AV processor £4K or less

tig

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Hi all. I’m looking for some advice on buying an AV processor for £4K or less.

It’s general performance must be stable at all times (no failing to change inputs properly and no sound or video drop outs) and it must start up quickly. It will be controlled with a harmony remote with hub and will be running a 5.1.2 Atmos setup.

The processors I’ve been considering are Arcam AV40, Anthen AVM70, Marantz AV8805 and AV7706. I’m looking for the best sound quality and room correction available at the price but the stability issue overrides all others as I’d be in big trouble if things started not to work when I’m not at home.

All help greatly appreciated.
 
All these will not have no sound or video drop outs. The Arcam I have is not fast, in fact the slowest AVR I have ever had, it took some fiddling to get working with a Harmony remote too. The Mrs work everything fine without issue. I would say Sound quality most like the best in the group followed by the Anthen. Anthen software is quick, from what I have used and seemed very stable too. Marantz is likely to be very stable, the the runner up in SQ partially if you want Stereo reply (The main reason I would purchase a high end AVR)
 
You need to demo them to see which you prefer. Here are my thoughts for what it is worth...

Marantz AV8805 will be solid as a rock in terms of usability and there are plenty of people who love the Marantz sound (me included). However there are also lots of people who don't like Audessy room correction. It's also getting a bit old and I wouln't buy one unless you can get a really great deal i.e less than £3k

Anthem AVM70 - brand new is is getting some good feedback on here. There does appear to be a few small bugs, but core functionality seems pretty stable. Supply is quite limited so by the time you are able to get one some of the bugs should be sorted.

Arcam AV40 - just had a very good review here on AVF, but has been very buggy and unstable, but that seems to be sorted now, but there are still bugs. It's the most expensive. I wouldn't buy one blind
 
You need to demo them to see which you prefer. Here are my thoughts for what it is worth...

Marantz AV8805 will be solid as a rock in terms of usability and there are plenty of people who love the Marantz sound (me included). However there are also lots of people who don't like Audessy room correction. It's also getting a bit old and I wouln't buy one unless you can get a really great deal i.e less than £3k

Anthem AVM70 - brand new is is getting some good feedback on here. There does appear to be a few small bugs, but core functionality seems pretty stable. Supply is quite limited so by the time you are able to get one some of the bugs should be sorted.

Arcam AV40 - just had a very good review here on AVF, but has been very buggy and unstable, but that seems to be sorted now, but there are still bugs. It's the most expensive. I wouldn't buy one blind
Thanks for the quick response.

I’ve read the reviews of the Arcam and Anthem and both appear to be very good apart from the bugs. I’ve had an Anthem receiver in the past and was very impressed with the sound quality and ARC probably played a big part in that. The Marantz 8805 does appeal, at the right price, because of the stability and sound quality.

Is their anyone who can comment on the stability of the Anthem AVM70 on the latest firmware? I read their was a problem with ARC genesis.
 
@Trophy hunter should be able to comment on the AVM70. He seems to be loving his!

I'm in the process of upgrading to an AVM70 and there is likely to be a wait for stock - They are probably stuck in the Suez canal!! So you aren't likely to get one immediately.
 
Having had an Arcam AV40 for a year now I can say that even with the latest 1.46 firmware it is still unstable, glitchy and very slow. If I were buying now, even blind, I would take any of the others you mentioned over the Arcam without even thinking. Despite the money I would be losing I am seriously considering changing to an Anthem AVM70 without hearing one because I doubt I can tolerate the AV40 for another year until I can afford a Trinnov.

Things are even more damning when you consider that since Arcam had the gall to increase the price the AV40 is not only the most expensive on the list but you still have to pony up for the full Dirac bass management. In my opinion it doesn't even sound as awesome as many people who are stuck with one like to believe. Sounds good but not great at the price and that is without considering the problems. The Arcam is just a time sink.
 
I have ARC Genusis (and Dirac) with the Paradigm sub. ARC seams really quick and easy to use. The curves it produce look ready to use out of the box, even in complex rooms like mine.

In comparison the Arcam Dirac is buggy and needs a bit of tailoring before you would want to use them. Dirac once setup seems to have the edge thu. So if you want the Nth degree, then it's the way to go.

I would say that it's not that people don't like Audessy, just that it's not as capable as Dirac or ARC.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far, really helpful. At the moment I’m leaning towards the Marantz AV8805.
 
The processors I’ve been considering are Arcam AV40, Anthen AVM70, Marantz AV8805 and AV7706. I’m looking for the best sound quality and room correction available at the price but the stability issue overrides all others as I’d be in big trouble if things started not to work when I’m not at home.
i went for the av8805 recently and if had to go again, id get the same

as far as stability goes ... rock solid.. everything just works, no flakey business or things catching you by surprise or anything. it is also in that price the most flexible and capable processor in what can do and handle.

its a true dedicated processor too, not avr with amps taken out. and will be good step up from av7706.

audyssey has come a heck of a long way too.. the audyssey app is easy as pie and leads you through step by step and quite fast. letting you take out things like BBC dip (mid range compensation) choose whether to have top end roll off or not...or even to just eq the bottom end and leave top end alone.. so easy flexible and will let you dial in the kind of sound looking for .. :)
 
i went for the av8805 recently and if had to go again, id get the same

as far as stability goes ... rock solid.. everything just works, no flakey business or things catching you by surprise or anything. it is also in that price the most flexible and capable processor in what can do and handle.

its a true dedicated processor too, not avr with amps taken out. and will be good step up from av7706.

audyssey has come a heck of a long way too.. the audyssey app is easy as pie and leads you through step by step and quite fast. letting you take out things like BBC dip (mid range compensation) choose whether to have top end roll off or not...or even to just eq the bottom end and leave top end alone.. so easy flexible and will let you dial in the kind of sound looking for .. :)
Thank Alebonau. The more I hear about all the processors I mentioned the more it makes me think the AV8805 is the way to go.

It seems to me that because products, these days, are relatively easy to update via firmware then some manufacturers use the punter as quality control. That is definitely not for me any more!

One more question, how hot does the AV8805 run when in use for a few hours?
 
Thank Alebonau. The more I hear about all the processors I mentioned the more it makes me think the AV8805 is the way to go.

It seems to me that because products, these days, are relatively easy to update via firmware then some manufacturers use the punter as quality control. That is definitely not for me any more!
it definitely seems a trend. treating customer with complete disrespect i think. i also have no tolerance for buggy things... especially where paid top dollar :) thank goodness av8805 not like this. the av8802a i had for 4-5 years prior was also rock solid the entire time so good marantz continuing this trend

One more question, how hot does the AV8805 run when in use for a few hours?
mine does run in an open rack, been using all evening. heat not issue at all... not hot :)
 
I haven't gone the Pre/Pro route myself (yet 🤣🤣). I've only ever experienced Audessey in terms of room correction software, so would really like to try DIRAC/ARC. The one thing that's stopping me is the stability of the likes of Arcam, Anthem that use these room corrections.

Having gone up through the various interations of Audessey:

1. It's certainly improved from early versions and

2. It is a stable as a rock. As are Marantz & Denon (in comparison to Arcam and Anthem imo).

If I were buying a processor right now it would be the AV8805 - because I know it's both hardware & software, wise rock solid.

The reason I haven't already got one... Because:

I'm watching closely for real world end user reviews/opinions on the AVM70/Arcam 40. In the hope they iron out all the bugs etc. I'm not holding my breath though!
 
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The 8805 didn't too well on asr.

The iota will be about £1500 that isn't bad considering the number of channels but the room EQ isn't as good as the others.

Monoprice htp1 on the £4k area also. Anthem avm70 as well.
 
lightly used Lyngdorf would be my recommendation-they do come up occasionally
 
I would definitely recommend the Anthem AVM70 110% absolutely amazing sound with films and music. Love it 😀
 
Unfortunately guys, you're all wrong 😂😂 just kidding (ignore the good clean banter) 🙂🙂, anyway, all good valid points, but, if you was to ask me, the AVM 70 would sound the best, hands down, all day everyday. Yes the AVM 70 is currently a bit buggy but you can rest assured Anthem will release firmware updates to fix these bugs overtime. Yes the Marrantz is solid with a good feature set but I would like to offer you another solution and a cheaper one at that. I would suggest getting the Anthem AVM 60 for the iconic, amazing Anthem sound, for the ARC Genesis room correction, and more importantly, it will be solid as a rock!! So to me it doesn't make sense to get the Marrantz. You can pick up an AVM 60 for around £1700, way cheaper than the Marrantz and will sound better and equally as reliable, then in the future you can sell the AVM 60 and upgrade to the 70. Job done, case closed.
 
Also if you've got about 6 hours handy, you can watch this 7 part series which compares all the top processors for under $5,000. I'm pretty sure you can guess which one came out on top.


 
Also if you've got about 6 hours handy, you can watch this 7 part series which compares all the top processors for under $5,000. I'm pretty sure you can guess which one came out on top.



oh god not sure how anyone can watch this ! :D its an absolutely more pathetic comparison i have not come across :D
 
The 8805 didn't too well on asr.

Neither did the anthem avm60 or arcam av40 ! or many other things for matter... the thing is sound united jumped on his tail later in the piece with one of the AVR tests and showed him he was actually not only measuring wrongly but also the wrong thing :D to point he had to go back remeasure item in question and post an apology and revised review... good on him for doing so ! ...but of course he didn’t go back and re-test all the things he’d consigned to the bin prior ! :D As he neither has the items or ability to go back and retest and do properly again...no it’s ...test done ...fail... send it back to person sent it... too bad too sad...

In any case if his tests are so important why not mention the 8805 actually did better in his tests than the arcam av40 or anthem avm60 ? :D

in practice all these items are excellent way beyond what his tests highlight....especially when actually listen to them :D which ASR seems to be bereft off doing. It seems a site more just for folks that like to look at test results !

but the room EQ isn't as good as the others.

So then why not quote ASR again then hey :D since if checked would see ASR (Amirm) found audyssey was infact very close to other solutions like anthem arc and dirac ? Audyssey is something he says he is happy to recommend !

The important distinction is he actually checked it out with audyssey app. Which is very important I think as should be able to get things dialed in for most systems I’d suggest and remove things like bbc dip, top end toll off that is default for audyssey and some find offensive ! It also lets you do things like custom curves and what ever heart desires :)

All that said if this is his review setup ... can anyone show me where his centre speaker is :D

 

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