Reviewed by Wes Marshall

M R X 7 0 0

MUSCULAR. COHERENT. STABLE. ROCK-SOLID.”

“PURE JOY … AN OUTSTANDING RECEIVER …

reviewP R O D U C T

The world of high-end home-theaterprocessors and receivers has beenmoving along at sweeping speed, oftenwhipped from behind by HDMI, the fightfor supremacy between Dolby and DTS,and, oh yes, the little issue of profits.Companies like Onkyo, Marantz, Pioneer,Denon, and Yamaha have been launchingnew products annually, telling us witheach new iteration that we can’t livewithout the new model’s features, andthat the model we bought last year isnow destined for the local landfill.

This dizzying race to the Shangri-la ofhome theater perfection has been sucha challenging competition that only thebig-bank-account Japanese companies havebeen able to stay in the fight. Time aftertime, we’ve seen the companies that producethe truly high-end products just give upon the marketplace. Some just stopped

making them, or froze their production onoutdated technology (anyone still prefercomponent video to HDMI?). Great makersI depended on for years for my own system—I’m thinking mainly of the Jeff RowlandDesign Group, and any company run byNelson Pass—just avoided the conceptaltogether.

The folks at Anthem have been almostsingular in holding the torch for upscale,high-end home-theater products. They’veplayed the annual upgrade game almostas exhaustively as have the big Japanesecompanies. By planning ahead andsuccessfully predicting the direction theindustry would take, they’ve been able tocreate a whole series of receivers, rangingin price from $999 to $1999, that have animpressive percentage of the sound qualityand convenience of their category champ,the Anthem Statement D2v A/V processor.

How do they do it? Like those bright peoplewho designed the Sony PlayStation 3 withenough horsepower to make it throughseveral years of updates, the Anthemengineers made their processors withenough computer power to implement theirown version of automatic room correctionfrom the very start.

When Anthem developed their newjuggernaut receiver program, theywere able to include the sameproprietary Anthem Room Correction(ARC) system already included in alliterations of their processors. In myopinion, properly implemented room-correction software has a greater influenceon the final sound of a home-theaterreceiver than any amplification, be itpreamp or power amp—assuming, of course, we start with sufficiently powered,well-designed amplification.

Reprinted with permission from

w w w. s o u n d s t a g e e x p e r i e n c e . c o m

M R X 7 0 0

PAGE 2

“After having lived withAudyssey’s system for severalyears, the difference betweenit and ARC was not subtle.ARC had a more plummywoody sound, with just a bitbetter integration and moresolid soundstaging.”

And of course, stretching all the way backto the days when Anthem was a badge ofSonic Frontiers, Anthem amplification hasalways been clean, and way more powerfulthan the specs would indicate. The poweroutput of the Anthem MRX 700 is a claimed120 Wpc (20Hz – 20kHz, 0.1% THD+N).You have to do a little digging to find outthat this is accurate for only two-channelmode. With five channels driven, the outputspec drops to 90 Wpc. Competitors offermore power per channel for the same price,but what counts is the quality of sound,not the quantity of watts.

“… effortless sound …reminded me of the seeminglyendless headroom of myAnthem A5 power amp—quite a feat, given the factthat the A5 has twice thepower and costs more thanthe MRX 700.”

But first impressions matter too, andthe MRX 700 looks all business and allAnthem. Its black faceplate has silverbuttons, a nice change from the ubiquitousblack-on-black of other companies. It looksas if it weighs a ton; instead, it’s easilymanageable at 35.4 pounds. The onlydownside is the cheesy volume control,which has absolutely zero flywheel effect.In any case, it works perfectly.

Around back is almost everything youmight want. Four 3D-ready HDMI inputsand one output will be enough for manyfolks. There’s also a 7.1-channel RCA analogaudio output, a stereo output for Zone 2,six assignable stereo audio inputs, twostereo record outputs, three composite-video

ins and outs, three component-video insand one out, optical and coaxial digitaloutputs, and two coaxial and three opticaldigital inputs.

Missing from that list is a phono input—amistake at this price, I think. Anthem hasalso eschewed the whole S-video thing. Noproblem, but imagine—only a few yearsago, S-video was the choice for high-endviewing!

Here’s something you seldom see at anyprice: Anthem provides two remote controls.The first, for complete control, is nicelybacklit and easy to grip; a smaller remotecontrols only Zone 2, which is reallymostly for audio. Zone 2 does offer avideo signal, but it’s limited to a compositeoutput. 480i anyone? Do you have morethan one HDTV? I do.

INSTALLATIONThis was mostly an easy affair, exceptfor a few idiosyncrasies that weren’t easyto track down in the manual. Anthem’sMRX 700 perfectly manages the mostimportant functions of a receiver—toprovide switching without any signaldegradation, clean amplification, andmanagement of a room’s inherentfrequency-response anomalies. There arejust a few nitpicking problems in the faceof what is an outstanding receiver whicharise only when the MRX 700 is used todrive a whole-house system and in therare instance that the consumer installsthe receiver. Anthem has one of the bestdealer networks in North America, soanyone who buys an MRX 700 will likelyhave it professionally installed, bypassingeach of the issues raised below. Still, Iwanted to let you know about these quirks.

“… rock-solid stability …”

For instance, on page 19 of the manual:"When [HDMI Audio Output is] set to AVR,no audio is sent to the TV. When set toAVR + TV or TV, audio will be sent to theTV by the receiver but the format sent tothe receiver by the HDMI audio source willbe according to the TV’s capability (e.g.,two-channel), not the receiver’s which isnormally higher." Given the fact that thereis only one HDMI output, someone mightbe forgiven for using a splitter to accessmore than one display. But then the maindisplay will be locked to two-channel audio,unless the HDMI Audio Output is set to thedefault AVR. But then the other displaysget no sound at all. The workaround is to

set it to AVR when in the theater and thenswitch to AVR+TV to send the signal toother displays.

For folks who use the Zone 2 setting, a statement on page 31 is easy to miss:"During the timeout period after pressingZone, select Zone 2 source. This routesanalog and composite video sources toanother part of your home." That’s great,right? But it means that Zone 2 listening isstrictly analog—a digital feed need notapply. Oops! So what do we lose? I won’tbe able to use my PS3 to access my homenetwork because it has a digital output. Ican’t use a CD player that’s plugged into a coaxial digital input. I might even wantto listen to my favorite radio station,KINK-FM in Portland, Oregon. I can get it easily as an Internet Radio station bypushing the Anthem’s Media button, butif I want to listen to it all over the house(and I do), I am SOL because the Anthemclassifies its own Internet Radio link as adigital signal.

“Movies came through with authority … No matterwhat mayhem happened on screen, the MRX 700handled it with aplomb.”

There’s a workaround for the PS3 and theCD player: Steal the Aux input so that Ican switch between digital and analog.But I wanted to use Aux for my lonesomeRega turntable. I guess I could kill anotherinput, but which one?

Again, if you’re going to use an MRX 700for just your home theater, no problem.And in terms of workarounds, your dealerwill probably figure out all of this for you.

I was most interested to see how Anthemhas implemented Anthem Room Correction,and how it differs from the Audyssey system.The main difference is that Audyssey isself-contained aboard the processor orreceiver it comes with. Plug in a calibrationmike and off it goes. Anthem’s implement-ation requires that you have a computer(PC or Mac) in the room with the speakersand receiver, and interconnect the computer,receiver, and microphone. If you have a40-pound desktop in another room, you’llhave to schlep it into your home theater.Hopefully you’ll have a MacBook Pro andit will be easy to move.

M R X 7 0 0

PAGE 3

More problematic is the fact that theMRX 700 requires that the computer havean antiquated RS-232 port. Mine doesn’t,so I went to RadioShack to get an RS-232-to-USB adapter. Which didn’t work. Longstory short: Make sure you get one fromyour dealer as part of the package, becausethe ARC system is finicky about whichadapter it will accept.

NOTE FROM ANTHEM: All USBserial adaptors are not created equal.A great many do no load properlywhen used with our MRX Receivers.Use only the Keyspan USA 19HSHigh-Speed and USB Serial Adaptor.We extensively tested this brand aresatisfied it works flawlessly withour MRX receivers.

One other point that might slip by if you’rein a hurry to hear how great the MRX 700sounds. You have to use the CD that comeswith your calibration microphone, becauseit relates to the frequency response of yourparticular mike. A microphone with aperfectly flat response—if it exists—wouldcost far more than the MRX 700. The onlyway Anthem can hit their very competitiveprices is to invert the frequency responseof each individual microphone and store iton the CD. They certainly made the rightchoice; just make sure you save that CD.

“… with Pixar’s films, thebest phrase to describe thelook, sound, and feel isthree-dimensional. That's the way it looked over theAnthem.”

Audyssey’s mike looks wimpy comparedto Anthem’s. Plus, the Anthem comes witha boom stand that sits in the listening seat—a much more accurate way of positioninga mike than the balancing act required byAudyssey. The calibration routine takes afew minutes longer than Audyssey’s, andthe sequence of test tones is slower, butthe procedure felt well designed—andusing the computer’s power should offer amore robust room correction.

Two more things about installing the MRX 700. First, Dolby Volume comes fromthe factory set at just about its maximumintensity (we've been told this has beenadjusted). As you probably know, DolbyVolume is used to limit the higher volumelevels of TV commercials. It works as

advertised, and usually undetectably, butwith items that vary widely in volume,the sound will audibly pump. So takeyour choice: What’s more annoying, loudcommercials or occasional pumping?Anthem gives you the choice.

“… the MRX 700 just‘disappeared’ from theequation. Its effortless sound,coherent picture, andabsolute ease of use allenhanced my enjoyment.”

Finally, Anthem lets you adjust thebrightness, contrast, and color for eachinput. You can also probably set these atthe source and at the display. My preferenceis to use the display, but whichever youchoose, remember to try to choose justone. Too many cooks will produce theusual spoilage. Ditto for overlaying toomany different video controls.

I want to reiterate: these complicationsare unimportant if you have the MRX 700professionally installed. Now we can focuson what is truly important: how did theMRX 700 perform in day-to-day use?

PERFORMANCEOnce set up, the Anthem was a pure joy tooperate. Given its pedigree for outstandingsound, I began with music. I have a fewstandard cuts that I always start with,such as the opening of "So What," fromMiles Davis’s Kind of Blue (six-eye LP,Columbia 8163; SACD/CD, Sony M64935).The beginning duet of bassist PaulChambers and pianist Bill Evans is verytelling. The sound through the MRX 700was delicate, well integrated, and quiterevealing. After having lived with Audyssey’ssystem for several years, the differencebetween it and ARC was not subtle. ARChad a more plummy, woody sound, withjust a bit better integration and moresolid soundstaging. I could clearly hearthe walls of the studio.

The next track I use is Danny Elfman’ssoundtrack to Mission: Impossible (CD,PolyGram 454525). If you don’t have this inyour collection, you’re missing a trueaudiophile treat—a festival of powerfulpercussion and deep bass. Whenever I playthis disc at shows, everyone in the roomjots down its title. Again, the MRX 700 camethrough with effortless sound that reminded

me of the seemingly endless headroom ofmy reference Anthem Statement A5 poweramp—quite a feat, given the fact that theA5 has twice the power and costs $500more than the MRX 700.

Though the MRX 700 lacks the encyclopediclist of soundstage manipulations you findon Japanese receivers, there are still plentyof surround-sound options. Anthem’sproprietary AnthemLogic-Music setting isthe sort of thing I normally avoid, but givenAnthem’s reputation, I decided to give ita try. It worked best with recordings inwhich all the musicians are actually in the same room together, which results in a decent amount of microphone bleed—as in chamber music, folk music, or jazz.AnthemLogic was quite effective at addingdepth without making it sound like aspring reverb from a Fender Twin. It didan especially nice job with Nick Drake’sFive Leaves Left (CD, Island IMCD 8),lending rock-solid stability to thesoundstage.

“The Anthem MRX 700immediately leaps to the topof the marketplace for hometheater receivers. Don’t miss it.”

Movies came through with authority aswell. I went through a pre-Oscar workoutwith all the available Best Picture nominees.The trajectory of Christopher Nolan’s lastsix films had me hoping that Inceptionwould be a masterpiece. Instead, it’s aslightly better version of The Matrix. Butwhile Inception left me cold, there’s nodisputing its mind-blowing visuals andsound design. No matter what mayhemhappened onscreen, the MRX 700 handledit with aplomb. Watching the city fall intothe sea was especially impressive.

Toy Story 3 extends Pixar’s reputation asthe reigning genius of animation. This isnot a children’s movie, though kids willprobably like it. The movie pushes thelimits of heartbreak and love to the pointwhere a sensitive child (or adult) may juststart blubbering, all the while offeringplenty of laughs. As usual with Pixar’sfilms, the best phrase to describe the look,sound, and feel is three-dimensional.That's the way it looked over the Anthem.

My pick for Best Picture of 2010 wasWinter’s Bone, perhaps the darkest filmever nominated for that Oscar. The film’simages are deliberately washed-out and

M R X 7 0 0

PAGE 4

claustrophobic, with only a few Ford-likemoments of tenderness thrown in to keepviewers from slitting their wrists. But despiteits tone of unrelenting dread, Winter’s Bonedoes offer some hope. Again, the MRX 700just "disappeared" from the equation. Itseffortless sound, coherent picture, andabsolute ease of use all enhanced myenjoyment.

Effortless. Muscular. Coherent. Stable.Rock-solid. Sound like what you’re lookingfor? The Anthem MRX 700 immediatelyleaps to the top of the marketplace forhome-theater receivers. Don’t miss it.