Anthem MRX 1140 vs Denon AVR-X8500H

[NCAV]

Anthem has some very loyal followers. The whole superior “sound” like you say is not measured by them—just a given to their confirmation bias. Denons test better and have much much fewer bugs upon release. Just glance over the AVS forum owner’s thread for AVM 70/90. Oh my gosh was that an embarrassing clumsy release early on. Whew.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Read through this thread as I'm trying to find out what suits my needs, I actually have a Denon 6700 and a Anthem 1140 testing. I would agree on the comments on Denon and setup, but for sound, I can't discern that much from a $1,000 set of speakers to an $11,000 speaker but I was planning on going with an Integra 5.4 or Denon 6700 and the store just happen to have the Anthem 1140 so I purchased it as well to test. The sound quality is pretty significant on the Anthem. For sound stage accuracy, find all 3 about the same. For low to mid decibel listening, they are comparable but my ears give the Anthem the edge and my wallet would prefer the Integra or Denon.

But mid to upper decibels, the anthem is just a whole other sound. I would describe it as it sounds like I added a sub and properly adjusted the levels from lows to highs, just a more solid, robust sound throughout. And I'm running on JBL 590's and 580's which some scoffed at but I couldn't be happier. But alas Anthem doesn't support HDMI 2.1 and various HDMI issues trying to get my gaming console to work because it's for gaming and movies, I'm not sure I'll end up with it. I also wish they at least had a mobile app to control inputs and volume and change input profiles based on input.

Curious what the OP ended up with and how they like it. If still deciding, recommend get the units you are considering in your room and switch back with the same source and media to decide.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I also wish they at least had a mobile app to control inputs and volume and change input profiles based on input.

One of the reasons I love about Yamaha - best WiFi Remote Control app in the world (MusicCast).

Pros and cons. Can’t win them all.

 

[chrysler82000]

Yeah, I guess with most things it does come down to luck for reliability. Naturally, most people will continue to own what they have always owned. Whatever works best for the owner is the right choice.

I do hope that Sound United makes the Denon/Marantz brand even more solid than ever. I also have not heard any complaints from my clients about their Denon/Marantz products over the past 5 years.

I know this thread is nearly two years old. But last week I purchased the MRX 1140. I have owned the Anthem str pre/pro for a couple years and was so impressed how good they sounded 1140 was my first choice to purchase when my Marantz SR7012 broke after 4 years and 8 months. The Marantz was a replacement to the Denon x1500 that broke after one year. It was within warranty and was repaired by denon. Sound United is 0 for 2 with me. You now have at least this one complaint to share when you refer to Sound United

 

[chrysler82000]

Read through this thread as I'm trying to find out what suits my needs, I actually have a Denon 6700 and a Anthem 1140 testing. I would agree on the comments on Denon and setup, but for sound, I can't discern that much from a $1,000 set of speakers to an $11,000 speaker but I was planning on going with an Integra 5.4 or Denon 6700 and the store just happen to have the Anthem 1140 so I purchased it as well to test. The sound quality is pretty significant on the Anthem. For sound stage accuracy, find all 3 about the same. For low to mid decibel listening, they are comparable but my ears give the Anthem the edge and my wallet would prefer the Integra or Denon.

But mid to upper decibels, the anthem is just a whole other sound. I would describe it as it sounds like I added a sub and properly adjusted the levels from lows to highs, just a more solid, robust sound throughout. And I'm running on JBL 590's and 580's which some scoffed at but I couldn't be happier. But alas Anthem doesn't support HDMI 2.1 and various HDMI issues trying to get my gaming console to work because it's for gaming and movies, I'm not sure I'll end up with it. I also wish they at least had a mobile app to control inputs and volume and change input profiles based on input.

Curious what the OP ended up with and how they like it. If still deciding, recommend get the units you are considering in your room and switch back with the same source and media to decide.

I couldn't agree with you more in regards to your Anthem comments. My marantz sr7012 broke last week. Because I own the Anthem str pre/pro and have been very satified with them the last couple years. The 1140 was my only choice to replace this sound united unit. And OMG my Klipsch never sounded so good. Nearly night and day. The level adjustment that the Anthem perform is undeniable. For over 4 years I've bben fighting to get good dialogue out of my center channel. REW my subs. added treatments. Replaced center channel. Added separate amp for center channel....All I needed to do was replace this Marantz. You just don't know how bad or good a product can be until you get it in your space. Yeah, 7012 today is $1500 and 1140 retails for $4200. But the store that gave me a smoking deal on my previous Anthem purchase offered me a deal that was too good to pass and made the purchase extremly easy. And the Anthem bugs have been worked out.

 

[chrysler82000]

Honestly there's no complaints that I can think of. It's just the itch to try something new. And ARC seems to offer users the ability to do more intensive tweaks than what the MultEQ offers. Anyway I've forced myself not to make any rash decisions and for sure I'll come down to my senses.

This post is nearly two years old. What did you buy? Last week my Marantz sr7012 took a poop. It replaced my denon x1500 that took a poop while under warranty. Which was repaired and gifted to my dad who still uses it. Sound United is 0 for 2 with me. Because I have been extremely satisfied for two years with my Anthem str pre/pro, purchasing another Anthem was a no brainer. I consided going separates but my room is just too small to take advantge of all the benefits of the AVM90 has to offer. 11' x 13' x 8' ceilings So I chose and purchased the MRX1140. And after just one quick calibration OMG I just didn't know how good my room could sound. I'm looking forward to getting back in arc and dialing this in.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I know this thread is nearly two years old. But last week I purchased the MRX 1140. I have owned the Anthem str pre/pro for a couple years and was so impressed how good they sounded 1140 was my first choice to purchase when my Marantz SR7012 broke after 4 years and 8 months. The Marantz was a replacement to the Denon x1500 that broke after one year. It was within warranty and was repaired by denon. Sound United is 0 for 2 with me. You now have at least this one complaint to share when you refer to Sound United

And I've heard plenty of people complaining of Anthem reliability and customer support.

I've also heard of people saying their Denon/Marantz lasted 20 years.

Any of these electronics can malfunction, regardless of price.

My motto is, don't spend too much because the more they cost, the more it hurts. And also buy the brands that you can actually call and talk to a live person for customer support and get service/repairs if needed. Relying solely on emails or waiting forever to get service is a bad idea.

Everyone has their go-to brands. Mine is Yamaha. But others may be Denon, Marantz, Sony, Anthem, etc. May the Force be with you.

 

[chrysler82000]

And I've heard plenty of people complaining of Anthem reliability and customer support.

I've also heard of people saying their Denon/Marantz lasted 20 years.

Any of these electronics can malfunction, regardless of price.

My motto is, don't spend too much because the more they cost, the more it hurts. And also buy the brands that you can actually call and talk to a live person for customer support and get service/repairs if needed. Relying solely on emails or waiting forever to get service is a bad idea.

Everyone has their go-to brands. Mine is Yamaha. But others may be Denon, Marantz, Sony, Anthem, etc. May the Force be with you.

It wasn't necasarrily a poke at you. It was a poke at Sound United. Obviously I had to work with their customer service to get the denon serviced under warranty. It wasn't great. It did take them time to respond. In the end they honored the warranty. I also had to work with Anthem customer service. My str pre amp was like all the others, buggy. And I had to wait 6 months before I could actually use arc and calibrate. I assumed two years later the bugs would have been worked out with my new MRX1140. Well, it was buggy and took me a few phone calls and emails. Turned out I just needed to uninstall arc and reinstall it. It would work but I couldn't get calibration to run. Yes I agree customer service is important. Best customer service comes from SVS, they are incredibly quick and helpful. Now I hope these three anthems will last longer than the Sound United. I will probably take the Marantz in for repair. I'm pretty confident it's a blow channel. It powers up but goes straight into safe mode.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It wasn't necasarrily a poke at you. It was a poke at Sound United. Obviously I had to work with their customer service to get the denon serviced under warranty. It wasn't great. It did take them time to respond. In the end they honored the warranty. I also had to work with Anthem customer service. My str pre amp was like all the others, buggy. And I had to wait 6 months before I could actually use arc and calibrate. I assumed two years later the bugs would have been worked out with my new MRX1140. Well, it was buggy and took me a few phone calls and emails. Turned out I just needed to uninstall arc and reinstall it. It would work but I couldn't get calibration to run. Yes I agree customer service is important. Best customer service comes from SVS, they are incredibly quick and helpful. Now I hope these three anthems will last longer than the Sound United. I will probably take the Marantz in for repair. I'm pretty confident it's a blow channel. It powers up but goes straight into safe mode.

I didn’t take any offense to your post. I was just trying to say that no brands are 100% reliable regardless of cost or reputation, not even Yamaha. I’ve seen many people with SVS subs needing repairs/replacements. Definitely nobody is perfect.

The only thing I can do is try to buy the brands that are supposed to be the most reliable, have great customer support, fit my budget, and give me great pride of ownership.

Everyone has a different experience and their experience may change over time.

 

[PENG]

It wasn't necasarrily a poke at you. It was a poke at Sound United. Obviously I had to work with their customer service to get the denon serviced under warranty. It wasn't great. It did take them time to respond. In the end they honored the warranty. I also had to work with Anthem customer service. My str pre amp was like all the others, buggy. And I had to wait 6 months before I could actually use arc and calibrate. I assumed two years later the bugs would have been worked out with my new MRX1140. Well, it was buggy and took me a few phone calls and emails. Turned out I just needed to uninstall arc and reinstall it. It would work but I couldn't get calibration to run. Yes I agree customer service is important. Best customer service comes from SVS, they are incredibly quick and helpful. Now I hope these three anthems will last longer than the Sound United. I will probably take the Marantz in for repair. I'm pretty confident it's a blow channel. It powers up but goes straight into safe mode.

If you browse enough posts on line on Denon vs Anthem you will likely find that Anthem's have much more bugs. I have nothing against Anthem overall but in my experience, Denon, Marantz never gave me any trouble over many years. You experience, while real, but seems more like the outlier relatively speaking. As far as sound quality difference, those so called night and day difference are anecdotal at best, without knowing how the comparisons are done. For example, if done in direct mode with no dsp involved, there is no way they could "sound" so different, but being a subjective thing, anyone can say anything using any kind of adjectives so I'll not argue with anyone on sound quality comparison, other than saying that it is so highly subjective that people should not take it as facts, but to go do their own comparison listening.

One thing I am disappointed with Anthem's latest models is that they still have not address the fan noise issues. The lucky ones will get the quieter fans, for whatever reason, but they would still turn on unnecessarily, though that may not be a bad thing, as long as they are no audible from a few feet away, but unfortunately a lot of people are still getting the noisy ones. As for ARC Genesis, bass heads (like ADTG) better stay away, unless they are willing, and know how to tweak a little post calibration, though it is likely dependent on the rooms As always, some rooms are more bass friendlier than others.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If you browse enough posts on line on Denon vs Anthem you will likely find that Anthem's have much more bugs. I have nothing against Anthem overall but in my experience, Denon, Marantz never gave me any trouble over many years. You experience, while real, but seems more like the outlier relatively speaking. As far as sound quality difference, those so called night and day difference are anecdotal at best, without knowing how the comparisons are done. For example, if done in direct mode with no dsp involved, there is no way they could "sound" so different, but being a subjective thing, anyone can say anything using any kind of adjectives so I'll not argue with anyone on sound quality comparison, other than saying that it is so highly subjective that people should not take it as facts, but to go do their own comparison listening.

One thing I am disappointed with Anthem's latest models is that they still have not address the fan noise issues. The lucky ones will get the quieter fans, for whatever reason, but they would still turn on unnecessarily, though that may not be a bad thing, as long as they are no audible from a few feet away, but unfortunately a lot of people are still getting the noisy ones. As for ARC Genesis, bass heads (like ADTG) better stay away, unless they are willing, and know how to tweak a little post calibration, though it is likely dependent on the rooms, as always, so rooms are bass friendlier than others.

When I'm watching "Sense and Sensibility" or "Pride and Prejudice" and the room isn't shaking, I'm not gonna be happy one bit.