I'm still enjoying the MRX 740 and yet to hear any fan noise. I went with the Anthem after trying both Denon and Arcam. The Denon was returned because I just didn't think it sounded very good. Lacked any dynamics and sounded flat in my system. This was despite investing in the MultEQ app to try to help things. The Arcam had a serious bug that affected the way it operated in my system in that it would not pass LFE to the front speakers when set to Large. Arcan Support confirmed the bug, but could not give any estimate on when it would be fixed in firmware, so it was also returned. It did sound far more dynamic than the Denon during testing though.
The Anthem worked straight out of the box. It sounds far better with both movies and music. Especially noticeable on Concert Blu Rays, which I actually have more of than movies, so this was very important to me. For stereo music, it sounds very good too, but in such cases, I usually listen direct from my Lyngdorf TDAi 3400, which is better still and has my FL & FR speakers connected to it along with my subwoofer. So for stereo, yes I tested the Anthem, as I did with the others, but although the Anthem sounded the best in my opinion, it wouldn't have been a deal breaker due to the Lyngdorf being in circuit.
On a non-sound aspect, I've also found the Anthem to have a fast strat-up and is super flexible in use. ARCg can actually be used in conjunction with Lyngdorf's Room Perfect correction system, which is a first as Audyssey and Dirac caused phase issues. The front display is much better on the Anthem too as it is very clear from my seating position, although the Arcam was very good too.
Hope this helps.
Steve