looking for review of Anthem AVM-40

Don't even think twice about it. I got my AVM-50 about a month ago, and any doubts I had were completely put to rest the moment I plugged it in and set it up. I decided on the AVM-50 after numerous reports of incredible video processing it is capable of. And they were right, my TV never looked so good. I had actually ordered the 40 originally and then changed my order a couple days later to the 50. Make sure you read through the AVM-50/D1/D2 thread. Lots of helpful information and any question are sure to be answered by the folks in that thread.


On Edit: Since I responded to your question and didn't really answer it, the AVM series is just incredible. I think you made the right choice going with the 40 over the 30 though. With so many devices using HDMI anymore, having one switch to connect all the devices too is nice. I moved from a Denon 3805 to my AVM and I haven't even connected the Denon up since. (Was planning on putting it upstairs) Make sure to let us know what you think once you get it. Make sure to go ahead and download the Owners Manuel and read through it. May seem overwhelming at first, but once you actually start playing with the settings it all makes perfect since. Congrats on an excellent purchase!

Put it this way I hardly ever listened to two channel music with the Denon. I have since started collecting Jazz and Classical music. Who'd have thought!


We love watching movies. My TV is a Hitachi 70VX915 which has a native resolution of 720p. The DVD player I was originally using was the Denon 3910, but I have since moved to the Oppo 970 for Standard DVD. I am very impressed with the video coming from the AVM vs just playing it straight. The thing you have to make sure of is whatever you are sending to the AVM should be that devices native format. For example standard DVD's are 480i. This allows the AVM-50 to upscale the original resolution to the best of its abilities (Which is incredible in case I haven't mentioned that). You may want to research to find out what the native resolutions of the games console is just to be sure you are sending the most raw data possible to the Anthem so it can upscale to 1080p correctly.


I have not experienced any of the problems they are reporting on the main thread. Must be a lucky one. Before I realized that my TV is actually native 720p I was sending it 1080i. So I should have seen the problem they are talking about, but I didn't. The heating issues haven't been brought up for a while and I thought those only pertained to the D2. I don't recall anyone with a AVM-50 having that problem. Either way I haven't seen this problem and all of my equipment is in a sealed equipment rack I built where the only circulation is through the cracks around the glass door. While I watch movies I open the back door about an inch or two to allow heat to escape. (Keeps the dust out of the units during down times)


As for their software QA, I admitt the reports are not too good from the last month or two. On the plus side they are working extremely hard to fix these outstanding issues. For me the idea of a support team that is always responsive to the customers needs and feature request far outweighs the temporary inconviences. Prime example is my Denon 3910 had a green cloud issue in dark scenes that Denon just seems to shurg their shoulders at. If you have mostly been reading the last month or two, hopefully you realize that this was during the holiday season so the staff at Anthem I am sure was gone a good majority of the time.


I have never heard of the b-stock unit. Do you have a reference to that? Not questioning it, just curious as to what was said in it. From what I have heard they actually work on your unit, thus the reason for it taking a couple weeks to get there and back.


I realize that for some people problems with an expensive unit such as Anthems products are completely unacceptable. For those people I would suggest either waiting till the bugs have been worked out, or maybe look at other options such as seperate video and audio processors. I think you will find quite a few video processing devices having issues with HDMI. Seems to be growing pains of this newer technology.


If you are looking for the AVM-40, I am afraid there haven't been many reported. So details of its function or possible bugs is very limited. Notice all issues you have been seeing on the AVM/D thread the last couple months have been pertaining to video processing. People can't say enough good about the audio.


All of this being said, the Denon is still an exceptional unit for its price. They seem to be going for about $600 on Audiogon. Which is actually why I haven't put it up for sale yet. Just seems like too good of a unit to let go for that little amount. The downside to the 3805 is no HDMI, so only options for audio is analog/Digital/optical.


Sorry for rambling. Hope it helps.