IndyKlipschFan Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Anyone have the Anthem D2 pre amp? Or comments on ARC too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Nice Reviews on the Preamp though.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Got one, love it. Havn't gotten the ARC yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkp Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 A friend of mine owns the D2 and just upgraded it with the ARC. Said it made a HUGE impact on the sound, specifically the separation/imaging on the front end. I heard it briefly a few weeks back at our audio shop in town both with and without the ARC (it is switchable). The ARC had a tremendous impact on the sound in that room. I was impressed and heard much the same as my friend. The soundstage (in the entire room, but most noticeably up front) seemed to just open up and widen greatly. Incredible difference, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 CECAA850 Care to elaborate more.. What u had b4, what you use now... what is the difference etc., etc? What all do you use it with in your system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 CECAA850 Care to elaborate more.. What u had b4, what you use now... what is the difference etc., etc? What all do you use it with in your system? I went from a top of the line (at that time) Harman Kardon AVR-7200 to the Anthem. Some differences? They are really 2 different animals. The HK was warm sounding, the Anthem is extremely accurate (in a good way). On the HK, you can set individual speaker levels and distances. On the D2 you can do that as well as setting individual crossovers for each channel. Each setting can be tweeked to .5 dB as opposed to the HK's 1 dB. As far as the video side goes, there's really no comparison. The D2 will take a 480i source and make it so close to 1080 quality it's scary. The D2 will convert virtually any audio/video source to HDMI. It's software is fully upgradable with firmware, the HK's was not. As far as what I use it with in my system? I'm not quite sure I understand the question. It's basically my HT hub. I have 1 HDMI cable running from the D2 to my display. EVERYTHING else goes to the D2, which includes a cable box, PS2, Blueray player, HDDVD player, CD changer and DVD player. I even use one of it's 12v triggers to turn on my Furman power conditioner. There's a lot more that it can do like cropping, stretching etc that I don't use. I hope that answered your question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted June 13, 2008 Author Share Posted June 13, 2008 Just noticed your also using the pro amps... I have this psychological thing about my sunfire amps... I love them with Klipsch.. I love McIntosh, but it has a sound footprint you either love or do not? I am undecided to where to go from here. The D2 might be the last Pre Amp that I or really anyone else would ever need to buy? IF the upgrades are availiable, and if they do something crazy format wise in the future, and the company is still here? I realise to get to that last 3%, your gonna drop some major change to get this performance too? If the Sunfire had HDMI...Maybe I might not change at all. I heard the Sunfire Theater Grand V was not as good... many HDMI issues.. but this new one..401 series??? Is a home run? Hard to know IMO what to do sometimes. As much as we all hate it, HDMI is here to stay for now.. To get that last umph out of things your going to have to pay for it yes... but is it worth it too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Yes, I use pro amps, but that's just me. You can use whatever type amp you want naturally. Anthem is on the cutting edge as far as HDMI compatibility goes. Their firmware releases are mostly for correcting HDMI shortcomings that other manufacturers have with their products. The only thing that will not be upgradable with the D2 is HDMI 1.1 (to 1.3). That will require new hardware that would necessitate creating a new model. D3 perhaps? There's currently no plans to create such a beast however. There's a great thread over at the AVS forum titled "Why you don't need HDMI 1.3. It's a very good read. Anthem has been perfecting HDMI 1.1 and it'll do everything I need it to. As long as the decoding is done in your player, you're good to go. It also will not accept 7.1, just 5.1 but the job it does in converting 5.1 to 7.1 is incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkp Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Indy-Here's a link to a review of the Integra DTC 9.8 where the reviewer owns the Anthem D2. Interesting... http://hometheatermag.com/preampprocessors/508integra/ Note: The D2 owned by the reviewer does not have the ARC upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted June 14, 2008 Author Share Posted June 14, 2008 I think Damon bought the Integra... 9.8. Replaced a Aragon Stage one with it.. I would be curious what he thinks too? hmmmm 1,600 vs probably 6 thousand.... Wonder if you can hear 4,400 dollars difference? If you can.... Well how much visually and Audibly can you? I think just about any of us could do a lot with an extra 4,400. I love the legacy aspect of bringing your old gear up to 1080p. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.