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Anthem AVM/20 upgrade to Integra or Marantz??

Greetings all,

I've enjoyed and stretched out the life of my Anthem AVM/20 paired with a Lexicon CX-7. My sources are Oppo, AppleTV, Roku, vinyl, and cable if you are interested. These are all being driven through Revel Performa M22 monitors, C32 center and B15 sub and Revel in-ceiling for surrounds. The speakers are in a 7.1 setup in a formal living room, not dedicated HT.

I need HDMI compatibility in my Pre-pro at this point but I don't want to lose or compromise the sonic quality I've had with the Anthem. Given that another, newer pre-pro from Anthem that isn't north of 5k isn't in the near future I'm looking to either Integra or Marantz as sonically they seem to be given top billing.

So here is my issue: I *love* 2-channel and I don't want any sonic compromise at all in soundtage bredth and depth, tonal accuracy, and sheer emotional involvement in the music. In fact, I want *better* performance than my AVM/20 currently offers.

So,will the Marantz AV7005 or Integra 80.3 do the trick? I've read Kal and Michael Fremmer's reviews of the AV7005 and they are excellent. Michael even bought the review sample and I think Kal has the integra 70.2. However the Integra offers the newer Audyssey room correction. The Anthem is just such a well put together piece that I am afraid that my upgrade will be a sonic downgrade. Are my fears justified or not?

Looking for some sage advice and guidance! Many thanks to all in advance.
internetmin

Showing 2 responses by martykl

martykl
3,578 posts
 
I just got an Onkyo 5508 (AKA the nearly identical cousin of the Integra 80.1) to replace an ARC LS25 + NHT X-2 + Velodyne SMS-1 + Cambridge DacMagic in a music only 2.2 system. One box vs 4 and very, very good sound thru Maggie SMG or Ohm 100s with a pair of 12" Rythmik subs. I'm very happy with that decision.

FWIW.

Marty
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Further to Kal's point, at a dealer demo, I expect that the Velodyne set-up will be poor.

I've never heard the SMS at a dealer - but I have heard the DD subwoofers demoed (albeit a few years back). If you ask the dealer how the EQ works, they will generally say - "one button" and demo the automatic EQ mode (which sucks). It's possible that this is just a sales pitch and that they go back and do a manual set-up (the only method that works, IMHO) after you leave, but I doubt it.

Marty
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