Anthem MRX AV Receivers and MRX 500 Review

[pharsyde]

interesting .. thank you

well, i'm sure many of us here will agree when i say ... we are looking forward to your insight on this machine ..

no pressure ...

[SoundGame]

I'm excited to hear about how it sounds Suave. Thanks for giving us a peek at it.

I'd be really interested in how it stands up to the competition. I'd think that Anthem would be looking to score some points with their break into the receiver market so we should hope to see some of their separate component expertise trickle if not stream into these.

Would be very interested in hearing how this stands up in 2-ch operation as well.

[travel]

I have the 700. The setup was a nightmare and I feel its still not set up properly. The documentation provided with the unit is weak to say the least. I was unable to locate a computer with a serial input so I was unable to use ARC. If you asked me if I would buy this product again? I would probably say no. The sound is very different from the Japanese built big Marantz I have. Not sure if its actually better or not.

[wawaron]

Hi travel, just read your post. Sorry to hear about your situation. What was the major problem with the setup? Did you try contacting Anthem tech support? I'm thinking of buying the 700 just waiting for the review. I heard it in Montreal the sound in stereo was excellent but in surround it was not involving. I expected much more from the 700. I hope that it was a bad setup at the store. Here's wishing that was the problem.

[SoundGame]

Hey there wawaron. Your experience is interesting and slightly troubling. I hope you get some support.

Without the calibration the sound could be way off given your rooms variance from a test environment. I'd recommend you call Anthem and see if their Support Desk can help you with some of the issues and the workarounds for using the ARC when your PC does not have the right port.

How would you describe the sound as compared to the Marantz you have. Marantz/Denon both make some very reputable entry to mid-level AVR's and I'd be interested in the differences you perceive. Anthem does make some very high quality separates and I'd be surprised to find that they would be way off with their AVR's.

[wawaron]

Hi SoundGame, I have not yet bought an Anthem receiver but am looking into buying the 700, waiting for the review. Travel is the member that bought the 700 and has problems with it. I'd call Anthem tech support if I were Travel they should be helpful.

[wawaron]

Hi Suave, I'm greatly anticipating an update on your test of the MRX 500. Can't wait to read what your impressions are about the sound(stereo and surround), ease of setup etc. and overall impressions.

[draw macaw]

I just got my mrx 700 3 weeks ago.It takes alot of work to set it up.It needs a computer with a 9 pin plug(rs-232) or adapter to run anthem ARC setup,room needs to be quiet then run 5 to 10 seating positions.As a 2 channel stereo it sounds great.Highs are sharp and clean,mid range is tight and controlled,bass is deep and responsive.The best part is the total lack of back ground noise it's like its playing in the blacks of space.This makes all sound so much cleaner and precise.I'm doing 5.1 this to is great.Voices are easy to heir sound affects are clear and precise,back ground music does not over power voices.Video upscaling does work cable 1080i now looks like 1080p,480i has also gotten better.For 2 grand this is a great receiver i'm glad I bot it!DO give it a listen.

[wawaron]

Hi draw macaw, thanks for your input. I'm also looking to buy the MRX 700. Listened to it in Montreal as you said the stereo sound was beyond reproach but the 5.1 surround was a letdown. Hope it was just a bad setup at the store. I've heard and seen the Anthem separates at the Montreal Festival Son et Image and always wanted to buy one but the price tag was out of reach now finally maybe? How long did it take you to setup?

[Suave]

Hey guys - I just wanted to share with you my notes on the Anthem MRX ARC calibration. I will post my first sound impressions in the next couple of days.

Setup and ARC Calibration

The ARC setup isn’t as simple as the calibration systems implemented in other AV receivers but it isn’t terribly complicated either. I suppose the question is – is the extra effort worth it? The vast majority of AV receivers on the market come supplied with a microphone which plugs directly into the receiver. The receiver plays a series of test tones through each speaker while the microphone listens and then the system determines how to best optimize the sound in your particular room. Easy peasy.

The ARC system supplied with all of the new Anthem MRX receivers is composed of several pieces: a microphone, a microphone stand, a USB cable and the ARC computer software (for both a PC and Mac). Unlike other calibration systems, the ARC requires a computer to perform the calibration. If you own a laptop this won’t be a big deal, but if you don’t you’ll have to temporarily set up a desktop computer in the home theatre. You’ll also likely need to make a trip to a local computer store because the ARC system requires that you connect the AV receiver to the computer using a cable that is not supplied with the system. The AV receiver has a 9-pin female serial port which needs to be connected to a computer’s serial or USB port. Once you’ve got everything connected, the ARC runs just like any other room calibration system – test tones are played on each speaker as the microphone is repositioned a number of times around the room and then the system adjusts the frequency curve for each speaker in the attempt to provide the flattest response. With five microphone locations, the ARC took about 20 minutes to run. Some users may find the documentation supplied with the ARC system a little insufficient, while others may require the help of someone who’s computer savvy.

What I did like about the ARC is that unlike most other calibration systems, this one displays a frequency response graph (frequency vs. amplitude) for each speaker. Each graph has three frequency responses plotted on it: measured, target and calculated (by the ARC). Hence the graphs allow you to visualize how each speaker originally performs in your room, what the target frequency response should be and how it is modified by the ARC system. That’s wonderful!

Multi-channel music performance

During this review, the MRX 500 was connected to the Sinclair Audio Brighton speakers which I just finished reviewing for the Feb/Mar 2011 issue of CANADA HiFi. Following the ARC calibration I listened to a couple of multi-channel albums: the Rolling Stones “Shine a Light” on Blu-ray and the Dire Straits “Brothers In Arms” SACD. It didn’t take very long for me to pick up on the characteristics of the MRX 500 - the sound was highly detailed with a touch of warmth and a perfectly clean background. Keith Richards playing the 12 string guitar on “As Tears Go By” sounded delightfully real, as if someone was playing it right in front of me. My ears could easily pick up the sound of each string as the guitar pick hit it yet all the strings put together played in perfect harmony. Mick Jagger’s voice played cleanly in the centre channel and the MRX 500 ensured that all the tiniest nuances of his voice arrived at my ears. The rear channels in the meantime, accompanied the live performance with a well balanced enthusiasm of the audience – they were audible throughout the song but never overwhelming. Livelier tracks like “Some Girls” and “Start Me Up” had no trouble with the dynamics even when I pumped up the volume all the way up to 0 dB. I don’t normally listen to anything this loud because it just makes my ears tired very quickly but somehow the MRX 500 wasn’t bothering me at this rather silly volume level. And even playing this loud, it sounded like the amplifier section still had lots of headroom.

The first track “So Far Away” on the Dire Straits: Brothers In Arms SACD simply sent chills through my body. The MRX 500 provided a rich, melodic music experience, all in a perfectly balanced soundfield. The synthesizer effects in the intro to “Money For Nothing” swept across from the front to rear of the soundstage seamlessly, placing me in the middle of an imaginary landscape.
After listening to these two discs, I concluded that the ARC system produced the most balanced sound that I’ve heard in my room to date. The flattening of the frequency response in each channel resulted in a very accurate, smooth sound from every speaker. Was the ARC calibration worth the extra effort then? I’ve been turned into a believer.

I listened to a few more discs because I didn’t want to jump to a conclusion too quickly. Regardless of what I threw at the MRX 500, it never failed to deliver a wonderfully musical, highly involving sound. I have never had the opportunity for an extended listening session with any of the high-end Anthem separates in the past (due to their rather high price points) but I have no doubt that these new receivers utilize some of the lessons learned from their designs. There are many other tests that I will be putting this receiver through, but at this point in the game, I’m tempted to say that this is possibly the best sounding AV receiver I’ve heard at the sub-$2000 price point yet. Stay tuned for more comments as the review progresses.

A couple of days later I returned to my home theatre and put the MRX 500 through a barrage of sonic tests with a number of Blu-ray movies, starting with Sherlock Holmes which features a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This movie offers countless challenging scenes for both the video display and the audio system. In addition to dark, demanding on-screen visuals, many scenes in this movie rely on audio to create specific environments. The MRX 500 couldn’t be more effective at producing convincing sonic landscapes such as crowded city streets, the prison grounds, the circus training grounds and various indoor scenes. During all of the outdoor scenes in the city, I was surrounded by character voices, horse carriages as they travelled along cobblestone roads, church bells and animals among others. The MRX 500 constructed an enveloping 360 degree soundstage around me, precisely placing various sounds within it. You may be tempted to think that the vocals would be lost in all these layers of audio coming at me from all directions. But this in fact was not the case. Conversations between Holmes and his colleague Watson punched through all the commotion very clearly in the centre and front channels when required. The suspension of disbelief was undeniably present in many scenes thanks to the immersive, well reproduced audio. Everything sounded just as I would expect it to in real life.

While watching Sherlock Holmes I very quickly noticed a difference in the way the bass sounded in my room, compared to what I’m used to hearing. In earlier parts of the movie, bass is used in the soundtrack to create suspense in certain scenes. This bass sounded tighter and better defined than I ever recalling hearing it. Explosive action sequences later in the film confirmed that the ARC calibration system indeed smoothed out the bass frequency response noticeably in all four seating positions in my room. This improvement in the bass earned the MRX 500 some very high points in my book.

Please note that we had 2 seperate threads running about the Anthem MRX AV receivers - they have now been merged into this single thread.