Unboxing the Anthem MRX300

polkfarmboy

Here is some pics as folks often like to look at unboxing pics for their own reference purposes

polkfarmboy

And more

polkfarmboy

And the two remotes... why there is 2 I do not yet know, presumably for a second zone

polkfarmboy

Receiver pics

polkfarmboy

Tiz lovely tiz

polkfarmboy

A booty shot

polkfarmboy

Next pic up is really cool as I wondered how they were going to fit the huge mic stand base plate and found this instead... very cool and cant wait to try it with the AVM40 ARC as well as the MRX

polkfarmboy

Here we have the mic and for some strange reason the mic felt diff even though it appears to be identical. I just went in the other room and grabbed my other AVM40 mic and they look the same? The mic from the AVM40 however feels alot heavier.

polkfarmboy

There is a nice long HQ usb cable and appears identical to the AVM40 cord

polkfarmboy

Boring old vga type of cord called a DB9 that goes from laptop to MRX back panel. My laptop is new and does not have such a connection and its really silly in this day and ago of high speed usb. There is a certain type of high speed usb adapter that you must bridge the db9 cable with or you risk a big time firm ware screw up that takes alot of time and shipping to sort out

polkfarmboy

I will grab some of the AVM40 ARC equipment and put some other pics here in one moment

polkfarmboy

Ok so here is the db9 to usb adapter that Anthem only wants you to use. I bought this from Amazon and its called the Tripp-lite from Keyspan and costs $25. Its is attached to the db9 cord that comes with the AVM40 ..diff color same quality

polkfarmboy

On the mic side the MRX mic stand has alot of flexibility but does not have the huge heavy metal disk like the AVM40. It should not make a diff to the ARC cal I would think

polkfarmboy

I really do like the full range the MRX mic gives you with the extension on top of the stand. This will be great for getting right up close to the seating and extending to exactly to where your ears would be. I think for the shootout with the MRX, AVM40 and Pioneer elite I will use this mic for placement of all the micraphones. Its not made of fancy chrome and steel like the AVM40 mic but it will give you more better results I think

polkfarmboy

Here is the standard pwr cord thats nice and on the chunky side but the best thing is that you can upgrade it later to a better one

polkfarmboy

Pics here of the MRX giving the AVM40 a mini vacation. I will leave the 40 out for now and just have some fun taking notes of what I think and try my best to evaluate the sound with movies like Underworld Awakening and many other action movies on bluray that have dynamic sound. It should be a fun weekend putting everything through the paces

Marty913

Thanks for the pictures & looking forward to your thoughts on the setup and sound. You must be excited since you're up at 2:30AM snapping pictures and posting.

EndersShadow

Marty913 wrote: »

Thanks for the pictures & looking forward to your thoughts on the setup and sound. You must be excited since you're up at 2:30AM snapping pictures and posting.

He's in Cali so the post time is a bit off since its on Eastern I believe but it was after 11 lol.....

braaaaay

Polkfarmboy,

how was the sound of your mrx300?

Thanks

whitecamaross

very nice.. i was going to buy this unit, but i felt it didnt have enough power for my room..

tonyb

whitecamaross wrote: »

very nice.. i was going to buy this unit, but i felt it didnt have enough power for my room..

You could add an amp to it. Their strong points are their processing and build quality resulting in some very nice sound over much of the competition.

braaaaay

alexclare08,
what speakers are you planning to run with this mrx300?

Brasiliaflyer

I bought the MRX300 that polkfarmboy unboxed in the photos above, I am currently running KEF Q700 mains and a Q600 center. As posted above, the Anthem really shines in the audio processing department with the ARC system. I really like the aesthetics of the unit, and the fact that I am paying for features I actually use (read: very few features) rather than a bunch of gimmicky features that I am paying for.
For me, the amp is not underpowered. I may not know what I am missing, but to my unrefined ears, the sound is great.

swegyptian

I just set up my MRX-300, and I really like it. Once you get used to navigating the GUI, its nice and easy. The remote is nice and simple as well. Sound is great, but I must admit that I want more bass than it thinks I should have. The graphs from the ARC are really nice to have. It let me do some neat comparisons between some of my subwoofers and their placement. I might add my Denon POA-8300 to the front two or three channels to see if it makes a noticeable difference.