Picking up an Anthem MRX 300 today after work

polkfarmboy

Well got a discount on this and will be picking it up today. I really want to do a shootout between my anthem avm40 and the MRX300 using bluray's and digital format music . I cant decide if I should sell it new in the box but I am really curious to see how the amps inside the mrx300 sound compaired to the emotiva amp I have paired with the avm40 at the moment.

Lietuvis91

What speakers would you be using for this test? Would be an interesting test but I agree that BNIB will get you a better price. Are you buying only for resale or intend to use it?

My VSX 52 is still BNIB and I can't decide if I should open to play with it of sell it and get a real pre. Decisions... decisions...

polkfarmboy

Told the wife it was FS but I really want to hear it in my room. I have all Martin Logans Stage center, Vista main L/R and Source se for rears connected with MIT exp2 speaker cables and exp1 ic's. The Anthem avm40 runs to an Emo upa 5 and I will have a squeezebox touch for the digital end. The PS3 will be doing bluray decoding 1.1

I found this article really interesting about the MRX's and about them being used as a pre

http://www.stereophile.com/content/music-round-52

Lietuvis91

You have solid gear already, and to be honest, I just realized that you already have a dedicated pre (avm40) so going from that to having a receiver as a pre would almost seem like a step back.

Also:
"300 lacks a USB input for flash drive or hard disk, and Internet radio via Ethernet."

This would be a dealbreaker for me. I am looking to use both of those functions. But you did say you have a separate dac, so that's probably not an issue for you.

While the 300 is probably pretty nice, I'm just not sure what you are going to gain. Your gear is already pretty stout, if not better than that 300 receiver. In your case maybe try to upgrade the amp first?

And I only say that because I think my next step will be to get a dedicated pre to replace the marantz 7002 avr (thinking marantz av7005). Many say going to a dedicated pre is a well worthwhile improvement, and you already have a pretty darn good one.

polkfarmboy

I have been in my local shop listening and eyeballing this unit for a while. I Always wanted to find out how close it would sound to my pre so when I got a deal I though may as well jump on it. One thing though is how would arc get installed on my laptop twice as both programs slightly differ. I may run into some probs with that. My main curiousety is if the amps in the mrx's sound similar to their dedicated amps

Lietuvis91

No idea about the arc, but let us know how it turns out. I'm raticularly curious how the receiver sounds vs separates.

Marty913

I too would very very interested in the results. I'm using a NAD T-747 receiver as a processor currently and while relatively happy with it, I'm thinking ARC may be a step up while maintaining the overall NAD sound characteristics. . I was really impressed with the 300 at a local dealer but wasn't allowed to play around with different speakers or setup. I'd also be interested in how good a deal might be available (if you feel comfortable sharing). My one-and-only local dealer is pretty much an MSRP and up type.

polkfarmboy

Just brought this home and for the curious regarding price it depends on how many an authorized dealer will order. The base price of an MRX 300 is $$$$ for a smaller order lol