Anthem avm 40 review

[polkfarmboy]

Well I have been living with the anthem avm 40 for a few days now and I have to say that music sounds great . Even though the unit never came with ARC I still love it and dont want to send it back. I had an option to get a refund but the seller knocked $150 and I would have had to pay the return shipping etc .The anthem avm40 is just the same minus the video processing and thats not really a big deal as I am planing to just use it for audio only and shortly have an oppo bdp 93 running into a 3D projector

First thing that struck me about this is the clarity in the chaos during action movies and the amount of little details I have been not receiving with the pioneer .But here is the thing .... when the pioneer is playing spiderman in 1.3 with room correction on and the anthem is just doing its thing without arc the pioneer comes too close for comfort considering how much each unit costs in price .The anthem is still the clear winner for movie night but not the night and day difference I was anticipating but some types of scenes do really stand out and there is more of a separation in the sound stage .

The first thing I noticed when I powered it up was the bass as it was really hard and tight but the top end was not as bright but still very detailed .I found that this combo of bass and treble really worked for me when I turned the volume up quite loud, I understood where the engineers where coming from with this mixture in stereo mode . I have been playing around with the settings and even though it sounds great I still love my tube setup and maybe will find a way to hook that up .Anthems got 3 zones that I think I may work the tube setup into when I tinker more

If anyone id thinking of buying an avm 50 or 40 then keep in mind that anthem has stopped doing the upgrade program .Here is the deal, If one desires the arc function the you need an extra dsp board to be fitted to run the arc mic and software and anthem has run out of these parts and will no longer provide them .I think however that I will report them to the BBB..... lol joke ..... I will scour the 4 corners of the earth until I find a dealer who has one inside his shop that forgot to install it on a setup .I wish I could take one from another users for a price but if you do that the avm wont run again if removed .The arc is $800 and quite hefty a price if I do manage to find one

On the video section I have noticed that when you put a bluray on the video drops out and goes all crazy and can take a few seconds or reconects with the cable to sync it up .All in its a very natural sound and I find myself just enjoying a movie and not being critical .My only though is how mutch better it would have sounded if it came with arc .I read that the anthem avm40/50 with sound better with arc running than the much more expensive d2

So if you wana crack joke about how I am going to break this go ahead because it wont wipe the big smile of my face everytime I settle down for audiobliss during a movie or a high quality piece of music

[Drenis]

A guy I know locally runs all Anthem and really likes it. He's the kind of guy that frowns upon Emotiva products and runs a Paradigm setup. I have been very interested in them since but it is a very expensive upgrade.

Looks real slick that unit except silver is not my color for components.

[polkfarmboy]

I run this anthem with an emo right now because at the time I just wanted something to beef up the logans but the upa just sounds kinda weak .Silver was not my color but I intend to get either Theta or Halcro for Ht amplification as that would be a killer combo and music would sound good as a bonus and both those units are mainly in silver

The silver anthems cost more money on the used market for some reason

[renowilliams]

Your unit looks identicle to mine. I have not noticed the same problem with bluray,buy primarily I use it networked and stream video from my pc. I have been very happy with my Anthum.

[98Badger]

$800 for ARC? It only cost me $400 to add it to my D1. One of the best investments I have made though. Don't think I'd ever want to be without it now.

[polkfarmboy]

$800 for ARC? It only cost me $400 to add it to my D1. One of the best investments I have made though. Don't think I'd ever want to be without it now.

How did you get it for so little? Did you have to add to the dsp board or did you just need to do a software upgrade and match up the serial number of the D1 with the microphone ?

[98Badger]

I just had to get the mic kit and upgrade the firmware.

[Nelson57]

I still can't part with my AVM 30, love the Anthem Processor and Amp combo. AVM 40 is nice piece. Enjoy Farmboy!

[Rick88]

Congrats on the Anthem! I absolutely love my Anthem integrated amp, they make a fine sounding product...

[polkfarmboy]

thanks rick ..right now I'm all f'd up at nearly 3am and its sounds better than ever. watch the new episodes of cops because I may make a guest appearance

[Rick88]

thanks rick ..right now I'm all f'd up at nearly 3am and its sounds better than ever. watch the new episodes of cops because I may make a guest appearance

lol, I'm still up too except for a different reason (I'm now a 3rd shift at work and I keep the same sleeping schedule on the weekend as I do during the workweek). I enjoy playing my music during the wee small hours of the night. Now I have to go do my laundry....