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Anthem AVM60 Review (AV Processor)

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amirm

amirm

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@cbrents73 can you get Anthem`s engineers to comment these measurements?
Forget commenting on my measurements. Get them to publish their own. When I looked, I could not even find a one line measurement of any sort for this processor. Has anyone seen any?
 
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Did someone send Amir a messed up unit to review?- does anyone else find the timing of the AVM 60, a 4 year old product's review unusual just 2 days after its successor the AVM 70's release this week?
Only if you believe in alien abductions along with that. :)

This unit was shipped to me on December 28th. I usually review products in 4 to 6 weeks from the time they get to me so here we are. The owner has had it for two years. There is more to it that would bust your theory but I don't want to disclose information without getting his permission first.
 

LTig

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Forget commenting on my measurements. Get them to publish their own. When I looked, I could not even find a one line measurement of any sort for this processor. Has anyone seen any?
I've found few specs here:

Maximum Output (<0.1% THD): 8.4 Vrms, subwoofer channel 9.9 Vrms
Frequency Response (2 Vrms output): 10 Hz — 35 kHz (+0, -0.25 dB)
Frequency Response, Analog-Direct (2 Vrms output): 10 Hz — 80 kHz (+0, -0.25 dB)
THD+N (2 Vrms output): -95 dB
S/N Ratio (2 Vrms output, IEC-A filter): 110 dB

I'd say 0.003% measured is better than 0.1% specced. But THD+N is 10 dB worse measured, and I think S/N may also be worse despite specced using an A filter.
 

LTig

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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.
No specs published so far, neither on the home page nor in the manual (PDF download). Maybe they wait until @amirm measures them... :D
 

beagleman

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Yeah, this unit is a steaming pile of garbage.

I was considering a Pre/Pro for my system since I am using a Denon X3600 and out board amps already. I always thought of Anthem as high end but apparently they are not. I almost bought their 5 channel amp last year until i found a used Parasound much cheaper. Good thing I didn't.


I am not even defending this, as I could not care less about this product......

But are you basing it on having used and listened to it, or just from 30 seconds of skimming some tests on this forum?

Asking seriously, and no I am not some subjective means all person by any means, but I keep seeing these wild "Declarations" about anything that is deemed less than stellar on this site??

I have not been here all "That long"< but getting a feeling of, everything is either Great or Junk.
I mean it takes away credibility of the site, when there is no in between, and everything looks to be based almost totally on a few measurements, and virtually zero on subjective listening.
 

Aerith Gainsborough

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I have not been here all "That long"< but getting a feeling of, everything is either Great or Junk.
I mean it takes away credibility of the site, when there is no in between, and everything looks to be based almost totally on a few measurements, and virtually zero on subjective listening.
Well to be fair: if the flaws are as obvious as in this case, there really is no "in between".

I mean this thing is just flat out broken. So broken that I wonder if the unit is defective or whether that kind of performance is the norm for these devices.

I don't know how much of it is actually audible in real world scenarios but still, for 3000 currency units, this is simply put: horrifying.
 

rccarguy

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I am not even defending this, as I could not care less about this product......

But are you basing it on having used and listened to it, or just from 30 seconds of skimming some tests on this forum?

Asking seriously, and no I am not some subjective means all person by any means, but I keep seeing these wild "Declarations" about anything that is deemed less than stellar on this site??

I have not been here all "That long"< but getting a feeling of, everything is either Great or Junk.
I mean it takes away credibility of the site, when there is no in between, and everything looks to be based almost totally on a few measurements, and virtually zero on subjective listening.

Ideally I'd like whether best rated and worst rated devices actually makes a audible difference.

Disable room eq.
 

bigguyca

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Consider monoprice htp-1?

After a year the HTP-1 has resolved many of its issues. There are still software issues however. On the hardware side, the DAC to analog output board needs a redesign to achieve both higher output, and lower noise and distortion. Clearly the HTP-1 beats the Arcam/JBL/Anthem alternatives, but that is a very low bar.
 

dmilller

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Timely review and like a few other members, I am in the market for an upgraded Pre-Pro for a 5.1 home theater system with option to eventually upgrade to 5.2.2. I had my eye on the Anthem AVM70, but this has given me pause. Maybe I do go with one of the higher end Denon receivers and just bypass the built in amplifier?

Why high end? Will high end Denon sound better than the X3700H?
 

bigguyca

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@amirm Any chance you could test the RCA outputs? I think these are single ended conversion XLR outputs so you may see better performance on the RCAs. (Same applies to Marantz and Arcam)

Why you believe the RCA's on the Marantz AV's (AV8805, AV7706) may have better performance?

Pin 1 on the XLR output is the same as ground on the RCA output. Pin 2 on the XLR is the same has the center/hot conductor on the RCA's. Pin 3 is not connected. There is no intermediate active circuitry.

There may be higher value inline resistors in the RCA output, which provides a somewhat higher output impedance, which is not a good thing.
 

beagleman

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Well to be fair: if the flaws are as obvious as in this case, there really is no "in between".

I mean this thing is just flat out broken. So broken that I wonder if the unit is defective or whether that kind of performance is the norm for these devices.

I don't know how much of it is actually audible in real world scenarios but still, for 3000 currency units, this is simply put: horrifying.


Perhaps in the case, you are correct, but I've seen many similar comments on other devices, where there was no obvious flaw.
 
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amirm

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THD+N (2 Vrms output): -95 dB
Then we are not far at all from what they are stating. I got 90 dB and their number may be a-weighted or something.

S/N Ratio (2 Vrms output, IEC-A filter): 110 dB
This one definitely has a-weighting which improves this spec fair bit. I can try and see what I get.
 
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amirm

amirm

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I have not been here all "That long"< but getting a feeling of, everything is either Great or Junk.
Not at all. I actually rate performance of DACs in four distinct buckets/colors:

index.php


No AVR/AVP has achieved the highest grade (blue) but as you see, they do spread from red to green. This processor is just above "Poor" grade (red) and when combined with its high price, it gets angry comments. This is a purely objective stance with little wiggle room.

My "panther" ratings are also variable and not just poor or great.
 

SnoopKatt

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I am not even defending this, as I could not care less about this product......

But are you basing it on having used and listened to it, or just from 30 seconds of skimming some tests on this forum?

Asking seriously, and no I am not some subjective means all person by any means, but I keep seeing these wild "Declarations" about anything that is deemed less than stellar on this site??

I have not been here all "That long"< but getting a feeling of, everything is either Great or Junk.
I mean it takes away credibility of the site, when there is no in between, and everything looks to be based almost totally on a few measurements, and virtually zero on subjective listening.
I do see where you're coming from, but I think the site's content is generally presented in a fair manner, where the reviewer (usually amirn) takes some interesting measurements, and then comes up with a conclusion which is usually driven somewhat by listening and subjective opinion. He has a lot of reviews with in-between results, if you search his post history.

In general, a lot of reviews are interpreted as either "great or garbage". I remember an article from GameSpot around 20 years ago where they were clarifying that their scores under 8.0/10 didn't mean the games sucked, just that they fall shy of excellent video games. It was an issue before, and I think that reader bias is always going to be present.

Audio equipment is only getting better each year, which also means the bar is constantly getting raised for each price range. Once a good product gets bested, people are unfortunately quick to call the prior item "garbage". If the replacement is better in every way, then it's likely foolish to spend your money on the inferior product, but not fair to call it "garbage" either.

But to be fair to the comment that you quoted, this receiver measured incredibly poorly relative to solutions even 1/10th of the price. "Garbage" is a strong term but these measurements have me strongly convinced to spend my money otherwise.
 

Vasr

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I have not been here all "That long"< but getting a feeling of, everything is either Great or Junk.
You have to understand that for a lot of people these measurements are a spectator sport (either because they are not in that target market or their own team isn't playing). Designating winner or loser is the norm (and satisfying) in such situations.

Then there are some "crabs in the bucket" with a brand tattooed on them. ;)

My "panther" ratings are also variable and not just poor or great.
Allbeit with a very poor resolution (say from one of 10 features not up to standards to all 10 features broken, for example) :)
 
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amirm

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Top views of the internals.
Thanks for posting that. I can't believe companies still layout these traces incorrectly:

1612738671087.png


Those traces must be equal length. The inside ones are shorter than outside ones causing skew errors (timing differences). Some of these HDMI ports are going to have worse performance/compatibility than others because of this.
 
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amirm

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Allbeit with a very poor resolution (say from one of 10 features not up to standards to all 10 features broken, for example) :)
??? Clearly not the case here. There is almost no measurement that one could be proud of.
 

sarumbear

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vlad335

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I am not even defending this, as I could not care less about this product......

But are you basing it on having used and listened to it, or just from 30 seconds of skimming some tests on this forum?

Asking seriously, and no I am not some subjective means all person by any means, but I keep seeing these wild "Declarations" about anything that is deemed less than stellar on this site??

I have not been here all "That long"< but getting a feeling of, everything is either Great or Junk.
I mean it takes away credibility of the site, when there is no in between, and everything looks to be based almost totally on a few measurements, and virtually zero on subjective listening.

I haven't been here that long as well but I am/was in the market for a processor.

Ok, my statement was over the top but mostly because I could have paid F'in 3 grand for this. Thank God for Amir and this site.

AV processors are supposed to be better than AVR's since there is no amplification and one would think the company could concentrate on quality sound reproduction. This unit sucks!

Apparently Anthem is just mailing it in and coasting on their reputation.
 
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