So far, the fan is absolutely silent. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
This thing is full of bugs out of the box, and you need an Ethernet cable to connect to the receiver. I did most of the set up in my main-floor office, as I don’t have an Ethernet connection in the basement where this receiver will go. That part is ridiculously frustrating. It’s just damn maddening.
Seriously Anthem, stop being so stubborn and stupid - and allow the adjustments to be made using an on a TV menu system like every other receiver. This silliness doesn’t make your receiver special - it makes it exceedingly frustrating. Or at the very least, allow your receiver to locate and connect to a wifi signal without jumping through an unnecessary hoops. I need Google Home App to do this? Really? F-Google.
Anyway….
When I was connected to the Ethernet port, I was able to access the webpage adjustments on my Mac Studio, and told the computer to search for updates. Not much happened, and I couldn’t get Bluetooth nor wifi to work. Like…they weren’t showing up at all (not connected).
Spent a good half hour with a Crutchfield tech person to no resolve, so he’s going to contact Anthem on Tuesday, and get back to me.
So…I shut the receiver off, and powered it back on, and a whole bunch of items began downloading and updating. Felt like it took a good 7-8 minutes. When it was finished, wifi showed up, as well as Bluetooth. I went into my basement, grabbed all of my measurements to the speakers, entered them on my Anthem Web App, took the reciever to the basement, plugged it in and set up the speaker and HDMI cables. Played it for a moment to make sure it was working, and voila. It’s up and running. Then I ran out with the family to have some fun at the Milwaukee Sports Show.
….I’ve been playing with the receiver this morning, haven’t futzed with ARC yet, just using my remote and fine tuning it by ear to my liking (for now) until Crutchfield gets back to me. Wifi still doesn’t work from the basement — says “not connected”. ffffffffuuuuuuuudge!
This thing is ridiculously frustrating, and as I’ve been watching a bunch of familiar movie scenes and listening to music over the past couple of hours, I really want to hate this thing so I have an excuse to send it back, and just get the old reliable Denon. I already have the x2600H, which is moving to the main floor living room to replace an 18 year old Denon AVR3805. Kinda nice to be able to plug the HDMI cables into the receiver, and run one HDMI to the TV without switching cables. Oh. The living room TV is one of the last 60” Samsung plasma TV’s I could find a few years before OLED was released. So…we’re down to one working HDMI port on the TV — definitely needed an AVR upgrade for that TV. Anyway. Denon has been our old reliable for almost 20 years, and it would be so damn convenient to just send the Anthem back and get the x3800H…
But I can’t. As it is, even without ARC implemented yet, the sound on this Anthem is pretty damn stellar. Didn’t really expect this considering the review/measurements here. But damn, I’m glad I decided to bring it in and give it an in-home audition. You really need try the product before you can decide whether a product is not worthy - numbers don't tell you everything...