Finally...I'm officially done with receivers!

[SiliGoose]

Nothing against receivers, of course. I've just wanted to jump into separates since I started this whole thing back at DT 6 years ago (has it been that long?).

Well, I made the move today. Here's my new toy:



:arrow: Anthem AVM-20

I hope to spend a good deal of time with it this weekend. I'll certainly post my thoughts (assuming you guys are interested) as soon as I can. I'm also working on posting some pics of my modest HT on a (very simple) web site. Hope to have that up soon.

As of right now I'm just trying to get used to the thousands of settings on this thing. I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out why I wasn't getting sound out of my DirecTivo when I realized I hadn't turned my amp on. Duuuu.




-Sili

[Burke Strickland]

Congratulations! I know you've been looking forward to this move for some time, so I 'm glad you are finally "there". I'll be looking forward to your expanded comments after you've had a chance to live with the Anthem unit for a while.

Burke

PS -- if the amp has a 12 volt trigger input, you might want to hook that up to the AVM-20's 12 volt trigger output so it can "command" the amp to turn on when it does.

[SiliGoose]

Thanks Burke.

I think the Anthem has 3 12v triggers. The problem is my amp (Sherwood Newcastle AM-9080) uses a proprietary signal for its trigger...so it only works with Newcastle products. Bummer.




-Sili

[Pat]

Silli, I would be interested in your thoughts after you have spent a little time with it too

Can you give us some initial impressions?




Pat's Page

[Andrew Pratt]

Goose I got to play with the Anthem at a friends place a few months ago...its a sweet peice for sure. You choose wisely my feathered friend

[Lex]

Wow, great looking piece Silly! You should be in hog heaven I would think with this move. 6 years huh? My how time flies.

Let us know exactly what your thoughts are on it, as you get it fine tuned.

Lex

[John Holmes]

Very nice Sili, enjoy!




"I came here, to chew bubble gum and kickass. And I'm all out of bubble gum!!!" My DVD's

[SiliGoose]

Ok...here are some thoughts:

It's heavier than I expected. Around than 30lbs, I'd say. Supposedly the power supply is pretty massive in this thing so I guess that's where the weight comes from.

The silver faceplate is both better and worse than I had expected. Better because it has a very nice texture and is a nice thick plate of aluminum (or whatever metal it is).
Worse because the surface is too flat...I like a dynamic curve or two in my industrial design. Anthem's promotional photographs do a great job of hiding just how "flat" the AVM-20 is.

The rear panel is amazing. All outputs are on a white background while all inputs have a black background. A very tidy set-up. Each assignable input has a digital coax and both S-video and composite video available. There are two component inputs that are assignable to any input. The unit also offers 3 assignable SPDIF digital inputs and an AES/BEU digital input (which I'll NEVER use).

Both the balanced analog outs and the single ended RCA outs are always active -so the Anthem can actually control two totally separate 7.1 systems running at the same time. Zone 2 has its own stereo balanced outs as well. There are provisions for dual center speakers and dual subs in both RCA and balanced flavors.

The display is really cool. The green on green is easy to read and a nice break from the usual blue on black. Some silly but cool features allow for 15 dimmer settings for the display. You can even set how long after adjustments are made that the dimmer reverts to its original setting.

The remote is pretty nice too. It has a really cool "rubbery" feel to it (and it glows a cool blue). It's both learning and pre-programmed with codes. It's a little busy with buttons but I could use it if the Proto were to die (knock on wood).

I disassembled the whole HT today and calibrated the AVM-20 via SPL meter. I'm not going to deliver a review full of goofy descriptions of what I heard. Rather I'll give a couple of examples.

About a month ago I started a thread asking if different preamps really sounded different. After adding an amp to my system I really couldn't fathom how a DSP and some DACs could have much of a performance impact on my system.

Well, $3000 later I've answered my own question. There is no question it sounds better across the board than my HK AVR-7000 (as a preamp). There's no point in describing what I'm hearing because it's a wholesale improvement. I'm pretty good at encoding MP3s and prevously claimed you couldn't hear the difference between a properly encoded MP3 (LAME encoded VBR) and the original CD track. I would now like to retract that opinion. The addition of the Anthem has made my system revealing enough that I can hear a marked improvement in the CD over the MP3. This probably isn't great praise for you non-MP3ers out there but for those who know how good a well-encoded MP3 can sound, well, you should get the picture. Hmmm...I wonder if I could hear a difference in cables? (I won't get carried away )

I watched several scenes from The Phantom Menace and was even more startled with the Anthem's HT performance. It makes my previous set-up seem dry and lifeless by comparison. There is a startling difference in simple dialog scenes as well as the loudest of action sequences.

It's very nice so far. It cost way too much money to get here but I'm glad I did.




-Sili

[efarstad]

Sili: That is too cool! :T I'm jealous with envy, but I'll be smiling ear to ear when my Rotel arrives...keep us posted!

E





The Norwegian A/V Nut!
E-Cinema

[Bob Santos]

Congrats Sili !
Glad to hear it made a big improvement in your system.
Enjoy It !!

[Pat]

Silli, sounds great!
Glad that the first impression was a good one.

Was the setup and calibration pretty straightforward or did you have to refer to the manual?




Pat's Page

[Andrew Pratt]

And another joins the ranks of the seperates crowd Glad you could join us Silli.

[SiliGoose]

Was the setup and calibration pretty straightforward or did you have to refer to the manual?

Very easy. The menus are pretty deep so I did have to refer to the manual a couple of times to see where I was headed.

BTW, Anthem's "Cinema Logic" -their attempt at Logic 7 is pretty good. I'm still forming opinions about it but I like it a lot right now. Rumors have it being upgraded to a more robust post-processing scheme.




-Sili

[Markj]

Sili you have a very cool setup. 8) I am sure you will be enjoying this system for many years.

[SiliGoose]

I haven't gotten to play with it for 2 days now! (out of town)

:cry: :roll: :cry:




-Sili

[Ricky]

Sili,

Congrats on joining the separates crowd! That Anthem should rock for your music, movies, and games. It's hard to leave town when you just got your new toy

[Bob]

Wow, if it plays as good as it looks you made a great decesion. I would love to demo it, I'll catch a plane this weekend. Can you put me up? Got any good looking female friends? What will you be serving for snacks? Can some of the other guys come to?

[SiliGoose]

yes, what about your wife, cheesy puffs and beer, sure thing




-Sili