Anthem MRX-540

[Jasonovich]

Many of you will agree the Anthem MRX-540 is a nice looking AV receiver, priced £1,500. Not a name I'm familiar with. I believe WHF did a small article back in 2020 but no reviews.
I wonder if some of you have come across this brand and can provide some context about it's sonic merits.
It really looks good on paper and I have had my little flurry on AVForums, yes you can win this beast. The link is below and competition ends 31 January 2024.

It's a nice looking AV and in terms of aethestics it really departs from traditional brands from Denon, Marantz, Sony, Yamaha and et'al.

Perhaps you have another brand or something better in mind, a brand not well known but will blow everybody's socks off and it would be absolutely fabulous if you could share with us your own personal choice for the best AV bar none.

Anthem launches eight new receivers, processors and power amps

All hardware upgradable to HDMI 2.1 and 8K

www.whathifi.com

Win an Anthem MRX-540 Receiver worth over £1,500

www.avforums.com

 

[landco]

I don’t know about the AV receivers, but I’ve seen classic Antem amplifiers, and there are questions. Compare, for example, the quality of accompanying documentation for a $5,000 device, and for a Denon $500 receiver.

 

[jjbomber]

Perhaps you have another brand or something better in mind, a brand not well known but will blow everybody's socks off and it would be absolutely fabulous if you could share with us your own personal choice for the best AV bar none.

IOTAVX AVX17 Processor - HifiPilot, 1.799,00 €

The 17 channel preamplifier AVX17 with perfect 3D sound including Dolby Atmos & trade; & DTS: X as well as high-end DAC. Thanks to PEQ, the sound can be per

iotavx.com

IOTAVX AVXP1 7 Kanal Endstufe - HifiPilot, 1.379,00 €

Die gewaltige AVXP1 7 Kanal-Endstufe ist in Sachen Preis-Leistung wohl unübertroffen und liefert mit ihrem 1300W Netzteil zuverlässig Leistung für höchste D

iotavx.com

Though I actually have the slightly more powerful:

IOTAVX AVXP 7-230 7 channel power amplifier - HifiPilot, 2.199,00 €

With 230 watts per channel, the 7-channel power amplifier delivers an incomparable sound spectacle. The two large toroidal transformers together provide 2,6

iotavx.com

 

[davidf]

At £1549, it'll be the now discontinued MRX540 at that price with the older 4K HDMI boards in. This has now been replaced with the new 8K boards, which will be around the £2k mark.

 

[abacus]

I don’t know about the AV receivers, but I’ve seen classic Antem amplifiers, and there are questions. Compare, for example, the quality of accompanying documentation for a $5,000 device, and for a Denon $500 receiver.

View attachment 5926View attachment 5927

Big company's always have more money available to produce more slick manuals, (Although you do usually have to download them online these days) however as the Anthems are usually setup via computer/Tablet etc. it's not too much of a problem.
In the end it always comes down as to how it integrates with your system, and the only way to find out that is to go to a dealer and compare the 2.

Bill

 

[landco]

Big company's always have more money available to produce more slick manuals

I have noticed that if a device is considered audiophile and is very expensive, it often looks or is made poorly. Perhaps the manufacturers of such devices secretly despise their customers?

 

[Dom]

I have noticed that if a device is considered audiophile and is very expensive, it often looks or is made poorly. Perhaps the manufacturers of such devices secretly despise their customers?

lets take the manual of the Musical Fidelity M2si, its glossy, covered in plastic, bound and nice to read.

When things get expensive manufacturers prioritize delivering a valuable and immersive experience for their costumers.

 

[Jasonovich]

lets take the manual of the Musical Fidelity M2si, its glossy, covered in plastic, bound and nice to read.

When things get expensive manufacturers prioritize delivering a valuable and immersive experience for their costumers.

I'm probably in the minority, I rather have it on PDF and saved on my PC's hard drive, less clutter.

I have a shared drive folder for all my technical manuals from Borsch dishwasher to Viessmann boiler, all sorts of stuff. Some are not worth the paper it's printed on or the space on the computer storage but I do appreciate when manufacturers don't treat it as a token or some after thought.

 

[landco]

When things get expensive manufacturers prioritize delivering a valuable and immersive experience for their costumers.

What are you saying, it can’t be?! **Irony** For example, amplifiers under the premium brand NAIM (very expensive) have plastic elements of the front panel and do not have built-in protection. Is this, in your opinion, a "valuable and immersive
experience"? And such examples are many.

 

[12th Monkey]

I don't think any rules are being broken here, but I'll flag up for future reference that belittling others is a breach of the rules.

 

[Dom]

What are you saying, it can’t be?! **Irony** For example, amplifiers under the premium brand NAIM (very expensive) have plastic elements of the front panel and do not have built-in protection. Is this, in your opinion, a "valuable and immersive
experience"? And such examples are many.

I don't think plastic bits or elements is indicative of cheaping out, and I see Naim as an ultra premium Hi fi specialist manufacturer, and as far as I can tell Naim amplifiers do come with over current protection circuitry.

But its subjective in the end