I have an Arcam avr400 which is HDMI 1.4 and need a HDMI 2.0 4K receiver. I'm using a 5.1 set up, so I looked at Arcam but I'm not happy with problems of handshake So I decided to get another brand.
I'm down to either the Anthem MRX720 or the Marantz SR7013 just want to stay around $2,500 its 5.1 but I like the power the Arcam has. Not sure if they are equal in power ratings but I think they are both powerful enough.
The Marantz has all the gadgets you can think of, but I'm looking for good sound, and a lot of people say that the Anthem sounds better, any thoughts? Thank you
The Anthem will be more detailed and neutral sounding while the Marantz will Sound warmer and fuller with with a more polite and less detailed treble range. Choose based on which best suits your system and tastes.
FWIW, I was very impressed by the Yamaha Aventage series compared directly to Marantz, Denon, and Arcam, and importantly Yamaha has proven to be more reliable than most other AVRs out there. Like the Anthem it is more in the neutral camp, but the level of transparency and its better 3D soundstage won me over big time and would likely be a good bit cheaper than the Anthem. Just another potential option. Best of luck.
$2500 is an awful lot of money to throw away on a receiver. Are you sure you wouldn't rather have a really nice sounding stereo integrated? Compare and see what I mean. Receivers are the bottom of the audiophile barrel. Then when you scrape down just before you get to rusted metal, there you find the AV receivers. Please. Do yourself a favor. Go and listen.
why are you looking at the Anthem. MRX 720 when you have a 5.1 setup? You are wasting around $500. The 520 sounds great, especially with the room correction software
I concur that you don’t have to spend $2500 but I recommend buying a receiver or surround pre with full pre-outs, plus a multi channel amplifier, get the latest decoding (Atmos or whatever) and you will buy another surround decoder soon. I think the best money spent is on amplification which you will hang on to, and then change the receiver periodically for the latest decoding and room correction. It is said that the ARC is quite good but Trinnitov may be better. Good luck.
Soix, thanks for your eloquent description of the Anthem which sounds a lot like my Arcam you were spot on the Marantz as well, I had one years back. I also had a few Yamaha's back when, they are very reliable. thank you
mahler123, I just want more power and I believe the Anthem mrx720 has that over the 520. who knows in the future I may change my mind about 5.1 setup. thank you
I went “down” in power from a 130 watt AVR to 100 watts with the 520 and didn’t notice any issue. And with room correction and enhanced DAC the sound was a huge upgrade from my previous Onkyo AVR
Mahler123, Do you know the power ratings with all 5 channels driven on the Anthem mrx520? It says 100watts per channel 2 channel driven. My Arcam is rated at 5x90watts and I’m happy with that, Is Anthem’s power rating as conservative as the Arcam?
If you aren’t looking to move to Atmos then a MRX-520 would do the justice. I was in a similar situation and was looking at MRX-520 and a 3 or 5 ch. amp. I already have a Rotel 200w/ ch stereo amp for my L/R, so the 3/5 ch amp would replace my stereo amp. Luckily I was able to get brand new MRX-720 for close to the price of 520 and I bought that. So I still have the Rotel amp and 140/ch to drive my other speakers in my 5.1 esp. the center. The power depends on what speakers you are driving. Either way, 520 or 720 are great receivers and much better than my old Marantz SR5009. The ARC Genesis is simple amazing and that alone is worth Anthem. If I had bought the 520 I would’ve bought an used 3 ch amp. either Anthem MCA 325 or Parasound A31.
badaga, thanks for your info, my room is 17x19 with 15 feet ceiling its also an open floor plan so the room is open on two sides. I use Merlin vsm mme and a center speaker that Bobby Palkovic made for me a few years ago I want to have enough power because of the openness of the room. thats why I thought the Anthem mrx720 would be better than the 520 for me.
I'm also interested in a new AVR with HDMI 2.0 4K, since my current AVR requires me to run two HDMI cables from my Oppo UHD Blu-ray player, one to the TV and one to the AVR.
What I'm looking at is the Onkyo TX-RZ920, which is available for $989 from Onkyo. I found out about it on Audioholics. Before you turn up your nose, this thing is a power house AVR and has excellent DACs in it. It also allows you to turn off the front L/R and/or Center channels when using a separate power amp for those channels. Almost all other AVRs continue to run those channels even if you are using the RCA outputs to connect to a separate amp, which causes the distortion to increase in those channels when you turn up the volume and the heat begins to rise.
I made up my mind and I’m getting the Anthem mrx720. Is Crutchfield a decent place to buy from? any recommendation as to where to buy it from? Thanks to all for your thoughts and advice.
tesseract86, you’ll never regret your choice. Once in a while Anthem runs a promotion of 20% off on it’s receivers and amps. Typically 2-3 times a year or may be just twice, not sure. Depending on when it was last time you can try to figure out if it’ll happen anytime soon. I guess that’ll be a great way to buy $500 off of MRX-720. Good luck!
I Demo’d the 7013 and the Yamaha 3080 (same model that our moving company “lost” in our recent move to TN) and the Marantz is much more musical with a better soundstage and depth compared to the 7013. I ended up getting the 8012 because I plan on building a media room downstairs and expanding to utilize all 11 channels with Atmos. The 8012 is a step up from the 7013 and can be had for right at $2500. For theater, even with my current 5.1 system the experience is quite immersive. Although they had some Arcam and Rotel stuff there, my decision was based on some key features and streaming abilities.
I got the Anthem mrx720 two days ago, in a few days I'll do the arc room correction. So far I'm extremely happy with the sound. I noticed the dialog is clearer than before, I use a JL audio F113 subwoofer, I never heard my sub as tight and powerful as this, that's a welcome improvement. Still messing with it for the moment, I'll post about the room correction later. I take nothing away from the Arcam av400 sounds great, loved it, its just a little warmer than the Anthem and my speakers really loved the Anthem.
Did room correction arc, music sounds more detailed dialog improved, bass was trimmed, brightness was tamed and other improvements. The sound is clear and a little bright which got better after arc and also you can adjust the treble . I love the clean, clear, powerful sound. It seems that my speakers and sub came to life with the Anthem mrx720. I’m very happy with my choice. My best advice is pick a receiver or amp that’s going to improve the sound of your speakers. Thanks to all for your input.
I forgot to mention, after the arc the surround sound improved dramatically, watching a movie now has very good separations that's also a big improvement.
I doubt the Anthem is broken in yet and that some of the brightness you’re currently hearing may subside a bit over time. Congrats on a great AVR and glad you like what you’re hearing.
soix, after arc the brightness was gone and you're right its only been running for a few days but I do love the sound of music and surround sound in movies, very happy with my choice. Thank you
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