i had the cary cinema 6 for 2 or 3 lengthy demos, and loved the analog audio sound quality. i never had the cary & anthem demos at the same time, so no direct comparison was available. while i loved the cary's analog sound quality, was not so in love with it's DSP, the click click click when switching tv channels (i cant recall if i ever changed the delay for how long it would "hold" the last signal, but then again my demos were without the use of an owner's manual), and i wanted XLR connections, which the cary lacked. the avm 30, after having it home for a few months, is a joy. spectacular analog, would not say that it's better than the cary but at least in my system don't feel that i'm giving anything up sound quality wise w/ the avm 30, a ridiculously low noise floor - which was critical to me as i listen to alot of jazz recorded in the 50's, spectacular DSP and this was truly an improvement over the cary, and any other pre-pro i demoed, and a ease of use and myriad of set up options was what won me over to the avm 30. i am a cary audio fan, i have their dvd 6, and am looking at buying other cary products in the future, but i felt overall the avm 30 had more options, flexibility, lower soundfloor (which is not really a fair comparison as i was never able to compare the 2 pre-pros with the same amp), superior DSP, XLR connections and the AVM 30 is stunning in black w/ the silver buttons.