B&W and Anthem

[scanido]

Anyone currently have or will have one of the Anthem processors in their system? I've heard that the Anthem may be on the brighter side which may not go well with the "S" tweeters. This may have changed on the newer processors.

How do you like it compared to other processors?

I'm particularly interested in either the AVM50v or D2v for my system.

[style]

Hi scanido,

i have listen the anthem D2 with a ampli P5 in the "old" version without the
autocalibration.
Speakers B&W 803D, center htm3s and 805s.

This D2 was MY for interesting before going woth Classe.
In Canada Anthem have win a lot of premiun: in HT is a very top.

Plus is the sound, a lot of possibilty the change, drive all the freq. and the new D2 with the Autoroomcalibration is very amazing.

minus: is Not easy to use!! really, if classe SSP800 at the first is not easy the D2 is very higher in difficulty.
the new auto calibraton will make a little easy the work but well,....
Another point is that with a Classe you have for a long time people they help you, "spare parts", assistence, a great name! and a highEnd product in all the world......
with the Anthem you can have a little problems! and if you have a damage, a question use the manualbook....
the quality of the case is not at the level from Classe but the sound is great.
Is a little like Meridian...a lot of software... :W

style

[COhifi]

I am currently running the d2 in my B&W system.
Fronts – 703
Center – HTM2d
Side Surrounds – ds7
Rear Surrounds – 602s3
Amp – Cinenova Grande 7

First let me say that I love my d2. I have considered getting the upgrade to the d2v, but I don’t see the need with blu-ray players that decode the new codecs. The sound it produces is detailed, full, and rich. I would not call it bright at all. I have heard Classe ssp – 800 and Mac MX136 and like the Anthem as good as the Classe and better than MX136. It creates a nice sound stage, voices sound right (not overpowered by the mid range or bass), and bass is tight. If money was no object and I was strictly looking at audio reproduction I would choose the ssp-800. However, as I will point out later money is an issue and so is video production.

Also, the d2 video production is as good as its sound production. The d2 up-scaling is quite simply the best I have ever seen. Everything that goes to my PDP-5020fd is 1080p and crystal clear. Standard def TV and SD-DVD look almost as good as HD content. It is often hard to tell the difference between HD source and a non HD source (especially for DVDs).

I like I said I love my D2 (won’t trade it in for anything else on the market under 10 grand. Furthermore, you can find some great deals on the d2, if you are not set on getting the d2v. I found mine about a month ago on Ebay for $3000. Obviously that is much cheaper than what you could find the Classe or Mac for.

Now all that being said, I am not sold on the Anthem P amps. I think when I upgrade next it will to Classe or Mac power.

[KRC]

I just bought a AVM 50 and matching MCA 50 on EBay, should be here next week. It will be running on a pair of 703's, LCR 60 S3 and in the rear a pair of 600 S3. So I will post again next week to give you my impressions.

Kevin

[ninja12]

I added the Anthem Statement D2 to my setup about 1 year and 3 months ago. I have B&W 803S, HTM3S, and SCMS, and I am not experiencing brightness at all. I am experiencing brightness at all. I am very happy with my D2, and I do not regret my purchase at all. I must say that Anthem's customer support is second to none. If you go to the Anthem Thread at AVS Forum, you will find out everything you need to know. If you don't, just post a question, and it's guaranteed to get answered especially by Bob P. Some folks purchased the D2v and had a minor problem with it. They contacted Anthem and Anthem told them they will completely replace the current unit with a new one. The customer was allowed to keep and continue to use the existing unit until Anthem shipped the new unit to their dealer. Once the unit reached the dealer, the customer took the old unit in and picked up the new unit. No questions asked. The customer indicated that it was a minor problem; but, Anthem replaced the unit. Now, that's customer service. One thing to keep in mind is that Anthem is in Canada. So, if you have to ship your unit back, it may take from 4 to 6 weeks for a complete turn around due to the fact that it will have to go through Customs.

Once again, I love my D2.

[MikeFL52]

I run a D1/P5 combo feeding 803Ds up front DS8S rears and a HTM3S center and it sounds very good. I also invested in the Anthem ARC system (Anthem Room Correction) which is standard on new Anthem pre/pros and this can improve the system even further by adjusting for room anaomolies and targeting an "ideal" FR curve. The D1 is from before Anthem added a video board but has the same audio as the D2. With the D2V they added more audio processing power as well as a more updated video board which decodes the latest codecs. The AVM50V and D2V are very similar however the D2V upscales the audio (sampling rate) before carrying out any processing. When the D1 was first introduced it had one of the best S/N ratios of any processor out there, this may no longer be true as other compannies have made advances, but all in all it is a pretty amazing product. As someone mentioned above it is not the easiest pre/pro to set up, but with the support you can find on www.avsforum.com (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=678260) for the Anthem you should be able to set it up without too much problem.

The P5 is simply bullet proof

To answer your question, no it doesn't sound bright.

One last point, their customer support is nothing short of excellent, the D1 I have is 3 models old in their statement line and they still give updates and upgrades, which is something other companies often do not do.

[scanido]

THanks guys, the reviews have been quite helpful. I'm a systems analyst by profession so I'm not too worried about the technical side of configuring the unit.

Does upsampling audio really make a difference on the D2V? At this point i'm really towards the AVM50v at $2K cheaper. Does the AVM50v upsample at all?

[MikeFL52]

Does upsampling audio really make a difference on the D2V? At this point i'm really towards the AVM50v at $2K cheaper. Does the AVM50v upsample at all?

I have not heard them back to back recently. In prior versions of Anthem AVMs and D1/D2s I believe that the processing "power" was quite a bit higher (2 vs. 1 processor). However on the latest AVM50v and D2v, they have the same processors (both 2) and so I think differences might be minimal. I really would recommend looking at avsforum since it has a lot of good information on and the Anthem thread is one of the best.

Which ever one you choose, especially if you can afford to pair it with a P5 (+P2 if you are going 7.1), IMHO you are getting a very nice system which can easily power 803Ds without any "brightness".