Why compare wattage ratings at different impedance? The rating for 5ch, but only 2ch driven, at 6 ohm may be 170, but the 8 ohm rating is only 140. Not particularly impressive for lower impedance in any case. Depends on distances/sensitivity of surround speakers as to whether this amp setup makes sense, as well as the type of content/sound mode you use.
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Audioholics Measurements and review of Anthem MRX 1140 and 740 AVRs
- Thread starter Beershaun
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Yes. All the amp channels are completely assignable. It's very flexible. Yes you can assign the front channels to height speakers. Yes that's a fine idea.
ryaneagon
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Thank you, sir!
ryaneagon
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This wasn't a complete post. I will be driving front LCR speakers that are 4ohm rated, sometimes dipping below 4. (Polk R700 front, Polk L400 Center) I'm fairly certain the MRX-740 would be able to drive these, although I would like to use an external 3-channel amp to take a bit of pressure off the 740, and being that the fronts roll off around 40hz and the center starts around 50 Hz, but also usable bass response down to nearly 40 Hz because of room gain. I have them both set to 50hz and for my taste and my room, they sound really good with my current AVR. My rears and atmos speakers are a Polk r900 which is an easy-to-drive speaker, recommended power is 45-100 watts. Being 2 of these speakers will be limited to 65 watts I was wondering if this would be okay or not. Guess, I won't really know until I get the AVR and test it in my room.
Although, I think I'm going to go the MRX-1140 route, as I would like the option of independent subwoofers and configurations. I'd be able to run all 5.2.4 and use 2 extra channels to bi-amp the fronts. Granted, this will most likely not take a huge load off the AVR I think It'll be okay, my room is fairly small and I won't be driving these speakers anywhere near there limits. If I find the performance not up to my standards I'll drop in a power 2-channel amplifier.
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Small room, seating distance less than 4m, listening to 10 dB below reference level, the avr amps should do okay, afterwise get an external 300 W*3 amp.
No avrs are truly rated for 4 ohm loads without providing that almost useless impedance setting feature to cover their r.e.
Yep, the original has an AKM ( I own the AKM) they shipped later with an ESS.
Dang! Do we have any measurements of the ESS based units? Also do we know which ESS DAC is being used?
There are some copied emails in the AVS forums under 740/1140 owners threads, I didn't link to the direct just a bookmark I have:
Grrr...was it really that hard for Anthem to go for the better ESS DACs on the 1140 - like maybe spend $75 more on the DAC for a receiver that they sell for $4,000+...
Anyway looks like the best value right now for clean preamp output from the receivers is perhaps the Integra DRX 8.4/Pioneer VSX 805/ RZ70.
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- #71
I would not switch due to just the DAC being ess. I'm sure the DAC is not the limiting factor and that it still meets the advertised specs. Anthem has one of the better pre amp sections in this price range and the rest of it's features are solid and reliable.
MacCali
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Please remember, objective research shows that multi channel audio is far more difficult to blind test. When you try to double blind test movies I figure or music from multiple “source points” ie more than 2, it’s harder to differentiate which unit is best.
However on stereo it’s the opposite, probably something to do with psychoacoustics.
If you plan to buy an AVR or processor for mixed use, and depend on it for stereo that’s where the objective performance comes into play. Which in my opinion includes both the dac and amps for multichannel.
That’s what I got from Floyd Toole’s research. Please correct me if I misinterpreted this information.
Also, I may add that I’m not certain what roles Dolby trueHD and lossless multi channel formats play in comparison to objective performance. But my old main AVR had a performance of less than 96 db, which is CD standard for absolute clarity, and when trueHD format was in use it still sounded substantially better. *Unsure if lossless mch is actually CD grade output, if it ain’t than this doesn’t matter either. Also note, not all physical media comes with Dolby TrueHD or lossless formats.
So with that in mind buy what you need based more based on how many channels are needed processed or active amplification and other utility cases, decoding, etc
I agreed with others that the DAC chip itself wouldn't be the weak link anyway because there are other chips in the signal path, such as the very important volume control chip and the opamps. The ES9010K2M chip used in the MRX series are not ESS's reference class, but it does have specs comparable to the AKM4458 used in previous MRX series and even in the AVM60, before Anthem switched to ESS. Regardless, based on Audioholics.com's review, you can expect THD+N comparable to that of the $7,500 (list price) AVM90, and much better than that of the AVM60 (a so called separate) so I think the DAC chip is not really not much of a concern.
The bigger concern might be the single subout channel (there are two, but that's one same channel), if you need two discrete sub channel, you have to go with the MRX1140.
In terms of overall value, the Denon AVR-X6800H may be a good alternative, if the DAC chip is still important to you, because the Denon got the ES9017, that is still not ESS's reference class, but it isn't far behind in terms of specs, much better than the AKM4458's. The Denon also has 4 subouts (discrete) and the paid option to use Dirac Live Bass Control, that, in my experience, is much more effective than Anthem's, though that's based on my own measurements/graphs, not by ears so on that, definitely on ommv basis only.
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Was the Audioholics review not based on the older AKM DACs? (or did Audioholics test with the latest ESS DAC being used?)
Also, good to know about the Denon using the ES9017. Looks like (from a different thread), you may be yourself wanting to purchase the 6800H. Any thoughts on the 6800H vs the Integra DRX 8.4?
My primary objective for this setup is going to be music (66%) listening which can double up for movies (33%). Planning to use the receiver coupled to the NAD M23 for the FL/FR and a HSU sealed sub.
I don't know that for sure, but I would bet the tested unit, done in 2022, would most likely has the ESS, model ES9010K2M. The shortage of the AKM chip would have been serious by then, as D+M, Onkyo would have switched away from the AK4458 long ago.
Regardless, the specs of the AK4458 and the ES9010K2M are incredibly close so I see no reason why they would perform much different on the test benches.
SINAD: AK4458..107 dB, vs ES9010 K2M's 106 dB, and for SNR: AK4458's 115 dB, vs ES9010 K2M's 116 dB.
If that's not enough, take a look of ASR's measurements on the two versions, based on the two AV8805 Amir measured, most of the measured metrics such as SINAD, were almost the same. In his conclusions, Amir commented:
Note in that case, the ESS chip was compared against the AK4490 not the AK4458 that is a notch below.
I have the Anthem already, otherwise yes I might have chosen the Denon, because I prefer Audyssey/Dirac Live, though just slightly. Between the Denon and Integra, that could be tough, but I probably would go with Denon because of my previous experience with D+M AVRs/AVPs. The DRX would have stronger power amp section, but I use ext. amps.
MacCali
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Yea honestly if you search you maybe able to find other ways to achieve this. If you are not going to have 5 speakers I am uncertain how a receivers decoding will benefit you for movies in stereo config, and clearly nothing for music.
A lot of people on here tinker with different equipment to make home theater for multi channel and subs with no receiver involved.
Also, if you are using that amp you are basically going to bottleneck the performance by using an inferior dac. Even though I don’t think it will be by a lot I am unaware what the anthem produces in performance. Will check now and take a look to see where it lands and edit this post if needed.
Edit: From Amir’s measurements the 1140 would be the one you would need to get. I don’t see a voltage chart showing sinad by output or maybe I missed it scrolling through. But basically at full volume which would terrorize your ears it’s basically 93 db. I believe at 5 watts or 1 watt the m23 is 94db if my memory servers me correct.
I don’t know it’s solely up to you, what you can afford, but since you’re already in the trenches of legit high fidelity I wouldn’t put something that MAY hinder the performance. Whether it’s noticeable or not I don’t know.
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- Thread Starter
- #78
Are you setting up just a 2.1 system? If so I would definitely not use an AVR. I think there are now more modern hifi audio focused set ups like the NAD m33 or minidsp flex, wiim amp etc. you will get things like HDMI in and subwoofer out with room correction.
- Thread Starter
- #79
I don't believe Amir has reviewed the 1140. Check out Genes review on Audiohaulics for the voltage sinad chart.
MacCali
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Yes my apologies, just double checked and it’s the 1120. The 740 should be fine unless there’s been changes as it produces 108 db sinad at 2 volts @tmukh.
But still as pointed out above there’s plenty of ways to get what you need. If you ever want to upgrade to more channels in the future rather than blow your money on a new AVR you can buy an older unit that doesn’t have as many of the newer codecs and purchase that standalone decoder Amir tested that’s only a couple 100
