Anthem vs Rotel receiver

[Matheus]

I'm looking to do an extensive upgrade on my home theater. I have my eye on the Anthem MRX 720 or the Rotel RAP 580. I haven't got to audition either yet as I'm just going on reviews and feedback. I am predominantly concerned with top notch sound quality over extra bells and whistles. Although 4k passthrough is a must. It will be used mostly for movies and gaming. Occasional music. Is the Rotel worth the extra 1k+ price tag over the MRX 720? Which of the two would be more future proof?

The only hifi store near me is my local best buy. All I have access to and been able to audition are the Bowers and Wilkins 700 series bookshelf (with matching center) and some Martin Logan motion 35xt bookshelf (with matching center). I want to keep the fronts bookshelf size as towers would be too much for my room. I didn't bother auditioning the 800 bookshelf as it's a bit out of my price range. Although if they sounded good enough, I would pick them up.

There is another small independently owned hifi home theater store near me that I've not got to visit yet. They have paradigm and revel speakers. Either of which I have never heard but looking forward to auditioning. I plan on doing a 5.1.2 atmos setup. 3 fronts, 1 sub 2 rears, and 2 in ceiling speakers just behind the sitting area.

I am looking for suggestions and feedback as to potential setups and matching speakers. My speaker budget is 10k. While I know in many cases it is apples and oranges, I feel with my budget, there are other speaker brands in that cla$$ that I'm missing out on because I can't audition them. IE: kef, focal, wharfedale etc. Any personal experience or feedback with these speakers is appreciated.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Were it me, the receiver choice would be obvious, but I suggest you give the two units an audition and then decide.

As for loudspeakers, broadly speaking you should only consider those which you can personally audition, and at the prices you are looking to spend, perhaps an in-home audition should be arranged with your dealer before any final decision.

If you can't get to a dealer that sells what you are interested in, either find a way or scratch it off your list.

 

[PENG]

No AVRs are really future proof but in terms of value for the money, Denon, Marantz and Yamaha are much better than Rotel and Anthem's, obviously because of the magic of economy of scale. In pure direct mode they will all sound equally good while equivalent D&M models (AVR-X4400H, X6400H, SR-7012) may offer a little more power output than the Anthem based on past bench test data. The Rotel should be more comparable to the SR8012 and the AVR-X8500H (not available yet) in terms of power output.

If you must choose between the two now, I would go with the Anthem, only because of the well regarded Anthem ARC room EQ system. To me they both look ugly but that's purely subjective.