The NEW Anthem AVM-20 Thread (1 Viewer)

[Vlad D]

Not that I can afford one right now, plus after all the money I recently spent on my HT my wife would kill me.
But the more I read about the Anthem AVM-20 the more I like. Maybe next year. I also read a lot of good things about the B&K Ref 30. I was wonder what you guys think about how they compare.

 

[Ron Alcasid]

I had the opportunity to demo the BK Ref 30 in my home for a few days. It sounds fantastic and in some ways it's more flexible than AVM20. A lot of people have been bashing BK for not coming out with upgrades but I think the fault lies more on Motorola's shoulders. BK is supposedly a Motorola seed site, so they are supposed to get things sooner than anyone else. Had I not known about the AVM 20 the Ref 30 would be at the top of my list.

 

[Brian Shannon]

Are these units available from any online retailers or only B&M stores?

 

[Evan S]

I've seen them on-line for $2600 but I forget where. Run a search on Google and you will probably get some hits.

 

[PeteDiV]

Would it be safe to assume if you do purchase the AVM-20 online as a new product that your warranty would be void.

Pete

 

[Alex Yang]

Pete,

If you purchased from Ebay or private sales, yes you're warranty is void and ANY servicing/repairs will be out of pocket for you...

-Alex

 

[RobertR]

If you purchased from Ebay or private sales

But purchasing from an online retailer is not Ebay or a "private sale", so the question still stands: If you purchase from an online RETAILER, is the warranty valid?

 

[Evan S]

They would have to be an authorized dealer. I'd check with Sonic Frontiers first before buying on-line seeing as you will have to take the unit in shortly to upgrade to DPL-II and THX Ultra 2 certification. Don't want to get yourself screwed.

 

[John Morris]

I just got off the phone with the really nice folks at SF/Anthem and as long as you buy an AVM-20 from an authorized dealer, you have a valid warranty, period. You can even buy a used unit which has been traded in from an authorized dealer and get the warranty. The key here is: authorized dealer.

Evan: The AVM-20 does not have a crossover which you can use for analog bypassed 5.1 SACD input... however, you can select analog DSP and then the crossover and tone controls are fully active without altering the SACD's original target speaker. There is however, a slight variation in sound quality because of the analog to digital to analog conversions.

Oops, I think this last part is in reference to another thread dealing with features and assigned values in pre/pros

 

[Bob-N]

John,

Thanks for the inquiry about the warranty. That's good news . So far, all of our inquiries to SF have been positive and they look like another company with good support.

Bob

 

[Doug_Fr]

First, thanks for all the great info in this thread. Does anybody have an opinion on the remote that comes with the Anthem AVM20? Do you know who makes it? Any experience with using it as a universal remote to operate other equipment. How about using a different universal remote with the AVM 20? I'm just about to pull the trigger on the system listed below and I'm trying to figure out how to make it all work easy. Thanks for your help.

Anthem AVM 20

Sherbourn 5/1500A

Toshiba 57HX81

Panasonic RP91

HDTV Receiver - (probably Tosh DST3000)

DirecTivo - Sony SAT-T60

 

[Evan S]

Doug, I have not heard many good things about the Anthem remote to tell you the honest truth. I know it has accepts manufacturers codes and can control other elements of your system and it also has learning capabilities. Not sure who the manufacturer is however.
You can go to www.sonicfrontiers.com and download the owners manual. The remote control information is on page 28.
Sorry I cannot be of more help in this regard...haven't received my unit just yet.

 

[Scott-C]

Doug,
I've also been curious about how well the AVM-20 will work with a universal remote. I have a Pronto TSU-2000 and I had heard that some of the AVM-20 commands were difficult to get into the Pronto (volume up/volume down). SF's site has published the "volume up" and "volume down" codes for anyone to cut and paste into ProntoEdit.
Truthfully, I'm still curious how well the codes will go into Pronto, and more importantly...does Anthem provide discrete codes for all functions? Can anyone help with this question?

 

[Ron Alcasid]

Sonic Frontiers has also posted a Pronto CFF. I don't know how comprehensive it is since I don't own a Pronto yet.

 

[Hessel]

Howdy---sorry I found this after all the info was lost. How does the AVM-20 compare soundwise with the RDC-7? Thanks for any input.

 

[Evan S]

Hessel...I have not heard the RDC-7 first hand. What I'm relaying is strictly word of mouth.
I know the two units use the exact same 24/192 DACS, so both should sound great. I've heard people say the RDC-7 sounds better in two channel reproduction than the Anthem. If this is the case, then the RDC-7 is truly world class as I HAVE first hand heard the Anthem in two channel playback and it is first rate. I've also heard on other boards, people who have heard both units prefer the Anthem in two channel mode. I have not heard a single thing mentioned as a negative for either unit in HT applications. I'm sorry this didn't help much, but I think they are both incredible processors. Your choice should come down to dealer network, feature set, connections or lack thereof, upgradability and price. The RDC-7 is about $500 more retail when you factor in the Anthem's future DPL II upgrade, but I've heard you can get the RDC-7 as low as $3300 so that may be a wash.
Why don't you flip a coin?

 

[Dennis Oblow]

As far as the AVM 20 remote, I have religated it to the pile of OEM remotes I have stored in the drawer. If this remote had Macros it would be good, but as it doesn't my trusty old Marantz RC 2000mkII still keeps its job

 

[Alex Yang]

Well, if I do get this unit, I plan on using my Marantz RM2000 MKII, too... I don't understand why don't more people use this remote???!?
It does have Macro features and is a learning remote also with 8 different sources and ALL buttons programmable and custom buttons can be made as well, it got HARD/REAL/Tactile buttons and programmable buttons also...?
Sorry, I know this is slightly off topic, but I LOVE this remote!!!
-Alex

 

[Mifr44]

I found a local dealer who carries the Anthem AVM-20, and I have been given an opportunity to audition it for a couple of days at home starting tomorrow. In light of that, I have a few questions I hope could be answered on this thread. I have downloaded the online manual, so if you have a specific page that answers any of questions, that would be great.
1) Does the crossover setting apply for all speakers set to "small"?
2) I believe that the speaker levels can be saved by the sound mode. So, if you have set the levels for say DPL, would these apply regardless of the source (VHS,TV,etc.)?
3) Can all of the 2 channel analog sources be heard in bypass mode, or do you have to specify which source (or sources) that are in bypass mode?
4) I noticed that there are two subwoofer outputs, both for single-ended and balanced connections, that are labeled SUB-1 and SUB-2. Do these connections receive stereo bass signal or do they receive the same mono bass signal?
That's it for now. Thanks!
Michael

 

[Evan S]

Michael, great questions...

Lets see.

For #1 the answer is Yes. Any speaker group (fronts, center, surrounds, rear surrounds) set to small gets the same crossover frequency, adjustable in 10Htz increments from 40-120. It is not a triple crossover like the Outlaw.

For #2, speaker levels are set by INPUT. So, if you run your VCR and DVD through two different inputs, you can save the settings for each input individually. If you have your TV and VCR into the same input (for instance, you generate stereo TV through your VCR, rather than your TV), then the setting will be the same for both inputs. If you use separate inputs (run the TV in separately from the VCR) they can be different.

For #3, ANY input can be in bypass mode, not just the 2 channel ones. Even the 5.1 inputs for SACD can be run in analog bypass. They can also be run in Analog - DSP and full Digital.

For #4, I had to refer to the manual. I could not come up with an answer to this question but my gut would say the signal is MONO for both outputs as each is intended for subwoofer output but not necessarily for the same zone. One can be applied to zone 2 while one is for zone 3 I believe. I will have to e-mail sonic frontiers about this one. Sorry.