Anthem or other to replace a Marantz 5009?
I'm still thinking about what to do to replace my Marantz 5009, which I'm just not happy with.
My main complaint is the difficulty to tweak the room correction and EQ to get better dialog clarity and/or surround immersion for different situations. And there's no way to save preset sound configs to be able to switch.
Assuming one setting for everything didn't cover all situations (for the 5009 it definitely does not), then the next best thing would be the ability to save presets for situations like watching news/baseball, late night, or immersive movie watching.
Upgrading to the newer Marantz seems like a waste of money just for a few new features like the iphone app. I've been eyeing Emotiva but the XMC1 plus an amp is crazy expensive. And the MC700 seems like too much of a compromise. So it looks like the Anthem 720 might be a better option. But it is also really costly.
Any thoughts on Anthem or Emotiva as an improvement over the Marantz?
The rest of the system is LCR S2's, Rythmik F12, Orb sides and rear, Rega TT, Apple TV, Spectrum DVR.
Thx!
Re: Anthem or other to replace a Marantz 5009?
I have an Anthem 520. It is about as close you can get to separates without going there. It is very well rounded powerful clean and minimalistic. I'm very satisfied with it. The 720 gives you more channels and the play fi. Usually you can get a demo one from a dealer. You'd be able to measure and custom tailor the eq and save 4 different settings which can be applied to each input
Re: Anthem or other to replace a Marantz 5009?
Thanks! Do you make much use of the presets for different situations?
Does it have a pure direct mode for analog listening?
Re: Anthem or other to replace a Marantz 5009?
Yes. I have one for front only full range eq using 2.0 channel another for 2.1 listening and one for 5.1 with more room gain which is equivalent to a house curve. You can also set a max eq fequency and have different crossover cutoffs for each eq profile if you desire. A great feature of this eq is you can quickly measure and visually see the raw db frequency response level in a realtime graph of the speaker so you can position it idealy or adjust phase, subwoofer cutoffs prior to calibraiton.
It doesn't have a "pure direct" button, but it does have the ablity to bypass the room correction and analog processing which is the direct equivalent.
They are announcing that audyssey will have an app that you can customize their filters but not sure when that is coming. The only way to get more flexiblity better than this is if you were to go with Dirac which would be via separate dirac appliance (either analog or digital not both), Emotiva or Arcam. Not sure what your budget is if you are more into movies and need more bells and whistles, the Yamaha receivers are very nice as well imho.
Re: Anthem or other to replace a Marantz 5009?
FWIW, I just implemented an XMC-1 in my system and have been very happy.
Re: Anthem or other to replace a Marantz 5009?
Thanks! My budget is under 3K. Ideally closer to 2k. Maybe I can get lucky and trade my marantz in to the place I bought it for some credit.
It looks like a lot of places are sold out of the anthem. Is it getting near the end of the model's run?
Re: Anthem or other to replace a Marantz 5009?
Usually the dealers dont have high stock and most people are more into feature rich units. You'd have to check but Anthem usually does a 3+ year lifecycle. I would think they might announce something in another year. They have a trade up promo now https://www.anthemav.com/tradeup/index.php
Re: Anthem or other to replace a Marantz 5009?
Woa - thanks! I need to find a dealer. Their dealer locator seems out of date. Some of the places don't exist anymore and most in my area are home installers, not really stores. But we'll see.
Cheers
Re: Anthem or other to replace a Marantz 5009?
I like my Anthem (MRX510) and am thinking of upgrading to the 720 (4k, Atmos). I asked Anthem about a next gen receiver, was told nothing in the works soon.
Where are you located?
Re: Anthem or other to replace a Marantz 5009?