Processor sound comparison- Anthem avm90 vs NAD M17 V2i

Skip the Anthem, for two reasons. It doesn’t handle 2 channel surround correctly and the room correction isn’t all that. It doesn’t do a great job of integrating the loudspeakers and doesn’t allow you to manually adjust either. The latter is only useful for EQ geeks like me who know exactly what they want.

Consider the Marantz units with advanced Audyssey long before Anthem. Haven’t heard NAD.

Also, maybe it's just me but previous gen Anthem processors sounded better, plain and simple.

Marantz processors are incredibly complicated and the independent channel capability is very limited.  The interface is also quite disappointing. I have owned a Marantz processor and it's sitting on a shelf collecting dust. I think the sound was pretty good but it was a pain to work with and required a lot of Power cycling because the arc connectivity got corrupted all the time.  My dealer recommended I use the optical connection, he does this a lot.

Never had a ARC issue with either of my Marantz receivers. Also do not think they are difficult to setup, but it is time consuming. But unless you change something you only set them up once. 

What I have found with EARC/ARC is that is very cable dependent. Never had any issue with BlueJeans HDMI cables. But have had sync issues with other cables. 

My new Marantz receiver has a web browser interface. I use that for doing any and all adjustments. It's nice being able to adjust things from my phone. 

The sound is always good, but don't have a whole lot to compare it to. If a dog barks in a movie, both my dogs go nuts, same for door bells. They think it's real sounding enough

We stream and the sound is excellent we use abn nvidea streamer 

One other point audio controls customer service is superb

I've had the Anthem cinema 60 and traded it in fir the Anthem mrx740. For me the Anthem's sound, especially for 2 channel is hands down better than Marantz for my set up. Marantz Heos app was a nightmare, and ARC gives u much more control than Marantz's room correction.  ARC does a great job especially if you have an multi use room that you can't make look like a recording studio. And Anthem is made in Canada.