Anthem avm 70 or emotiva xmc 2

[Hunter21]

I'm looking to upgrade my preamp from a yamaha cx-a5000 to a Anthem avm 70 or a emotiva xmc2 and stuck between a rock and a hard place. My fronts are the paradigm persona 3f and my center is a paradigm prestige 45c and the fronts are very revealing. I think the dac is better in the emotiva but the Anthem would pair better with the paradigms I think because they are the same company. I've worked with dirac and Anthem room correction before and have no personal preference between the two. I would really want the avm 90 but cannot afford that and would like some opinions on whats better between the avm 70 or the emotiva xmc2

 

[PENG]

but the Anthem would pair better with the paradigms I think because they are the same company.

That's a myth, Anthem wouldn't have designed their electronics to "pair better" with just Paradigm speakers. Would you also consider the CX-A5100/5200 or the upcoming 5300?

 

[Movie2099]

I'm looking to upgrade my preamp from a yamaha cx-a5000 to a Anthem avm 70 or a emotiva xmc2 and stuck between a rock and a hard place. My fronts are the paradigm persona 3f and my center is a paradigm prestige 45c and the fronts are very revealing. I think the dac is better in the emotiva but the Anthem would pair better with the paradigms I think because they are the same company. I've worked with dirac and Anthem room correction before and have no personal preference between the two. I would really want the avm 90 but cannot afford that and would like some opinions on whats better between the avm 70 or the emotiva xmc2

The XMC2 has been out a while now so most of the kinks have been worked out. You will get Dirac room correction with the XMC2 vs Anthems correction system. Even though Emotiva doesn't have the best customer service, I have heard really good things about the XMC2. It sounds great, works great and really isn't priced that bad either. I don't think you can go wrong with either. Might come down to your preference with room correction and some smaller details.

 

[Hunter21]

I dont like yamahas ypao, its garbage. And gene said the 5100 measured better than the 5200, so idk about the 5300 and yamahas house sound is a little to bright for me, I want something that would be a little warmer.

 

[Verdinut]

I dont like yamahas ypao, its garbage. And gene said the 5100 measured better than the 5200, so idk about the 5300 and yamahas house sound is a little to bright for me, I want something that would be a little warmer.

Where did you get the info that the Yamaha product has a brighter sound than other brands?

The sound produced by Yamaha products is as neutral and transparent as the output from other good brand products. They have a rather flat frequency response if no EQ is used in the sound path to the speakers.

 

[Hunter21]

Where did you get the info that the Yamaha product has a brighter sound than other brands?

The sound produced by Yamaha products is as neutral and transparent as the output from other good brand products.

From my personal experience, I felt the pioneer i had before the yamaha was warmer than the yamaha, and for some reason the yamaha also sound midrange heavy even in direct modes compared to the pioneer

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Yamaha house sound is a little too bright for me, I want something that would be a little warmer.

Paradigm Persona 3F Speaker System Review Test Bench

Test Bench L/R Sensitivity: 89.5 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz Center Sensitivity: 89 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz Surround Sensitivity: 89 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing close-miking of all woofers) frequency response of the Persona 3F L/R (purple trace), Persona...

www.soundandvision.com

This is the Paradigm Persona 3F (purple graph). You see that GIANT 9dB BOOST in the Treble? That’s why your speakers sound BRIGHT.

That’s why people say SPEAKERS, acoustics, and source make the biggest difference, not electronics.

 

[mazersteven]

Well everybody's got a secret, son
Something that they just can't face
Some folks spend their whole lives trying to keep it
They carry it with them every step that they take

There's a Brightness on the Edge of Town
There's a Brightness on the Edge of Town

 

[lovinthehd]

From my personal experience, I felt the pioneer i had before the yamaha was warmer than the yamaha, and for some reason the yamaha also sound midrange heavy even in direct modes compared to the pioneer

Sounds like too much time alone with your electronics.

 

[ryanosaur]

Neither.
Monoprice Monolith HTP-1
People have left both Anthem and Emo for this. Most of them quite gladly. On the Owners Thread at that other site, not one single person whom previously owned an Emo has had a positive experience to share with Emo and their old processors!
Any chance I was still considering Emo went out the door after reading that thread.
As for Anthem, their older units don’t measure as well as their promise suggests they should. People call them a premium brand, but just short of the second-best room correction program... what do you get for the money?

Simply, the HTP-1 works very well. Bugs are actively being tracked and worked on through frequent firmware updates. Mono and Dirac both have team members following and participating in that same Owners Thread. In the end, it is far and away the most stable and complete environment for any of these “super” processors capable of 16-channels.

Just my 2 ¢.

 

[Movie2099]

Neither.
Monoprice Monolith HTP-1
People have left both Anthem and Emo for this. Most of them quite gladly. On the Owners Thread at that other site, not one single person whom previously owned an Emo has had a positive experience to share with Emo and their old processors!
Any chance I was still considering Emo went out the door after reading that thread.
As for Anthem, their older units don’t measure as well as their promise suggests they should. People call them a premium brand, but just short of the second-best room correction program... what do you get for the money?

Simply, the HTP-1 works very well. Bugs are actively being tracked and worked on through frequent firmware updates. Mono and Dirac both have team members following and participating in that same Owners Thread. In the end, it is far and away the most stable and complete environment for any of these “super” processors capable of 16-channels.

Just my 2 ¢.

Since ATI makes the HTP-1, they will be releasing their own ATI branded 16 channel processor early next year. Can't wait to see the specs on that. Very interested in purchasing one. ATI purchased DataSat a year or so ago and will be incorporating a ton of stuff from DataSat into their new processors. For half the cost. At least from what I've heard. They could release more than just a 16 channel and of course prices will go up. But I don't think they'll hit DataSat high end prices. Which were close to $25k-$30k.

 

[ryanosaur]

Since ATI makes the HTP-1, they will be releasing their own ATI branded 16 channel processor early next year. Can't wait to see the specs on that. Very interested in purchasing one. ATI purchased DataSat a year or so ago and will be incorporating a ton of stuff from DataSat into their new processors. For half the cost. At least from what I've heard. They could release more than just a 16 channel and of course prices will go up. But I don't think they'll hit DataSat high end prices. Which were close to $25k-$30k.

I too was curious about how ATI's own version will look and perform compared to what is being done with the HTP-1. BUT... word is that project is cancelled. I won't even look at the Luxury-Market DataSat products.

But seriously, I suspect between Covid and the successes of the Monolith project, ATI decided not to dilute the pool too much. If anything, I would hope for a deeper partnership with Monoprice in refining the existing product with preparation for the HDMI 2.1 upgrade which will presumably/hopefully also bring it up to 8K and keep it even with the 2020 models from SU and Yamaha (and for the Gamers out there that are all still p!ssed about their new consoles not working and blaming everybody else for insisting on early adoption and the inherent problems that causes.) That's neither here nor there. (BTW, I'm a gamer: I just know better than to buy a console prior to it getting shaken out properly which does not happen when racing to launch at Christmas.)

Beyond the HTP-1, in the Luxury Market, there is also Storm Audio and Trinnov. Then you have the Harmon designed SDP-55 which has been underperforming by many reports. Also Audio Control. Both of those latter items are bumping up against the Luxury-side with the top-tier Audio Control coming in at $9600.00 MSRP.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I felt the Pioneer was warmer than the Yamaha...

If you have not already tried this, Bypass YPAO. I don't like YPAO either.

Instead, use Manual Parametric EQ. Set all Frequencies to 0.0 (FLAT), but set the 10.1 kHz frequency -1.0, -2.0, -3.0, etc., with Q=0.5.

For the LFE (Subwoofer output), Set the 39.4Hz, 62.5Hz, and 78.7Hz to +1.0, +2.0, or +3.0, with Q= 0.5.

If you don't like it, you can always set it back to the previous settings. But this might make your SPEAKERS sound WARMER.

 

[Movie2099]

I too was curious about how ATI's own version will look and perform compared to what is being done with the HTP-1. BUT... word is that project is cancelled. I won't even look at the Luxury-Market DataSat products.

But seriously, I suspect between Covid and the successes of the Monolith project, ATI decided not to dilute the pool too much. If anything, I would hope for a deeper partnership with Monoprice in refining the existing product with preparation for the HDMI 2.1 upgrade which will presumably/hopefully also bring it up to 8K and keep it even with the 2020 models from SU and Yamaha (and for the Gamers out there that are all still p!ssed about their new consoles not working and blaming everybody else for insisting on early adoption and the inherent problems that causes.) That's neither here nor there. (BTW, I'm a gamer: I just know better than to buy a console prior to it getting shaken out properly which does not happen when racing to launch at Christmas.)

Beyond the HTP-1, in the Luxury Market, there is also Storm Audio and Trinnov. Then you have the Harmon designed SDP-55 which has been underperforming by many reports. Also Audio Control. Both of those latter items are bumping up against the Luxury-side with the top-tier Audio Control coming in at $9600.00 MSRP.

Yeah, I'm a gamer as well. I'm waiting for all the test subjects who purchased right away to work the kinks out. I will get a new console sometime late next year or wait until the Version 2 of them releases. Or heck, I might build a new gaming PC.

I'm split between ATI and Trinnov. I really like the Trinnov. But I also really like ATI. I plan on using ATI class D amps for my next theater build. Would love to have it paired with an ATI processor. It will be a game time decision when the day comes. Either or will work for me.

 

[Hunter21]

It also doesn't help that my room has a huge suckout at 60-80hz -8db that I ran with rew and no matter where I put my bass traps it still has a suckout

 

[ryanosaur]

It also doesn't help that my room has a huge suckout at 60-80hz -8db that I ran with rew and no matter where I put my bass traps it still has a suckout

How much experimentation with positioning of speakers and subs have you done.
To a certain extent, it's not always possible to overcome the physics of the room... yet finding the best placements and orientation for the speakers and subs is key to getting a leg up on that.