The Upgraded Anthem AVM-20 2.0 Thread (1 Viewer)

[Bill Lucas]

Camp,

The Tag does composite and S-Video switching. I prefer a straight line to a scaler or to the display anyway so it doesn't really matter to me if any receiver or processor switches video or not.

I feel that it should have more digital inputs. Other than that, it's difficult to find fault. BTW, the silver version looks *very* nice.

 

[Camp]

I haven't seen a silver version. I expect it would look better in that color.

 

[Brian Fitterman]

Mike, I used Movie mode for the PLII stuff.

I had my sub xover set to 80 (THX). I have my sub set to normal. I thought I would have to set it to super for it to duplicate the fronts to the sub if they are set to large. Maybe AnthemLogic does this automaticaly no matter what the setting is.

 

[Randy Haines]

Can anyone tell me if the upgrade still has the all channel stereo and all channel mono with it? I'm wondering since the site says that most all of the old soundfields were deleted witht he new software. All channel was nice for party time.

 

[Mifr44]

Randy,
"Can anyone tell me if the upgrade still has the all channel stereo and all channel mono with it? I'm wondering since the site says that most all of the old soundfields were deleted witht he new software. All channel was nice for party time."
Both modes are still there. They are listed on page 27 of the AVM-20 Operating Manual. The modes deleted are Church, Hall, Club, Theater and Stadium.
Let the party begin!
Michael

 

[Joe e h]

Hello

I lost track of the serial number cutoff. Would someone post it again?
Joe

 

[Mifr44]

Joe,
"I lost track of the serial number cutoff. Would someone post it again?"
You can find the serial number cutoff on Anthem's upgrade procedure page.
Michael

 

[Randy Haines]

Mike, Thanks for the info. The party will continue! I never use those fields that are deleted anyway.

 

[Randy Haines]

Bill Lucas, Where is Oak Hill, Va? I'm visiting a friend in Leesburg who is also a home theater afficionato.

 

[Bill Lucas]

Randy,

There are four Oak Hills in Virginia. The one I live in is about 10-12 miles from Leesburg. I'm just on the east side of Dulles Airport.

 

[Camp]

Have you guys been following the B&K Reference 50 news? This very nice unit looks like it will be serious competition for Anthem. From what I've seen so far it is more a feature-for-feature match but I've heard price quotes as low as $2400. That's quite a savings over the AVM-20...and B&K has a better distribution network (IMO).

 

[Evan S]

Customer service from B&K from what I have read totally blows. Just ask Brian Fitterman.

 

[Mifr44]

Camp,
"Have you guys been following the B&K Reference 50 news? This very nice unit looks like it will be serious competition for Anthem."
This is a good thing. What may be happening here is while some people would like the price of all prepros to fall when new features are added (highly unlikely), instead we are getting much more in the way of features and sound quality in the $3000-$5000 range without much of a price increase. Even with Anthem, there was a lot of improvement going from the AVM-2 to the AVM-20 with a price increase of only $400.
As you know, I chose the AVM-20 over the Ref30 based on my audition of both at home, with enough improvement in sound quality to justify the extra $400 retail (best deal in our area for both was $200 more for the AVM-20). You might do the same if you auditioned the Ref50 in your system when it is released. Or, you might become a B&K owner!
Michael

 

[Camp]

Oh, no...while I may go and play with a Ref 50 in a dealer showroom I'm not in any way thinking about replacing my AVM-20. Not a chance in hell.
I only brought up the Ref 50 as a "are you keeping up with current events" type of topic.

 

[Brian Fitterman]

Yes, I did not get much help from them. That fact that they do not answer email in today's world should tell you something about them. Also, the fact that it has been posted in so many forums that they do not answer email and they have not fixed that in years should tell you even more.

Between that and the 2 or 3 units I had to bring back (both amps and pre-amps) showed me that they did not pay that much attention to quality either.

But it was really the sound quality of the Anthem that made me switch. And I haven't looked back.

 

[Paul Gere]

Anybody had the chip update done yet?
Impressions?

I'm no electronics guy, but looking inside my unit, it looks like the Motorola chip is soldered in place, leading me to wonder if it's a board swap vs. single chip. Anybody got a guess on that one?

Thanks,
-Paul

 

[Bob-N]

My understanding was that it was a board swap/install.

 

[Chas_T]

Paul,

It's a board swap as it looks without taking the case apart myself which would void my warranty. Probably a plug in like a video card or a ribbon cable to the mainboard. Just a guess.

Cheers..

 

[Bob Wilson]

I got my AVM 20 back from the dealer on Saturday and reinstalled all the wiring on Sunday. I have not played much with it. The room boundary effect adjustment worked well for me in taming the rising bottom end caused by acoustics.

Anthemlogic Movie seems to be the same as the old Anthemlogic.

I spent too much time watching football on Sunday afternoon and not enough time playing with the system. I used DPL II movie for watching TV. Not bad at all.

 

[Paul Gere]

Bob-N and Chas_T,
Thanks for your replies!
Thanks for confirming (as far as we can tell) that it is indeed most likely a board swap.

Bob W. Interested in learning more about your impressions when you can break free to share 'em!

Cheers,
-Paul