Anthem D2 or Lexicon MC12

Anthem D2!

Go to AVSFORUM.com and use the internal search engine to follow threads on both choices.

The Athem crowd is really happy with this unit, as am I. Wait until you see how it upconverts standard Satellite broadcasts. While the result is certainly not HD, at least you will still be able to tolerate standard broadcasts.

Just read the last 25% of the posts. Some of the earlier ones were about issues since resolved.

I know nothing about the Anthem, but have owned an MC-12 since they came out. For the price that a used MC-12 goes for these days, they're an absolute bargain. They're well built, versatile, sound great in 2-channel and have always been a leader in surround-sound processing, both for movies and for derived multi-channel from 2-channel sources. The Anthem may be even a better deal / performer, but a used MC-12 is a great buy, IMO.

I have heard the lexicon and know how good it is. My temptation to get the anthem is for the video processing. This would save me the need of getting the dvdo, extra space in rack, cables etc. It appears that the dac in the anthem is very good as well. I'm wondering if it is good enough to skip buying a bel canto dac 3 for my digital music. My plan was to connect my apple tv to the bel canto, then to the pre/pro. Could the dac in the anthem d2 be close to a standalone unit such as the dac3?

The dac in the D2 is one of the true highlights of the system: you don't need another pre under any circunstances.