Sierra-1 NrT = HT. Towers = Music ?

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Originally Posted by curtis

But were the other receiver using their EQ systems, and calibrated correctly? Just one large variable that should be verified.

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Yeah all of them had their eq on, with arc needing a computer to do the eqing of the room vs having it in the avr is pretty big, also the mic Anthem uses is pretty cool vs the others, the Anthem mic has a cd that you can't lose cause its calibrated individually. IMHO Anthem MRX is the best avr that I've heard so far, they do all these little things that seem to matter in the end. Still I wanted to hear the Arcam and Cambridge before I buy the Anthem but I'm not sure it's going to be possible anytime soon since I dont have an Arcam or Cambridge dealer near me, so I might just buy the anthem.

I should also add that if one of the other avrs sounded as good as the Anthem I would buy it over the anthem for this reason, I own a Mac, I have limited hard drive space left, I don't have boot camp or windows, so the fact I have to buy windows, install boot camp, install windows and buy the USB connection is kinda a pain in the ass and annoying and this is before I can even go through the arc setup! But after listening the Anthem to the others in the same room and same speakers I think it's worth all that extra hassle.

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Originally Posted by JustABrah

Yeah all of them had their eq on, with arc needing a computer to do the eqing of the room vs having it in the avr is pretty big, also the mic Anthem uses is pretty cool vs the others, the Anthem mic has a cd that you can't lose cause its calibrated individually. IMHO Anthem MRX is the best avr that I've heard so far, they do all these little things that seem to matter in the end. Still I wanted to hear the Arcam and Cambridge before I buy the Anthem but I'm not sure it's going to be possible anytime soon since I dont have an Arcam or Cambridge dealer near me, so I might just buy the anthem.

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the reason why I asked is because dealers use the AVRs with several different speakers. So making sure the EQ systems were configured for the same speakers (and location) is crucial.

I used a Yamaha AS700 with my Sierra 1's(NrT) in a stereo setup & I later move them to my rxv 1800... after selling the 700. I preferred the 1800 YPAO over the integrated amp...using a flat EQ curve I had decent results & was very satisfied on how my Sierra 1's and eventual towers sounded. I know a lot has being discussed about Yamaha having a certain type of sonic signature having come from a Denon 38xx...they (sigs)could in fact exist...I've never experience these anomalies between other brands but with REQ or DSP...well that's another matter...:)

I will say Anthem's ARC...changed everything from my POV. Upon completing my 5 position in room calibration and starting ARC the sound stage from the outset seemed more spacious giving me this airiness feeling as though we moved into a larger room...with YPAO it sounded smaller or more centralized to the listening position & I never had the seamless transition with my main & sub... as I do now...with ARC engaged it simply sounds better.

So ........... sound update ....

Yesterday, changed music to play through all speakers with subwoofer instead of just 2ch stereo without sub.
Also ... changed Crossover from 60 to 90.
On receiver did a -1 on Treble

Result .... sound is great. I am getting delivery of Marantz 7005 and Yamaha rx-a2020 today. Don't even know if I should unpack them. Do you ever upgrade even when you are satisfied with the sound? :-)

Still can't get the upgrade bug out of me.


Compared WAV vs FLAC vs 320Kbps MP3 vs 128Kbps MP3.

128 is out ..... 320 is perfect middle (easy to get, sounds close to FLAC)

I would not discount the 7005(Audyssey xt32 w multi EQ) or 2020(YPAO w RSC) giving you a better tranistion from sub & mains allowing proper sub EQ for your room....It was the most notable change with my new AVR....fwiw...I rip CD's @ 320... difficult to discern any differences between higher bitrates with the original.

Good luck... :)

So .... sound update ...

David is correct .... Marantz makes Sierras sound much softer and not as bright and ear beaming. Listening to Chaka Khan, if on Yamaha her high pitch vocal was a bit too bright that I wanted to turn down the volume, on Marantz it's soft enough not to jump for the remote. Still hear that high pitch, BUT at least it doesn't hit my ear as bad as it did on Yamaha.

Overall I feel like Yamaha was just taking whatever sound came into it and just throwing it up at me. Marantz on the other hand is controlling it. I notice that movies, etc sound more like they do at the movie theater.

Now .... on a negative side, it feels like Marantz is a bit tooo low on the sound and especially on regular TV programing I actually want to hear more of that bright sound. So ... movies and concerts sound great, but regular cable TV in dolby is so so.

Here are some pics of the EQ, etc that Marantz created.
As always, I had to change back to Speakers = Small and get the crossover at 100.

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Yamaha AVR's have treble control via the option button. I would like to hear the the Anthem though. My next evolution might be separate Amps and Processor. I just visited a friend with a stereo setup with a lot of headroom. Effortless amplication has its advantages. I had forgotten about it using receivers.

B.

One more change I made I think made my sound even better ... I changed the "Ref Level Offset" to -10db I think they say it's better for regular TV dialog listening. Anyone got any info on that setting?

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Originally Posted by Pianist718

I did on my rx-v465 and when I compare sound I get through that VS Pure direct, I do hear that Yamaha is dimming down the highs a bit. In my opinion it's still not great.

Best sound I heard was when I demoed Denon 4311, it gave awesome movie sound. Then I played with it more, screwed it up, couldn't get it back to how it sounded, didn;'t feel like reading a 100 page manual, did not want to spend $1,600 and simply returned it.

I hope Marantz 7005 works out as the price is right and looks are nice.

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Just as a point, when using the "Pure Direct" mode on the receiver, it removes all EQ settings the receiver makes after doing a room calibration. It's suppose to be a direct line from source to amplication without and modifications. Same goes for all receivers.