Anthem or other to replace a Marantz 5009?

[Blingleberry]

Ah nice. I pulled the trigger on the 720 also. Should be lugging that sucker up 6 flights of stairs in a couple of days!

I need to learn more about atmos and even rear speakers. My rear's are fairly ineffective. And they're kind of location restricted. So I could instead do high fronts or 2 atmos. Or even both. I need to learn more about how it all compares.

Thx for all your help.

[racrawford65]

Congrats! I think you'll really like the Anthem. Easy to set up/configure and ARC isn't too difficult. Mine is supposed to get here Friday -- no stairs for me as I'm in a 1-story!

Good place to start learning about ATMOS is the Dolby site...

I'll likely wind up moving from 5.1 to 5.1.4 do to my room / furniture layout - unless of course I change my seating and/or I decide to add a second E15 :-) From what I've read on forums, one should use 4 ATMOS (not 2) as it gives the best overhead effect. On-ceiling per the Dolby layout the best, followed by heights. My take on what I've read is that those up-firing ATMOS enabled speakers aren't really worth the effort/investment. Of course, we have to make the best of what our rooms allow.

So, maybe you could do front height / rear ceiling? Although, as I recall, the 720 only has amplification for 2 heights and you'd need an external amp for the second set of heights - I don't think you'd need to go overboard on the amp - maybe an Emotiva BasX or a Dayton from Parts Express (they've got a couple options under $200).

I'll be running 9 channels of external amps (even though the amps in the receiver are supposed to be excellent) as I have the amps - a UPA-2 for L&R, a UPA-7 for Center, Surrounds, and 4 heights. Now if I could only find a device that would let me trigger the 2 channel amp for music and both for surround/movies!

[Blingleberry]

The one thing I'm nervous about is how the anthem will do 2 ch. I like the pure direct mode of my marantz. quite a diff in how it sounds vs the active circuitry modes.

I might see if I can get the dealer I'm buying the anthem through to come and do a walkthrough and make some recommendations regarding atmos and all that. I could go into the ceiling if I had to. But it would have to be perfect for my wife so I'd need help.

[racrawford65]

I am quite pleased with the MRX510 in 2 channel direct mode.. listen to a lot of vinyl this way. The Anthem-music mode is also very good with vinyl.

Sounds like a good plan to also talk with your dealer. Have you dealt with him before?

Wife acceptance factor - I deal with that too... :-)

[sludgeogre]

The one thing I'm nervous about is how the anthem will do 2 ch. I like the pure direct mode of my marantz. quite a diff in how it sounds vs the active circuitry modes.

I might see if I can get the dealer I'm buying the anthem through to come and do a walkthrough and make some recommendations regarding atmos and all that. I could go into the ceiling if I had to. But it would have to be perfect for my wife so I'd need help.

I enjoyed the direct mode on my old Marantz as well, but with Dirac on my XMC-1 I find that the Dirac setting is the best by far. I think it's because Dirac beats the pants off of Audyssey in every single way. ARC is apparently much better than Audyssey as well from everything I've read so you may prefer the ARC mode all the time as well.

[sludgeogre]

Then, add the Oppo 203 and I hope I'm done for awhile......except for maybe a cartridge upgrade and a few more Symposium isolation devices on the rest of my sources. I was skeptical on these at first (like high $ cables), but these (Classic Inserts and Segue Iso) made a big difference for the better on my turntable.

Personally, if you're not using the expensive DAC inside of the Oppo, it's kind of pointless to buy that instead of a normal, much cheaper Blu-Ray player. The Oppo doesn't use Darbee anymore since they don't have a version for 4k. It's a lot more money for the same exact performance as any other 4k player since you'll be using your awesome new Anthem receiver. This is just my two cents. Some people seem to think the 203 has other values, but I don't see them unless you're using it as the processor.

[curtis]

Personally, if you're not using the expensive DAC inside of the Oppo, it's kind of pointless to buy that instead of a normal, much cheaper Blu-Ray player. The Oppo doesn't use Darbee anymore since they don't have a version for 4k. It's a lot more money for the same exact performance as any other 4k player since you'll be using your awesome new Anthem receiver. This is just my two cents. Some people seem to think the 203 has other values, but I don't see them unless you're using it as the processor.

What UHD player would you suggest that has SACD, DVD-A, and the media/streaming capabilities that the Oppo has?

As far as a I know, there isn't one that has the same media set capabilities, but if there is that is less expensive, I'm all ears.

[crazycuz2k]

What UHD player would you suggest that has SACD, DVD-A, and the media/streaming capabilities that the Oppo has?

As far as a I know, there isn't one that has the same media set capabilities, but if there is that is less expensive, I'm all ears.

I think he's referring to the Oppo UDP-205 which has the latest Sabre DAC (2038 pro) same as the one in the Oppo Sonica DAC. The other high quality streaming blu-ray disc player that is the Panasonic DMP-UB900, but it doesn't do SACD and it only does DLNA (no SMB).

[racrawford65]

Crazycuz2k - I think Sludge is referring to the 203 as he mentions it in his post. You are right about no SACD on the Panasonic. Last I looked, it also retailed for more than the Oppo. Also, no Dolby Vision (DV) upgrade.

Curtis - the only other 4K blu-ray that I'm aware of that does SACD (which I only have a few of) is the Sony 800. This was my second choice. It retails at 250, but I doubt it will hold it's value similar to Oppo. Similarly, it's not confirmed that the Sony will release a firmware update for Dolby Vision. They may, or they may not - my guess is no, so they can release a new model next year with DV to get people to upgrade. So, I've ruled it out.

Oppo 203 doesn't have streaming apps (eg Netflix, Amazon Prime). From what I've read, I doubt they will. Not important to me as my TV has them, as does my FireTV (not 4K version). Rather they focus on providing best video/audio

My display supports DV (LG OLED 65E6), so I want to have this feature. Anthem has confirmed they will have a DV firmware update, perhaps in a month, so that's why I pulled the trigger (plus the 20% off thru June) now.

So, that leaves the Oppo or the LG player. I've owned 2 Oppo's (one of their DVD's, and currently use the 103D) -- both have performed flawlessly, excellent build quality, and Oppo support is top notch (eg firmware updates, respond to emails, etc.). Plus, I can configure the Anthem to use HDMI for movies and analog in (so analog out from the Oppo) for 2 channel. I've not researched capabilities of the LG - it's as much as the Sony, and looks to be of lesser build quality.

So, the Oppo is worth the extra couple of hundred over the less expensive options to me. I may or may not sell the 103D to offset the cost.

[crazycuz2k]

You may be right or his reasoning isn't sound as the DAC in the 203 isn't the reason I bought it. It was for the PQ and versatility. I also own the 103D which I'm hesitant to sell just because of the looser cinavia implementation which I find annoying in my network streams as well as the tidal/streaming apps.

The Panasonic UB900 does have a higher MSRP but does go on sale/get discounted unlike the OPPO players.