A note on the MRX540 Amp Matrixing. This model was originally slated to have this feature, but the initial release does not have the feature. However, Anthem plans a firmware update soon to provide the amp matrixing feature. We do not know when, but we will update this post when we find out.
As an installer, I work with many brands of receivers and processors. I’m always most impressed with Anthem’s performance and the ease of a quality room calibration. I ran my first ARC calibration with the Statement series of processors in ‘08 and I was truly amazed with the results. This new gen of products looks awesome. Looking forward to installing many of them!
I love the web interface for setup. The old version was too cumbersome. The prior generation sounded so good. I can’t wait to hear this beast with all of its upgrades.
I have an Insignia 5.1, paid 70 used. I'm looking to upgrade soon , I listen to high res stuff on an LG V40 paired with shp6000 headphones budget setup
@@AudioAdvice I have read on AV forums that the 540 does not do matrixing, is this true? If so the video needs a comment update! (Thats a big deal if not)
@@Snook_ Yes, we just added a comment. It was supposed to have it but the current release does not, however, Anthem plans a firmware update to add it later. Thanks for watching
these look FANTASTIC...out of my budget...since I really want to set up at least a 5.2.4 atmos and the only one that can do it out of the box is the 1140...almost $4K Canadian. I wonder how much better in sound quality the 1140 would that be from my Denon AVR-X4400? or is it "heressy" to even ask?! LOL...Great video! Thanks
Please reach out to our team at www.audioadvice.com so they can ask more questions about your systems to find the best solution for you. Thanks for watching
Great review and thanks for the setup walk-through, I have to say, being able to actually name the inputs is incredibly welcome and an upgrade the industry should have done years ago. It is such a pain in the bum having to guess what's connected to the particular channel. Also, I would love to experience the before and after the Anthem room correction system, its renown as the best for years and I've wanted to buy an Anthem amp/receiver for the room correction specifically but I bought the Yamaha became Anthem Anthem didn't have the new technology I was after. Hopefully, these new models will correct things though I am disappointed to hear the lack of HDMI 2.1.
Great little tip on e-arc. Run tv all day, and only power on the MRX when you need the boom - instead of always running the AV in order to see and hear the tv.
Only thing I regret of getting Anthem is back in September 2020 they told me nothing new was on the way and 3 weeks after getting my 720 they announced the gen 4 models and never gave me the chance to trade in. It's great but I would have waited for the gen 4 100% I'm still butt hurt lol
I did the same thing in August 2020, my NAD 785 went down and could not be fixed so went to a local dealer and found the 1120. Was told the same nothing new coming ... I did have another older AVR I could have used until the 1140 came out.. not happy about that
The hard choice for me is Anthem MRX740 or Anthem AVM70. My next upgrade will be one or the other. I'm not seeing anything else out there that can compete with either of these at their price points. Great review.
Avr vs Avm r=reciever m=processor. M NEEDS amplifiers to power speakers. R has great amplifiers only need external amplifier if exceeding the channels amped.
Question. On the 740/1140 is this 140 watts for 2 channels? Or is it 140 watts shared? Because if it's 140 watts for each channel independently that's nuts. It really seems misleading, but I'm going to assume 2 channels. Hopefully, I'm wrong, because if it is true I'm grabbing one in March.
How do they compare against, Marantz, Yamaha, Pioneer Elite and especially Arcam? Also I'm setting up a room with just stereo with possibly a second zone to a pair of wireless speakers in my lanai. I'm no longer a fan of surround sound although I do have a 5 channel system in my living room. I also would be interested if they have 4k passthrough? Also a lot of power amp manufacturers are now moving away from toroidal transformers using specialized R type transformers and class D instead of class AB. Any opinions or comments on this?
I haven’t heard any Anthem products, but Arcan is damn good, especially their Class G amplification, very powerful and great sounding. Heck, even my 15 year old Arcam AVR300 still sounds amazing, and provides a true 100x7 watts of power.
Great review, thank you. Do you feel that the premium to go separates :(AVM + MCA) is worth the premium over the equivalent MRX series? If yes, why? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for the reply. I am using Paradigm Founder 100s at the moment for LCR. For what it's worth, I have left two messages with online sales over the last four days with no call back. @@AudioAdvice
Really wish they would have an Anthem trade-in, trade-up, program in place. Considering the pricing and obsolescence of past products, you are more or less stuck with past models because of less than high brand recognition. It may be that your dealer will work with you but the money that you're putting in is an investment in that particular piece alone. Find out about your upgrade options first.
Any recent owners having issues with fan noise? I'm hesitant to purchase since I'm reading a lot of people having problems with loud intermittent fan noise in reviews
Are they immediately noticeable performance differences between say 740, 1140 and AVM70? I note that you mentioned that there's hardly anything between the 740 v 1140 in a comment below. Thank you in advance.
just bought paradigm 800 towers and mrx 540 just for listening too music do u think the amp is sufficient power to drive these speakers ? I want the option later to do home theater.
Can the 740 reassign the "back" channels to atmos, or do I need a external amp for that? I want 5.1.2 but some of the info I have heard is contradictory, and that for atmos I would need a separate amp.
I am thinking of going 5.2 with both subs in the front of my room. Would the mrx 540 with its non independent sub ports be an issue or not when running arc? I read independent ports are better for measurements and timing but in my setup they are in similar locations from L/R speakers. Really liking the anthems before these was looking at denon 3700. Thanks.
I'm looking to buy a receiver and I'm hesitating between the yamaha rx-a6a and the Anthem mrx-740 to run bowers & Wilkins 702s2 speakers which one do you suggest?
Thinking about all the different sound formats new AVR amps/receiver offer for setups from new! Do you not think the choices given for most standard/normal people will confuse most, hence why so many are just going to the soundbar option. I have now bought Denon AVC-A110 and setting up took me most of the day in Bi-amp 5.1 I am not sure if i can add 2 rear speakers even though I have spares. The amp does not seem to offer that option if you connect the 5.1 bi-amp. What are your thoughts
That looks like the Euro model of the AVR A110 which is a great unit. It has 13 powered channels. Page 76 of the user guide for the US model shows you how to biamp the front channels and have a total of 11 channels file:///C:/Users/Leon/Downloads/avr-a110e3_eng_pdf_user_guide_02092020.pdf
Would the DAC on this be considered audiophile grade? Just picked up a pair of KEF R7's and I'm looking for something that can double as a processor for home theatre and DAC for streaming tidal.
Most people would consider these audiophile grade. Obviously in extremely expensive 2 channel audio equipment, you can find more expensive DACs and electronics, but for the vast majority of people, you will love doubling these for both theater and 2 channel audio. I would suggest matching up the right one of these for your setup. If you then want to go one step higher, upgrade your front left and rights with the new Anthem 225 power amp. audioadvice.io/anthemamps. If you are not sure, go to www.audioadvice.com and call our team and we will talk through your exact setup and help you nail it down.
@@rayking507 it is working “now”. Had fun setting up wifi due to having to (and not knowing) D/L Google home but afterwards it was beyond user friendly. I’ve had plenty of experience setting up receivers so it’s not just the ease but the options in the GUI. Speaker specific placement and amp matrix are easy to assign while having the ability to tweak them as you please. As far the the bass I have zero complains, ARC actually did a really nice job and watching the outpost was a blast! I’m sure there will be several FW updates as the 3/15 (stock date) approaches and I May play with it some more but really cannot complain about performance.
Hello. I hope you like your receiver. Will you suggest me an Marantz SR5015 or an Antham 540 ? To liste to music and to play video games from a PC. Witch one sound better ?
Thanks for the review! Would the MRX 540 be able to power a pair of KEF R7 towers and an R2c center channel? I'll add 1 sub, and perhaps eventually go to 5.1 or 5.2 but I've got no plans for more channels. Sources will primarily be a Pioneer PLX-1000 Turntable and an Xbox One S as a 4K media player (Streaming services and local video/audio).
Hey, can we directly connect two/one powered ceiling speakers to pre-out zone 2 in any avr? Or we still have to buy power amplifier to connect to pre-out zone-2?? Kindly note all self amp speakers of my receiver are equipped.
Priyank- the answer to your question depends on the receiver. In the case of the three Anthem models, the 540 does not have a Zone 2. On the 740 and 1140 if you were not using all of the powered channels in a home theater, you can re-assign them to zone 2, or use a power amp on zone 2
What would best solution for Home Theater 7.2.4 with Polk R700 and SVS 1000 PB pro. Anthem 1140 8K or Marantz Cinema 40 ? It is my first experience, mainly for movies and ps5.
It can set different crossover frequencies from 40-200 Hz, but no, what you asking for is more of an electronic crossover, that gets into the 20K+ range of Trinov and Datasat. Thanks for watching
which would you recommend Denon AVC -A110 or Anthem MRX 1140 please Thank you. I have a 5.1 B&W CDM9 and CDM1 bi-amp setup and enjoy music and films. I will like to keep my 5.1 bi-amp setup with QED cables
Great question! The answer requires more information about your setup and the goals you want to achieve with your setup. Please feel free to reach out to one of our surround sound experts in chat at audioadvice.io/aa-chat so we can help you sort out the best solution for your needs. Thanks for watching!
Wow Audio Advice really talks up Anthem! The company sounds incredible! I may have to go with the MRX 1140 rather than the Denon AVR-X4700H to power my SVS system.
@Lvsitanv Hi. Is Anthem better than Arcam? I'm planning to replace my Yamaha this year. My friend got Arcam AVR860 and it's sounds amazing but Anthem MRX1140 looks amazing , I love it...just I don't want to be disappointed (vs Arcam) in sound quality... I'd appreciate any feedback.
@@tomasz3671 good evening, have you been able to run ARC successfully? I recently got my unit and was told not to upgrade the firmware yet as it was not stable. Could you confirm? Also, any issues with Dolby Vision through AppleTV? I saw a video today and it was rejecting the signal. Thanks
Eldon, for consumers, you cannot yet connect ARC until the new software update comes out. I expect it to come out within days. Just enjoy it as is for a little bit longer and then you can update the software and ARC Genesis will see it. You'll love the calibration.
@@eldondoucet2847 do I have to D/L the beta from anthem and then import to web interface or can I run ARC from app? It doesn’t seem to find my device and I’m on the same network
Does ARC measure speaker distance, in particular the acoustic distance of the subwoofer(s), which is often not the same as the physical measured distance? Does the the multi sub setup calculation take into account different phase, level and acoustic distance for each sub in a way that sums correctly (time aligned, gain matched, phase interacting correctly)?
DJ- that is a great question. At this point, ARC does not calculate distance, but the Anthem team is working on a major update that will take acoustic distance based on phase measurements as well. We do not have a time frame on it, but they are working on it, as you point out, this would be great for multiple subs.
Hi, can you advise how to listen quieter sound of the movies at louder with Anthem MRX receiver? I know turning on Dolby volume, does this job but unfortunately Dolby does not support height speakers.
Can the amp for the back surrounds be changed to a Height channel on the 1140? I’d love to do 5.2.6 with just the internal amps. However, it looks like heights are absent as an option in the online manual.
Just received my Anthem 740 MRX and I’m having a problem with Arc recognizing the microphone that was supplied with the system… the 740 is setup via WiFi, also my laptop using windows 10 64-bit HP Pavilion 2021 model… I downloaded everything correctly… once I got to the screen where I select my speakers (with the sofa), I select “continue “ and the next screen says that it doesn’t recognize a microphone(check connects and click “refresh mics”.. the USB that comes with the unit connects seamlessly to my computer… it’s recognized but won’t connect… any solutions? And I don’t have an IP or RS connection either so I’m frustrated
Sorry you are having trouble. Did you purchase your Anthem from Audio Advice? We do offer remote help if you purchased it from us. You might try turning off any windows firewall protection.
@Audio Advice I'm going to match an 1140 with a full goldenear setup using the One.R's as R-L and a reference mid. If I amp up the R-L, I can assign the 1140 to zone the amped R-L?
Can you explain why the different amps(AB & D class amps and wattages). Also can you give me configuration examples for surround and stereo( I have the basic 5.1 with the option to bye amp the the front left right center)?.
They all have the same basic amp config with just more channels as you move up. If you just wanted to do 5.1 without biamping, the MRX540 will be great. If you wanted to bi-amp your fronts, you would need the MRX740. Please feel free to go to www.audioadvice.com and jump into chat with one of our experts for more information. Thanks for watching
Well the Anthem AVM70 is a very nice unit when mine was working for a month. The auto update worked but mine "glitched" on the firmware auto update and does not turn on anymore. Anthem will warranty it but I have been (since 4-23-2021) trying to get the papers from Anthem on the RMA but emails & phone calls are becoming no response on emails or Covid 19 recordings on the phone que. Warranty maybe an issue here guys? While it worked I had all 15.2 working and it sounded amazing. Anthem told me it would be 4 to 6 weeks for this to be fixed but I have already lost another week just trying to get the paper work returned to me?
Sorry you are having trouble. Did you purchase your AVM70 from Audio Advice? If so, we always are happy to help our customers with warranty work. Thanks for watching.
Anthem finally got back with me with the Return of merchandise and my AVM70 is going back to be reflashed so some progress is happening, it will be interesting in this new Covid world to see how long it takes? I like Anthem as a company and hope it goes well. The ARC Genesis was very good in fact the AVM70 was truly amazing in sound reproduction. I had all 15.2 channels hooked up and the noise floor is so low and the DACs so good people were stunned.. I had comments "this is better than an Imax theater" people could not tell a cell phone ring if it was the TV or in their pocket. Same with a vacuum cleaner or a car pulling up outside.....it was just freaky LOL.
@@AudioAdvice Do you let arc eq for stereo or just leave eq alone for pure stereo output? Generally if you buy a pure stereo amplifier it doesn’t use eq. Just wondered as the eq on the anthem would just top and tale the speaker frequency’s resulting it being very flat sounding
@@tonyroolze We highly recommend you use ARC for pure stereo as well. The improvements you get by fixing the room far outweigh any pure signal path idea. And in ARC, you can limit where it kicks in if you just want to correct bass problems, which is another great feature it has.
They are labeled height on the 1140, but you can assign the speakers to height channels on the 740 and 1140 which we mentioned. Please reach out to our team at www.audioadvice.com if you have more questions.
The 3d home cinema designer doesn't work with my room or JBL cinema professional custom layout that is far more complex than most other home theatres I have x6 Irwin cinema rocker seats, that take up far, less width of home cinema seats cos they are proper commercial cinema seats. The JBL pro cinema speaker layout uses proper surround channel layout consisting of arrays lined along each sidewall of x3 JBL 8330 mkII THX per sidewall. Back wall uses x3 two for stereo and third for centre middle back surround, plus can do an extra channel that no other home theater AVR can do same goes with the side surround that uses a Below matrix surround plus an extra channel and that is something that no home theatre can do cos they don't use the specific decoders to achieve it which is very simple. Having worked at two cinema chains back in the 20th century, UCI and Warner Bros, as projectionist. My stage screen channels consist of a 70mm wide, SDDS layout that I call five screen matrix and performs exceptional well. Five JBL 4647 that was light-years cheaper than most home theatres budget cos they were second/hand used and in fine working condition. Home theatre speaker prices are overrated and its not my opinion. If one wants is that cinema speaker experience then gotta get JBL professional. Well you won't see any of those home theatre speakers in any cinema much less a dubbing stage. The Overhead surrounds uses a special playback that goes way beyond a trinnov 32. I use up to x6 regular overheads plus a few special modifications myself that is very straightforward and simply. Overhead surrounds are Heights 1 2 3 and so on stereo pairs and I use my own Vog, so no need to every run audo3d goes the Dolby Atmos here uses DOG Channels. What is DOG reversed? God, but I am atheist, I do believe entity intelligence in this expanding universe. So what is DOG Channel? Dolby Overhead God, and I use x3 per Height 1 2 3 with extra channel outputs or to put another way, I have x9 Overheads plus extras which is 12 channels. JBL 4645/C subs front of room behind the screen. JBL 4682 TCB (rare) front and back of the room and can be configured to run with the LFE.1 (only) with other JBL 4645/C or I can run the TCB with surrounds to augment the low end down further without need to applying it with bass management that is never used here. Aura bass shakers for the Irwin cinema rocker seats, seat buckets and several more on floor. 13.12.1, amazing what a Denon AVC-X8500H can half do and the other half is basically simple basics Stereo pairs often have centre phantoms and possibly some anti-phase signal. Most times Overhead surrounds may only output a Mono signal, Oh Yes. So when overspending on a trinnov 32, be prepared it may only output some Mono sound in most of those overhead surrounds, which depends on some of the rubbish Atmos upmixes of older movies that is only done to scam the public, cos most home theatre owners thinks Atmos is all the bells and whistles. Only few Atmos mixes are decent enough, a few. Atmos is just another way to decode most of the sound from the Bed channels and often the sound continuity is a mess to what I am seeing on-screen and the off-screen sounds. I think they mixed Dolby Stereo, digital 6ch better in its day. 4k laser projection that goes wall to wall. 38.000kw JBL cinema professional with Lucasfilm Ltd THX Sound System (commercial cinema pro version) with some classic Dolby Stereo in this selected home cinema. Four tower racks with all amplifiers placed in my kitchen along with the Laser projector and Laserdisc, VHS that runs silent and all that to just watch/listen to a movie. I really rather pet my Cats for 2hrs over most movies 4k today cos 4k content here has now gone from 100% to 10% with Laserdisc now back up at 80% and DVD at 75%, 4k isn't cinema its just a major cash cow that I am sick and tried with so good think I never sold the Laserdisc plus Laserdisc sounds far better than Atmos near filed mixes where Laserdisc uses theatrical mixes.
So what you guys doing about all the bugs I been hearing about in the avm70. I was looking forward to getting one of your products but not spending $4,000 on a product that's going to be buggy. I was ready to buy your product on reputation alone. But after finding out about all these bugs with you guys's software. I am sure going to wait. But now I'm not even sure if I going to go with you guys. If this has been fixed please release a video saying it was and saying everything is good. The AVM-70 sounds like awesome processor It would have been my first. I hope you will let everyone know what's going on with your guys software and I hope the bugs get fixed.
Scott, thanks for your comments, we should point out, we are an authorized dealer for Anthem, but we are not the manufacturer- that is Anthem themselves. There have been a few bugs, which seems to be more common these days with all kinds of gear, but Anthem has been really good about firmware upgrades. There are a couple of bugs left that relate to some of the settings. A release is due out in about 3 weeks to address these, then it should be perfect. The AVM70 is also very hard to get. Audio Advice is one of only two authorized online sellers, if you want to reserve one, here is the link www.audioadvice.com/anthem-avm70-15-2-av-pre-amplifier-processor Thanks for watching
Scott, I would like to get some advice and purchase either an Anthem AVR or processor and amp. There is a challenge, I have called every day for past several days and no sales agent is ever available and do not return my phone calls when I leave messages with your answering service. I have already had to go with a different company for most of my speakers. I still would like to give your company a chance to earn my business. I will attempt one more time to make an order with your company, hopefully the sales team will not ignore me again. Thank you for reading this.
Thanks for the feedback. This is odd we have not gotten back with you. We sorry that happened. Can you please send your phone number to web@audioadvice.com with some good times to reach you. Thank you
@@ramongarcia3422 Sorry, we meant use your normal email service and compose an email to: web@audioadvice.com and include your phone number in the email, we will have someone call you asap
I have a 20 year old Pioneer Elite receiver that is slowly dying. I've been racking my brain as to whether or not to go high end. These Anthem's seem to be best suited for people who already own a power amp, which I do not. I have the money on hand to buy this stuff but is it worth it? I'm considering a Sony STR-DN1080 7.2 channels at less than 1/3 the cost as a stopgap until I have a more permanent living arrangement. I'm currently renting an apartment and can't stretch these AVR's legs anyway. I don't typically listen to music in my living room. Just casual movie watching. My speakers are Energy Connoisseur circa early 2000's. I'm just looking to do 5.1.2 for now. If anyone wants to chime in I am all ears.
Hi the Sony a good budget receiver but then so is Yamaha at that price range. Pioneer are usually fairly bright sounding but you maybe like that with your current speakers.
I have the exact same problem, except I traded out my Energy speakers for KEF. My elite just died after 20 years. I ordered the 540. Still wondering if i need to go with separates or just step up to 740.
Huge fan of Auro 3D over any of the other immersive sound codecs. Disappointed Anthem does not use this. We listen to that format on just about everything out there regardless of how it's coded...even over Dolby Atmos coded sources using our McIntosh Auro 3D setting. It's just that good!
Hi Jack. I'm very interested in what you prefer about the sound of Auro 3D. I'm debating between Anthem and Marantz, and want the best all-around sound quality for movies and music using mostly streamed material.
@@markbrannan1 hey Mark. Great question. We use our 7.2.6 immersive system primarily for gaming and hi resolution music playing. Occasionally we watch movies and select Doby Atmos or DTS for movie watching. For gaming and music playing we enjoy Auro 3D the most due to its harder hitting bass and Auromatic up mixing codec for multi channel coded sources. Immersive audio is the future and of the three codecs (Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and Auro 3D) our family seems to prefer Auro 3D the most. Dolby Atmos does not utilize the heights enough and DTS:X dumps too much into the center channel. I really enjoy 2 channel audio but immersive audio has spoiled me. Audiophiles are notorious for resisting new technology but compare for yourself…. listen to the new immersive releases by Apple and Amazon in Atmos and 3D reality. The Beatles Sgt Pepper's album or Abbey Road released in immersive format is a great example. They are phenomenal…especially if you can play them on a properly set up immersive system. Wilfried Van Baelen’s Auro 3D and Auromatic upmixing is so good that we also use it for two channel up mixing 80% of the time.
