Opinions of Anthem Users. I am considering the Anthem AVM 70 8K

[PENG]

Not sure how much I've written here before on subject, but I previously had a Denon 6500 picked up second hand from a seller who originally said it was a 6700. So from day 1 i perceived it as less than the 6700

I then bought into the hype about Denon being mass market and anthem being enthusiast levels of quality, but my first reaction when I heard 1140 for first time was "oh"

Perhaps I was wrongly expecting some audible improvement. (It also didn't help the anthems that the audyssey one calibration tool has recently been used)

I also know now that the 6500 was/is still a very capable avr

But I persisted. The issue with getting a forum guy to tweak arc remotely was not being able to describe to him how it sounded and how I wanted it to sound, I just don't have the vocabulary for that.

I even got a local pro calibration for the 1140 at same time as my TV, but that guy didn't even touch ARC so not sure what he did lol

But yeah, the A1h continues to impress and is truly an end game avr for me. Having audyssey one to do the calibration optimisation means I can relax and just enjoy the sound

Congratulations!

I hope you will get DLBC as well, unless you feel your bass response is already excellent for music. It costs more than the Audyssey apps but not too bad when on sale.

 

[Joe B]

Not sure how much I've written here before on subject, but I previously had a Denon 6500 picked up second hand from a seller who originally said it was a 6700. So from day 1 i perceived it as less than the 6700

I then bought into the hype about Denon being mass market and anthem being enthusiast levels of quality, but my first reaction when I heard 1140 for first time was "oh"

Perhaps I was wrongly expecting some audible improvement. (It also didn't help the anthems that the audyssey one calibration tool has recently been used)

I also know now that the 6500 was/is still a very capable avr

But I persisted. The issue with getting a forum guy to tweak arc remotely was not being able to describe to him how it sounded and how I wanted it to sound, I just don't have the vocabulary for that.

I even got a local pro calibration for the 1140 at same time as my TV, but that guy didn't even touch ARC so not sure what he did lol

But yeah, the A1h continues to impress and is truly an end game avr for me. Having audyssey one to do the calibration optimisation means I can relax and just enjoy the sound

"But I persisted. The issue with getting a forum guy to tweak arc remotely was not being able to describe to him how it sounded and how I wanted it to sound, I just don't have the vocabulary for that."

"I even got a local pro calibration for the 1140 at same time as my TV, but that guy didn't even touch ARC so not sure what he did lol"

These two quoted sections from this post have me baffled.
I have used the ARC software in my living room to great results. The only thing I 'tweaked' in the software which was generated by ARC was the order of roll off for the subwoofer (originally generated as 5th order, changed to 4th order). You can make 'tweaks' to the software yourself.

So you paid for someone to calibrate your 1140 but the guy didn't touch ARC? You paid for this???
So if he didn't "touch it", who ran the sound sweeps each time the calibrated microphone was placed in its next "listening" position in order to generate an ARC file which could be shared with some "forum guy" whom you expected to "teak" it?

Listen, I'm not trying to promote Anthem products outside of the fact that mine functions exactly as advertised.
A have a 2-channel headphone system in my office for listening when on my computer (>$4,500.00). My 5.1 system in my living room sounds the same. Properly implementing the process of using Anthem's ARC software has successfully removed my living room from the listening equation when seated in the sweet spot just as my headphones do. There is NO magic here. I'm sure properly implementing virtually anyone's room correction software will give positive results.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The point is not that Anthem sucks or any other brands suck and can’t sound as good as Denon or Marantz.

Any brand of AVR can sound great depending on the user and situation.

 

[Joe B]

The point is not that Anthem sucks or any other brands suck and can’t sound as good as Denon or Marantz.

Any brand of AVR can sound great depending on the user and situation.

I believe I made that point already. Perhaps your comment would have been more timely after this guys first post:

I hated the 1140 and got rid of it after a month for the Denon a1h, which instantly put a smile back on my face.

The 1140 was disappointing sound - even after getting recommended forum gurus to tweak my arc file. "This Modern Age" by The Strokes was unlistenable.

It took 5-6s to resume audio after unpausing in Plex.

Plus - the fan noise.

I will never touch Anthem products again

 

[famasfilms]

Congratulations!

I hope you will get DLBC as well, unless you feel your bass response is already excellent for music. It costs more than the Audyssey apps but not too bad when on sale.

I'm fine with Audyssey One optimising my system for free. The maker did recently say on the AVS thread for his latest release that nothing can come close to Dirac ART and Denon have just announced it's coming to the A1H later this year

 

[famasfilms]

"But I persisted. The issue with getting a forum guy to tweak arc remotely was not being able to describe to him how it sounded and how I wanted it to sound, I just don't have the vocabulary for that."

"I even got a local pro calibration for the 1140 at same time as my TV, but that guy didn't even touch ARC so not sure what he did lol"

These two quoted sections from this post have me baffled.
I have used the ARC software in my living room to great results. The only thing I 'tweaked' in the software which was generated by ARC was the order of roll off for the subwoofer (originally generated as 5th order, changed to 4th order). You can make 'tweaks' to the software yourself.

Of course - if you know what they're doing - yet the guy over on AVS who tweaks peoples files has lots of positive reviews, but like I said it couldn't work for me.

As for the pro calibrator - I assumed he would use ARC but that was my mistake for not verifying, he used some other tools/programs instead. I previously had a Denon 3200 calibrated by a different guy same time as an old TV, and rather than spend the evening watching movies on my newly calibrated TV/AVR I spent all evening listening to music as his calibration made an insane difference. Assumed I would get similar impact from having the Anthem calibrated

I'm sure properly implementing virtually anyone's room correction software will give positive results.

The fact you bolded that part doesn't disguise the veiled implication of your post - that being that I was incapable of following the many ARC guides myself, that the forum guru who has his praises sung on AVS, AVF and ASR also doesn't know what he's doing, likewise for the pro calibrator.

 

[Trell]

Of course - if you know what they're doing - yet the guy over on AVS who tweaks peoples files has lots of positive reviews, but like I said it couldn't work for me.

Here we go again. How's the measuring the difference between what the AVS developer is doing and Audyssey? I've asked before, but nothing is forthcoming.

 

[famasfilms]

Here we go again. How's the measuring the difference between what the AVS developer is doing and Audyssey? I've asked before, but nothing is forthcoming.

What's audyssey got to do with it? I'm referring to the recommended guy who tweaks people's arc files for them

 

[Trell]

What's audyssey got to do with it? I'm referring to the recommended guy who tweaks people's arc files for them

My bad.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm sure properly implementing virtually anyone's room correction software will give positive results.

Probably in terms of the FR graphs.

@PENG has posted on the forum his FR graphs of his system comparing Audyssey vs Dirac vs Anthem ARC. He concluded by posting comparison graphs that overall, Dirac produces the best FR, follow by Audyssey in 2nd place. Anthem ARC was last place.

But not everyone likes all room corrections in terms of subjective sound.

Some people hate all room corrections. Like @TLS Guy.

Some people prefer Audyssey, some prefer Dirac, some prefer Trinnov, some prefer ARC, etc.

So it's possible that the @famasfilms just preferred Audyssey over ARC.

 

[PENG]

Of course - if you know what they're doing - yet the guy over on AVS who tweaks peoples files has lots of positive reviews, but like I said it couldn't work for me.

As for the pro calibrator - I assumed he would use ARC but that was my mistake for not verifying, he used some other tools/programs instead. I previously had a Denon 3200 calibrated by a different guy same time as an old TV, and rather than spend the evening watching movies on my newly calibrated TV/AVR I spent all evening listening to music as his calibration made an insane difference. Assumed I would get similar impact from having the Anthem calibrated



The fact you bolded that part doesn't disguise the veiled implication of your post - that being that I was incapable of following the many ARC guides myself, that the forum guru who has his praises sung on AVS, AVF and ASR also doesn't know what he's doing, likewise for the pro calibrator.

The funny thing is, that guru has been able to tweak others files to sound great to them, without listening to their setups and rooms.

I guess he is just talented in doing what’s he’s doing lol..

 

[Joe B]

Probably in terms of the FR graphs.

@PENG has posted on the forum his FR graphs of his system comparing Audyssey vs Dirac vs Anthem ARC. He concluded by posting comparison graphs that overall, Dirac produces the best FR, follow by Audyssey in 2nd place. Anthem ARC was last place.

But not everyone likes all room corrections in terms of subjective sound.

Some people hate all room corrections. Like @TLS Guy.

Some people prefer Audyssey, some prefer Dirac, some prefer Trinnov, some prefer ARC, etc.

So it's possible that the @famasfilms just preferred Audyssey over ARC.

Post #106 above:
"As for the pro calibrator - I assumed he would use ARC but that was my mistake for not verifying, he used some other tools/programs instead. "

So if this statement is true, @famasfilms has never heard the room correction capabilities of ARC software. At least not from what he has said. So no preference can/has been made.
What did the pro calibrator use? Whatever it was, it created a digital filter to make 'room' corrections. This digital filter would not be in the 1140. Anthem's DSP chip does not support other products besides ARC. So was the filter he created used in a computer 'upstream' to the 1140? What file was sent to the online experts to have them 'tweak'?

There's more holes in this discussion than in my favorite Swiss cheese.