Should I buy Anthem 1120 for a 11 speaker system or Sony 5000 ES


I am redoing my 5.1 home theater to 5.14 Atmos. I also have two speakers in my bedroom that need to be powered. My local dealer sells Anthem but has recommended Sony ES Series. I will be using 5 Paradigm in wall and 4 ceiling.  I will need 11amps for home theater and bedroom. Does it make sense to pay the $3500 for the 1120 Anthem or to get Sony 5000ES for $2200 and add an amp. I was thinking of Parasound Zamp V3 for bedroom where I have two Sonance Symphony in ceiling speakers. If I go with Anthem it will be about $1000 more. Do you think the Anthem is worth the extra money. Another option would be Anthem 720 and two amps. Thanks, Bob
galleybob

Showing 16 responses by galleybob

I changed my mind about Anthem after finding out it does not support Airplay 2. That's a deal breaker for me as I need to be able to stream Apple Music and my iTunes library
Sony 5000ES? My dealer which is extremely high end and has been a long time Anthem dealer recommends Sony. The store is well known to be snobby and they now carry and recommends the new Sony ES receivers over Anthem I’m now thinking of Sony 5000 ES
I have not yet. I have an appointment tomorrow to audition everything. It will be interesting to compare the 720 to the Sony 5000. Have you done the comparison?
@audiotroy Hi Audiotroy, Have you heard the Sony ES? I will probably buy the Sony 5000ES that my dealer recommends. He and the other co-owner worked with Sony to design the 3100ES and  5000ES.
They have sold Anthem forever, they have been in business for thirty years. I heard the Anthem 720 there before I heard the Sony. I thought the Anthem was really excellent and I thought about buying. After working with one of the co-owners he convinced me that the Sony is better and then later I talked with the other co-owner and he said the same. To be honest I was surprised that they even sold Sony as my attitude about Sony was that it was not considered hi-end at all. This store only sells very high-end. I finally got to listen to the 3100 yesterday with Paradigm 75F and 45C. I thought it was amazing, two channel and Atmos. I haven't bought yet so I would like your opinion of 5000ES as that is the one I would buy. 
Also I would like your opinion on whether to buy the 55C or the 45C to go with the 75F that I have decided on. The co-owner who I have been working with told me that all I need is the 45C as that is the center speaker that matches with the 75F. Money is not an issue, I just want the best match. 
The other co-owner told me to just go with a 5.1 system and forget about Atmos. He said for the money that it would take to make a good 5.1.4 system its just not worth it as I would mostly be watching non Atmos sources. I would be using my home theater for a lot of CD and streaming music, we watch a lot of news shows and also HBO and Showtime that we stream. We also stream a lot of shows from Amazon and Netflix. I would be buying zero 4K disks. Also I am guessing that the shows that are Atmos enabled, only action type shows would really take advantage of it. We mostly watch drama and comedy. Thanks for any opinions you can offer
That's a good idea maxwave. Have you heard the Sony ES? My dealer said the room calibration is more advanced than Anthem which they sell
Whenever I post that I am planning on Sony ES I get negative comments but I think almost all the comments are from people who have not actually heard Sony ES. I have heard the Sony at my dealer's and was very impressed. I was also impressed with Anthem 720 which is more money than Sony 5000 ES and has two less amps which I need for 5.1.4. I trust my dealer when he says the Sony is better overall than Anthem. He says room correction with Sony is better than Anthem. I have known and have done business for 30 years with the dealer and I trust him. I have tried to find online comparisons to Sony ES and Anthem but I have not found any. 
@audiotroy @willland,@willland, Thanks for the comments.https://www.musicloversaudio.com. This is the business audiotroy, have you heard of them?
To have 9 speakers for Atmos I would either need 1120 or 720 and add amps for Home theater and bedroom. Both options would be very expensive. Do you really think Anthem is worth maybe $1500 over Sony 5000ES. If so then I will go back and talk to the owner and reconsider
@maxwave, Thanks for your responses.  I know the dealer is excellent. I have known and done business with them for 30 years.https://www.musicloversaudio.com
I totally trust them. 
I have read so many comments on Anthem I think I have to reconsider Anthem1120. I will talk to the owners again why they want me to buy Sony over Anthem
I talked to him yesterday and he convinced me that is has to be Sony because Anthem does not have the multi room video that I need. I compared the specs online and it verified what he said
I talked to him yesterday and he convinced me that is has to be Sony because Anthem does not have the multi room video that I need. I compared the specs online and it verified what he said
I know Anthem is good. For my system I would need to spend $3500 to get the nine amps for home theater. I also need video in another room, want to watch video while listening to music in main room, need to be able to stream music from home theater to speakers in living room. My dealer says not possible with Anthem. I think he would know as he has sold Anthem forever. 
I have finally decided on what I want to do. I really appreciate all the responses that have really helped me to determine what I need and want. 
I decided to tell dealer that it has to be Anthem 1120, I refuse to accept the dealer's advice on the Sony receiver.
I decided to go all out on Atmos and will have my four ceiling speakers all moved to the proper Atmos position. He wanted me to try Atmos without moving my speakers. Everything I have read, and I have seen all the diagrams, shows that Atmos will not really work without the speakers moved to the proper position. 
My front 3 will be Paradigm 85F and the Paradigm 45C.
The rear surround will be Paradigm Surround 3 wall mounted and connected wirelessly.
The only thing that I haven't figured out is if I want to go to a better music source than streaming Apple Music through Airplay 2 which is what I do now. I converted all of my CD's to AIFF and I stream them. I am trying to decide if I would be better off streaming with Bluesound rather than through my iPhone and Airplay2. I may want to stream Tidal or Qobuz.
Thanks everyone for all of the input. I would have just accepted my dealers advice on the Sony otherwise

@audiotroy i started this discussion in 2019. I wound up buying the 1120 for my main system and I use the Denon AVR that I replaced with the Anthem for my bedroom. I did another upgrade in 2021 where I replaced my Atmos and surround speakers with 6 Paradigm speakers. I also added a Moon Sim amp for my front two Paradigm 85F speakers. I also replaced my Bluesound Node2i with a Limin T2. 
I also added a Torus TOT power conditioner, plus I added a second Paradigm 1000SW

I am OP. I just stumbled on to this 2 year old thread. I just want to give an update on what I did two years ago.
After weeks of going into my local store and listening to Sony and Anthem and getting estimates I decided on the Anthem 1120 for 5.1.4 system. The co-owner was very insulting to me about not trusting their knowledge about the Sony. He told me that I know nothing and that I need to listen to them. I walked out and found another company that sold Anthem and Paradigm. I wound up buying the 1120 with Paradigm 85F's and the 55C. I wound up selling my sub and replacing with the Paradigm X-15 Defiance. I am in the process now of upgrading that system. I am replacing my 4 Sonance ceiling speakers with Paradigm, replacing my Paradigm Surround speakers and also adding a Sim 330A amp for my front two speakers and I am replacing my Node 2i with a better streamer
It worked out really well for me. I am very happy with my 1120. I was considering upgrading to AVM 70and two Anthem 525amps but my dealer convinced me that the 1120 did not need to be upgraded and that I would be better off with new Surround and Atmos speakers