Should I buy Anthem 1120 for a 11 speaker system or Sony 5000 ES

I changed my mind about Anthem after finding out it does not support Airplay 2. That's a deal breaker for me as I need to be able to stream Apple Music and my iTunes library

Look at Denon or Marantz.

Sony 5000ES? My dealer which is extremely high end and has been a long time Anthem dealer recommends Sony. The store is well known to be snobby and they now carry and recommends the new Sony ES receivers over Anthem I’m now thinking of Sony 5000 ES

The 5000ES is dealer only, so of course a dealer would recommend it.  
  
Marantz 6013 or 7013 would be better.

You can buy 5000ES anywhere

Have you listened to both units side-by-side?  Even without ARC enabled you are going to get much better sound out of the Anthem 720 compared to the Sony,  Thrown in ARC and the gap is even bigger.  Anthem will give you much more headroom to work with as well.  The power supply used by Anthem is much more robust. 

I have not yet. I have an appointment tomorrow to audition everything. It will be interesting to compare the 720 to the Sony 5000. Have you done the comparison?

Yes.  I felt the Anthem produced a much cleaner sound, more power, and with ARC you cannot go wrong.  

Anthem dealer here, we just installed in the last six months a few MRX 720 and the 1120, the Anthem ARC is just amazing.

We had a client with a really weird room open on one side with french doors on one end, and the seating was at one corner,

We listended to the system without the Anthem Room correction and then did the correction and boom with ARC tiny details emerged, the overall presenation was smoother and the dialog was clearer.

ARC is very impressive and the new ARC Genesis promises even further improvements.

Really hard to beat at the price point.

We have also sold and installed many other receivers including Onkyo, Marantz, Denonns and Yamahas and again never heard anything for the price better the Anthem.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Anthem dealers

@audiotroy Hi Audiotroy, Have you heard the Sony ES? I will probably buy the Sony 5000ES that my dealer recommends. He and the other co-owner worked with Sony to design the 3100ES and  5000ES.
They have sold Anthem forever, they have been in business for thirty years. I heard the Anthem 720 there before I heard the Sony. I thought the Anthem was really excellent and I thought about buying. After working with one of the co-owners he convinced me that the Sony is better and then later I talked with the other co-owner and he said the same. To be honest I was surprised that they even sold Sony as my attitude about Sony was that it was not considered hi-end at all. This store only sells very high-end. I finally got to listen to the 3100 yesterday with Paradigm 75F and 45C. I thought it was amazing, two channel and Atmos. I haven't bought yet so I would like your opinion of 5000ES as that is the one I would buy. 
Also I would like your opinion on whether to buy the 55C or the 45C to go with the 75F that I have decided on. The co-owner who I have been working with told me that all I need is the 45C as that is the center speaker that matches with the 75F. Money is not an issue, I just want the best match. 
The other co-owner told me to just go with a 5.1 system and forget about Atmos. He said for the money that it would take to make a good 5.1.4 system its just not worth it as I would mostly be watching non Atmos sources. I would be using my home theater for a lot of CD and streaming music, we watch a lot of news shows and also HBO and Showtime that we stream. We also stream a lot of shows from Amazon and Netflix. I would be buying zero 4K disks. Also I am guessing that the shows that are Atmos enabled, only action type shows would really take advantage of it. We mostly watch drama and comedy. Thanks for any opinions you can offer

That's a good idea maxwave. Have you heard the Sony ES? My dealer said the room calibration is more advanced than Anthem which they sell

Whenever I post that I am planning on Sony ES I get negative comments but I think almost all the comments are from people who have not actually heard Sony ES. I have heard the Sony at my dealer's and was very impressed. I was also impressed with Anthem 720 which is more money than Sony 5000 ES and has two less amps which I need for 5.1.4. I trust my dealer when he says the Sony is better overall than Anthem. He says room correction with Sony is better than Anthem. I have known and have done business for 30 years with the dealer and I trust him. I have tried to find online comparisons to Sony ES and Anthem but I have not found any. 

Gallerybob,

The Sony ES may indeed be excellent and it may be less expensive and it may have more amplifier channels. 

The question is what methodology did you use to compare the two?

Where they both in the same room? Where the testing of both units through a speaker comparitor? Was each unit calibrated to the specific speaker system?

Also what room correction does Sony use? 

In the case of most stores that have multiple loudspeaker lines it is rare that they have calibrated the system for more than one loudspeaker line if they even have the calibration files loaded.

In the case of the Anthem we have noticed night and day improvements in sound with ARC engaged and although the Anthem units sound good without it they tend to sound signfigently better with ARC other receivers we have tested with Audessy for example the differences between calibrated system and non were less audible. 

Also after doing this for 30 years, we find it very dubious that a store had anything to do with designing a product from Japan.

Many stores that sell Sony electronics in the past had to push the line aggresively to make Sony direct dealer status which requires something like $250k a year in sales in order to get good pricing. 

Best bet is to borrow both receivers hook them up identically, run  room correction for both and then see which one you prefer. 

Just food for thought. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

I would still go with Anthem. They have been near the top of the heap with their always ahead of the curve preamp/processors. State of the art for many years. ARC gets more refined over the years and not just replaced. Nothing against Sony ES but Anthem has been doing HT(and music) right for years.

Bill

@audiotroy @willland,@willland, Thanks for the comments.https://www.musicloversaudio.com. This is the business audiotroy, have you heard of them?
To have 9 speakers for Atmos I would either need 1120 or 720 and add amps for Home theater and bedroom. Both options would be very expensive. Do you really think Anthem is worth maybe $1500 over Sony 5000ES. If so then I will go back and talk to the owner and reconsider

@maxwave, Thanks for your responses.  I know the dealer is excellent. I have known and done business with them for 30 years.https://www.musicloversaudio.com
I totally trust them. 
I have read so many comments on Anthem I think I have to reconsider Anthem1120. I will talk to the owners again why they want me to buy Sony over Anthem

I talked to him yesterday and he convinced me that is has to be Sony because Anthem does not have the multi room video that I need. I compared the specs online and it verified what he said

I talked to him yesterday and he convinced me that is has to be Sony because Anthem does not have the multi room video that I need. I compared the specs online and it verified what he said

I would go for Anthem 1120. I have this system in my property on French Riviera and no complaints at all to be honest. Sound is clear and simple in use.

I know Anthem is good. For my system I would need to spend $3500 to get the nine amps for home theater. I also need video in another room, want to watch video while listening to music in main room, need to be able to stream music from home theater to speakers in living room. My dealer says not possible with Anthem. I think he would know as he has sold Anthem forever. 

I have finally decided on what I want to do. I really appreciate all the responses that have really helped me to determine what I need and want. 
I decided to tell dealer that it has to be Anthem 1120, I refuse to accept the dealer's advice on the Sony receiver.
I decided to go all out on Atmos and will have my four ceiling speakers all moved to the proper Atmos position. He wanted me to try Atmos without moving my speakers. Everything I have read, and I have seen all the diagrams, shows that Atmos will not really work without the speakers moved to the proper position. 
My front 3 will be Paradigm 85F and the Paradigm 45C.
The rear surround will be Paradigm Surround 3 wall mounted and connected wirelessly.
The only thing that I haven't figured out is if I want to go to a better music source than streaming Apple Music through Airplay 2 which is what I do now. I converted all of my CD's to AIFF and I stream them. I am trying to decide if I would be better off streaming with Bluesound rather than through my iPhone and Airplay2. I may want to stream Tidal or Qobuz.
Thanks everyone for all of the input. I would have just accepted my dealers advice on the Sony otherwise

Sorry to respond to an old thread, but I've had my Anthem receiver for many years. I just airplay to an apple TV. 

I am OP. I just stumbled on to this 2 year old thread. I just want to give an update on what I did two years ago.
After weeks of going into my local store and listening to Sony and Anthem and getting estimates I decided on the Anthem 1120 for 5.1.4 system. The co-owner was very insulting to me about not trusting their knowledge about the Sony. He told me that I know nothing and that I need to listen to them. I walked out and found another company that sold Anthem and Paradigm. I wound up buying the 1120 with Paradigm 85F's and the 55C. I wound up selling my sub and replacing with the Paradigm X-15 Defiance. I am in the process now of upgrading that system. I am replacing my 4 Sonance ceiling speakers with Paradigm, replacing my Paradigm Surround speakers and also adding a Sim 330A amp for my front two speakers and I am replacing my Node 2i with a better streamer

That's great.  I was going to start posting, until I saw it was from 2 years ago, lol.  Historically, Sony equipment has always sounded cold and unfeeling for me.  I just never heard Sony equipment that really sounded good (except for a high end Sony receiver and tape deck from 1977 - that stuff was really excellent!).

It worked out really well for me. I am very happy with my 1120. I was considering upgrading to AVM 70and two Anthem 525amps but my dealer convinced me that the 1120 did not need to be upgraded and that I would be better off with new Surround and Atmos speakers

Wise choice.

why would you need multiroom video?

 

all you need is an in inexpensive hdmi splitter to split the reivers hdmi  output to the other room and a balum with ir

@audiotroy i started this discussion in 2019. I wound up buying the 1120 for my main system and I use the Denon AVR that I replaced with the Anthem for my bedroom. I did another upgrade in 2021 where I replaced my Atmos and surround speakers with 6 Paradigm speakers. I also added a Moon Sim amp for my front two Paradigm 85F speakers. I also replaced my Bluesound Node2i with a Limin T2. 
I also added a Torus TOT power conditioner, plus I added a second Paradigm 1000SW