Anthem AVM 30 ==> 40 / 50 upgrade prices ? - Page 5

Where is the desire for existing 30 owners to upgrade rather than sell and then buy new?

glennQ

If you are getting that type of discount on an AVM-50 (or D2) purchased by itself -- i.e., not as part of a purchase of a bunch of other gear -- you are doing very well indeed.

The D2 and AVM-50 have, until very recently, typically been backordered with over a month waiting time based on posts in the D2/AVM50 "tweaking" thread.

So if you can get a 20% discount on a new unit from an authorized dealer you should probably jump at it.
--Bob

None, zip, zero.

If I upgrade from the 30 I will have spent 'well' over the price of a new 50 (in Canada).

I'm really pissed off at this at the moment . When I bought my 30 (less than 2 years ago) the 50 and 40 was not yet available. Basically now as an early adopter I/we get screwed over on this upgrade.

I have a full complement of Paradigm Studio speakers and an A5 to go with the AVM30 so have sent a good bit of money their way.

Looks like buying a 50 and flogging the 30 is the way to go. Will have to sit back and think about whether or not I'll send any more money to Anthem because of this.

I don't think the AVM30 was ever backordered to the degree the AVM50 has been.

If your friend was offered an even better discount on a new D2 from an authorized dealer I certainly hope he took it. From everthing we've heard from the owners posting here, that's rare.
--Bob

Sounds like you guys are looking at the cup half-empty. Two weeks ago an upgrade wasn't even available!


glennQ

And I was thinking of selling the 30 and buying the 50 due to the long delay......

Awww... Or as Artie Lange would say, "WAHHH!"
What about the value in enjoying your AVM-30 for three years?

glennQ

Welcome to the real world...


...where early adopters always get screwed.

As for where's the "incentive"/desire to upgrade vs sell/buy new? Well, how about the hastle of selling your AVM. Time/effort isn't free. For some, that time/effort is worth more than any additional cost for the upgrade.

My personal dilema is somewhat different. I definitely will be wanting HDMI input/switching, but only have 1 HDMI (video only) source at the moment, so I don't need it yet. The scaler would be awesome (routing everything through the AVM and using only one input on the display would be great), but I don't need that either.

But what really gets me is, for less than the cost of the upgrade I could get a new HDMI reciever (eg 84TXSi). One thing I've come to realize after getting the AVM is that I far overpurchased for my listenning "requirements". But I love my 20 none the less for it's build quality and other excellent non-audio-quality features.

So the dilema is, I could sell my 20 and get an HDMI RX and break even or so, or drop the cash for the upgrade and be in the whole the cost of an HDMI RX (but ahead an awesome scaler.

I don't know, maybe the simple fact that the upgrade is available eliminates that dilema, I'm not sure. The fact that I can upgrade my 20 later, gives me some security that if it takes me a year to get to the point I need HDMI, I'll be able to upgrade my 20 to the 20HD and have a feature-current processor, even if the value of the (HDMI-less) 20 plumets as HDMI becomes more imporant. Vs if I had a non-upgradable processor where I'd be stuck with a "paperweight" if it's value dropped.

I don't know, I don't see how anyone could be "pissed" about the upgrade. Anthem made a promise, and kept their word, took a while but they kept it. "Pissed" would be the appropriate response had Anthem decided not to offer an upgrade. They said there'd be and HDMI upgrade for the 20/30, and they made one available. And you can't argue that it's a great value for what you get.

I do understand though, how some could be dissapointed that it's a "bigger" upgrade (both price and features) than they need/want/expect. Guess I'll just keep mulling the options over. Luckilly for me, I've got a great setup with an awesome processor and a nice projector, so I'm just in the upgradeitice mode, not the need to decide now mode. Maybe once I figure out how to pay for the 20HD upgrade and an IN82, I'll have made up my mind ("Just do it!")

Ahh, I see. Typical snotty NYC dealer attitude....
Thanks for your help in this matter.

Bye Bye

Bob,

I also could get close to a 20% on a AVM 30 when I was looking to buy new. I eventually bought my AVM 30 used on a-gon. The dealer that offered me the discount was a fairly small, but authorized. I guess if you look around you can find a decent discount. If I decided on the AVM 50 or D 2 I could have received a similar discount from that dealer.

Bill

Who the heck is Artie Lange? Does he have the AVM 50 cheap ?

Bill

The Integra 9.8. Although not yet released (next month, possibly) it looks like possible replacement for my AVM 30. A list price of $1600.00 with a street price that might be under $1500.00. I will wait for some reviews here or by some online reviewers before I take the plunge.

From what I have read (limited) there are some questions on Integra's reliability and service, which is a concern for me. But there is one local dealer that carries Integra and they are very good in regard to customer service. My other concern is where the 9.8 will perform in regard to SQ compared to the AVM 30. I am not willing to take a step back in SQ for more advanced features.

So for well under the price of the AVM 30 to 50 upgrade I can buy a 9.8 and sell my AVM 30 and pocket about $300-400.00. The other plus to the 9.8 is it has Audessey room correction, not available at all with the upgrade.

Bill

I was really interested in the scaler for upscaling my SD DVD collection. I bought aToshiba XA2 HD DVD player with a Reon chip that does the job I need At a fraction of the cost. I run the picture from my cable box and DVD through HDMI direct to the TV (1080P) I use the analogue outputs to the AVM for True HD, and DD5.1Plus soundtracks through analogue DSP so I can ad 7.1 processing, and optical for DTS and DDEX on SD Discs I'm a happy camper.

I always wanted to go for the upgrade to the 50 functionality. The 30 was purchased as a stopgap due to the long delay getting the 50 on the market.

What I am presently 'pissed' about is the price of the upgrade - especially also considering the CDN price of 2300 is above the 2000USD (when you take the exchange rate into consideration) price on an item Made In Canada......

Give us the upgrade for the 1700USD retail price difference perhaps

I know, I know - dream on. At the end of the day I'll probably take one for the team and upgrade. Too bad this is such a great product otherwise I'd say 'scr*w it' and buy something else. In another few days I'll be wringing my hands and looking for the box to ship the 30 off in. sigh

Another negative to doing the upgrade which I had not thought of (Duh ) was that you are with out your AVM 20/30 to have it upgraded. That could be 4-6 weeks with shipping time and actual time to do the upgrade.

I would have been interested if the option to do just do the upgrade to a AVM 40 for say $700.00 but not $2000.00.

Bill

I think you need to relax to your tunes and enjoy.
That rig you have sounds VVG, it better be ALOT better before you upgrade IMO.

JMO bud

Gary

Well I finally convinced myself that I could budget for a new 63" Samsung plasma and while talking to my local B&M about it he told me that they are finally offering the AVM 30 upgrade. So now I am staring at my AVM 30 which I have enjoyed for 3 years but never once used to switch any video and I am wondering do I really need the upgrade. I don't have Blueray or HD yet but if they output 1080p what would the scaler do? Does the scaler really make that big of difference with SD and HD cable and is it that much better than say the scaler in the new TV's? The Samsung has 3 HDMI 1.3 and 2 component that pass 1080p

Now I'll be the first one to admit that at times I've spent alot of money on an upgrade and was hard pressed to convince myself that the results were worth it. And there is a certainly something to be said for the "gotta have it" factor. And also the convince factor but....is it worth it???

It would be rather humorous in a "Gift of the Magi" kinda of way if I went for the upgrade but now I could no longer afford a display I wanted.

Another perspective: The Statement D1 to Statement D1-HD [video processor] upgrade is $2000.00... I'd consider it scandalous to offer the same upgrade to AVM users for less.

glennQ

$2000 isn't a small chuck of change. One other thing to consider that another upgrade is likely in the works in the following 1-2 years. It is matter of time before Dolby DD+, TrueHD, and the yet to be finalized DTS-HD decoding is on the side of the processors, at which point Anthem is likely to release a Motorola upgrade for their current & past line-up.

The bulk of the $2000 is obviously going towards the high-end scaler. But for $2000 I can upgrade my projector from 720p to 1080p at which point probably "everything" will look much better than the scaler.

I don't see the big pressue to upgrade now. I currently use the analog in for the "limited" selection of Dolby TrueHD HD-DVDs that are out there. For HDMI video switching (I have 3 sources) I use a cheap Monoprice HDMI switch. Again, it's not the cleanest solution, but $2000 for my system (Paradigm Studio setup, Rotel amp) can create a lot of improvement in my system, in both video and audio.

1) 720p->1080p projector
2) Paradigm Studio to Sig line
3) Rotel amp to Krell amp

Etc...

In the mean time! http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/auc....iew&1183476583



djoel

It's doubtful how useful processor decoding of the new sound formats will be. The way discs are authored (in Advanced mode), it is required that the audio be decoded in the player.

For 99% of discs, regardless of what track you choose, you'll get PCM out of the player.

Then why are Onkyo (i.e. SR-805) and other manf. coming out with HDMI processors that do decoding on the pre/pro side?

Simple answer? They are trying to cash in on the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray frenzy by including these as "check off" items even if they provide no real value.

See the "Why you don't need HDMI V1.3" sticky thread at the top of this forum.
--Bob