[waculjr.903]

What is the better unit between the Anthem AVM 50, and the Marantz 8003 pre/pro. I am not really concerned with video processing as I am with the audio. As far as I know the Marantz decodes HD audio codecs and the Anthem does not. Stereophile Magazine article states that the processing of HD codecs in the AVR is not an important issue as it will be output at some point anyway as PCM 7.1 audio. If you could give me any suggestions to this topic, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[waculjr.903]

P.S. I am looking at both units that are used, but 100% functional and perfect condition for $900 each.

 

[nova]

From everything that I've heard, Anthem really excels in the audio department. Not sure how well Anthem's ARC room-correction compares to the Marantz 8003's Audyssey MultEQ if that is even a concern for you..

 

[waculjr.903]

Arc room correction is better than the Audessey software is. It is a lot more detailed, more accurate, and also very tweakable. I've read three articles that say the same as I previously stated.

 

[Architect7]

AVM50, $900 is a great deal. I much prefer Anthem sound quality to Marantz.

 

[waculjr.903]

How so? Out of curiosity...

 

[Architect7]

To my ear, ARC is a much better sounding room correction than Audyssey. And I also prefer my MRX-500 sound for 2-channel listening vs. any other receiver or pre/pro that I have heard.

 

[waculjr.903]

What are the top units that you compared with ? Just to help narrow down my list.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

What is the better unit between the Anthem AVM 50, and the Marantz 8003 pre/pro. I am not really concerned with video processing as I am with the audio. As far as I know the Marantz decodes HD audio codecs and the Anthem does not. Stereophile Magazine article states that the processing of HD codecs in the AVR is not an important issue as it will be output at some point anyway as PCM 7.1 audio. If you could give me any suggestions to this topic, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

"The Marantz AV8003, which came with only Audyssey MultEQ and not the AV7005's more advanced MultEQ XT, was unable to apply Audyssey to bitstreamed high-definition codecs. To apply Audyssey to 24-bit/96kHz signals with the AV8003, the disc player had to be set to transcode dts MA and Dolby TrueHD into PCM."

 

[Architect7]

What are the top units that you compared with ? Just to help narrow down my list.

Denon AVR-4520Ci, AVR-X4000, Marantz AV-7701, AVR-7007. I even prefer my less advanced MRX-500 to them, though it has the same version of ARC as the AVM50.

For some reason the Anthems sound so much more natural and musical to me. The Denons especially sound harsh and compressed especially at high volume. I can crank and crank my Anthem and it just keeps sounding better and better. Note that this was using all of them as a pre/pro, no internal amp usage.