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

[keith fox]

I have had mine since the beginning of January. I am very happy with it.

 

[John Morris]

Just picked up the Stereophile Guide issue with the AVM-20 on the cover. The way Stereophile gushed over it, you'd think it was a $20,000 piece (usually a downpayment on what makes the folks at Stereophile think something's worth listening to).

LarryB: Since I now agree with you so much... I thought that I'd merely suggest to you that you still need to buy one of these with a full 30 days, no Q's asked, money back guarantee. Then, compare it sonically to the other preamps costing much less, if possible. I've tested an AVM-20, in store, for more than 4 hours and in that situation it was fantastic and absolutely perfect. Still, I cannot say with certainty that it sounded better than the Outlaw 950 beta or the Rotel 1066, or even the Sherwood Newcastle AVP-9080r.

Still, if I just had to have this unit, I'd wait till the upgrade took

place. Most times, in spite of company assurances that the upgrade price would be added to the NEW price of a unit, usually that upgrade price is as negotiable as the original price was... or more so.?

 

[Jeff Keene]

Aaaaarrgghh! Every three or four days, my dealer tells me that it should be any day now. I want my pre/pro, dammit!
I feel better now (but not much).

 

[Mifr44]

Jeff,
Your AVM-20 may be delayed because of a fuse issue that was being discussed at:
Help with Anthem AVM20 Problem
It is also possible that Sonic Frontiers can not keep up with the current demand.
Michael

 

[Jeff Keene]

Looks like demand is the problem. I finally did receive my AVM-20, in silver. The store owner said it was the last he'd be getting for another 8 weeks!

In any case, I love this thing. I'm still figuring it out, as there are some functions that I needed the manual to sort out for me, but this is a minor complaint. It sounds great, and has all the functionality I was looking for, save PLII which is still "coming soon" I guess.

 

[Mifr44]

Jeff,

8 weeks? Hmmm, maybe it is wishful thinking to believe that the next delivery of AVM-20s your dealer gets is with the DPL II upgrade. At least that's what I would like to believe.

BTW, congrats on finally getting your AVM-20.

Michael

 

[Jeff Keene]

It's possible. My dealer doesn't know a whole lot about the Anthem (he's never had a demo, since it keeps selling before he gets them). He even told me he thought mine would "already have the upgrade" (that he didn't know about til I mentioned it), and didn't believe me when I told him they were raising the price. It doesn't have the upgrade, of course. I figure I'll get my news from this site when the upgrade is actually available.

Anyway, all that aside, I love it love it love it. Great with Movies and even better (and more important to me) with music.

 

[Dennis Oblow]

Jeff,

Check what software version you have. The latest one before the upgrade is 1.12

 

[Camp]

Anthem owners: Can I ask how much you paid? The best price I've seen is $2600. Is that good, really good, or just OK?

Thanks!

 

[Evan S]

Camp, YGM

 

[Jeff Keene]

Yep. Mine is 1.12. Alas.

 

[Joe e h]

Add me to the list ordered mine today.

 

[Jeffrey_S]

Well you can add me to the list of owners. Just picked up mine (in silver) last night. I'm busy all day today so I won't get to put it into my system until tonight or tomorrow. After listening for a day or so, I'll post some first impressions.

Jeff

 

[Evan S]

Jeff, I'd be surprised if you don't fall in love with the way it sounds and looks and the things it does. Enjoy.

 

[Jeffrey_S]

Thanks Evan.

I already love the looks. Evan, did you get the silver as well? It was a tough decision for me as both the black and silver look great. All of my components are black too. There is some silver in my rack, however, so that's how I convinced myself that the AVM-20 would look good in my system.

I'm going to spend today listening and playing. I just finished setting it up and so far it sounds great.

Jeff

 

[Evan S]

Yeah, I got the silver. I also have a Silver Anthem amp, so it obviously was a good match to go this way. Shiny

 

[MikeAF]

Jeff,

So how is the Anthem? Please give us your review including pros and cons as far as ease of set up and use and especially how it sounds. I hope to order mine by the end of summer if possible.

Mike

 

[Jeffrey_S]

Mike,

Unfortunately, I've had a really busy weekend. I was only left time to do an initial setup of the AVM-20 and to watch only a couple of movies. I haven't done any music listening as yet. I also decided to track down a ground loop problem I've been having for a while now, before doing any critical listening.

All that having been said, I will give you some initial impressions:

1. The Anthem is very transparent. It's like a veil was removed from the sound that my old receiver produced. The voices in movies are very crisp and clear. I'm hearing details I either didn't hear before or just simply overlooked due to lack of clarity.

2. Bass management is great. My Bass never sounded so good. I set up my system with an 80hz x-over, although I'm still toying with going with 70hz. I use the Matrix as one of my reference DVDs, especially for my bass setup, and the Anthem really shines when playing this movie. My DIY Tempest sub sounds great! You can adjust the sub level on the fly, as well as the LFE level.

3. The AVM-20 is very configureable. It's really a pleasure in this regard. I'm still playing with all the settings and listening modes.

The only problem I've had is that some of the voices when watching TV through my DirecTivo unit sounded distorted at times. This really concerned me as I had never noticed this, at least not to this degree before. I even removed the AVM-20 from my setup and put my receiver back in to see if the distortion was present using the receiver as the sound processor. I used TV shows that I recorded with my DirecTivo unit to check these distorted sounds. Sure enough, the same distortion was there with my receiver, just less noticeable. I reinstalled the Anthem and tracked down the distortions to my ground loop problem which produces a hum in my speakers. It is related to my satellite dish installation. When I played these recorded TV programs again with my two satellite feeds disconnected, the distorted sound went away.

I guess the AVM-20 is so transparent that it brought this problem in my system to the fore. It lets you hear everything crystal clear, both the good and the bad. Well, my Monster HTS 3600 is coming this week and it should take care of the ground loop problem.

In short, so far I love this unit and have no regrets in having spent a small fortune on it. By the end of next weekend, I'll post a more complete review.

Jeff

 

[MikeAF]

Jeff,

Thanks for the initial comments and I look forward to hearing more.

Mike

 

[Camp]

Jeff,

Glad you got your Anthem.

What amp are you using? Is the amp new too?