Anthem AVM 70 - Initial Impressions (1 Viewer)

[John Dirk]

Congratulations, John! With my HT disassembled because of my parents moving in with us, I’m particularly jealous when people can get awesome gear to improve their HT.

I am humbled and inspired by the sacrifice you are making for your parents. The Bible teaches us to honor them and I can't think of a better way to do so.

 

[DaveF]

After this the update took about 20 minutes to complete and I was finally able to run ARC Genesis.

Coming from the Audyssey camp, I wasn't really ready for the power of ARC Genesis. The best way I can describe it is, it appears they designed a room correction system around the very popular Room EQ Wizard software. Those familiar with this amazing tool should have no trouble with ARC Genesis. Instead of making mostly obscured adjustments and allowing the user little to no control over them, ARC shows you exactly what it is doing to your system and allows you to compare before and after curves along with their own target curve. It's exactly what a true enthusiast would expect.

I only had time to complete a single session with ARC Genesis, which now includes independent phase and time alignment of two subs but the difference was pronounced and easily discerned. My first thought upon playing a few of my favorite musical selections was "are the subs engaged?" My Legacy Focus SE's can go plenty deep so I had to check. Turns out they were indeed but are now so well integrated as to not call attention to themselves. I boosted the bass a bit and sure enough, they came to life.

I haven't yet had time to sample any film content aside from a brief spin up of the original [and best, IMO] Marvel title, "Thor." The channel separation and dynamics I heard in the brief session I took in was nothing short of breathtaking. I can't wait to dig a little deeper into my film and music collections.

 

[John Dirk]

This is a reference I've seen tossed about here and there for quite some time. I've come across it on t-shirts as well yet, even after viewing the related clip, it's commonly accepted interpretation escapes me. I thought I was going to get through the remainder of my life secretly not understanding it but, you got me! A little help, please?

 

[Walter Kittel]

It is from the 1993 film Sandlot and signals a certain level of exasperation. (I can't speak for Dave, but I think his reaction is due to you only sampling vs. actually getting a more immersive film experience.)

Congrats on the Anthem purchase, BTW. (Way out of my price range these days, but I still enjoy living vicariously through these threads. )

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This is a reference I've seen tossed about here and there for quite some time. I've come across it on t-shirts as well yet, even after viewing the related clip, it's commonly accepted interpretation escapes me. I thought I was going to get through the remainder of my life secretly not understanding it but, you got me! A little help, please?

Wendy Peffercorn, hubba, hubba!

 

[Edwin-S]

Why? Not criticizing, just asking. I thought I'd have the same opinion as one thing Denon/Marantz products get right in my view is the GUI and menu system. The AVM 70's GUI/menus will definitely take some getting used to so I'll probably continue to favor the web interface. Having easy web access in my HT from both my Galaxy Tab S [which acts as my universal remote] and my HTPC may be the reason it's a non-issue to me.

I just don't trust the permanence of anything web-based. I've had experience with web-based UIs in an industrial capacity. They worked fine until Flash was permanently disabled by Adobe in web browsers. The UIs stopped working because....well...they were all written using Flash.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I just don't trust the permanence of anything web-based. I've had experience with web-based UIs in an industrial capacity. They worked fine until Flash was permanently disabled by Adobe in web browsers. The UIs stopped working because....well...they were all written using Flash.

I have the previous gen AVM-60, so no web-browser-based UI, but... sounds like they're just going browser-based, not actually web-based per se... though yeah, future browser dev can still potentially break things or cause problems/inconveniences unless one makes sure to keep a legacy device/computer around just to handle that, if/when that ever happens.

Also, sounds like that's not supposed to be the only option although it's the one that allows most access (and probably greatest flexibility... and seemingly most functional) at least for now. Unfortunately, as good as Anthem seems to be w/ such stuff (vs many/most other CE makers nowadays), they still might not be quite that great at ensuring future UI compatibility and/or usability, avoiding/preventing future obsolescence, etc.

OTOH, I'm guessing that browser-based UI should (hopefully) be simple enough not to be easily (significantly) broken by future browser dev, so...

_Man_

 

[John Dirk]

I just don't trust the permanence of anything web-based. I've had experience with web-based UIs in an industrial capacity. They worked fine until Flash was permanently disabled by Adobe in web browsers. The UIs stopped working because....well...they were all written using Flash.

Definitely a fair point and one I hadn't considered. As an HTPC user, I prefer browser-based UI's as they are right there and easily accessible. Since its on my local network, I can even configure the AVM70 from my office system upstairs or view it's current settings there while researching, etc.

Being new to the Anthem world, I found the GUI/Menu system cumbersome compared to the straightforward, hierarchical Marantz approach but it does "appear" to allow full access once you become proficient enough. I also draw some comfort in knowing this could be totally revamped with a firmware update.

 

[John Dirk]

Wendy Peffercorn, hubba, hubba!

Tease on... I think I saw the film years ago. Maybe it's time for a refresh.

 

[Edwin-S]

I have the previous gen AVM-60, so no web-browser-based UI, but... sounds like they're just going browser-based, not actually web-based per se... though yeah, future browser dev can still potentially break things or cause problems/inconveniences unless one makes sure to keep a legacy device/computer around just to handle that, if/when that ever happens.

Also, sounds like that's not supposed to be the only option although it's the one that allows most access (and probably greatest flexibility... and seemingly most functional) at least for now. Unfortunately, as good as Anthem seems to be w/ such stuff (vs many/most other CE makers nowadays), they still might not be quite that great at ensuring future UI compatibility and/or usability, avoiding/preventing future obsolescence, etc.

OTOH, I'm guessing that browser-based UI should (hopefully) be simple enough not to be easily (significantly) broken by future browser dev, so...

_Man_

Sorry. After reading your reply, I should correct myself. The UIs were browser based, not web enabled. You would sign in by opening IE and entering an IP and password. They broke because Flash was permanently disabled.

A web-enabled browser UI would probably be fine as long as the manufacturer stayed in business and was committed to maintaining the UI when the equipment became legacy gear.

Still, my experience with browser-based stuff makes me leery of browser-based or web-enabled interfaces; however, I cannot deny their ease of use versus a lot of hardware-based interfaces which manufacturers appear to make as unintuitive as possible. Rotel comes to mind when I think of shitty UIs on their receivers.

 

[John Dirk]

The UIs were browser based, not web enabled. You would sign in by opening IE and entering an IP and password. They broke because Flash was permanently disabled.

There are plenty of easy workarounds for Adobe Flash but your general point is still valid.

 

[John Dirk]

It is from the 1993 film Sandlot and signals a certain level of exasperation. (I can't speak for Dave, but I think his reaction is due to you only sampling vs. actually getting a more immersive film experience.)

Congrats on the Anthem purchase, BTW. (Way out of my price range these days, but I still enjoy living vicariously through these threads. )

- Walter.

Ah! Quite possibly so. I exasperate lots of people. "I have a particular set of skills."

Dave's a busy guy too so I know he appreciates how these things go.

 

[JohnRice]

Ah! Quite possibly so. I exasperate lots of people. "I have a particular set of skills."

Gee. That must be exhausting. I'm SO glad I lack those characteristics.

 

[JohnRice]

Regarding the browser based control, I don't think it's a big deal. It's actually not web based at all. It's just that the processor has a software "web site" included in its firmware, which devices connect to directly through your local network. My WiFi routers work exactly the same way. It seems like a rather common method of device control these days. Personally, I think it's preferable to using mobile apps.

 

[DaveF]

Regarding the browser based control, I don't think it's a big deal. It's actually not web based at all. It's just that the processor has a software "web site" included in its firmware, which devices connect to directly through your local network. My WiFi routers work exactly the same way. It seems like a rather common method of device control these days. Personally, I think it's preferable to using mobile apps.

Thanks. I don't think understood this is the device itself serving up HTML pages. My Marantz does this. My Triad sub amplifiers do this. HTML isn't going anywhere. Completely different beast from a cloud UI or a Flash interfae.

 

[DaveF]

Tease on... I think I saw the film years ago. Maybe it's time for a refresh.

Never saw the movie. But the reference / meme is lingua franca

 

[John Dirk]

Never saw the movie. But the reference / meme is lingua franca

Indeed.

 

[JohnRice]

Thanks. I don't think understood this is the device itself serving up HTML pages. My Marantz does this. My Triad sub amplifiers do this. HTML isn't going anywhere. Completely different beast from a cloud UI or a Flash interfae.

Maybe @John Dirk can verify, but I thought any time you're entering an IP address in a browser to access an interface, that's what's going on. The device has an HTML interface built into the firmware.

 

[DaveF]

Yes. This is clearly the processor serving up its own web page like other such devices have done for years.

Anthem® | A/V Processor | AVM 70 8K | Overview

www.anthemav.com

 

[John Dirk]

Maybe @John Dirk can verify, but I thought any time you're entering an IP address in a browser to access an interface, that's what's going on. The device has an HTML interface built into the firmware.

That is true but, if it's Flash based, then the browser used to access it would still need to be able to deal with that.