Home Theatre Processor reccomendation

Im looking at the Bryston SP 1.7 and Anthem AVM20. In fact im going to audition both side by side on monday. The main reason im interested in these units is the analog bypass mode. This bypasses all the HT processing within each unit making a solid 2ch preamp.

The Anthem has internal high bandwidth video switching and VERY flexible crossover settings for each speaker. A huge +

The Bryston is "supposed" to have a higher emphasis on the 2ch analog mode equal to the bryston BP-25 2ch preamp. Although lacking video switching and crossover flexibility. Including the SPV-1 video switcher the Bryston path will set you back atleast $2000.00 more USD. Is that warranty (20 years) worth it?

Can anyone else add anything to this thread?

Vedric:

I'm very curious about your results. Living in Maine, doing an A-B is impossible for me. I'm more interested in the musicality of each unit. Let us know what you think. Thanks.

If you want the best sound for your 2 channel, you can use the Adcom GFP-750, which is about as clean as you will ever get and loop through for the surrounds. Adcom has some newer surround systems that are coming out I am anxious to hear. The engineers bought out the company, apparently, and are back to building the way they used to be. They don't have specs yet on their new GTP-880, which is going to be their new flagship, but it looks promising.

Picasso_04901

Well my result was inconclusive. Due to time contraints I wasnt able to audition each with the same amp. The Bryston was on a 4B SST running B&W n803's. We then moved the n803's over to the Anthem AVM20. Although the cd player was identical, the Anthem MCA 20 amplifier is not in the same class as the Bryston 4B SST. The Byston was clearly more resolved sounding through the upper mids and highs.

Im going back to audition each using identical amps on Friday. I will post my findings then.

Well... I wasnt able to A/B both units on the Bryston amp. However, I will say that using the Anthem AVM 20 with the Bryston amp produced clean and resolved upper mids - highs. Much like my experience with the Bryston SP 1.7 using the same amp. It seems the differences I heard during my first audition were the differences between the two amps.

Picasso: I cannot define for you the "musicality" of each unit. I was listening for specific results within specific songs which, in my current setup, annoyed me. Both are more detailed yet refined (smooth) through the upper mids and highs when compared to my Yamaha RX-V1 as a preamp. Although the speakers I auditioned with are identical to the speakers I have at home, I cannot comment on the base. In my experience this is one area that a B&W N803 changes most during the break-in process. The speakers at the dealer were nearly new and (from my experience) not broken enough (30 - 50 hours moderate usage) to get a definitive understanding lower frequency differences between each processor.

In the end I am choosing the Anthem because of its feature list over the Bryston. It has 10 balanced outs and crossover frequency adjustements (5hz increments) from 25hz up (Bryston is 60hz). Balanced 2ch analog inputs.

It also has on-board high bandwidth video switching which the bryston lacks, although video switching wasnt very important to me.