One thing as a bit of follow-up... I've read some people elsewhere questioning how Anthem cut $2000 off the price between the AVM 50 and the AVM 60 and how that's indicative of corners being cut. The answer is simple and quite acceptable given the changes in CE. The AVM 50 had a legitimate high-end video scaler in it. The AVM 60 does not and it doesn't need one in my opinion. It doesn't digitize s-video, and component inputs output them over HDMI. Why would you need that in 2016? It doesn't upscale from 1080p to 4k. Your display does that, it doesn't need to.

I agree on all counts. Omission of unneeded video processing makes sense. This allowed them to put the money where it counts most: the sound. I think they also stated they have saved a significant amount of money by moving production to the same facility that manufactures their receivers. I believe that is Vietnam versus Canada with the AVM 50. Labor is a huge cost. They also said that using the same housing for the AVM 60 as the MRX receivers saved them money. While I believe that, I also feel it cut down on possible production errors/product defects.

My biggest fear was that they made significant cuts in quality and that the sound would be deficient. Based on my listening, the quality of sound is there in spades. Some have said it sounds better than their AVM 50 but I would be skeptical of that claim without a side by side. Im content that it compares favorably and costs only $3,000.

While I'm still looking forward to the professional reviews, I no longer fear a negative outcome. In the end, the most important opinion to me is my own. It will be interesting to see how the pros view the lack of legacy connections and video processing, along with the implementation of the basic chassis from the MRX. The fact that it looks the same as the MRX 520 may not be well received since the last generation AVM had a unique, premium chassis. I think the AVM 60 stands on its own and put the money where it counts. The sound is top notch and this model is a very welcome addition to the market.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Good news, good news, bad news.

Bad news, my 9 year old daughter is on day 2.5 of a stomach bug that hit Monday night and kept her home yesterday and today. Good news is, I have the type of job and wonderful boss that enables me to work from home. The other good news is I've spent yesterday morning and most of the day today on VPN working while listening to (mostly) blues music.

Despite T Cobe's incredulity that it could take anyone this long to form impressions I have a much better appreciation for the AVM 60 after the last couple of days. Some of this is a repeat with clarifications from my original impressions so take it for what its worth.

The level of detail the Anthem offers is a clear step up from my Onkyo. There is just more texture. The dynamics are significantly better. The level of both detail and dynamics at lower volume is just crazy. I had to "open up" the Onkyo to get things singing. Not so with the Anthem. The level of tap-your-toes musicality is there even at levels just above background music.

I also got answers to all my mode questions.

"None" mode is straight through processing. If its a 2.0 PCM signal, you get 2 channels out. No sub. Why? Because there wasn't a .1 in the 2.0 PCM. So that's the pure mode I was looking for. Dolby Surround is like the new PLIIx but with the gimmicks stripped away (no echo or reverb etc.) It is setup to use all channels you have configured. So if you are 7.1, you get 7.1 from any source (2ch, 5.1, etc.) If you have Atmos setup, it will use all your speakers even with a non-Atmos source. AnthemLogic Cinema is similar to Dolby Surround in that it will upmix to all your configured speakers. But, it has Anthem special sauce built in. They use a light hand but they're doing something to make it sound "better" per their tastes. AnthemLogic Music is similar to Cinema and will upmix and use all your speakers, BUT they leave the center channel out. My experience is that this can be super effective on certain types of music but a bit distracting on others. It's magnificent compared to the Church, Hall, Stadium, etc. type of crap that many AVR makers include.

Also, all of these modes can be customized wit speaker profiles. So if you want to use AnthemLogic, but you don't want subs and you don't want side surrounds, only the rears, just set up a second speaker profile with the subs and side surrounds set to Off/None. A minor complaint here is that speaker profiles can't be switched on the fly. You have to go into the menu system. You can set them as defaults for different inputs so if you had a source with multiple outputs you could switch pretty easy but if not, you have to go into the menus. Of course, these same speaker profiles also allow you change anything ARC related so you could have profiles with different bass curves or crossover settings etc. all managed through the ARC PC software.

Now that I've RTFM and started getting used to things a bit more I don't have any negatives about the unit at all other than, PLEASE release ARC for OSX!!!

Imahawki,

Sorry to hear about your daughter but I'm glad you have some flexibility with your job. Make sure your practicing good hand washing over the next few days. It may be good to use some disinfecting wipes or spray as well.

Sounds like we've checked most of the same boxes in terms of sound quality. It didn't take you long once you got going. One thing I did notice the other morning is that I could watch programming at as low as -45 or -50 and dialogue was still quite intelligible. The only downside is there is no bass at that level. I haven't played around with Dolby volume at all to see how Anthem handles it. That maybe a weekend experiment.

Since I have a separate 2-channel setup, I don't plan to play around too much with music playback with a few exceptions. I think the ARC does provide some benefit; however, the improved SQ of my stereo still places it well ahead for 2.0 playback. I will play more music with the Play-Fi from my Amazon Prime music library. I will probably also use the Anthem with my Oppo for SACD playback in multichannel.

Thanks for the follow up post. I was looking forward to a trusted second opinion.

Cheers,

T Cobe

imahawki wrote: One thing as a bit of follow-up... I've read some people elsewhere questioning how Anthem cut $2000 off the price between the AVM 50 and the AVM 60 and how that's indicative of corners being cut. The answer is simple and quite acceptable given the changes in CE. The AVM 50 had a legitimate high-end video scaler in it. The AVM 60 does not and it doesn't need one in my opinion. It doesn't digitize s-video, and component inputs output them over HDMI. Why would you need that in 2016? It doesn't upscale from 1080p to 4k. Your display does that, it doesn't need to.

This is a very accurate statement. The video processor in the AVM 50V was the same one used in their Statement D2V, and was worth at least $2500 in the total retail price. At the time of introduction, this was a very big deal feature, allowing you to watch SD DVD's at 1080p and clean up lousy SD broadcasts. Not to mention component and s-video support. But like you said, now, in today's video world, those features would be just a waste.

Hi everyone. So I'm new to this forum but have dabbled in AV since high school. Regardless, the AVM 60 is my newest addition to my new Golden Ear media room setup. I replaced my Focal Utopia Be Divas with Triton Ones and the Focal Electra CC1000 Be with the Super Center XXL. The AVM 60 replaced my Marantz 8801 which replaced and Anthem D2.

I think I would have stuck with the D2 longer if it wasn't for the lack of HDMI inputs and some bells and whistles which I actually really like in the Marantz. The D2 also had handshake issues with HDMI making using our multiple game consoles a hassle. With the AVM 60 I get the majority of the features the 8801 had that I used but I also get the Anthem sound. The Marantz produced a good, dynamic sound but I feel like it did not blend/integrate the mains and surrounds as well as ARC and the D2 did. The surrounds always seemed to stick out and seemed to run hot. The AVM 60 gives it all back to me with upgraded OSD and wireless features that I use outside in the yard and deck. I am short one zone, but a Paradigm wireless streaming amp may solve that problem. I am listening to music again just to listen to the music not as a background activity. Just watched my first movie with the new setup and was super satisfied with the sound. I did run the Triton Ones for a couple weeks on the Marantz and was happy but when I found out about the AVM 60 I had to give it a shot. By the way, I have an 8801 for sale.