Anthem AVM-2?

[markusp]

So I demoed the Audio Refinement pre-2 DSP last weekend and liked what I heard. Its quirky to say the least but its sounds quite nice (a little bass shy though).

Just as I'd ordered the Pre-2 a deal has come up on an old Anthem AVM-2 (not 20) that just seems almost too good to pass up. I've read up on it and it still sounds like it would be an impressive piece, despite being a few years old and lacking DPL II. I've read that sonically, it sounds almost like the AVM 20. Which one would you choose? I will never need more than 5.1.

Do I jump on the AVM-2 or the Audio Refinement Pre-2? The AVM would save me a few hundered dollars.

Thanks,
Markus

[David Meek]

Markus, I'd recommend trying the Anthem just to see if you like it better, thus saving you some hundreds of dollars - that's a lot of DVD's/CDs. If you're already a bit concerned over the AR's bass performance, there's nothing really to lose in trying the Anthem. If the Anthem doesn't do what you want sell it and re-order the AR.

[Burke Strickland]

If you can get an opportunity to try out the Anthem AVM-2 at no risk, then it might be worth a try. If the unit you are evaluating works the way you want it to and sounds good, then as David points out, the price difference can buy a lot of DVDs and CDs. However, based on a bad experience I had with an AVM-2, I'd suggest being thorough in checking it out hands-on in your system with your own source components before making a commitment.

Before I bought my current pre/pro, I spent a week with the Anthem AVM-2 (NOT the 20) in my home system. "Its quirky to say the least" is an appropriate description for the AVM-2. It slaughtered two channel music (that is NOT a compliment) -- it laid out the music in so much "detail" with a really exaggerated sound stage, it was more like a note-by-note autopsy than a cohesive musical experience.

Although it sounded fine just on 5.1 source when it recognized them, it had an annoying habit of NOT recognizing them, and since the detection was completely automatic (no meaningful user control over it) the only solution when it did not detect Dolby 5.1 or DTS, or if it souddenly decided to revert to two channel when the signal from the player was 5.1 (which it did too many times to be just a temporary side-change-triggered glitch) was to unplug the unit for about a half hour and let it "reset" itself. Needless to say, that pretty well ruined the continuity of any movie I was trying to watch at the time.

Another major "gotcha" is how the AVM-2 (NOT 20) failed to recognize the output of a couple of my source components that had given me NO problem with any other receiver or pre/pro. Anthem insisted it was not their problem, but a defect in the source components. Yet, when I pluggd them into my current pre/pro after returning the Anthem to the deaker, the source components played the way the were supposed to with no fiddling with the controls, and no fiddling around with an unresponsive vendor.

Some people have suggested maybe I got a lemon. But I heard a fair number of other complaints about the AVM-2 and the lack of Anthem's support for it from others enough times to believe that there may have been some serious design issues with the AVM-2. Of course Anthem never really acknowledged that there were any problems with the AVM-2, but they replaced it with the AVM-20 less than a year after the AVM-2 reached the dealers. For a pre/pro, from a non-mass-market company, that's a rather quick model replacement cycle. So buyer beware.

On the other hand, I know nothing about the Audio Refienement unit you are considering as an alternative. If it is quirky and bass-shy as well, then perhaps you should look at some other brands such as Rotel or Integra that have a better track record of reliability and useability.

Good luck,

Burke

[markusp]

Thanks for the replies guys. Burke, I stumbled across your post on AVS and I was amazed at the problems you had with the AVM-2. I can't demo the unit so I think I am going to take a pass on it. I liked the Audio Refinement and as such I'll buy it for now and when the right deal comes along on something better / when I get the upgrade itch, I'll be able to do so all over again.

Gotta love this hobby

[David Meek]

Burke, I'd completely forgotten the trouble you had with that thing. ops: