Emotiva or stick with my Anthem??

Agreed.

Andthem is probably a bit out of my price range anyway. There should be some decent choices in between Emotiva and Anthem- thankfully it's not an either-or situation.

Chadnliz- good point about 'enthusiastic rookie opinions.'
But- whose opinion would you trust?

For myself, the guys at Audioholics seem stoked about the entire Emotiva brand, and I myself trust them. that being said, it IS a bit hard to believe that Emotiva can truly contend with Anthem. If they do though, the XMC-1 is definitely my next processor.

I think your dislike of Audioholics is why I like them. They are an extreme opinion, to be sure, but they tend to balance my opinions and keep my wish-list somewhat down to earth. Tom Andry has said some horrible things about Anthem and their room correction, and it did piss me off. The 'wolf-pack' mentality is indeed disconcerting.

But I must admit I agre with their overall mission of countering a lot of hype and pseudo-science that permeates our hobby.