MRX 720 Anthem (1 Viewer)

[Doug Smith]

I talked to my home theatre guy and instead of a new Marantz he's talking me into a new 720 Anthem for my new home theatre in my condo. I have no idea about this product, and was wondering if someone out there might be familiar. I looks like it has all the bells and whistles but is worth about twice as much as the Marantz.

 

[MTrotter]

Well, Anthem is quality stuff, but I believe you'll get less features and capability compared to a similarly priced Marantz. That being said, the 720 is Anthem's entry level model and may not have all the features you want. I'd suggest making a list of all the features you want and carefully reviewing the Anthem to see if it offers them all.

 

[Doug Smith]

I've heard that over the past decade Marantz's quality control is not what it used to be now that it has been bought out. I have had two in the past - and have been a real fan especially for their musical ability - but haven't bought a new one in close to 20 years. I've been told that for pure musical and sound quality smaller companies are the way to go now - though the prices are stratospheric in some cases. I believe the 720 is Anthem's mid-range receiver. They also offer a 520. I need it to run Atmos, as well as DVD Audio and SACD's - so I need a good combination of movie sound as well as for various musical platforms. I hear Atmos music is coming? I have no idea what that is, but it sounds interesting

 

[MTrotter]

OK, well then the question becomes, regarding SACD and DVD-Audio playback, will you be doing that over HDMI? Or do you want to use the analog outputs of your player? If you do plan to use HDMI, as I do, does the Anthem 720 do DSD over HDMI and DVD-Audio over HDMI? All my recent receivers have been capable of doing this, including a Denon AVR-X5200W, Onkyo TX-NR809, and Yamaha RX-V1800. Now, if you want to use analog outs, you'll want to make sure that the Anthem 720 has the requisite multi-channel inputs.

 

[Doug Smith]

Pulled the trigger and went with the 720 and two Elac Atmos speakers to add to my system. The sound is unbelievable - but I paid for it. I'm not a techie but I'm going to have to get into it again. The owners manual is slim and light.