I am simply not happy with the soundstage and movie capabilities of the AVM70, I guess I’m used to Integra sound. I am considering selling the AVM70 and going back to Integra since it has balanced pre outs for my A5 amp. Not sure if I’m going backwards here and not sure if it’s the right idea since I’ve always believed separates are best. I assume there would be no “piggybacking” from the Integra amp to the A5? All opinions are welcome! Thx Mike
If you go back to an Integra of the 2010, you are most likely going backward overall. In pure direct mode with no dsp, then may be comparable depending on which Integra model.
There is no reason for your unhappiness with soundstage and movie capabilities in terms of the AVM vs the outdate Integra, so if it is real, not Placebo induced, it is probably something to do with your setup, settings, room correction etc. Is it only when you have ARC Genesis enabled, or under all conditions?
If it is when ARC G is enabled, then likely has to do with the way you ran the ARC G calibration. ARC G, unlike Audyssey that you might have gotten used to, is hard to get good results on paper, let alone meeting everyone's different taste. I would typically recommend users to use the help of REW to guide tweaking process, and the first step is to achieve frequency response from say, 20-200 Hz as smooth and flat as possible. After that, one can do whatever is necessary to suit their likings, by customizing their own target curves. In the case of Anthem, it would mean meaning playing with the deep bass and room gain settings.
The AVM70 has very good specs and bench test measurements, I think you made a good choice.
