How many people on this forum own an Anthem AVM 20? (1 Viewer)

[Dennis Oblow]

It seems like over the last few weeks this prepro has been the topic of alot of conversation. I was curious to see how much of this conversation translates into actual purchases. I'll start the count at 1

 

[Doug_B]

2 (since December)

 

[Bob-N]

Michael Mohrman owns one. He asks the bass limiter question about 10-15 posts below. I hope to have mine in a month or so.

Bob

 

[Evan S]

Count me as convert #4, effective 12:30pm, March 14th, 2001.
The smile on my face never leaves, it's amazing!

 

[Ron Alcasid]

I'm still waiting for mine, ordered Feb 18. What's the hold up? I can't take it anymore!

 

[John_Charles]

#5 since November.

 

[Mark Dubeau]

#6 since the first day it was out..

 

[Mifr44]

I guess I am #3 on the list. Hey Bob, thanks for holding my place in line for me!
Michael

 

[AntonS]

Waiting for one to come as it's back-ordered. Hope mid-April.

Seems like it's an amazing unit. I believe Paradigm (and SF) are doing it right.

 

[Darren_Falco]

#7-Picked it up in January. Still in the box though waiting for the HT to be complete.

 

[Joe Ar]

Save a number for me guys, because as soon as I find one at a good price from somebody........I hope to be included.

Where are all the reviews fellas?

I need something to do at work!

 

[Mifr44]

"Where are all the reviews fellas?"

Sorry about that. I have been so immersed in the music the first week owning the AVM-20 that I just got around to playing some DVD movies this weekend. I wanted to try out most of the AVM-20's capabilities before writing any "review", although any review written by me will be based on my experience and personal opinion, so take it for what it is worth.

I will tell you that I have been pleasantly surprised with the AVM-20 for movies. The fact that it tops (for us!) the Lexicon MC-1 in many ways for movies was not an expected result.

Michael

 

[John Tompkins]

{QUOTE}

The fact that it tops (for us!) the Lexicon MC-1 in many ways for movies was not an expected result.

Do tell Michael, in what ways do you mean, I am very curious as to this statement...

 

[Mifr44]

John,

"Do tell Michael, in what ways do you mean, I am very curious as to this statement..."

Given the tone of this comment and knowing that you are a new MC-1 owner, I sense the disbelief. Everyone's system is different and in ours, the AVM-20 outperforms the MC-1 in nearly every aspect. Center channel dialogue, bass management (even with a global crossover!), movie soundtracks (there's the music issue again!), and overall movie detail is far better with the AVM-20. Whatever advantage Logic 7 has in left-right, front-back soundstaging is negligible compared to the forementioned advantages of the AVM-20.

As many before have said, YMMV.

Michael

 

[John Tompkins]

Michael,
No tone intended . I have listened to the avm-20 at the audio store and it was nice indeed.
{quote}
Center channel dialogue, bass management (even with a global crossover!), movie soundtracks (there's the music issue again!), and overall movie detail is far better with the AVM-20
How is the bass management better ? also out of everything that you have stated I am most surprised at the center channel dialogue comment, as this is one of the areas where the lex seperated itself from the 4802 in my opinion

 

[BruceD]

If I'm not mistaken, the AVM-20 is using the same crystal DSP as the MC-12. Since the MC-12 is a step up from the MC-1, maybe the crystal DSP is part of the reason the AVM sounds better with dialogue than the MC-1.

 

[Mifr44]

John,

"No tone intended . I have listened to the avm-20 at the audio store and it was nice indeed."

Please accept my apologies then, as my experience the last two years on the A/V forums is to be careful suggesting that any processor is better than Lexicon, especially for movies.

"How is the bass management better ?"

There is no rerouting of the LFE channel from the subwoofer. For us, this works out a lot better. I think Lexicon may have even realized that too, as can be seen by the change in the bass management in the MC-12. Ideally, it would be nice to be able to have an independent crossover for the LFE channel itself, but no one I know of does that.

So far, the 60Hz crossover has given us the best balance between in-room bass and mid-to-high frequency detail. Of course, this has a lot to do with our speakers and our room.

"also out of everything that you have stated I am most surprised at the center channel dialogue comment, as this is one of the areas where the lex seperated itself from the 4802 in my opinion"

Perhaps the biggest surprise of all. I have more detail with the center channel, plus the voices have more "body" to them.

Michael

 

[John Tompkins]

{quote}
Please accept my apologies then, as my experience the last two years on the A/V forums is to be careful suggesting that any processor is better than Lexicon, especially for movies
Its funny because my feelings are just the opposite on this. It seems to me that lexicon gets bashed sometimes for no reason. Our Perceptions are different on this. Man I'm glad I dont own bose anyway.
{quote}
it would be nice to be able to have an independent crossover for the LFE channel itself, but no one I know of does that.
I'm not sure I know what you mean by this, as you know the lfe crossover on the lex can bet set to 40-80-120hz maybe I'm missing something here.
{quote}
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all. I have more detail with the center channel, plus the voices have more "body" to them.
Did you set the center channel on the lex at 120 hz as they recommend ? this might have something to do with your less body observations.
Did you use the bass enhance feature to reroute some of your bass to the sides and do you have large side speakers ? I'm just curious ,

 

[Mifr44]

John,

"Its funny because my feelings are just the opposite on this. It seems to me that lexicon gets bashed sometimes for no reason. Our Perceptions are different on this."

Actually, our perceptions are quite similar on this issue. Most of the time, when I was researching the MC-1, the negative comments typically came from those individuals who either never heard a properly calibrated MC-1 or were just defending their own selections by bashing Lexicon. Overall, I thought that the MC-1 was fine in our system, but I feel that the AVM-20 is better. But if someone tells me that the MC-1 is the best that they have had in their system, I can believe it.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean by this, as you know the lfe crossover on the lex can bet set to 40-80-120hz maybe I'm missing something here."

The problem with the SUB crossover on the MC-1 is that it impacts both the rerouted bass from "small" speakers and the LFE channel on those .1 sources together. This SUB crossover can also lead to either bass duplication or truncation, depending on the setting and the sound mode.

"Did you set the center channel on the lex at 120 hz as they recommend ? this might have something to do with your less body observations."

Yes, I tried both the 120Hz setting and the 80Hz setting (40Hz was just a bit too low).

"Did you use the bass enhance feature to reroute some of your bass to the sides and do you have large side speakers ? I'm just curious"

Yes, I tried the system with the bass enhance feature on and off, in combination with the various crossover settings. Just so you know, the MC-1 was in our system for 9 months, so I tried nearly every conceivable combination you can come up with.

Michael

 

[Ron Alcasid]

I'm #8