Anthem AVM60 Review (AV Processor)

[Vasr]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's questionable to test a unit without first ensuring that current firmware is installed. Testing broken or non updated units might stir up some excitement, but I don't thank excitement is a good reason to measure.

There is an additional complexity in devices like this in that the default settings may not be uniform across brands and it takes a lot of effort to figure out how to enable/disable settings to get them to the same known state for testing (otherwise, it would be apples and oranges). This is a practical problem for Amir to do on his own.

One solution would be to crowd-source this before testing (especially for complex devices). Publish the list of specific conditions that will be tested for any such device and have a pre-testing thread a week or two before that will let owners or others who are aware of the use post the exact settings and caveats to get to that desired state of direct mode or path or combination of settings or whatever. I think this will save a lot of time for Amir to figure out things on his own if something isn't working the way it should.

 

[peng]

Guys, i contacted Anthem after seeing this review. They responded me back and they said:

We have seen this AP report and comparing it to an AP test we did on a random unit in January, something is not right. The AVM60 measures better than the 1120.

They will be in contact with @amirm ! So before cursing this unit/brand to hell let´s see what follows up!

Shouldn't they also contact HTHF then? Do you mind sending your Anthem contact the links to HTHF's reviews too? As I mentioned before, their measurements were consistent with Amir's. In fact if you compared the following seemingly apples to apples tests, the results seem very comparable.

Unless I read it wrong, that's possible I guess, but if I read it right, HTHF's measurements for the AVM60 and MRX1120 were very comparable though strictly speaking the MRX1120 measured slightly better. That's in addition to being very similar to Amir's.

From the graphs, I can see that the THD+N were:

-88.8 dB for the MRX and -86.78 dB for the AVM,

So Amir's -90.5 dB was actually a little better.

To be clear, I have no concern with even 85 dB SINAD for the pre out, but I just want to highlight the fact that ASR's measurement results didn't seem to be that different from another independent review/bench tests, that is hometheaterhifi's, as far as I know theirs were done with the involvement of Dr. Rich who is a PhD in EE, as well as an electrical engineer.

I have to wonder, if Anthem's results were significantly better (we don't know yet obviously) then who do we believe, or perhaps we should then question their protocol? We already know they also use the AP (at least apparently).

Anthem AVM 60 Preamplifier Processor Review - HomeTheaterHifi.com
Anthem MRX 1120 A/V Receiver Review - HomeTheaterHifi.com

 

[amirm]

FYI Anthem has kindly contacted me. I am following up. Nothing else to report.

 

[peng]

FYI Anthem has kindly contacted me. I am following up. Nothing else to report.

Amir, in your analog tests on the AVM60, do I assume it was in direct mode so the signal did not get routed through the ADC/DAC blocks?
Also, in the HDMI input tests, did you ensure all DSP/ARC etc., were all off, I asked because at least someone mentioned that as a possible scenario and I thought only you know the answer. Thank you.

 

[amirm]

On the point of testing "broken" devices, I never publish a review if that is the case in my view. A number of times I have aborted testing products because they simply failed or did not function. When I do provide a test and review, it means I have high confidence that the device is not broken and is functioning as it should to best of my knowledge. While I could not get the Toslink/Coax working in AVM60, those are different subsystems than the inputs I did test (HDMI and analog). I see no indication that there is a functionality fault in that path. With stereo devices, we have redundancy where we can see if one channel is much worse than another. Such is not the case here.

While a device could still be "broken," I wanted to be clear that based on years of repairing electronic devices, I rule out anything that could be obvious to me in this regard.

 

[amirm]

Amir, in your analog tests on the AVM60, do I assume it was in direct mode so the signal did not get routed through the ADC/DAC blocks?

I will have to check. This was a quick test as I am anxious to send this back to its owner.

Also, in the HDMI input tests, did you ensure all DSP/ARC etc., were all off, I asked because at least someone mentioned that as a possible scenario and I thought only you know the answer. Thank you.

I did check for these but will double check before shipping the unit off. I did set crossover to off and distinctly remember ARC being off. But again, I will check one more time.

 

[SimpleTheater]

Cleary as I pointed out something is not right as the entry level MRX520 outperformed the flagship AVM60 per SINAD. I'm surprised it took so long and no one caught on, as the review mentioned the MRX1120 which is their top AVR scored higher.

Considering Denon's perform better than Marantz (and Sound United confirmed), I don't think anyone on this site would catch this as surprising.

 

[peng]

I'm doubtful that he disabled them as they are not clearly defined as that and you have to configure each input manually to do so. It would require more time to do that and test different scenarios. He indicated in the beginning of this review that he only ran the factory defaults. I'm sure he changed any other setting he would have mentioned it.

Anthem defaults to process room correction on the digital and analog signals by default and 2 channel analog signals are default to upmix which is not an equivalent to direct mode as there is no "Direct Mode" on Anthem. One would have to have knowledge of the product to defeat it. I pointed this out to Amir when he tested the MRX520 and he retested it later in the review and obtained better results. And he typically does not test analog inputs or unbalanced outputs on this or all AVR/preamp reviews. Nor does he look to show the best use case. Typically he leans to showing the worst case scenario of performance which is contrary to other reviewers like HTHI. It would be interesting if he still had it to see more thorough testing since its possible it could outperform the fan favorite Denon in it's factory default config which is audyssey processing off.

Fair enough, great points, but only Amir knows for sure (I assume..) so I asked him the question and hopefully would get a response. As for the analog input test, he did it for the several Denon AVRs for sure but did not do it on the AVM, until it was requested, and then he published the result on page 8, in case you missed.

 

[Dj7675]

Cleary as I pointed out something is not right as the entry level MRX520 outperformed the flagship AVM60 per SINAD. I'm surprised it took so long and no one caught on, as the review mentioned the MRX1120 which is their top AVR scored higher.

Certainly could be the case for sure. But the correlation between price and performance isn't really that great. More expensive models don't necessarily measure better. It is a bit of apples to oranges comparison, but for example take the x3700 vs either the Marantz 7705 or 8805. It just seems like there aren't a lot of hard and fast rules in regards to price/performance even when comparing receivers with processors.

 

[peng]

Considering Denon's perform better than Marantz (and Sound United confirmed), I don't think anyone on this site would catch this as surprising.

That sounds logical. I would add that since Anthem seems to have the same pramp/DAC section for their AVR lines and the AVM60 except the balanced section, it is understandable the MRX520 could do better as it might have the same vol control and DAC ICs, the parts that contribute a lot to the pre out SINAD, but it may not have the same complexity such as additional switches, relays etc., and the XLR circuitry. It also has less channels to overall it is conceivable for it to have lower noise, or even distortions, than the higher end brothers and cousins. Just educated guess, could be all wrong.

 

[Vasr]

Shouldn't they also contact HTHF then? Do you mind sending your Anthem contact the links to HTHF's reviews too? As I mentioned before, their measurements were consistent with Amir's. In fact if you compared the following seemingly apples to apples tests, the results seem very comparable.

Unless I read it wrong, that's possible I guess, but if I read it right, HTHF's measurements for the AVM60 and MRX1120 were very comparable though strictly speaking the MRX1120 measured slightly better. That's in addition to being very similar to Amir's.

I think you should hold off until Anthem and Amir figure this out without confusing the issue with more noise thrown in. It is difficult to compare the two sites measurements without complete information of the conditions. The inputs at HTHF for the AVM 60 and MRX1120 were slightly different in signal level and output levels.

HTHF is feeding 16 bit samples. Is Amir feeding 24 bit or 16 bit samples? So, instead of getting further into this issue of possibly comparing apples and oranges with partial information, just let Amir and Anthem figure this one out hopefully like he did with Denon and see what comes out.

 

[Vasr]

I will have to check. This was a quick test as I am anxious to send this back to its owner.

The exact setting appears to be called "Process Analog Input" which should be set to off.

 

[Vasr]

Considering Denon's perform better than Marantz (and Sound United confirmed), I don't think anyone on this site would catch this as surprising.

This is more like Denon's higher end unit performing worse than their lower level AVR. This is what happened with the 4700 (?) which was subsequently resolved, yes?

 

[peng]

I think you should hold off until Anthem and Amir figure this out without confusing the issue with more noise thrown in. It is difficult to compare the two sites measurements without complete information of the conditions. The inputs at HTHF for the AVM 60 and MRX1120 were slightly different in signal level and output levels.

HTHF is feeding 16 bit samples. Is Amir feeding 24 bit or 16 bit samples? So, instead of getting further into this issue of possibly comparing apples and oranges with partial information, just let Amir and Anthem figure this one out hopefully like he did with Denon and see what comes out.

Points taken, when I posted mine I did not see Amir's update on making contact with Anthem. Regarding the difference in protocols, yes I noticed the difference, that's why I picked the ones that were most comparable, and my key point has more to do with the MRX1120 vs AVM60's, both were measured by the same gang over at HTHF. So I do take exception to your point about confusing the issue, not true unless taken out of context. As always, no problem agreeing to disagree, and move on.

 

[amirm]

As for the analog input test, he did it for the several Denon AVRs for sure but did not do it on the AVM, until it was requested, and then he published the result on page 8, in case you missed.

A bit on this. With AVRs I like to test the amplifier independent of upstream processing so always test the analog input. Processors don't have amplifiers so I don't bother testing for that. I treat them like DACs with digital input.

 

[amirm]

HTHF is feeding 16 bit samples. Is Amir feeding 24 bit or 16 bit samples?

All my testing is with 24-bit samples.

 

[BeepPeep_61]

May I ask why you replaced the MX119?

Because the MX119 used in HT mode only has 5 + 1 channels while my current speaker setup has 11 channels expandable up to 13. I repeat that the defect I mentioned, seemed like a spurious injection of the digital sector into the XLR preamplifier. In desperation, I also opened the second unit that they had sent me and I disconnected the blue color card where the WiFi RF modules are present, but the audio sizzle was always present and perfectly listenable at 2.5 meters away with the AVM60 volume at -10 !!

 

[DuncanTodd]

Another stupid/novice question: Can firmware updates improve the measured results or is that purely a hardware thing?

 

[LTig]

Another stupid/novice question: Can firmware updates improve the measured results or is that purely a hardware thing?

It depends on what's broken. A noisy output stage can't be fixed by firmware, truncating 24 bit to 16 bit without dither can (less THD).

 

[amirm]

I just checked and for both analog and HDMI input the mode button says, "None." For some reason, setup button no longer brings up the menus. I am going to pack the thing now and send it to its owner.....