AVR Decisions - Anthem, Arcam, Denon, Yamaha...?

[DJ LP]

If I was buying probably anthem, however over here they're very expensive, also arc may be great but it doesn't set phase. Major short coming with that.

I hope they come out with an update to take care of phasing soon.

 

[DJ LP]

I have never corrected a speaker out of phase. Also, room correction have many out of phase warnings that are incorrect. Instructions say to ignore after confirm speakers wired correctly.

It could be of some help with subwoofer(s). That's what I want to use it for. My subs don't have a variable phase adjustment and I think I need that because I have an L shaped room.

 

[rccarguy]

It could be of some help with subwoofer(s). That's what I want to use it for. My subs don't have a variable phase adjustment and I think I need that because I have an L shaped room.

I believe the anthems do time adjustment, but the AVM60 doesn't

 

[DJ LP]

The new anthems str series measure timing, so sounds just like old hardware not compatible.

Getting sub timing is paramount that's why leave anthem until they get it right

I'm just joining the Anthem team with my purchase of the AVM70. I'm hoping they give an update that will measure phase, like the have done in STR series.

 

[DJ LP]

I believe the anthems do time adjustment, but the AVM60 doesn't

I've had my AVM70 for about a month now. I have to measure speaker distance myself and the unit will do the rest from there.

 

[rccarguy]

I've had my AVM70 for about a month now. I have to measure speaker distance myself and the unit will do the rest from there.

Wow really that's bad, from r £4000 product

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

It is pretty easy. I use a tape measure.

 

[Sal1950]

I'm just joining the Anthem team with my purchase of the AVM70. I'm hoping they give an update that will measure phase, like the have done in STR series.

It is pretty easy. I use a tape measure.

I still find that quite surprising. Even the cheapest AVR's have automated DRC software that handles that automagically?

 

[Newman]

…and they sometimes make mistakes.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

That is why you measure physically. Software measures distances inaccurately. I think Anthem will offer the measuring option for the tech crowd. If a Best Buy $300 AVR can do it internally, surely Anthem can match with outboard processing. Or, maybe they figured out not accurate.

 

[Sal1950]

…and they sometimes make mistakes.

Sure, and room reflections, etc; can sometimes upset the apple cart.
But it should be a fairly easy thing to do for a decent piece of software, including being better than a ruler if there is any latency at foot.
I have checked the results of Audyssey & Editor against the ruler and found it to be within a few inches, more than close enough for audio work.

 

[Toni71]

My not so expensive x3700h measures the distances pretty accurate with the software.

 

[Newman]

Doesn’t matter whether yours has so far managed to nail it accurately. The fact that they can’t be totally relied upon, simply means that pretty well everybody should be checking them anyways. So …..

 

[peng]

Doesn’t matter whether yours has so far managed to nail it accurately. The fact that they can’t be totally relied upon, simply means that pretty well everybody should be checking them anyways. So …..

Agreed but that seems to be a weird case. I have had quite a few D+M AVRs/AVPs and they all measured distance very accurately, practically to within 0.5 inch if and when I checked with a measuring tape. In some cases, the subwoofer distances could be out quite a bit depending on the room and/or placement and in such cases, it may be better to trust the REQ's measurements than the physical measurements by tapes, as often suggested by the manufacturers including subwoofer manufacturers such as SVS.

 

[Sal1950]

Doesn’t matter whether yours has so far managed to nail it accurately. The fact that they can’t be totally relied upon, simply means that pretty well everybody should be checking them anyways. So …..

How do I do a accurate measurement of my front sub when the couch is in the way between it and the MLP?
As peng mentioned, I've found modern Audyssey to give quite good results for both my subs.
Many times it's just as well to run with the software's numbers if they look in the ball park. Being accurate to the inch isn't really important anyway.

 

[Trell]

That is why you measure physically. Software measures distances inaccurately. I think Anthem will offer the measuring option for the tech crowd. If a Best Buy $300 AVR can do it internally, surely Anthem can match with outboard processing. Or, maybe they figured out not accurate.

The measurement tape will fail if you have any subwoofer connected to the pre-out as their DSP typically add a significant delay.

 

[Newman]

Well, it won’t *fail*. One could use it with perfect confidence.

The latency of a DSP sub is probably under 1 msec. Since an 80 Hz crossover has a cycle duration of 25 msec, the latency only adds about 15 degrees of phase error, which makes no practical difference to the summed response of the speaker and sub. Cos(15)=0.97

cheers

 

[Chrispy]

I think it's a bigger risk in some ways using a boutique brand....for this kind of gear I tend to stick with the big boys....

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

The measurement tape will fail if you have any subwoofer connected to the pre-out as their DSP typically add a significant delay.

I am sure Anthem hasn't figured that out.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

I think it's a bigger risk in some ways using a boutique brand....for this kind of gear I tend to stick with the big boys....

The big boys haven't done well with room correction. Dirac and Anthem are in another league. Disappointed with Audessey over the years.