Anthem AV surround amp
Posted by: Southweststokie on 28 April 2014
I am looking to replace my old Harmon Kardon AVR7500 with the latest Anthem MRX510. This unit comes with the latest Anthem ARC system that requires software input to a PC. I am a Mac owner and believe that the software supplied does not run on Mac OS and separate software needs to be procured to make it work. Does anyone have experience with Anthems ARC and Mac OS compatibility issues and can comment / advise before I commit to buying one. My Blurray player is an OPPO BD105 by the way.
Thanks,
Ken
EVERY input goes through the DSP.. so if you use your Oppos high quality 2ch output, and run that, say, through the CD input of an Anthem for stereo music/concerts etc, it will get turned into digital and back to analogue, hence undoing the benefit of the Oppo Sabre Dacs.
It's precisely because I want a processor to pass analogue stereo ONLY through in analogue that I have avoided the Anthems.
Hope this helps... might not be relevant to your needs, but better to know.
Mike
Mike,
Thanks for that, I am running the 2 channel stereo out of the OPPO straight into my NAC252 / 300 for playing music DVD's in stereo.
Ken
Ken
Looks like the AtoD conversion would be a non-issue then. All I'd do is make sure that any receiver you opt for has pre-outs for all channels... until you pop some naim amps on your additional channels, your main front pair is going to seriously outgun your centre-channel!
Best of luck
Mike
Mike,
Tell me please about the quality of the audio you are experiencing with you're oppo 105 into your 252… please...
I have though about doing this as well… playing concert blue ray's and getting the full audio through the 552/500's...
was this the first player you used for this? specific cabling? and is this RCA's into the 252? or? (my knowledge gets fuzzy here)
Thanks for the help!
Mike,
Tell me please about the quality of the audio you are experiencing with you're oppo 105 into your 252… please...
I have though about doing this as well… playing concert blue ray's and getting the full audio through the 552/500's...
was this the first player you used for this? specific cabling? and is this RCA's into the 252? or? (my knowledge gets fuzzy here)
Thanks for the help!
Clearly the sound can never be good as from a my Naim CDS3 CD player but the OPPP 105D is a marked improvement over my old Sony Bluray player. Unfortunately my AV rack sits 5 meters away from the Fraim rack so the interconnect to the 252 is 6 meters of Wireworld Solstice RCA to DIN connected to the Aux 1 input of the 252, something I may consider upgrading. I can only suggest you go to a good dealer who will let you take the Bluray player home to trial with your system of do as I did and took my Sony Bluray player to the dealer and then compared the sonic quality between the old player and the new. Only you can decide if it is worth it or if you are happy with the sonic quality produced.
Hope this helps.
Ken
Hi Audioneophyte
You're confusing my system (see my profile) with Ken's... I use an n-Vi to go into 82/HC/250.
This goes via a Din to Din cable to the unity gain input on my 82 ( on your 252 it'd be AV, input 4 with Unity Gain enabled - see the manual).
My n-Vi does my surround processing, powers the centre and rear channels, feeds the sub, plays DVDs, accepts the digital out from my TV and (older) Oppo, and volume controls the whole system when I'm watching tv/movies.
My Oppo 83 is only used to play BluRays
My system roadmap will eventually see the n-Vi and 83 replaced with an Oppo 105D and three channels of power amplification. When this happens I will need some custom RCA to Din cables to go straight from the Oppo to the centre and rear channels of amplification, and an off the shelf RCA to Din to connect the Oppo to the 82 Unity Gain input.
At this point I will be using the Oppo internal volume control to govern all TV/Movie viewing.... And this is where Ken's system (from what I've read above) differs from mine....
Ken has the Oppo volume control disabled, is running his Oppo to a regular input on his 252 ( could be Din or RCA, I'm sure he'll answer shortly), and thus is not looking to have the Oppo act as a processor.
In doing so, he's probably getting better 2ch audio output of it than I will when I complete my roadmap above (highly unlikely that letting the Oppo control volume will sound as good as letting the pre do it, but for surround I'm prepared to make the sacrifice, and I only have 6 music discs with decent 2ch soundtracks).
Your main issue is are you going for surround or running pure 2ch? If surround, do you have a processor/amp already for that duty?
If the Answer is 2ch, or surround with additional processor, then you could well benefit from doing what Ken has done.
Hope this has been useful
Mike
Edit...I see that whilst I was typing my opus, Ken has also replied. I reckon all the above should easily cover it.
Thank you for the replies!
My goal is 2 ch audio quality. playing concerts on blue ray and getting as good or better than CD quality sound out of the blue ray player...
Another question however.
I an under the impression the oppo down sampled the audio quality out...
So how does one get the highest quality sound out of the oppo when using the oppo as a source?
I actually use this latter function and still get wonderful surround sound.
However, you're looking at the quality of analogue audio in 2ch from the dedicated stereo outputs of a 105d?
That, like the stereo out on my 83, is simply a case of running it through the internal dac... unless the disc only carries a surround soundtrack... in which instance you're back into Down Mixing as per the top of this post.
Bottom line, as I'm sure Ken will tell you, his 105D being used for line-level stereo to his in system, is certainly the best machine I can think of for that job.
Audioneophyte,
I am using my OPPO 105D stereo analogue out to play music DVD's set to stereo in their audio set up selection. This means I am using the OPPO on board DAC to convert the digital signal and sending this converted signal to my 252. This is never going to better a high spec Naim CD player but enables me to watch live music concert DVD's with reasonable sound quality.
Regards,
Ken