Thanks for all the pics including the room treatments! I just showed my wife how nice they can look. Hoping to inspire possible future updates...

warriorant85 wrote: Thanks for all the pics including the room treatments! I just showed my wife how nice they can look. Hoping to inspire possible future updates...

I like this!

TCobe and Rick,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys.

Rick, honestly S&V's review and product of the year award is what pushed me into buying the 8802A. I moved up from the Marantz 7702 when I purchased it and the improvement was recognizable, especially so with two channel high res music playback. Cinema was less dramatic of an improvement. In all honesty, with anyone mulling the 7703 vs the 8802a I'd tell them to save the money and get the 7703 and put the savings into room treatments, you'd get more of a return on your money.

That being said, I am thrilled with everything the 8802A offers; the build quality, ease of use, reliability, DACS & sound quality have all been fantastic. My only complaint is Audyssey and unfortunately it has a rather large roll in how the unit performs and ultimately sounds. We've all heard Sandy tells us to just turn it off with his speakers.

I agree with what you said Rick, In the end when Audyssey is running one must use it as a "guide" and allow our ears to be the final judge in terms of where trim levels and crossovers are set. As a point of reference to Audyssey being "quirky", all one needs to do is run it several times and they'll see that each time Audyssey will set things a little differently. It's a crap shoot, one never knows what they'll be getting. In my opinion, for a $4,000 processor that shouldn't be the case and why the lesser priced AVM 60 interests me. From what I've read the DACs in the 8802a and AVM 60 are close enough that "raw" sound quality between the two units should be close. That would mean the unit's room correction software would be the deciding factor in how they ultimately sound compared to one another. Which brings me...

TCobe, I think the only way to settle this AVM 60 vs 8802a conundrum is with a good ole fashioned showdown Perhaps this winter while we are holed up in our man caves we can do a little A/B comparison. I definitely wouldn't mind tossing my processor in the car and taking a road trip to the Madison area to spend a Saturday monkeying around with the two units if that's something that would interest you.

TCobe, we have the Epson 5040UB projector. It's our first projector so it is hard to say how it compares with other units but we are thrilled with its performance. I have come to realize that source material plays a big role in how things look on the screen. TV broadcasts through DirectTV can be really soft depending on the channel. Watching the Packer game (was that a game???) Sunday night I really noticed this. The new PS4 Pro does upscale blu-ray playback to 4k so in watching movies through there (and playing games) I've been very pleased with how things look at 110". The 5040UB isn't true 4k as I'm sure you are aware, but it's pixel shifting technology does a nice job in the pseudo 4k realm. Like you, I can't justify the $$$ required for a true 4k projector. I am excited to see how native 4k Ultra HD blu-ray discs look with it when Oppo releases their 203. The 5040UB is also supposed to be HDR compliant so just one more thing to look forward to when the Oppo 203 is launched (hopefully next month).

Cheers fellas!

John,

I'd be up for an A/B comparison this winter. I compared the AVM 60 to the 7702 mkii and the Anthem was the clear winner in my opinion. Since there have been no pro reviews yet on the Anthem, a head to head would be good. You could get a good idea of the functionality of the ARC 2 software and resulting sound.

Feel free to shoot me a PM to coordinate a potential date. I'm guessing the Packers will not be in the playoffs, so it's going to be a long winter with no post season excitement. At least the college games have been and should continue to be great! I'm hoping for another Big 10 National Championship, but the top teams have been a bit soft the last few weeks and this is the time of year that teams want to peak, not slump. Alabama has looked solid all season, so they may run it again this year.

Cheers,

T Cobe

T Cobe wrote: John,

I'd be up for an A/B comparison this winter. I compared the AVM 60 to the 7702 mkii and the Anthem was the clear winner in my opinion. Since there have been no pro reviews yet on the Anthem, a head to head would be good. You could get a good idea of the functionality of the ARC 2 software and resulting sound.

Feel free to shoot me a PM to coordinate a potential date.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Hey, John and T

I would LOVE to get some feedback from two knowledgeable guys comparing the Marantz and Anthem components "in their own ears"!!!!

I remain some reserved on Audyssey XT32... why do so many non-GEt user reviewers like it so much? I think Audyssey has trouble dealing with powered Tritons with built-in sub, as opposed to stand alone subs (it wants to dial down the subs, not knowing that also dials down normal full range non LFE stuff), AND recognizing the SQ, not just the frequency range, of GEt surrounds and ceiling speakers.

Anything you guys can add to all these issues and how it all affects ultimate SQ is greatly appreciated. Both components you're using are first rate. I've said before that I'd love to be able to get a tour of the many great systems represented on this forum, and learn more about what works and what doesn't with our amazing GEt speakers. Give us a step in that direction. I'm all ears!

Happy listening!

Rick

Hi Guys!

Just a little off-topic comment: "Roll Tide!"

Hope you can get together to have some musical fun.

Best,

Art