Anthem AVM70 Review (AV Processor)

[Vacceo]

McIntosh are so overpriced just like jewelry Audio

Indeed, but at least with the class D, you can have a fair idea of their capabilities.

 

[minus3dB]

If I were to spend that much, I would likely go with the Marantz AV10, now that it is available and we know more about it. The Anthem has better dac chips but that's just one consideration.

Just dropped an order for an AV 10. Was debating between it, the SDP 58 and the AVM 90. Once I saw the preso and test results from the Marantz Europe Rep my anxieties about DAC quality and implementation were put to bed. I've owned a Denon AVR-4311 since 2011 and been very happy with it, notwithstanding its CODEC and upmixer obsolescence in recent years and lack of eARC. I like that the AV 10, like the 90, has capacity for up to 9.6 channels plus 4 subs and that I'll have the flexibility to choose between Audyssey and Dirac, albeit without DLBC or ART for a while. I plan to make use of those 4 independent sub outputs so it's nice to have the flexibility to expand the bed and height layers beyond 7.4 which would not have been easy with the SDP 58.

 

[ban25]

Just dropped an order for an AV 10. Was debating between it, the SDP 58 and the AVM 90. Once I saw the preso and test results from the Marantz Europe Rep my anxieties about DAC quality and implementation were put to bed. I've owned a Denon AVR-4311 since 2011 and been very happy with it, notwithstanding its CODEC and upmixer obsolescence in recent years and lack of eARC. I like that the AV 10, like the 90, has capacity for up to 9.6 channels plus 4 subs and that I'll have the flexibility to choose between Audyssey and Dirac, albeit without DLBC or ART for a while. I plan to make use of those 4 independent sub outputs so it's nice to have the flexibility to expand the bed and height layers beyond 7.4 which would not have been easy with the SDP 58.

Nice! What are you using for amplification?

 

[minus3dB]

Nice! What are you using for amplification?

JBL Synthesis SDA 7200. It's an older 7 channel amp (think it first came out in 2015) with 7 independent Hypex UCD-400 modules. These are modules that have been around a long time, preceding the NCore family and used in several NAD products. It's not going to set any SINAD world records, but has enough power into 4 ohms to cleanly drive my Revel Salon2s to levels that exceed any concert I've attended (excluding things like Dream Theater, etc).

I don't have ceiling speakers yet so will need to find a 4 channel amp for them or repurpose 4 channels of one of my AVRs I no longer use. Open to recommendations on in-ceiling speakers.

 

[ban25]

JBL Synthesis SDA 7200. It's an older 7 channel amp (think it first came out in 2015) with 7 independent Hypex UCD-400 modules. These are modules that have been around a long time, preceding the NCore family and used in several NAD products. It's not going to set any SINAD world records, but has enough power into 4 ohms to cleanly drive my Revel Salon2s to levels that exceed any concert I've attended (excluding things like Dream Theater, etc).

I don't have ceiling speakers yet so will need to find a 4 channel amp for them or repurpose 4 channels of one of my AVRs I no longer use. Open to recommendations on in-ceiling speakers.

I've been eyeballing these in-ceiling speakers from KEF:

Ci160RR-THX

THX® Certified Ultra Architectural Speaker Ci160RR-THX# is an ultra-high-performance loudspeaker featuring KEF's signature Uni-Q technology, designed for discreet in-ceiling or in-wall installation. As part of the Ci-R Series and a THX® Certified Ultra architectural loudspeaker, Ci160RR-THX is...

us.kef.com

 

[minus3dB]

This thing is built like a tank...very pleased with the sound so far though have not done any room tuning yet. The upmixers are so much better than the 10 year old Dolby ProLogix IIx I was running with. Best sound so far was on an Atmos recording of classical guitar & orchestra rendered at DD + Dolby Surround on my 7.1 setup. Spoiler alert: I couldn't hear any difference between the two reconstruction filters.

 

[Descartes]

This thing is built like a tank...very pleased with the sound so far though have not done any room tuning yet. The upmixers are so much better than the 10 year old Dolby ProLogix IIx I was running with. Best sound so far was on an Atmos recording of classical guitar & orchestra rendered at DD + Dolby Surround on my 7.1 setup. Spoiler alert: I couldn't hear any difference between the two reconstruction filters.

View attachment 262070

Great happy for you, it should be in the Marantz thread instead this is supposed to be about Anthem!

 

[HiFi 5.2]

This thing is built like a tank...very pleased with the sound so far though have not done any room tuning yet. The upmixers are so much better than the 10 year old Dolby ProLogix IIx I was running with. Best sound so far was on an Atmos recording of classical guitar & orchestra rendered at DD + Dolby Surround on my 7.1 setup. Spoiler alert: I couldn't hear any difference between the two reconstruction filters.

View attachment 262070

Does the AV 10 get warm?

 

[ryanosaur]

Mine is not to the touch. I think it is not going to get too warm if there is adequate room for it to breathe. The fan would turn on, likely a bug that has not been fixed properly.

What's up, Peng?!

Other than Digital Processing and Amps... what other sources of heat are there in an AVR? Without the Amp Stage, the only real source of heat in a Processor should be the Digital Board?... but that should pale in comparison to the additional heat put out by 11 or 13 channels of Amps if I'm correct. What are your thoughts, please?

 

[peng]

What's up, Peng?!

Other than Digital Processing and Amps... what other sources of heat are there in an AVR? Without the Amp Stage, the only real source of heat in a Processor should be the Digital Board?... but that should pale in comparison to the additional heat put out by 11 or 13 channels of Amps if I'm correct. What are your thoughts, please?

My mistake, post deleted, but the AV10 stuff should be moved to the AV10 thread.

I bet the AV10 will get warm to the touch though the use of an external fan should not be necessary. That's just my educated guess based on my AV8801. The AV10 has much more heat producing parts, more dacs, vol chips, opamps and hdams etc.

 

[minus3dB]

Great happy for you, it should be in the Marantz thread instead this is supposed to be about Anthem!

My bad...not very etiquette - conscious of me. Will repost in the Cinema series thread (there's not an AV 10 thread I could find.)

 

[dlaloum]

What's up, Peng?!

Other than Digital Processing and Amps... what other sources of heat are there in an AVR? Without the Amp Stage, the only real source of heat in a Processor should be the Digital Board?... but that should pale in comparison to the additional heat put out by 11 or 13 channels of Amps if I'm correct. What are your thoughts, please?

The 2008 to 2014 Onkyo/Integra generations of AVR's all had massive heat generation from the video and dsp circuit boards... those are the boards that fried, and had recalls/replacements - I am still trying to get a replacement for my old DTR70.4 - the amps were great, but they got nowhere near the temperature of the processors.

Current generation processors are both more powerful and use a heck of a lot less power .... ie: they run cool (based on my Integra DRX3.4)
The amps in the flagship models of the 2008 to 2014 Onkyo ranges were also substantially more powerful than the current models (measured at 165W RMS 2ch into 8ohm) - and yet the amp stages ran cool. (relatively)

 

[HiFi 5.2]

Hi guys, what are the differences between the 2.0 and 2.1 is it only 4K120 Hz? Or have they made some upgrades internals as well.

 

[ryanosaur]

Hi guys, what are the differences between the 2.0 and 2.1 is it only 4K120 Hz? Or have they made some upgrades internals as well.

Short version is 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz and 48gbps bandwidth...

HDMI 2.1b Specification Overview

HDMI 2.1b technology enables end-to-end 8K & 4K solutions, faster refresh rates, and Dynamic HDR support. ✓ Click here to learn more about HDMI 2.1b

www.hdmi.org

IIRC, nobody has offered the full 48gbps bandwidth to date, and only one company as of late Autumn 2022 is manufacturing a chipset that delivers on that feature.

 

[HiFi 5.2]

Short version is 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz and 48gbps bandwidth...

HDMI 2.1b Specification Overview

HDMI 2.1b technology enables end-to-end 8K & 4K solutions, faster refresh rates, and Dynamic HDR support. ✓ Click here to learn more about HDMI 2.1b

www.hdmi.org

IIRC, nobody has offered the full 48gbps bandwidth to date, and only one company as of late Autumn 2022 is manufacturing a chipset that delivers on that feature.

Is that it? I don’t see than a reason to upgrade

 

[ryanosaur]

Is that it? I don’t see than a reason to upgrade

For most, especially right now, it’s not that big of a deal. The 2.1 fiasco is largely over the importance to the next gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft and the features they offer gamers. And even that is still limited by availability of true 4K games…
Much less the imperfect technology that has been employed in various releases from AV manufacturers (including TVs).
Will it become more important over the lifespan of a new AVR or AVp? Possible. But still only likely to affect gamers or folk pushing for an 8k sport broadcast…
*shrugs

(FWIW, even Hobie from Monoprice-Monolith says that you can get all the functionality gaming by running direct to TV and using ARC from TV to AVR/AVP. Many others share that sentiment.)

 

[theBruce]

For most, especially right now, it’s not that big of a deal. The 2.1 fiasco is largely over the importance to the next gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft and the features they offer gamers. And even that is still limited by availability of true 4K games…
Much less the imperfect technology that has been employed in various releases from AV manufacturers (including TVs).
Will it become more important over the lifespan of a new AVR or AVp? Possible. But still only likely to affect gamers or folk pushing for an 8k sport broadcast…
*shrugs

(FWIW, even Hobie from Monoprice-Monolith says that you can get all the functionality gaming by running direct to TV and using ARC from TV to AVR/AVP. Many others share that sentiment.)

The problem with that, not enough 2.1 inputs on some TVs, my Sony A90J only has 2 and one of them is the EARC input/output, so no sound system in the game room because of that since I have both XBOX X and PS5.

And while there is a limited choice of games that takes full advantage for HDMI 2.1, the number is increasing and I do not want to buy a new processor/Receiver that will just have to be replaced quickly.

By the way, games that take full advantage of HDMI 2.1 looks amazing with VRR support and the likes.

So I wait for real HDMI 2.1, hopefully by the summer we will have some news.

 

[ryanosaur]

The problem with that, not enough 2.1 inputs on some TVs, my Sony A90J only has 2 and one of them is the EARC input/output, so no sound system in the game room because of that since I have both XBOX X and PS5.

And while there is a limited choice of games that takes full advantage for HDMI 2.1, the number is increasing and I do not want to buy a new processor/Receiver that will just have to be replaced quickly.

By the way, games that take full advantage of HDMI 2.1 looks amazing with VRR support and the likes.

So I wait for real HDMI 2.1, hopefully by the summer we will have some news.

I'm in this boat too.
I'm waiting to upgrade for when the best iteration comes available. I still haven't even tried buying a PS5 yet... and don't even get me thinking about any new games from Bethesda and the need to likely have to get an Xbox just to sate me need to play Fallout or Elder Scrolls.

Yamaha is best poised to release a processor this year. Marantz and everybody else is already to market with partially baked HDMI chipsets on their digital boards. My biggest concern then is that it will be another 2-3 years before most of the AVPs see an update for fully baked HDMI 2.1.

 

[Descartes]

Anthem AVM90 is supposed to be HDMi 2.1 48GB

 

[Beershaun]

Anthems 2.1 8k upgrade program is available for models other than the avm90. I have upgraded my mrx1140 with the new board.