Anthem MRX 720 Question

I don't have a dog in this one, but next year I'll be upgrading my Denon to something modern with more power and better music playback. I'm looking at Anthem and Arcam. Here's a Youtube review of both.

@dawgbyte Please don’t go by this guy — he’s a YouTube hack who doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing. Look where he has his KEF towers positioned against the wall and in the corners, and he uses tone controls on the Arcam, both of which are just silly mistakes no experienced audiophile would make.  You’d be much better off reading reviews from more reputable publications like Soundstage, Sound & Vision, etc as you’ll get much more rigorous and accurate representations of what equipment actually sounds like as opposed to this sham of a “review.”

That said, I got to compare the R30 with the Yamaha RX-A3080 directly using B&W 805 D3 speakers and my best audiophile recordings. The Anthem sounded like you’d expect an AVR to sound, meaning it was just ok and certainly nothing special. The Yamaha on the other hand projected a larger, deeper, clearer soundstage with 3D imaging I more associate with good stereo separates or integrated stereo amps. It was head and shoulders above Arcam, Denon, and Marantz in a direct head-to-head comparison, and it also has superior reliability as well. Don’t let the goofball in the video put you off on Anthem — it’s an all-around better AVR than even the Yammy but also more expensive, so let that and features be your guide. Just my $0.02 FWIW, and best of luck.

@soix I would never let a YouTuber sway me and I have not ruled out Anthem or anyone else. I I want an upgrade from the Denon, that’s my primary objective. It also has to have all the latest decoding software and stream music content from Spotify. I need it to drive my home theatre speakers for movies and make my Hales T-5’s sing.

That said, I've never been a fan of Yamaha gear. I've always found their receivers place a veil over the music.

That said, I’ve never been a fan of Yamaha gear. I’ve always found their receivers place a veil over the music.

@dawgbyte Not sure how long it’s been since you’ve heard a Yammy AVR, but I’d highly suggest giving them another listen as that’s the exact opposite of what I heard in direct comparisons to other comparable AVRs nor is it consistent with any recent reviews I’ve read of Yamaha AVRs where they consistently receive high praise for their sound. Also, when you’re ready to purchase I’d recommend using accessories4less (no Anthem though) as they have a great reputation and you can get excellent discounts for “as new” equipment. Dig your speakers BTW — great-sounding speakers I’m sure are still competitive today.

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/avreceiver/home-audio/receivers-amps/home-theater-receivers/1.html

Anthem's room correction software is what puts it above the rest. The latest version is so much better and gives the end user a lot of flexibility to tailor it to your liking