The NEW Anthem AVM-20 Thread (1 Viewer)

[Rusty J.]

Mr Mohrman,

Did you also post your displeasure when many people kept complaining about that Outlaw 950 receiver? I am pretty new to home theater and this forum, but I've been lurking for months and I always wondered why no one(except for Robert the moderator and Merc) seemed bothered by all the continuous complaining on the Outlaw thing? Is Outlaw such a bad company? Did they rip everybody on this forum off in some type of scam? I just don't understand why so many people hate Outlaw so much?

 

[John Tompkins]

Rusty, no problem as you didnt offend me "this just aint possible"
I dont think people hate Outlaw and yes there has only been four people who have used the 950, all else is speculation. Maybe Outlaw does recieve more grief then others, but at the same time it recieves alot of great attention.
Its probably not possible to have one without the other. As a matter of fact this can be taken as a compliment.
B&k and others dont get bitched about BECAUSE they have been virtually forgotten due to lack of upgrades etc. Also other companies dont have anything comparable to the 950 ie denon.
Rotel and Anthem plus a few other processors that will eventually join the frey are outlaws competitors and as such should not be excluded from disagrements and speculation, which in my opinion they are not.

 

[Evan S]

Gentlemen, I have decided to take the high road regarding any Outlaw discussion. This is the ANTHEM AVM-20 THREAD. Please limit your comments/reviews to THIS product. There is a lot of good information in this thread that people will want to see who are considering this unit and I do not want it closed by an administrator because of the ongoing Outlaw vs. the world mentality held here at HTF. Start your own thread if you want to argue these merits.

Thanks.

 

[Alex Yang]

Rusty,
Just a quick note, I don't think anyone really REALLY hates outlaw, disappointed/exasperated/upset about the delays sure! Very VERY possible!! But the very same people who were complaining about it the loudest would PROBABLY one of the first ones to PONY up the money to purchase an Outlaw 950 Pre/Pro when available (if they haven't already purchased something else!!!)
Please keep in mind that the primary reasons why people were (probably still are) upset is that Outlaw themselves have stated possible ship dates and have missed them ALL not just ONE... I know there are a few people who have missed out on some great audio purchases because they were waiting on the 950... So if you were in their shoes... :frowning:
I for one can't wait for more info on the Anthem AVM20 when more people have purchased this unit, here's hoping that there is more information forthcoming from NEW owners soon!!!
Welcome aboard to HTF where members are PASSIONATE about their gear and talk about their gear PASSIONATELY!!!
Hey Admins hows that for a mission statement!!!
-Alex

 

[Rusty J.]

Mr Yang: Thank you for that information on the Outlaw 950. Over the past months, I have gone back and read all the press releases(letters) from Outlaw and I guess that I still wondered why people got so upset because of them? To me, it seemed as though Outlaw was going out of their way to talk to their consumers about this receiver and they were giving their estimates of when they hoped the 950 would be available to buy. I can only wish that Anthem would send us a letter telling us about products they are considering, ask us for our opinions and what we want, and then let us know when the upgrade to the AVM-20 receiver is going to happen. In my short time in this hobby, it seems that companys like Outlaw and SV Subwoofers are very customer friendly and should be applauded, not overly criticized. I guess my only remaining wonder is why Outlaw still continues to talk to us at all after all the flack they have been receiving because of their letters to us?

Okay, we now return you to the regular scheduled programming.

 

[Mifr44]

Rusty,

I tend to avoid threads that degenerate into BS and flame wars, so I did not comment in the Outlaw threads, especially since I was not even part of the crowd interested in the Outlaw 950 several months ago.

I am, however, interested in the Anthem AVM-20, and when a post was made that I felt was directed at me and those interested in the AVM-20, it was only at that time that I responded. If I made a similar post about the Bryston SP1.7 (my other choice), I would defend my statements should the same type of offending responses be posted.

BTW, why are you defending Outlaw to ME? Point me to any post where I made any negative comment about Outlaw or their products. If anything, I posted a couple of times after the Outlaw 950 beta testers released their "notes", showing some initial interest. It is not my job to defend each and every component and manufacturer on this forum, especially since I am not the one taking the "shots".

Michael

 

[Joe e h]

Afternoon all

I just ordered my Rotel RMB-1095 this morning. I am going to mate it to a Yamaha 2090 reciever. Which is why I ma here. I need to start the Pre/Pro hunt.

The Anthem is grabbing my attention. Does anyone here have the AVM20 with the Rotel-1095? Evan I see you are putting together a buy from a dealer in Canada. I am 45 minutes from the Canadian border and ther are several Anthem dealers there. If you don'tmind I am curious what knid of price you are looking at. I understand if you do not want to post it here, there's E-Mail.

I was also considering the Rotel -1066 but the amount of digital inputs made that unit a pass.

Joe

 

[pete v]

I hope someone could give me some input.I've been using a denon 5800 with a sunfire cinema grand sign.amp. with martin logan speakers.Sounded great,but i just sold my 5800 and I've been reading the post on the avm-20.Would there be a night and day difference from the 5800 to the avm-20.I really want to improve my sound and I'am wondering if this is in the right direction.I've read all the reviews I could find,and I its hard to find anything negative.Any input would be great.

Thanks

Pete

 

[Evan S]

Pete, I have no experience with the Denon 5800. I do know it has more features than the Anthem. The only way I can evaluate the two pieces is to an if a=b, and b=c, then a=c type analysis.

Robert Folkes has stated the Outlaw 950 sounds measurably better than his Denon 5700. The Outlaw has the same type DAC's as those in the Anthem. Having heard the Anthem first hand, I know it sounds stellar in both two channel and multichannel applications as well as for HT. With that being said, the 5700 is NOT the 5800, so the sonic differences between those two might be significant. Still, you could do a lot worse than having the Anthem control your HT, at least sound wise. Now it will miss some features that you have on your Denon for the time being (like Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS-ES). If you can wait for Anthem to release the upgrade in April or May, maybe it's something to consider. At least try to get to a dealer and arrange an in-home demo. What do you have to lose?

 

[Will]

Evan S,

The Denon 5800 does not have DPL II at this time. There is a rumored upgrade to the Denon 5800 that would for an additional cost, add DPL II capabilities.

 

[Evan S]

Will, thanks for the clarification. I guess I should do a bit more research before spewing out stuff about products with which I am unfamiliar. Shame on me.

 

[Mifr44]

Okay, so my wife and I are trying to decide between the AVM-20 and the Bryston SP1.7. So, I started looking at the intangibles, like the companies themselves.
Can someone give me a quick history on Anthem/Sonic Frontiers and their relation to Paradigm? I understand that there was a concern at one time that Sonic Frontiers might be going out of business. Then again, Internet gossip has a way of changing the actual story, like telling a rumor to friend, who tells it to another, and so on until it gets back to you, different than what was started.
I am not looking to bash Sonic Frontiers/Anthem/Paradigm, far from it as I am keenly interested in the AVM-20. I would just like a warm fuzzy about the financial health of the company before possibly committing hard-earned dollars on one of their products. I believe this was dicussed in the 200+ thread that was lost in the crash, so I apologize ahead of time to anyone repeating the information. If there is a thread here or on another forum that discusses this, I would appreciate a link to it.
Thanks!
Michael

 

[Evan S]

Michael, here is what I have read, but I do not have any links to hard evidence on this so you may have to do an internet search.

Sonic Frontiers has been making high end audio for 10+ years. I think they started in 1991 or 1992. They were primarily known for their tube based amps and 2 channel pre/amps until about 1999 when they started to do some things with Solid State components, launching the Anthem line of gear. I have heard the same rumors as you in that they were a niche marketer with the tube based stuff until branching out with the Anthem line. I think the Anthem line has been well received and added to the company bottom line. I believe in 2000, Paradigm purchased Sonic Frontiers to diversify their product line and give themselves a foothold in the electronics end of the game. From what I know Paradigm calls the shots in regards to the Anthem line and that is the reason behind the recent move of the Anthem headquarters and R&D center. I think Paradigm is trying to do a complete one shot distribution/manufacturing center with the two companies, but this is just speculation on my part. We all know Paradigm has very good resources behind them and I think you should be confident with them behind the SF/Anthem line. Do I have company financials to back this up? No I don't. I believe Paradigm is privately held and therefore is not required to release financials of this sort publicly. I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Mifr44]

Evan,

Much appreciated! Thanks!!

Michael

 

[Alex Yang]

Will, Evan,
If you're going to talk about DENON, look no further as I've been researching and was on the brink of purchasing AVR-5800 & AVR-5803 AD NAUSEUM!!!
This was a few weeks ago right before I heard about OUTLAW/ANTHEM!!!
No going back!!!
AVR5800 is scheduled for a complete digital upgrade... Currently the logicstics are being worked out and owners of the 5800 are urged to contact DENON and PRE-REGISTER their unit via online/web if they are interested in the HARDWARE upgrade... What is it? Basically a NEW Digital I/O card with DPLII, FINAL DTS EX, THX Ulta 2 Certification, new DUAL SHARC A/D 24/196 and NEW DSP to handle ALL this processing power!!!
AVR-5803, is a "rebadged" AVR-5800 with the NEW digital card AND Video conversion from Composite & SVIDEO to Component (Evan, do we know anyone who was remotely interested in this feature???)
Upgrade board price is currently priced at $800.00
AVR-5803 MSRP $4300...
************************************************** *******
Now about the AVM20 hopefully we'll be able to hear Evan's RAVE reviews and insights onto this puppy really really SOON... If plans fall through for me on the Davis Labs - Processor one or Aargon (forget the name of pre/pro) ANTHEM is it...
What sold me on the Anthem is CHAPTER 7 of the user's manual... I mean this unit even calibrates the CENTER channel speaker to equalize it's sound based on the SIZE of your TV set!!!! How cool is THAT!!! I haven't heard of any other processor with this kind of in depth configuration/customization... This thing is even more customizable than my computer...
So I'm really really hoping that I can get some clear cut answers on Davis Labs and Aargon... Aaarghhhh! The suspense is killing me.. :frowning:
-Alex

 

[Dzung Pham]

Can somebody comment on how the Anthem decodes the rear surrounds on 5.1 material that is not EX encoded? I am interested in knowing if it does a good job or if it possibly collapses all the sound into the rear channel. Thanks.

 

[Evan S]

Dzung, this is straight from the Owners Manual...section 5.8.1 on page 26.

If THX Surround EX is applied to 5.1 channel material that is NOT encoded in Surround EX, mono information in the surround channels is routed to the rear channels through Pro Logic matrix decoding on the surround channels only.

Hope this helps.

 

[Tim_S]

The Outlaw has the same type DAC's as those in the Anthem.

I've seen this tossed around a couple of times, but I am fairly certain it isn't true, depending on what is meant by "the same type". The Anthem uses AKM DACs while the Outlaw uses Cirrus. I do believe they are both 24/192 DACs but by different manufacturers. I'm not suggesting anything about quality difference (haven't heard either unfortunately but if there were an Anthem dealer anywhere close by here I would have an AVM-20 by now :frowning: ) just a brand difference.
Tim

 

[ClaudeD]

I looked through the owner's manual, but couldn't find an explicit answer to my question: Does the AVM20 allow delay settings on DSP mode analog 5.1 inputs, i.e., on inputs that have been A/D converted? This is of more interest to me than actual analog bypass. I might have missed the reference, but it seemed to only talk about bass management of the converted signal.

FWIW, I'm considering replacing my Theta Casanova with the Anthem in order to use DVD-A and SACD. Otherwise, I'm incredibly happy with my Casanova.

Thanks in advance,

Claude

 

[Evan S]

Claude, it was my impression that the setup menu allowed you to set these characteristics for time delay and speaker distance from "sweet spot" and these settings would be used for ANY input that has DSP processing on it. I would say that since the 5.1 analog signal is redigitized in this mode using the Anthem, not only would you receive bass management, but you would also the the time delay features and any other byproduct (center channel equilization, etc.) Of course, I will double check the manual on this but that is my understanding.