What Surround Receiver Also Has Amazing Stereo

I'm very content with my cheap Yamaha "Natural Sound" surround receiver. The Sub really helps too.

 

Shortly after posting here in this thread I packed and sold my Denon 4308ci. It was still working well but I was starting to feel that I'm getting close to the time when I'll begin to notice age related problems creeping up. Honestly I was not enthusiastic at the thought of all the work that will be needed to re-position speakers and I knew that the sub integration was going to be a major pain in the behind. However that's something I'll eventually need to do and I'm better at preparing and planing ahead. Additionally I got a very good offer for an Anthem MRX 720 so the decision was practically made for me already.

The MRX 720 has two major advantages over the Denon. Firstly the ARC Genesis room correction system is much better than the version of Audyssey I was using with the 4308ci. In fact the Audyssey was pretty bad in stereo and completely useless with bass management/sub integration. The second advantage is the calibrated microphone. The one supplied with the MRX is the real deal and comes with a functional tripod. IMHO these are the main contributors resulting in a superior sound experience.

It's the first time in my life that I prefer to listen to stereo music with room correction active and to my delight, the ARC took care of 90% of the sub integration hassle - and that, for me, was the real surprise.

I'm still working on adding the rest of my audio sources and in the time that passed I also noticed that there is at least one thing with the MRX 720 that I don't like and that's the way the remote is used for changing listening modes. I found that the way Anthem did it is both time consuming, not intuitive and just plain irritating, luckily it's a function I seldom use but it could be a deal breaker otherwise. I also wasted way too much time trying to get DTS Play-Fi working and it was only last week I understood that the receiver needs to be in setup mode when the app is trying to update the firmware.

 

Years ago (1995ish), I bought a new Yamaha RX-V990 5.1 AV receiver. I bought it as much for its excellent 2 channel stereo abilities and a great phono stage. I still have it today and will so long as it keeps working. I recall it was about $1000 back then so not cheap. And it's got inputs for a laser disc player so I got that going for me...

 

I'm interested in the laser disc player bit. What are you using it for, if I may ask?

 

I don't have one, I was simply saying that the vintage of my receiver is such that it had those inputs.

 

I also have a laserdisc player..Pioneer 909 connected via RCA to a Denon 4310...works flawlessly.

 

But what do you DO with it? Is there any music released on LD and how does it sound?

 

That RX-V990 is a great AVR. No digital surround built in, only Pro Logic. But, it had multichannel inputs, for an external surround processor. Yamaha had their own DD-1 Dolby Digital AC-3 processor, that had multichannel outs, that mated to the 990. I still have both units, and occasionally play laser discs.

Look for a Pioneer player. They built the best. Even their low end players were good. Look for a player than can automatically play both sides of the laser disc. Otherwise, you have to manually flip the disc over, halfway through.

Get a player with digital outputs too. They make a good CD transport, as such. Get a player with an AC-3 output, as well. That's the only way to get Dolby Digital from the laser format. You'll need an AVR or processor that can accept an AC-3 signal too. Yamaha's DD-1 and DDP-2 can, plus some of their earlier AVR's have dedicated AC-3 inputs.

A Pioneer CLD-D704 is a very good laser player to get. One of the best. The CLD-D504 and D604 are good too. I still use a 504 without issue.

Pioneer made several high end players. TOTL units, with excellent picture and sound. But, those still bring a premium. The 3 I listed can be found at much easier on the wallet prices.

 

Yup.

Nope.

Like everything else around here, do the homework before buying. Besides a couple very good ones (one low-end and one upscale), I also bought a DVL-919, a DVD/LD player. DVD was fine, but LD delivered an obvious poor picture. On 2 other replacement units, no less.

@Rachael Bee has a deep well of experience with LD, check in with her.

 

I still consider my answer as being correct, as I never thought of that monstrosity as being a laser disc player...!

 

Play laserdiscs of concerts that have not been released on DVD or Bluray, that's the only reason I keep it. The sound is good considering how old this format is.

 

A few months in now and I can say that the 720 is beyond what I needed it to be. It's a remarkably good sounding unit. In fact I've had a few audio snobs over who were gobsmacked at how good the two channel sounds. Yes, one CAN have a killer stereo with a 5.1 unit. I know this now for a fact.

I had some issues getting the streaming audio content to work and ended up not using the HDMI for streaming, which I'm not super happy with. But I couldn't make the Anthem play nice with my Samsung. An optical eventually worked. This was irritating, but not a deal killer.

I think the extra power was necessarily for my room and listening habits. Beyond that, I don't expect any meaningful difference with the 520.

So yeah. It's working great! I'm finding that I'm sometimes just as inclined to pop an LP on the Anthem as I am to use my Prima Luna. Go figure!

Highly recommended!

 

I can understand that. What I'm planing to do is re-route the audio sources that are now directly connected to the integrated. With my previous setup only the HDMI audio interface from the media PC was connected to the receiver, all the other audio sources, including the USB audio interface from the same PC were routed directly to the integrated because even when using the Direct/Pure Direct listening mode of the 4308 I was not happy with the 2CH results. I really don't see the point now because IMHO the pre-amp section of the Anthem is simply better with its ARC than what I have on the integrated. I'll probably keep using an external amplification for the main two front speakers and use the MRX 720 only as a pre-amp for these channels. So far I like my 720 very much.

What were the issues you had with HDMI streaming?

 

Yamaha and possibly Denon offerings in that price range.

 

The Arc HDMI was not passing audio from my Samsung interface (not the ARC EQ, this is a regrettable naming convention on Anthems part).
Apparently this is a known issue (and I tried all the settings and spoke with customer service) yet never cracked it.

Again, I just used the optical out, which worked fine.

 

The Sony STR-ZA5000ES sounds amazing in any application. $2799 list but can be found for $2199. I have been so impressed by its sound quality.

 

Quick question. I have an OPPO BDP-105 to play CDs, SACDs, etc., with all its bells and whistles. I can grab a used Anthem MRX 720 for under $1000 (it's $2500 out of the box) but the HDMI board is bad, so no HDMI on this unit. Assuming I'm just using this for music and feeding everything through the Oppo, do I care that the HDMIs don't work here? The price is exactly what I'd like to replace my Primare otherwise. Should I pull the trigger?

 

Hmmm.. I got mine for $1500. I bet the prices continue to drop or the chance of a deal will increase.

So, with that said, I don't think $1000 is a good enough deal for a broken 720. For that money, you can find some fully functional solutions from competitors?

Just my two cents

Good luck!

 

Did you buy yours new at that price? If you happen to see any Black Friday deals, I'd appreciate a heads up. I've spent several hours this afternoon reading various comments of the various Anthem products and there appears to be a substantial upgrade in sound quality for the newest versions, so I'm leaning towards a 520/720 over say a 710 (which I can grab used for about $500) but I'm not having much luck finding anything in my preferred price range. That said, I might be able to swallow a new 720 for $1500 but that seems to be the going rate for the lesser 520 at the moment...

 

The advantage I find with a prepro and separate amp(s) setup is one can upgrade their processor and keep their amps. I have an Emotiva XMC-1 and several Wyred 4 Sound amps. If I decide to update the XMC-1 there is no need to change amps. I'm very happy with the Wyred 4 Sound amps and have no desire to replace them. Processor features change quite frequently where amp technology does not change that significantly.

 

Yeah, my current thinking is to pick up an Anthem unit with the ARC technology for surround listening, and then perhaps at some point in the near future, supplement this with a dedicated amp that focuses solely on my stereo listening (using the Anthem as a preamp in that event). Assuming one were to do that, could I expect a sound upgrade over just using the Anthem integrated? It appears you are saying the preamp/processor is more important than the amp, or are they equally important?

 

The fact that the HDMI board is bad makes that MRX 720 not worth a $1000 IMO. If you do hi-res multi-channel music the MRX 720 with a bad HDMI board would be of no use as there is no 5/7.1 analog input.

 

Looking at the photo, I see 5 analog audio ins just below the HDMI ports. (FYI I don't have a subwoofer, only 5 speakers in my set up). My Primare was too old to even have HDMI but I was able to use my Oppo to get surround sound with it. I'm not sure I'm following you...

 

The defective MRX 720 as it would be pretty much useless for hi-res multi-channel music. In my opinion a preamp/prepro is more important than the amps. Many great affordable amps out there especially used even if 5-10 years old. A 5-10 year old prepro would be pretty much outdated.

 

Those are five separate stereo analog inputs. Did the Primare have a 5/7.1 analog input that you were using for surround with the Oppo?