Oppo 105 and Cary 11 Surround Processor

I would pass on the Cary 11. Try to find an Anthem. Much better IMO.

Elescher
Which Anthem would you suggest?

I use an Oppo 105 with a Cary 11a. Some previous informations needs to be corrected. The 105 sets speaker distance in quarter foot intervals; subs can be farther away than mains; bass management is available if you set SACD output to PCM. The sound from one of top Anthems may equal that of the Cary, but that seems to be in dispute. If you can afford a Classe SSP 800, that would be a good choice, but I haven't seen one used for under about $6K.

The analog section of the 105 is superior to that of the 103. It has an HDMI port on the back and another on the front, as well as an asynchronous USB port. The 105 is essentially a processor, so if it has sufficient ports, you may want to skip a separate processor and go directly from the 105 to a multichannel amp.

I take analog 7.1 and balanced stereo from the Oppo 105 to a Cary 11a. The inputs of the 11a are set to bypass, so the 105 does the processing, sets speaker distances, crossover, and so forth. Video goes directly from the 105 to a projector -- a DirecTV HD-DVR uses the rear HDMI port of the 105, a Mac Mini the USB port. A Sony XA5400ES and phono stage are the other inputs to the 11a, so I need a separate processor, and chose the Cary 11a for its audio quality, knowing it was buggy with HDMI. Video and audio with the setup are superb.

db

I had the Cary 11a in my system and it never sounded very "alive". I was disappointed. There were issues with HDMI compatability with my Panasonic TV and if I remember correctly the Cary doesn't do any video processing. On the otherhand with the Anthem AVM 50 I have (not the v version) along with the ARC (Anthem Room Correction) all my cable channels are upped to 1080p from their standard 480i or best case 1080i. I have Fios which is excellent BTW. The Anthem room correction is much more sophisticated than the Cary's version as well, and it also works! The only downside some may have with the Anthem is it only has 5.1 analog inputs. I use HDMI from both my cable and Oppo 95 so it is not an issue for me. One other issue is that with the basic AVM 50 you cannot pass a 3d signal through it so you need to use one of the HDMI outs on your Oppo for video only to the TV and the other HDMI output to the Anthem for audio only. That being said if this is an issue just move up the line and spend a few more bucks and the Anthem will do the 3d.

I have had many different processors in all price ranges and to me the Anthem provides the best sound and flexability. I have never had an uber hi end processor though.

Just as a side note.....it seems a lot of people are stuck on the idea that they need to get a multi channel amp for HT. I have been using 3 McCormack stereo amps and love them. I bi-amp my center channel with one of them. MUCH better sound for the money!!! imo.