DAC or Upgrade To MX150 From D2V??

I recently purchased the Anthem D2v, and essentially a new system, for my family room system. This is a third system, used by my wife and daughter and so I had space and aesthetic considerations. I have the new Levinson 533 three channel amp powering three Paradigm Reference W5 on wall speakers (good WAF), a JL 110 sub, and Sonos, Directv HD DVR, and Oppo 83 as sources. In my dedicated theater room, I use the Meridian 861v4 with custom horn speakers, tube amps and same sources. The difference between the two is large in favor of the Meridian, and for the same price, or lower, I wish I had purchased a used Meridian 861 rather than the Anthem. The dealer, who also sold me the Meridian in a different store, came out and performed the ARC setup in the family room. I have used Sonos as a source in all of my systems and the Anthem is woefully short compare to the other two. The Sonos through a quality DAC is awesome and I rarely use a CD player any more (I use an EMM lab DAC in my separate 2 channel system, the built-in Meridian 861 DAC in the theater system, and the built -in Anthem DAC in the family room.) I have also tried toslink vs. Coaxial digital between the Sonos and the Anthem and there is no discernible audio difference. Perhaps I need to try a separate DAC for the Anthem, increasing the cost. BTW, IMO the value of the Anthem is it's video capability. I am very impressed and surprised that it has made my plasma picture much better, through all sources. I also like the ease of use of the Anthem. However, I am underwhelmed with its audio capability.

Hope this helps.

Reg

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I'm very interested in the Wyred4sound DAC2 based on all I read...sounds like a good fit especially since 99% of the 2 channel music listening I do is via the Sonos. Any additional thoughts/gotchas? I can't seem to find much of a user guide/manual for it. Does the remote use IR or RF? Can you engage the bypass without having to use the 12v trigger? What about other potential DAC's (unker $2K either here on Agon or new)? How about the PS Audio PWD? Does it have the sort of "bypass" functionality of the WFS?

For those ARC fans: I've tried ARC for my "music" setting, but I didn't like the results. I worked with a lot of folks from Anthem and tried countless configurations, none to my liking. I'm a firm believer in ARC for my 5.1 channel entertainment, but when it comes to music, I want to listen to sources undisturbed....warts and all! I like the coloration and somewhat high bump my N802's have in the lower octave. I'm a firm believer that sometimes a flat response is not necessarily what everyone perceives as good sound - that's what is so great about the pursuit of good sound. I may love what you hate. Some of this is very subjective.

The SPDIF has an abnormal clock rate. IT's not to AES/EBU standards. Call and ask for Piero Ferrari at Anthem. This is the reason why the Wadia i171 has issues connected via SPDIF.

@Javsystems - Isn't SPDIF a cheaper implementation of AES3 to begin with? I don't think the two are even the same.

I tried the coax instead of the optical. I can detect a slight improvement, but nothing that is comparable to my old unit. I'm buying a W4S DAC2 in the meanwhile. It's a no-brainer (also found and read the docs and reviews). Thanks Cbw723 for the recommendation.

Is the D2V is a good choice for an audiophile? I don't know if there's a better alternative at this price point that includes such great multichannel performance, video performance, upgrade path, etc. So for me, if I can find a good way to keep my D2V and use my gear for 2.0 with something like the W4S, I can't see ever getting rid of the Anthem. Did they misjudge their audience by not offering better 2.0 performance?

I just wanted to update the group as I got my Wyred4Sound DAC2 last week and have been listening to it for some time now. I have to say it blows the D2V out of the water -- through and through. Transitions are incredible, clarity, the low-end is back. I can't thank the group enough for the awesome suggestion. This unit makes my equipment sound like it should.

I was a bit surprised that it has a break-in period. The manual says that after 100 hours some of the brightness goes away and even after 200 hours it should start to level out. I basically have been "burning in" the unit as it's been on since it arrived. It initially did have that brightness and I was almost disappointed had I not read the manual. Sure enough, at about 100 hours later it's smoothed out very nicely...can't wait till 200, but in any case it blows the D2V away. My only complaint is that my remote came smashed up, but I sent them an email and my replacement is on its way. I still may end up replacing the D2V with the McIntosh MX150 some time in the future, but for now I can't be happier with my 2-channel setup and the D2V does a great job at 5.1 and also with video.