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Sound and Vision takes a shine to Anthem's Room Correction
The lucky folks at Sound and Vision Magazine put Anthem's ARC-1 Room Correction System to test and liked it pretty well. It was evaluated in combination with the top o' the line Statement D2 processor, so the bar set by the associated gear was pretty high. Setup of the $399 add-on -- gratis if you've got a D2 -- sounds pretty straightforward: connect a PC running the ARC-1 software to the Anthem processor via RS-232 and use the included mic to gather some tone sweeps. From there, bumps and wrinkles in your in-room frequency response curve are smoothed out and multichannel levels, crossovers and delays are all set up. The correction (and the rest of the D2's performance) got a solid endorsement from the audiophiles at S&V: they liked it enough to leave it engaged at all times for both music and movie performances.[Thanks, Rob]
Amplifier Technologies show new AV processor lineup
Amplifier Technologies, Inc., often referred to as ATI, gained itself quite a reputation for its differential drive audio amplifiers back in the day. No-frills industrial design, good circuit topology and fair pricing really helped it secure a spot in many internet savvy audiophile systems. The company has updated its AV processors for 7.1-channel operation with its ATP6700, ATP7700 and ATP8700. Each model includes a LCD panel up front and, naturally, 7.1 channel inputs around back. One feature hasn't been updated, though -- like so many smaller manufacturers, HDMI connectivity is missing (read: no Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD MA). We're willing to give up the convenience of HDMI, but it's a sad day when companies that have made their name by delivering high performance audio aren't able to support the highest resolution format available. But if audio performance of the older formats is your uber alles, consider the ATP6700 ($2995), ATP7700 ($3995) or ATP8700 ($5995). [Via CEPro]
Anthem brings room correction add-on to its Statement lineup
Well-heeled audiophiles who have already bought into Anthem's Statement A/V processor lineup have one less reason to stray from the brand now. The component-producing division of Paradigm Electronics (best known for loudspeakers) has introduced its ARC-1 Room Correction System. The listening room is often the single weakest link in your audio system, and used in conjunction with an Anthem Statement processor, the ARC-1 will help tame room effects automagically. Sounds like a feature built into just about every AVR these days, but as you'd guess from Anthem's high-end pedigree, here it's implemented with separates and priced accordingly. A cool $399 (estimated) will get you the ARC-1and a calibrated mic to go along with it.
Hands-on with Denon's super-separates
If the idea of a receiver is just too lowbrow for you, check out Denon's processor/amplifier separates, the AVP/POA-A1HDCI ('AVP' for the processor, 'POA' for the amp). Six HDMI 1.3 inputs, two parallel HDMI outputs and Silicon Optix Realta video processing are some processor highlights; the amp packs in 10 channels at 150-watts. While you're at it, why settle for a Blu-ray player when you can get a dedicated transport? That back panel picture of the DVD-2500BTCI is no prototype unit -- all you get is a power cord, HDMI output, and RS-232. Spin those bits off the Blu-ray disc and send them on to the AVP-A1HDCI for decoding. Pricing is securely in the "if you have to ask..." category: $7k for the AVP-A1HDCI, $7k for the POA-A1HDCI and $1200 for the DVD-2500BTCI.%Gallery-13251%
Hands-on with Marantz's new AV8003 and MM8003 processor / amp pair
If the idea of a receiver is just too lowbrow for you, Marantz is introducing their new AV8003 and MM8003 processor / amplifier pair. It's a nice couple: HDMI 1.3a (four in, two out), Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, DeepColor and Audyssey to get things dialed in; the amp kicks out eight channels at 150-Watts. Both available Q2 2008, prices to be determined.%Gallery-13234%
