Anthem vs Arcam

Hi Chris,

I have done the exact journey you are about to start and am now on the other side 😀.

My progression was Marantz to Arcam to Anthem and then back to Arcam.

What got me back to Arcam was its richer, more lush, and midrange denser sound. More bloom and presence for voice and instruments. More airy dense sound field when in surround.

The Anthem was also good in details and surround but I found it have a cooler and less rich sound. Not bad by any means and I don't mean this as a negative. If one prefers a clean impactful sound then this would be the preferred avr.

For my tastes the richer sound field of the Arcam won out.

btw... the "review" you added (link) is useless.

The dude is using a used unit and never listened to it. Maybe he had a defective unit or had a faulty connection for his measurements, dunno.

Dude didn’t read correctly what Athem literature says and then gripes about it at the end of his measurements post (there is no review 🤨).

Looks like you've already gotten plenty of good advice, but I'll chip my 2¢ in nonetheless.  I've had both brands albeit in two different systems.  I had an Arcam SA20 integrated amp driving a pair of Vandersteen 1Ci speakers.  I bought the SA20 because it has the G class amp, which is reputed for being nice and warm sounding.  That is not what I heard at home at all.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  The upper midrange was very edgy and shouty; i.e., super fatiguing.  So I sold it.  Obviously, this is anectodal, so take it with plenty of salt.  For the record, I didn't replace it with anything.  Instead I re-did that whole system altogether.  In my main system, I was using a Marantz AV7705.  I liked it just fine, but upgraditis is a real disease.  I upgraded to an Anthem AVM70.  I like it a lot for surround.  ARC is the real deal.  I was never really impressed with Atmos until I swapped the Marantz for the Anthem.  However, I agree with the other comment elsewhere in this thread saying that the person's Marantz is more musical than the Anthem.  Couldn't agree more.  It comes down to personal taste, but the Anthem sounds quite a bit more analytical than the Marantz in my system.  I liked how warm and forgiving the Marantz was.  But this is really a non-issue when using either processor's EQ.  My only complaint with the Anthem is with CEC control via HDMI.  I don't experience any handshake issues or switching issues.  It's just that none of my HDMI devices can cycle the Anthem's power on and off or vice versa.  Small niggle - I just have to sort through the stack of remotes next to me when powering up and powering down.  Best of luck to you and happy listening!

Thank you for all the help and recommendations everyone. I ended up finding a really good deal on a Anthem MRX540. It arrives tomorrow. :)

Good luck Chris,

I think you will happy with the Anthem, plenty of power and you can still hook up external amps with the preouts, and also 2 subs if needed.

I also have a separate tube amp hooked up to zone 2 for my headphones, you just have to mute the speakers in the main system if you do this type of hook up so you don't have the speakers playing in the main system while trying to listen to the headphones in zone 2.