another issue, can you mix speakers that are different Ohms on one receiver? If one says 8ohms and another says 5, does it matter or will it not? Sorry if that’s a stupid question.
No it’s a sensible question and one I had to deal with myself recently. It will be no problem, although you may find it just takes a little more tweaking to get the levels right in each speaker, but that’s easily adjusted so it should be fine.
I did have 8 ohm speakers all round before, but I recently replaced my front 3 to 4 ohm speakers, retaining the 8 ohm speakers at the back. Initially the rear speakers played at too high a level, but they’re perfectly matched now.
Another thing worth mentioning that may limit your speaker choices a little. You will generally get a better deal if you purchase speakers and AVR at the same time: many dealers are prepared to offer a healthy discount when you do so, and I think at present especially, dealers are champing at the bit for custom.
Of course if you found a really good discount already on the outgoing model, the MRX720, that may increase / limit your choices.
In normal times, the thing I would recommend most is to listen to as many different systems as you can before purchasing. Buying blind can lead to expensive mistakes and serious buyer regret. But these are certainly not normal times! On the one hand I do think dealers are more willing to negotiate price than normal, but obviously it does mean getting a good number of demos of different systems is not possible until lockdown eases.
But it does mean I would be very cautious about taking reviews you see online as gospel. One man’s meat is very much another man’s poison in AV, and I’ve heard many systems over the years that people coo over in reviews only to think that the same system is making my ears bleed and I discount within a minute of listening to it.
All I can say is that the Anthem has truly excellent dynamics and timing with music and movies, and tonally is just a smidge forward of neutral to my ears. I would call it exciting, others may say it’s a little grating, but then I would disagree! So I would pair the Anthem with neutral to warm speakers and would avoid anything too bright. Bright plus slightly bright = ear grating.
My own Anthem / DALI Rubicon 2 combo I’m very pleased with musically: there is a certain musical magic sauce that the system seems to exert on anything I play through it. I treated myself recently to the Bluray Stevie Wonder Live at Last, a live concert in DTS-MA 5.1. It sounded absolutely fantastic. It’s a cliché to say it was like being there...but IT WAS!!! Strangely I played DALI Rubicon 5 floorstanders through the same amp and that magic, especially in the midrange and midbass was entirely lacking and flat. The bass was just superior in every way from the standmounted Rubicon 2’s.
The other significant strength of the DALI’s is the vast soundstage. I was watching one of the recent Star Trek movies recently and the Enterprise zoomed from front to rear. It’s difficult to convey in words the vastness of the effect. The sound didn’t feel like it was coming from my speakers, but from the entire front wall. And as the Enterprise shot from front to back soundstage, it sounded like it was doing a flyby through my house! Certainly the sheer height of the soundstage the Rubicon 2’s create is astonishing, although it should be remembered that I have a fairly small 3.5m x 4m room which may increase that effect.
I wouldn’t call it true hi-fi because it isn’t 100% neutral, it does have a flavour. But it can just make 90% of what I listen to sound absolutely amazing: it can turn bland documentaries into something that brings a smile to your face. 2-channel BBC streams like Death in Paradise sound awesome, and movies like Le Mans 66 will blow your boots off.
There is a little catch though: it‘s not a forgiving system and it will make any brightly / poorly mastered stuff sound pretty awful. But for me the trade-off is worth it.
You could have a more forgiving partnership, but you would lose that magic sauce it delivers with everything else.
Your question about actives: technically if your actives have RCA inputs, then it’s possible to blend the two using the pre-outs of the AVR, but the Anthem is such a capable and musical amp sonically, and its power delivery and timing and control of the bass is a significant element of that, that it seems a shame not to use its internal power.
Finally, if you were less concerned about music, and just interested in that multi-channel surround effect, then your best options may be quite different, certainly more plentiful. You would probably spend less on the AVR and more on the speakers, and the number of AVR’s that perform very nearly as well as the Anthem for surround sound are plenty from the usual suspects of Denon, Marantz and Yamaha. But for two channel, IMO, the Anthem is streets ahead.
But I stress these are only my opinions. I would welcome other suggestions from other forum users who’ve taken different routes to skin this particular cat. There’s a wealth of experience on this forum and many have systems of a much higher league than mine. So don’t limit your choices just yet.
I’d take a look at the threads of forum members who have posted details of their own systems. You can get a wealth of ideas from the hard-earned experiences of others...
Members DIY Home Cinema Showcases
and not to be overlooked is the advice of a good dealer. Phone a dealer or two. Tell them what you’re trying to achieve overall and let them come up with suggestions for your budget. Try not to limit their suggestions by saying you want specific components, not initially anyway. You’ll get more free thinking ideas that way. They might come up with ideas that are quite different to mine and may steer you in another direction. So take your time and put their experience to good use.