Anthem MRX300 Vs Pioneer LX53/VSX2020

[sta99y]

hi all, I now have £1000 to get a new AV Receiver after mine (in my sig) is being replaced under insurance. the three amps I mention are all priced evenly but why do you seem to get so much more with Pioneer over the Anthem. 4HDMI 80wpc seems weak compared with pioneer/Yamaha/Onkyo etc.... I use the Kef eggs (in my sig) and wondered which amp will partner them best and which amp seems best value?? I watch 80% movies so music not a prob. many thanks

 

[Frank Harvey]

Firstly, do all of the receivers mentioned have the features you need? I'm intrigued to hear the Anthem receivers, but if you need a receiver with a dual HDMI output, it's out of the running.

It's all down to price. To price a receiver at £1k, they can have top build quality, plenty of features, excellent connectivity, but it mig lose out on the power/quality side of things. Another manufacturer might choose to cut back on features instead, or on connectivity. A receive must first have the features you need. It them must be able to drive your speaker package effectively, and fill the room efficiently. Then it's just down to sound quality.

 

[sta99y]

Firstly, do all of the receivers mentioned have the features you need? I'm intrigued to hear the Anthem receivers, but if you need a receiver with a dual HDMI output, it's out of the running. It's all down to price. To price a receiver at £1k, they can have top build quality, plenty of features, excellent connectivity, but it mig lose out on the power/quality side of things. Another manufacturer might choose to cut back on features instead, or on connectivity. A receive must first have the features you need. It them must be able to drive your speaker package effectively, and fill the room efficiently. Then it's just down to sound quality.

Hi thanks for your reply, Firstly i do not need dual HDMI as i only plan to use 1 Tv.
I dont need 3D but all amps have them (Anthem via a firmware update). Its nice to know that a purchase is future proof(ish) for the next few years.
I would like to change from Yamaha that i have used for many years now just to hear what other makes can make my Kef eggs sound ALIVE. My room is 16'x11' with a big opening into dining room.
Any advice on which amps would do my speaker package justice?
Maybe i dont need to spend a £1000?

Any suggestions will be put to use with my local dealers to demo.

Thanks

 

[Frank Harvey]

I'm not familiar with your Bluray player - are you decoding in your player and sending it to the RXV2400's 6 channel input?

 

[sta99y]

I'm not familiar with your Bluray player - are you decoding in your player and sending it to the RXV2400's 6 channel input?

Yes i am. I switch amp to multich input for BD but i also use SPDIF for DVD so amp can decode. I do prefer the amp to decode both DVD/Bluray. The BD player does Re-encode. I find when i select Multich on amp the sound is thin on Bluray movies and even at low volumes the eggs can distort with low frequencies, xover in amp set to 120htz, however if played with Multich input off i can play as loud as i like!!!
Whathifi gave this BD player a 5* review.

 

[Frank Harvey]

There shouldn't be any distortion from the eggs if they're being crossed over at 120Hz, and they should be able to play pretty loud.

The main reason I asked was because the receiver is a pretty good one (owned one myself at one point), and was going to suggest you might get a bigger difference changing the speakers. A receiver change will give you improvements, as well as more convenience, but if you're willing to use it how you are now, I think you'll see some bigger gains changing the speakers.

Although I'm at a loss as to why you're getting that sound issue. Using the decodig in the Bluray player, there may be some bass management settings you can tweak - if not, you should be able to use the existing settings on the Yamaha. It sounds to me like there's no bass management using the multi-channel input, so the speakers are being sent lower bass than they should do. If so, there's some settings somewhere that need to be tweaked.

One thing about the differences you're experiencing. The HD soundtracks on Bluray are of a higher quality than those of DVD, so you'll find that bass is less boomy and more even. Many people see this difference as the HD soundtracks sounding less impressive, but it's just that they're used to the generally boomy sound of the bass through standard Dolby Digital, and particularly DTS.

If changing the speakers is an option, the 2400 will quite happily run the Monitor Audio Apex package, or even a small speaker system like a KEF Q100 AV package, both of which will greatly improve on the sound you currently have. Changing your receiver further down the line with the better speaker package will give you a much larger difference than changing it now. Don't forget, the 2400 was a good £1200 or so receiver in it's day, and amplification hasn't moved on (except maybe the Pioneer SCLX73 and SCLX83), and it will still be up there with current £1k receivers in this respect.

 

[sta99y]

I agree totaly what you say about the eggs should not be distorting!!! it's only when I select multichannel input, the BD player has no xover settings within it but only has high, medium or low settings, this is output setting for volume. if I switch from multi ch to spdif the actual settings within amp change accordingly how to I have setup. both show xover at 120htz etc... only difference is the level settings to each speaker as HD sound seems to be quiter. I'm puzzled too!! thanks for your informative post tho, if you do happen to browse over the LG settings online maybe you could shed some info. cheers

 

[Frank Harvey]

Even though HD codecs are quieter for the same given volume, I wouldn't try and counter this by setting the output of the LG to high, as this may be overloading the input to the Yamaha (unlikely, but possible). Does it still distort if this is set to low?

 

[sta99y]

Even though HD codecs are quieter for the same given volume, I wouldn't try and counter this by setting the output of the LG to high, as this may be overloading the input to the Yamaha (unlikely, but possible). Does it still distort if this is set to low?

i have tried low, medium and high settings but all distort the kef eggs even at low volumes. this is how my settings appear in the LGBD390

Audio
HDMI........ tick PCM Stereo
PCM Multi-ch
DTS Re-encode
Primary Pass-thru

spdif....... PCM Stereo
tick DTS Re-encode
Primary Pass-thru

Sampling Freq 48KHz
96KHz
tick 192KHz

DRC......... tick Off
On

Speaker Setup 2.1 Channel
tick 5.1 Channel
7.1 Channel

FR/C/FL SR/SL all set to small and level set to middle.
Subwoofer set to Yes.

Amp manual setup multi-ch using 6channel input.
Xover 120htz, all distances set manually, speakers set to small, room size set to medium, levels set to 75db at listening point with SPL meter, Eq setup in Auto at flat as speakers are all the same.

Amp manual setup SPDIF as above apart from channel levels are different due to increased sound using SPDIF connection.

Hope this helps you understand the menu of LG if your not familiar with it.

Thanks

 

[Frank Harvey]

I won't pretend I'm familiar with setting up systems with the player doing the decoding, as in store we've only ever had to plug a player into an amp directly via HDMI, but your settings look ok. What I do know is, there shouldn't be any distortion. The signal is decoded before it reaches your Yamaha, so the Yamaha accepts 5 channels of analogue audio, and pretty much sends directly to the speakers. Because the receiver does very little, I'm suspecting the LG is at fault here somewhere along the line. Does a friend own the same model, or a similar one that you can try in it's place? This will help narrow down what's going wrong.

 

[sta99y]

What I shall do is arrange a demo at RS which is were I purchased from and see if it happens connected to one of their amps via analogue outs!! it's bugged me for ages now. maybe I should have bought the panasonic BD85DMP I originally went to buy. has much more settings in the player if I correct. David keep a check on this and il report back asap. thanks for your kind help

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

Don't be put off by the power ratings - the Anthem measures with all channels driven hence the apparantly lower output. You wont need all that juice with the Kef's but it is still nice to have!
The 2020 is a cracking amp and for the current money a real bargain. You will notice a benefit with the Anthem though, the room correction is very stong and will make the most of your speakers in your room.

 

[sta99y]

cheers, the Yamaha I getting repaired but have monies to buy new!! thanks for your interest tho. got to get BD player sorted also.