Anthem AVM60 Review (AV Processor)

[miike888]

Hi!

didnt we have some Anthem people writing here on the forum?

i would love to hear their opinion on these bad measurements!

//Mike

 

[peng]

It's really difficult for folks when facts disagree with their long held and very strong subjective beliefs.

That's why to them the more expensive boutique brand audio products sound more musical, night and day difference/better etc., without the need of doing it blind, because of the "beliefs". Measurements won't change their mind because they know full well that there are things that can't be measured, or not measured, yet those things (unmeasured things) matter more (and somehow they know that for fact), and are the reasons why such gear sound so much better.

 

[respice finem]

That is why we need a new manufacturer to enter this market with properly designed products. Then it will start stealing their sales, and only then the former manufacturers will pay attention, when it hits their pockets.

A little "games theory": It needs at least two. One will lose the "price war" against the (perceived) current upper class, or in the best case will end up in a small and very expensive niche. Two's company, and two is also competition. Saying it in John Nash style, the dumbest boy in the village would get the girl, if he were the only one

 

[Robbo99999]

Some live from their "reputation" for far too long, for what they do. I'll keep my humble little AVR as long as it will work, and then seriously consider selling the whole speaker "zoo" and buy a pair of decent near- to midfield monitors, going back to stereo. Minimalism FTW. It seems, for surround sound we may have usable headphone-based alternatives soon, that can't really be much worse than this.

That's an interesting idea, you'll certainly get better music playback by doing that. I hope there's a move to improve & personalise headphone experiences to make it far more accurate (due to the HRTF differences person to person) as well as immersive surround simulated systems....I think there's some good potential in headphone & virtualisation technology if it can be done easy enough to the end user whilst retaining sensible levels of expense to the consumer rather than the extortionate Smyth Realizer for instance. Would also cut down on living room clutter....a pair of virtualised headphones for each person rather than a sea of expensive large speakers tangling up the room with no optimal listening position for everyone......headphones with very effective virtualisation technology could solve all this. I think companies should look heavily into developing this kind of technology.

 

[Dmitri]

Hi!

didnt we have some Anthem people writing here on the forum?

i would love to hear their opinion on these bad measurements!

//Mike

Ya got me! Semi proud owner of an MRX 710. I keep it because I see no reason to purchase another overpriced receiver, and ARC seems to work fairly well integrating my subs in my listening space. It definitely has its failings but with my 60+ year old ears, it doesn’t offend. Oh yeah. I don’t use the amps either.
So there ya go. My rabid and fanboy fired defense of Anthem. Have at me. I can take it....; )

 

[Consilient]

Anthem just released newer versions - AVM 90 and 70 - at $7,000 and $3,500 respectively. Perhaps these new units perform better . . . perhaps not. Would be great to see measurements to find out.

 

[Dj7675]

Anthem just released newer versions - AVM 90 and 70 - at $7,000 and $3,500 respectively. Perhaps these new units perform better . . . perhaps not. Would be great to see measurements to find out.

Hopefully someone planning on purchasing will send one in so we know...

 

[peng]

Ya got me! Semi proud owner of an MRX 710. I keep it because I see no reason to purchase another overpriced receiver, and ARC seems to work fairly well integrating my subs in my listening space. It definitely has its failings but with my 60+ year old ears, it doesn’t offend. Oh yeah. I don’t use the amps either.
So there ya go. My rabid and fanboy fired defense of Anthem. Have at me. I can take it....; )

I don't think it is anyone's business to tell any MRX owners that they make a good or bad choice just based on measurements that may not matter at all to them. If someone claims MRX sounds much better, more musical etc., then I would just say that's subjective, may not be factual (to others). I have an Anthem power amp, that I would buy again if I have to, but I won't buy their AVRs/AVPs. That's just because I can't justify the premium price, when I can buy other brand's that I considered better values. To me, it's a personal choice based on many factors.

 

[peng]

Hopefully someone planning on purchasing will send one in so we know...

I think it is almost ridiculous for a product launch in 2021 (or was it late 2020) to be "HDMI v2.1 8K Upgradeable. ", and did not mention if it would be a free upgrade, or otherwise how much.. I can understand why D+M did the same with the AVR-X8500H and AV8805 but those were launched 2-3 years ago.

 

[GoMrPickles]

Happy Sunday everyone, in 2018, I bought this model convinced of its goodness after reading its test carried out by a well-known online newspaper !! As soon as I connected to my system (it replaced a very quiet McIntosh MX119), in XLR only mode, I realized that from the tweeters of my B&W 802D2, in the absence of a music signal, a noise could be heard (2.5 meters away) strange, like the audio of a digital communication !! In short, after long phone calls with the dealer and a month of wasted time, I get a second copy that is used and with cosmetic defects, but which continues to have the defect complained of in the first AVR, so after dozens of phone calls and losing the 10% of the initial value I get a refund of the expense made. ANTHEM .... never see us again !! Now for the HT part I have a MARANTZ AV8805, very quiet (as it normally should be) and of which I am very happy. I am attaching an image of how the plant was in 2018.View attachment 111012

Nice system. What's that old Marantz down there? I had a similar model 20 years ago, and put it up on CL for $20 when one channel died. Given that I got 10 responses in the first minute, maybe I should have asked for more.

 

[Koeitje]

Anthem just released newer versions - AVM 90 and 70 - at $7,000 and $3,500 respectively. Perhaps these new units perform better . . . perhaps not. Would be great to see measurements to find out.

Probably not, I don't see any reason why it would.

 

[DuncanTodd]

That's why to them the more expensive boutique brand audio products sound more musical, night and day difference/better etc., without the need of doing it blind, because of the "beliefs". Measurements won't change their mind because they know full well that there are things that can't be measured

Can't that sound superiority owners feel they notice, be a result of the advanced calibration system? A lot of people would buy these over something else to get the ARC calibration system which is considered to be far superior to Audessey. After all one of the main uses (if not thee main) is for HT.

 

[DuncanTodd]

Based on above measurements, we have one broken AV Processor. Performance across the board struggles to clear 15 bits yet we have this marketing information from the company

Thanks for the review.
I might be asking something silly here, I'm as far from an expert as can be. What does the unit display reports when it's fed with a 24bit? I guess it's possible it uses the meta from whatever the source is reporting?
One of the reasons I'm asking is that new owners of the AVM70 mentioned the display is reporting 16bit on 24bit sources.
e.g:
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/official-anthem-avm-70-90-owners-thread.3181385/post-60481435
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/official-anthem-avm-70-90-owners-thread.3181385/post-60481326

 

[Bear123]

Can't that sound superiority owners feel they notice, be a result of the advanced calibration system? A lot of people would buy these over something else to get the ARC calibration system which is considered to be far superior to Audessey. After all one of the main uses (if not thee main) is for HT.

There are indeed subjective opinions that ARC is better than Audyssey to go along with subjective opinions that Anthem is of higher fidelity. The objective data I've seen doesn't support this. I've seen evidence that Audyssey may be better than ARC. One glaring, basically completely broken aspect of ARC is that it does not properly integrate subs with speakers and results in poor response around crossover. This alone makes Audyssey much better objectively. If I'm not mistaken, the newest implementations of ARC on certain models is capable of competent subwoofer integration.

 

[DuncanTodd]

There are indeed subjective opinions that ARC is better than Audyssey to go along with subjective opinions that Anthem is of higher fidelity. The objective data I've seen doesn't support this. I've seen evidence that Audyssey may be better than ARC. One glaring, basically completely broken aspect of ARC is that it does not properly integrate subs with speakers and results in poor response around crossover. This alone makes Audyssey much better objectively. If I'm not mistaken, the newest implementations of ARC on certain models is capable of competent subwoofer integration.

Like you say it's a lot of subjective input from users. The fact that Anthem has a more advanced WebUI with more tweaks than AUD and a more serious mic vs a hockey puck probably contributes too. The AUD app along with people who are versed with REW might be narrowing whatever gap there is there.
The new ARC will be able to do more stuff with subs but it doesn't yet. The dual sub calibration is still not operational.

 

[respice finem]

...I think there's some good potential in headphone & virtualisation technology if it can be done easy enough...Would also cut down on living room clutter...I think companies should look heavily into developing this kind of technology.

Some already do (JVC and JBL), JVC had released a product this year, I can only say something about it when I've heard one. If that works, it would be my "endgame" surround solution, and I would then really revert back to stereo for music. Apart from room-related issues, there are relatively few well-made surround music productions, despite surround availability for many years now, and audio in movies is typically not that much about hi-fi IMHO, simply because nobody can tell exactly what would be the "right" sound, say, in a car race

 

[HT Upgradeitus]

I am a huge fan of Amir's reviews and the Audio Science Review testing methodology and thoroughness.

I also have a severe case of Corona virus inspired home theater upgradeitus, I was really looking forward to one of Amir's reviews of the new AVM70/AVM90 before pulling the trigger on my aging Rotel kit.

This Anthem AVM60 review (autopsy of this unit) comes the week of the highly anticipated release of the new AVM70 and soon to be released in March the AVM90 and leaves me thinking...On paper, the AVM 70 looks really promising, but we all need an AVM 70 review to see how it performs on the test bench.

Anthem is not a big box brand and appears to work really hard to bring Audiophile sound to us home theater fans at fair prices. I would love to know how the Anthem's sound from experienced ears in your HT setup. Does anyone have first hand experience on how the Anthem AVM 60 or AVM70 sound vs Marantz AV8805 vs Krell Foundation?

It would be great if Amir can get an AVM 70/90 ASAP to do a followup to this AVM 60 review to see if this AVM 60 was truly a fluke.

Let's hope this AVM 60 was a one-off bad apple. We all need gear with great specs and the mythical, Audiophile sound at a reasonable price we all crave.

I look forward to Amir's new unbiased reviews of the upcoming Anthem gear!

For now, it's time to clear my head and listen to an SACD of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon on my trusty Oppo BDP 105 and B&W's.

 

[BeepPeep_61]

Nice system. What's that old Marantz down there? I had a similar model 20 years ago, and put it up on CL for $20 when one channel died. Given that I got 10 responses in the first minute, maybe I should have asked for more.

It's a glorious Marantz 2220B synto-amp that I have owned since the 80's and I can't (don't want to) get rid of !!

 

[rccarguy]

Anthem guys in the online forums and Facebook groups are going to be furiously crafting excuses for this. The Anthem users are excessively aloof about their gear, typically posting a one word response, "Anthem", to everything.

Already happening, blaming amir's incompetence.

Replaying that arcam refuted his shoddy results (I don't think they did just simply saying ground loop issues?)

 

[Mike-48]

One glaring, basically completely broken aspect of ARC is that it does not properly integrate subs with speakers and results in poor response around crossover. This alone makes Audyssey much better objectively. If I'm not mistaken, the newest implementations of ARC on certain models is capable of competent subwoofer integration.

You seem to be talking about automatic phase/delay/distance adjustment. Yes, the newer Anthem processors are supposed to do it, and I can confirm that it works well on the STR preamp. Still, I would not characterize the overall quality of a DRC system solely by the presence or absence of this feature, which though desirable, can be accomplished in other ways.