Tekton Double Impacts

David:
I think the Anthem is a good unit. I used to have an Arcam and it really was very good. It only had a few HDMI ports and they did not make a new processor so I started looking at other units. I like the feature set of the Marantz. It is expensive but it can also do a lot. The 8802 is the one with the better DAC. I almost bought one, but while I like the sound, it has a signature warmness to it. It's not that I don't like it, but I value having the sound being as accurate as possible. I did not perceive that being the case with the Marantz processor. I ended up with the Yamaha. It really is also very feature laden. I thought the sound was more accurate. I ended up with the Yamaha CX-A5000 and believe it or not, it sounded better than the Arcam. Noticeably better. It surprised me.
I just recently decided to move to 4K TV and am now selling the Yamaha and bought the Anthem. I almost bought the newer version of the Yamaha because I was so happy with it and because it has a better feature set than the Anthem. In the end, the better sonic qualities of the Anthem and the better room correction won me over. The higher feature set of the Yamaha would have been nice, but I noticed a slight improvement over the Yamaha with the Anthem so I am glad I bought that. Having to use a PC for room correction is a minor pain, but I am glad I went with the Anthem.

@kdude66 , no, I don't know when the review is going to be posted. It should be soon. 

Yeah, you're right about the crossovers and such. Whatever I end up with I'm going to pretty much play them 24/7 for awhile. 

Great to hear audio enthusiasts talking about value audio systems and room correction. Here's was what my road to value looked like.

When my receiver performing preamp duties for my 2 channel died, I switched to a used W4S dac-2 (doubling as pre-amp) fed with a home built pc with Live Dirac, Roon/Tidal,HQPlayer and Jriver. I stayed with 2 channel since I couldn't find quality surround dacs with room correction at affordable prices. I briefly entertained the idea of a Marantz 8802 pre/pro purchase, but realized I was more interested in hifi music - not spreading money over a dozen speakers. If I wanted to spend more money, that would be in the mains.

Basically, the dac and correction cost $1000 plus computer costs (everyone has one of those right?). The sound quality improvements with the dac were thrilling, but the once room correction was in place, my jaw dropped. Not sure how I ever thought my system sounded good before that. 

One thing I've learned (personal preference) is that audio system enjoyment is proportional to the quality and selection of your source material. A lossless music streaming computer based audio/video system that allows me to watch 2.0 DTS-MA blu-ray through Jriver, rip blu-rays, surf the net and play video games (super quiet PC build) is satisfying indeed.

That was value to me. $1000 + power amps which allows me to integrate tube sound (not offered by the Lyngdorf - just sayin'). The only drawback is that it takes a wee bit of tinkering on a computer, or a bit more for building a computer with the ideal quiet/gaming pc at reasonable cost trade.

So glad I didn't punch the "easy button". 

@bullitt5094

Please check your messages.  

I picked up a Calyx CTI this weekend. Sounds awesome with the DIs. What a wonderful little integrated. Very very precise with a hint of warmth and great flow or prat whatever you want to call it.