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Review and Measurements of Anthem MRX 520 AVR

Tom C

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Could it be Amir is saying he is beginning to fear such an AVR does not exist? And that we cannot rely on the cartel of manufacturers to provide a satisfying unit? And that if we want a satisfying unit, we will have to cobble it together ourselves? If so, I couldn’t agree more with Amir’s statement.
 
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amirm

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Could it be Amir is saying he is beginning to fear such an AVR does not exist?
No, I was just responding to comments from people who have cut the cord. I and many others have multiple physical inputs and need a classic AVR/Processor. So I will keep looking, measuring buying gear until we have a full picture. On tap are another NAD processor, the Yamaha I have bought and a Denon.
 

BDWoody

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A company that is proud of its achievement would see this as an opportunity and ship one of their products to @amirm for review.

The "opportunity" is picking up on the vibe that AVRs are poor performers and getting their product noticed within an audio community that recognizes and respects high performance audio.


51-86SiEFML._SS500.jpg
 

GrimSurfer

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LOL. Songs from the 80s... I'm guessing this gal DIDN'T open for the Sex Pistols back in the day.
 

DubbyMcDubs

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Look forward to the Denon review!
 

audioBliss

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No, I was just responding to comments from people who have cut the cord. I and many others have multiple physical inputs and need a classic AVR/Processor. So I will keep looking, measuring buying gear until we have a full picture. On tap are another NAD processor, the Yamaha I have bought and a Denon.

Sounds good. I know I must be difficult but it would be so much easier if at least certain manufacturers actually believe in their product and send you products for review. The new Arcam/JBL Synthesis/Lexicon platform that was just released would be very interesting for example. Arcam AV40 might be the most interesting there. There is also the Monoprice HTP-1. But also higher end stuff like Trinnov Altitude and Datasat RS20i.
 

peng

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No, I was just responding to comments from people who have cut the cord. I and many others have multiple physical inputs and need a classic AVR/Processor. So I will keep looking, measuring buying gear until we have a full picture. On tap are another NAD processor, the Yamaha I have bought and a Denon.

I hope the Denon you have in the queue is an AVR-X3400H or newer. I compared that one to my separates when I had it for about 10 days. It sounded just as good to me using a Mojo and also the HA-1. So it measures as poor or worse then the NAD and Anthem, then I guess I am one of those who can get by with 0.08 to 0.1% THD+N of any kind.:D I don't listen now though, 80 dB average is already way too loud for me.
 

Vovgan

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I hope the Denon you have in the queue is an AVR-X3400H or newer. I compared that one to my separates when I had it for about 10 days. It sounded just as good to me using a Mojo and also the HA-1.

Yeah, I'm also looking forward to the Denon review and hope that it is an 4400 or newer! ; - )

My history with Denon: I bought a Denon 3400 a couple of years back and was surprised by how much better it sounded compared to the Sony which I had before. Then a year ago I bought Denon 4500 and it was a clear upgrade over 3400 in terms of perceived sound quality (especially as an amplifier, in "pure direct" mode, with a Chord Qutest working as a DAC). To me it sounded so good that I decided to replace it with Denon 6500, hoping that it will be at least incrementally better than 4500. Alas, 6500 sounds to me just the same, despite somewhat better components/design of the amplifier section.

Let’s see how close all the glowing (subjective listening) reviews of Denon's AVR's on WhatHiFi, avforums and trustedreviews are to the objective reality!
 
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speedy

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Look forward to the Denon review!

I hope the Denon you have in the queue is an AVR-X3400H or newer. I compared that one to my separates when I had it for about 10 days. It sounded just as good to me using a Mojo and also the HA-1. So it measures as poor or worse then the NAD and Anthem, then I guess I am one of those who can get by with 0.08 to 0.1% THD+N of any kind.:D I don't listen now though, 80 dB average is already way too loud for me.

Yeah, I'm also looking forward to the Denon review and hope that it is an 4400 or newer! ; - )

I wouldn't hold my breath expecting any current Denon to preform better than the Marantz AV8805: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...urements-of-marantz-av8805-av-processor.6926/

It would be incredible if it did perform better though... that would make a great argument for picking up the brand-new X3600H which is supposed to be very similar internally but supports 13-channels of processing (with pre-outs).

With that said, I think @amirm is going to review a AVR-X3500H.
 

BDWoody

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LOL. Songs from the 80s... I'm guessing this gal DIDN'T open for the Sex Pistols back in the day.

I think there were a lot of gals who 'opened' for the Sex Pistols...
 

peng

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I wouldn't hold my breath expecting any current Denon to preform better than the Marantz AV8805: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...urements-of-marantz-av8805-av-processor.6926/

It would be incredible if it did perform better though... that would make a great argument for picking up the brand-new X3600H which is supposed to be very similar internally but supports 13-channels of processing (with pre-outs).

With that said, I think @amirm is going to review a AVR-X3500H.

Agreed, but I dont expect the av8805 or the NAD M17 to sound better either, because it would be just incredible if either of those can do better than my 2 channel separates.
 
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amirm

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The owner was curious how the analog input on the MRX 520 performs since I measured that for the NAD M17 V2 processor. Which sadly did not perform well.

Anthem MRX 520 Analog Input Audio Measurements
Here is our dashboard view in unity gain (input = output):

Anthem MRX520 Home Theater AVR Analog Input Audio Measurements.png


That is 10 dB better noise and distortion performance than the NAD M17 V2! It is not that the SINAD of 84 dB is great but that the NAD's performance is so poor.

Crosstalk was neck and neck with NAD:
Anthem MRX520 Home Theater AVR Analog Input Crosstlak Audio Measurements.png


IMD distortion and noise was better as we would expect:
Anthem MRX520 Home Theater AVR Analog Input IMD Audio Measurements.png


I have shown it both with 0 dB volume and -4 dB I used for my other tests. Both are substantially better than NAD M17 V2 but again, way, way worse than desktop products.

Signal to noise ratio for unity gain is thus:

Anthem MRX520 Home Theater AVR Analog Input SNR Audio Measurements.png


So we can only clear 15 bits of dynamic range.

THD+N versus frequency was quite high but also had an oddity at the highest frequencies:
Anthem MRX520 Home Theater AVR Analog Input Frequency vs distortion Audio Measurements.png


So I ran a sequence of 1, 10 and 20 kHz to see what is going on:

Anthem MRX520 Home Theater AVR Analog Input FFT Audio Measurements.png


At 20 kHz, we a sudden rise in a tone above 75 kHz. I have not done the math but I suspect that may be an aliasing component due to weak filter at the sampling rate they use. So not an audible concern.

Speaking of sampling rate, here is the frequency response:

Anthem MRX520 Home Theater AVR Analog Input Frequency Response Audio Measurements.png


This is falling short of the NAD because there, I could set the sampling rate to 192 kHz. But it is not a practical concern since there is plenty of bandwidth there to give you ruler flat audible response.

In summary, nothing seems badly broken but you definitely can NOT use this input with external DAC to get better performance. You will be taking a step back actually relative to the internal DAC.
 

peng

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The owner was curious how the analog input on the MRX 520 performs since I measured that for the NAD M17 V2 processor. Which sadly did not perform well.

Anthem MRX 520 Analog Input Audio Measurements
Here is our dashboard view in unity gain (input = output):

View attachment 33570

That is 10 dB better noise and distortion performance than the NAD M17 V2! It is not that the SINAD of 84 dB is great but that the NAD's performance is so poor.

Crosstalk was neck and neck with NAD:
View attachment 33571

IMD distortion and noise was better as we would expect:
View attachment 33572

I have shown it both with 0 dB volume and -4 dB I used for my other tests. Both are substantially better than NAD M17 V2 but again, way, way worse than desktop products.

Signal to noise ratio for unity gain is thus:

View attachment 33573

So we can only clear 15 bits of dynamic range.

THD+N versus frequency was quite high but also had an oddity at the highest frequencies:
View attachment 33574

So I ran a sequence of 1, 10 and 20 kHz to see what is going on:

View attachment 33575

At 20 kHz, we a sudden rise in a tone above 75 kHz. I have not done the math but I suspect that may be an aliasing component due to weak filter at the sampling rate they use. So not an audible concern.

Speaking of sampling rate, here is the frequency response:

View attachment 33576

This is falling short of the NAD because there, I could set the sampling rate to 192 kHz. But it is not a practical concern since there is plenty of bandwidth there to give you ruler flat audible response.

In summary, nothing seems badly broken but you definitely can NOT use this input with external DAC to get better performance. You will be taking a step back actually relative to the internal DAC.

Hello Amir, I don't have any Anthem service manual to read so I don't know how they do the ADC (or not) and DAC, but I have read the service manual/schematic of the Denon AVR-X3400H through X6500H so I know they don't do such thing if you use pure direct (I would think direct as well) mode. If your Denon is one of those, when you measure it's analog input performance, please do it in pure direct mode as well. Thanks.
 
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amirm

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Hello Amir, I don't have any Anthem service manual to read so I don't know how they do the ADC (or not) and DAC, but I have read the service manual/schematic of the Denon AVR-X3400H through X6500H so I know they don't do such thing if you use pure direct (I would think direct as well) mode. If your Denon is one of those, when you measure it's analog input performance, please do it in pure direct mode as well. Thanks.
Good to know. Will do.
 

Blumlein 88

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snip......
THD+N versus frequency was quite high but also had an oddity at the highest frequencies:

So I ran a sequence of 1, 10 and 20 kHz to see what is going on:

View attachment 33575

At 20 kHz, we a sudden rise in a tone above 75 kHz. I have not done the math but I suspect that may be an aliasing component due to weak filter at the sampling rate they use. So not an audible concern.
76 khz would be an imaging component of 20 khz (not aliasing). Assuming they are using 96 khz for the sample rate.
 

eycatcher

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Amir, when you add an input or reset the Anthem unit to factory defaults, it defines the input to process them through the DAC. I would recommend to check the Menu Setup when testing the Analog input on the Anthem, scroll all the way to the bottom and make sure it is configured for "Mode Preset for Stereo Source" to "NONE", "Anthem Room Correction" to "OFF" and "Process analog Audio Input" to "NO". Configuring this way would be the equivalent of setting the Anthem in a "Pure Direct" mode for minimal processing of an stereo or 2 channel audio signal. Having AVR's in Pure Direct should be the basis of how each is measured and compared to each other. I suspect the non optimal defaults may explain the anomolies you see in some of the measurement responses.
 
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GrimSurfer

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Having AVR's in Pure Direct should be the basis of how each is measured and compared to each other.

This sounds reasonable, though one could also make a case for running a test in the default mode (because that is the one that the manufacturer sets).
 
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