all accounts it is a very nice piece of equipment.

Thanks Snowman....

I'm surprised to know the denon has more power. Doesn't seem like it does. the sound is too laid back and distant sounding...... Can't wait to pick up the 700 and rewatch all my favorite movies. It will sound even better when I upgrade my amp section to the mca50 in about a year or so :-)

[quote=squigly1;20378006]Pricing PM please:

I know price talk is frowned upon so if anyone from the Toronto area would be kind enough to PM me with what I can expect to pay vs MSRP and where to purchase it would be greatly appreciated. My short list is the Denon 3311/3312, Marantz SR7005, and the MRX-500. I'll be upgrading from an old Pioneer vsx-d3s which has treated my well over the years but needs to be replaced.



Would you be interested in the denon 3808?

More power and dose not sound better than the 700. I had the 3800.

[quote=romavictor;20379245]

Thanks for the offer but I'd like to get something with the latest HDMI spec's.

Gotcha! But just FYI, you don't need to upgrade to the latest receiver that has 1.4 just for the 3D capability. You can own a receiver/processor that has 1.3 and simply get a bluray player that has dual hdmi outlet.

The 1.4 outlet goes to the 3DTV and the 1.3 outlet goes to the receiver for audio processing.

Total cost around $400 bucks!!!

Boy this thing sounds awesome, I watched a movie last night and I heard sounds I've never heard before. I must confess though it sounds a little bright with music ( in audiophile terms I guess you could say analytical) more-so with arc on. I'm hoping it's just a matter of breaking in it's been in my possession for only a month now.

Thought I would chime in with some early analysis, overall very pleased with the unit and looking forward to a lot of exciting sounds!

I acutally have a BR player that has dual HDMI outs (Oppo 93), and know 1.4a in the receiver is not a must. Since electronics seem to get more complicated over time with new features, etc. I also think I'd want warranty when it comes to buying the receiver.

Thanks

I had the Denon 991 (3311) bi-amped with 165W x 2 x 2 going into my fronts. Thinking that more power is better right?
More power = better control right?
While I was able to acheive a few dB higher with the Denon - I couldn't be in the same room as the sound was just not pleasant.

The MRX300? Might not play as loud - but at equal volumes; is the winner in the SQ department.

I find I can easily get 100+ dB out of the MRX300 in stereo mode without any difficulty. 100+ dB is plenty loud unless you are trying to replicate a nightclub environment.

Don't get caught up in the specs as they mean very little in the real world.
My speakers are 6Ohm and the MRX300 doesn't have any difficulty driving to reasonable volumes.

I have just run arc on auto, time etc...

WOW!

Steering, separation clarity, stunning

Glad to see people getting good results with their new units. Make sure you post your results.
John

I tried, but couldn't find the print page etc...

There is no print page.

1. Press Atl-Prtsc to copy the active window (your graphs) into the paste buffer.
2. Open Windows Paint and press control v (or paste)
3. Save as a jpg file type.
4. Post these files here

Don't forget to post the targets page (in ARC advanced mode press the targets button) along with your graphs in the same manner.

Which denon receiver specifically did you have?

3808 and 4310

What did you do with the 3808?

Audiogon sold

Does anyone know if it would be best to do the ARC'ing with a 64 bit laptop or 32 would be fine?