New Anthem AVM 70 and MRX 740 difference in processing

Why do I need the amp? Because I want to send clean power to my other speakers to help them keep up with the Klipschorn mains.

What happened to “why so high-end for my little Klipsch surround speakers stuck in weird corners behind my head?” So, the amp is important for these less consequential speakers but the preamp not so much? I don’t get the contradiction. Preamps matter just as much as amps, at least in my experience.

it appears most people cannot tell a difference in the processing quality between the older MRX720 and AVM60.

Based on what data? Have you spoken to “most people,” and how would you even know when that’s the case?

I’ll bet I could go into an HT enthusiasts theater and swap out his $5000 whatever processor for a Marantz receiver with similar outputs and he’d never know the difference. Just a bet.

Well then why are you even here asking if you should buy an AVR or AVP? And yeah, I’d take that bet that I could tell the difference between a transparent, neutral, quality AVP like the AVM70 and the relatively softer, rolled-off treble and overripe mids of a Marantz AVR any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

some manufacturers (I believe) use the same internals in their receivers as they do their processors. I don’t know but I would bet that many processors are just the company’s receiver without the amps

Yes, it’s obviously yet another conspiracy where manufacturers risk their hard-earned reputations by stuffing absurdly overpriced AVPs with inexpensive parts from their AVRs to pad their profits and pull one over on the poor, stupid, gullible HT enthusiasts. Gimme a break already. Just buy the AVR and laugh all the way to the bank thinking you’re too smart to get taken by the malicious and underhanded HT profit agenda.

I have pretty decent speakers in my HT systems, but I opted for the Anthem Receiver in both instead of separates.  In one system I was replacing another AVR, but in the other system I was using a Parasound 5 channel amp with an older Marantz pre pro..  I retained the amp in the basement system and I'm using 
the Anthem MX 570 there just as a preamp, and compared to the old Marantz the improvement is huge.  I suspect the Room Processing has a lot to do with said improvement, and that it would have been money poorly spent to go with separates.
   In your case, since you yourself have a poor opinion of your speakers, which after all are the most important part of any system, it surely would be money wasted to go with separates.  You also state that the main use will be for video and not Music, which again means that (IMO) having a nice system is less important.  With your speakers you won't be able to get very immersive movie sound

@mahler123 I don't have a "poor" opinion of my speakers, it's just that they're inwall or placed in the rear corners behind my head rendering many audiophilly (my word don't use it) terms and qualities useless.  

@soix the amp is to offer more clean power to get the dynamics and volume needed from my other speakers to match the Khorn.  

I just read on some other forums that I consider a little less trustworthy than here about people not telling a difference between a decent receiver vs a decent processor if they're using the pre outs on the receiver.  

@soix the amp is to offer more clean power to get the dynamics and volume needed from my other speakers to match the Khorn.  

Klipsch tend to be extremely efficient speakers and typically don’t need much power at all.  IMO and especially for HT you probably wasted your $ on a separate amp as most any decent AVR has plenty of power for those speakers.  Like I said before, just sell your amp and buy a Yamaha RX-A2080 (or even a 1080 would be fine for your speakers and save you even more $) from accessories4less — I’m sure you’ll be thrilled and have $1000+ more cash in your pocket.  The Yammy has plenty of clean power for your Klipsch, and since preamps apparently don’t matter spending more on the MRX740 would be a stupid waste of money in your case.  Just trying to help here, and best of luck. 

I said my front speakers are Khorns, the in-ceiling/rear are Episode and Klipsch RP600m (surround) which are MUCH less efficient than the front two.  Those are the ones I said I wanted the multichannel amp for.  

While it's very hard to a/b test any of this, I do feel the external amp offers a bit more dynamics and maybe separation but I'm not entirely convinced it's that great of a difference.  It certainly makes cranking the heights/rears much easier to match the big Khorn.

But one reason I'm looking at the Anthem is because I love most all of their products and use their STR preamp in my 2ch setup.  I love the ARC and also love the web interface option on the new units.  

I've found annoying quirks with every receiver I've owned (many Marantz's, Onkyo, and now a Marantz AV 7005 processor).