Anthem MRX700 vs. Denon 4311 vs Pioneer SC-37

Buckster,

What did you find out? I'm making pretty much the same choice as you.
The issues posted about the Denon 4311ci have me a bit concerned though.
Wish the Anthem had IP integration but, as with most things, you can't have it all.

really?? no one's compared the anthem to the denon or pioneer? i'd love to hear some thoughts too.

I owned the Pioneer Sc-37 and immediately sold it (took a loss). Could not stand the clunky and crappy controls. Not to mention the sound was the worst I have heard in the last 4 years. The Integra 70.1 that I once owned blows the Pioneer out of the water. As for Denon, no comment as I have heard them in stores and have never been impressed with their sound (same old Pacific rim garbage) but never truly owned one. I did have an extended listening session with Anthem MRX500 (not the 700) a few weeks ago and was very impressed with ease of use and sound qaulity. Not as impressive as the sound of my NAD T785HD but its also half the price. The Anthem was hooked up to a Paradigm SE speaker system (The towers, center and rear surround). In one word...CLEAN. Now it doesnt blow you out the room like the NAD but I found it to be very open and bass output from this receiver was very impressive. Keep in mind, no subwoofer was used in the set up. It was truly Amazing. I have to tell you, I doubt there is a better bargain than the combo of the Anthem and Paradigm SE set up. The room was roughly 15' by 10' and had sound panels. I can only Imagine that the 700 with a few more watts per channel gives the listener even more power to fill a room. Well, hope this helps.

Buckster....not nearly a scientific review, but I own an Elite SC 27 (predecessor to the SC 37), an SC 05 before that, and have demo'd the Anthem (MX 700) in a showroom. The obvious difference is ARC in the Anthem. The SC has a more muscle (ICE AMPS), though. I'll say up front, I love the SC series from Pioneer Elite. They're smooth sounding, and powerful. They're built like tanks, too. They're easy to set up, and to use.

Understand, different room (but same speakers) will yield different results. ARC does some nice things. So does Pioneer's MCACC. Do I prefer one over the other? I can't make that claim unless I had them both in an A/B comparison in my system.

As far as the Denon is concernced...like Pioneer, they've been in the AVR business a long time and make good gear. The 4XXX series hovers at the top of their lineup....as does the SC series in Pioneer's Elite lineup. Both are good to great AVRs.

I'm not a fan of Onkyo/Integra. I test drove, in my system, both an 805/875. Way, way too many issues with both. Maybe they've fixed those issues in subsequent releases. Twice was all I needed to steer me away from them, though.

Anthem? Personally, I'd wait a bit until their 2nd or 3rd gen of AVRs. While they make great pre-pros and amps. AVRs are a different animal and difficult to do well. Ask Emotiva or Sherwood Newcastle.

I had a Denon AVR 3311ci that I thought sounded great. I just put the Anthem MRX700 in my system. As a audiophile all I can say is wow. The sound is very 3 dimensional and has weight and texture that I did not know was there. To sum it up I love it!

^^^

how about if you weren't an audiophile?

would you still have such an, ummm, overactive imagination?

I just bought the MRX 700 and it has been nothing but problems. At first it worked fine, but the next morning there was no audio output for any of the inputs and the display read "No Signal.' Anyone else having these= problems? I'm trying to work it out now with the dealer and factory.

????? Got a problem with this? Read this,
http://www.hometechtell.com/hometech...-a-v-receiver/

I think the onkyo 5008 should be in this list as well. The Anthem has the weakest tested amps out of them all and far less connections and options. ARC is a nice thing to have but it's not the same as on the higher end processors. The Onkyo's and poi's amps are by far the strongest and pretty much everything can be had for less than the Anthem.

You are obviously referring to Home Theater test #s. If you want talk about #s and stats, how could the 5008, rated at 145 watts into 8 ohms 2 ch driven, only produce 79 watts per ch with 5 ch driven?

I have a MX700 and have not had a single issue with it. I have had a 10 year old Sony and a 17 year old Onkyo. As far as power I think they are close but I can't really compare sound because with the Sony and Onkyo I didn't have 5.1 and it was a much different room not to mention no HDMI connections. Also, I did have a Azur 650r but had too many problems with it. Video and sound would cut out all the time and sometimes it would even just turn off on its own.

I have been in the home theater hobby since 1998. I have owned a Yamaha DSP-A1 receiver, Denon 5700 receiver, Aragon Stage One processor, Integra DTC-9.8 processor and now the Pioneer Elite SC-37 receiver. The Yamaha DSP-A1 was a good receiver with fairly good sound quality. I upgraded to the Denon looking for better sound quality. I starting adding external amplification with the Denon not being happy with the sound the Denon produced. I started with a Carver AV-705x amplifier. I moved on to the Aragon Stage One with the Carver amp, again looking for a better sound quality. Next I bought 2 Parasound amps (2 channel and 5 channel) to replace the Carver, move to 7.1 and hopefully better sound quality. The Parasound amps were the HCA-1000A (125wpc) and the HCA-1205A (145wpc). I kept the Parasound amps when I upgraded to the Integra DTC-9.8. I recently sold off the Integra processor and the Parasound amps and upgraded to the Elite SC-37. I have always liked Elite because a friend owned older models but I was never happy with Pioneer's power ratings on their receivers (usually the specs were for 6 and not 8 ohms). I became intrigued with ICE amplification and even thought about adding an ICE amplifier of some brand to my Integra before selling it. I finally decided on going back to a receiver when I learned Pioneer now offered ICE amplification in their receivers. Reviews showed that the SC-37 could hold it's power ratings. I can definitely say this is the best sounding setup I have ever had. The speakers were constant through all the equipment I owned. I have Boston Acoustics VR30s for fronts and side surrounds. I have a BA VR12 center channel. I use BA VRM-50s as surround backs. I have had a Velodyne sub since the Aragon processor. This is the sound I have been searching for. The difference was noticable on first use. I don't know how someone can say it was the worst they heard in the last 4 years. The sound differences among all the equipment I have owned is subtle. I feel like I know those subtle differences, but I would not call anything I have owned the worst I have heard. There are manufacturers I would rank at the bottom of my list having bought different brands and not repeating a purchase with any manufacturer. I will buy Pioneer Elite again.

I just wish the MRX700 had one more HDMI input and 2 HDMI outputs..MRX900 is out of my league $$$ wise...might as well get a prepro

I was just about to start a thread like this when I found this one. I am looking to upgrade (sidegrade?) my 5-year-old Denon 4806. Unfortunately, the Denon 4810CI is 1.5 years old and doesn't support HDMI 1.4 (so it isn't 3D-ready). This leaves the Denon 4311CI, which has more features than I'll ever need, but isn't THX Ultra2 certified. On the other hand, the Pioneer Elite SC-37 is THX Ultra2, and the street price seems to be lower.

So do I stick with Denon (as I love my 4806) and give up THX U2, or do I go with the Pioneer? Decisions, decisions...

Edit: "isn't HD ready" => "isn't 3D ready" (duh!)

No one may ever see this, but Doc Greene swapped out my Denon AVR 3311 for an Anthem MRX700 and wow what a difference. The music just sounded amazing. I felt like it just had more authority and weight. I played God Whacker by Steely Dan and fell in love all over again. I am using Paradigm Studio 100 v6 with a Paradigm Servo 15 subwoofer. Then I put on Iron Man 1 and the first scene where all hell breaks loose. For the first time ever I could understand all the dialog even with all the bombs and bullets. Check it out for yourself. I know you will like it.