2. home-theater
  3. 175713-110665

An argument for older processors

I’ve had the upgrade bug—going from a receiver to separates. Since many of the new processors are not available—e.g., Anthem AVM 70—I decided to get an older 7.1 (well it can have front high and front wides too) McIntosh MX123 at a good price.

Fantastic unit (I’m biased as I love Mc and this unit is definitely a lot more than a rebranded Marantz) that has greatly improved SQ and functionality.

I’ve been wondering about how much, audio wise, I’m missing and have been paying a lot more attention to how movies are recorded. Turns out that most TV, HBO, Netflix, and Amazon are only 5.1. HBO does have new Atmos releases and Disney and Apple TV have more Atmos and 7.1. Even many new Blu Ray movies are only 5.1. There are a scattering of actual 7.1 out there. If I play an Atmos movie it decodes to 7.1, and, by using Dolby EX and other settings, I can get rear surround out of 5.1.

So at this point most of the content I watch—like 95%—could not take advantage of a new processor. Only sticking point it I can’t pass 4K, but I could feed 5.1 audio via Toslink if I get a 4K TV—still using an old plasma for now. 
 

Given the current lack of Atmos content, for me at least, having an older high quality processor makes a lot of sense. Maybe the room correction is better in the newer units, but I don’t know what I’m missing. No doubt in the future I’ll upgrade, but I’m satisfied for now (today at least).

 

w123ale
erik_squires
16,348 posts
 

I kind of agree, kind of disagree.  I've had a very difficult time getting a good sounding HT processor at all.  I was doing a similar thing, sticking to an older model, Theta Casanova, and trying to avoid jumping onto that new fangled HDMI.  I went through a number of processors before settling where I am now, with an Anthem MRX 540. 

The part I agree with is that Atmos and DTS:X just don't have a lot of content out there, and I'm not about to buy extra speakers.  At 6 speakers that's all I'm putting in my living room.

The part I kind of disagree with is the sound quality of the latest generation of Anthem receivers.  They absolutely sound better than the AVM 50 I had before even before engaging room correction.  Having fairly good web interface, HDMI Audio Return Channel, and fairly good intercommunication with my TV and TV remote make it worth it.

Personally, given a choice, I'd rather buy a new MRX receiver and use it as a processor than stick to my old AVM 50.

 

erik_squires
16,348 posts
 

PS - One thing I didn't really explain well enough is that a lot of processors sound like garbage.  The sound was reedy and thin, that's why I stayed with the Theta for so long. It just sounded great.

One big exception in my quest for good sounding movies was the Oppo 103 with it's 7.1 channel outputs.  Together with a very rare Parasound 7.1 channel pre I finally had great sounding movies as well as music, but you can imagine the number of cables and the difficulty I had in getting HDMI ARC to work consistently.

luxmancl38
580 posts
 

I still have a Krell Showcase. Still works great. I have it set up balanced w/a pair of Bryston amps and a Parasound amp for the center. I use the 7.1 audio outputs from my Cambridge Audio Blu-Ray into my Krell for surround. . SQ is as good as anything out today. I think w/out HDMI it's one reason that it's lasted so long.

More to discover