Anthem Statement D2
This thing is friggin' amazing.
I recently upgraded my pre-pro to an Anthem Statement D2. I haven't had much opportunity to do any video comparisons, partially because I can't stop listening to music. I really liked my AVM-20, but the D2 sounds so good I can't help but blog about it. I can finally pick out the second violins from the first, spatially. It's not live music, yet it still has emotional and visceral impact.
If you feel like talkin' tech, here's the full setup: The signal starts at an old floor-demo Lexicon RT-10 disc player (fabulous on its own, for audio), travels over an AES/EBU connection to the D2, then passes through XLR-terminated coax to the Anthem AVM-50 amp which passively bi-amps a pair of Paradigm Signature S2 loudspeakers. The low frequencies are sent to a Velodyne DD-10 subwoofer.
Labels: audio
posted by Paul Komarek at
12:51
5 Comments:
Paul,
I have an AVM-20 and wondered what it was that made you so pleased with the D2 over the AVM-20 for listening to music?
Note that I did find that my AVM-20 benefitted from a power conditioner (which disappointed me but seems common enough for digital devices these days - given the number of noisy switched mode power supplies in a typical home) Currently, I feed Toslink from megachangers to the AVM-20 and analog XLR after that. I fully expect to get 1 nsec of jitter or more from this feed (bordering on audible with headphones) but my expectation is that the AVM-20 should clean this up well under 1 nsec - if not to around 250 psec - given its cost/quality (and that this ought to be pretty much inaudible).
Thanks for you comments and I appreciate your blog/experimentation on jitter and your observations on its audibility.
J, the first thing I noticed about the D2 was the spatial clarity. I think the timing between left and right channels is tighter, but I don't really know. One way or another, I find I'm less distracted (or distractable) with the D2, as if it has removed another reproduction artifact (or several). I've noticed other things, like better clarity/separation between frequencies (e.g. violins seem further from the violas than they were before). I'm looking forward to the Anthem whole-room equalization package that was just released. Once I'm home long enough, I'll probably pick it up.
All of this said, the AVM-20 was fabulous. It has been a long time since I listened to it (it has a new owner now), but I never had any regrets with it. The Lexicon RT-10 *might* be an important part of working together with the D2, but I never tried to test D2-with-Rotel_CD versus AVM_20-with-Lexicon_CD.
One final note, I have been told that TOSLINK is finicky and loses accuracy due to low-grade light-transmission (in most cables) and poor alignment of the light-transmitting fiber with the connector-pinhole. That's why I'm using copper (in fact, XLR again) for digital. However, TOSLINK avoids any issues related to mismatched ground voltages. If you have a copper spdif (or video -- which has the same termination impedance) cable around, you might want to check that the TOSLINK sounds as good or better than it.
I really should update the jitter experiments, now that I have proper termination for the spdif cables. Maybe I'll spend more time analyzing the results, too, and see if I can actually decode the signals next time. That will help eliminate any useless nitpicking. Hmm, I think I need a stereo intern to help me with this stuff...
Paul,
Thanks for you views - insights. I made extensive A/B comparisons between megachanger analog out and TOSLINK. It was easy to do with the AVM-20 remote without moving from the listening chair - just match SPL's precisely and then all you do is wait two secs for the relays to switch.
I could not hear a difference - however, when cranked without music playing the TOSLINK had a slightly lower noise floor (probably ground loop hum/hiss from lousy RCA type jacks on the megachangers). Anyway, these experiments convinced me to go TOSLINK despite the reservations you mentioned (which I was aware of and exacerbated jitter being a principle worry - although my understanding is that a good device with a well designed PLL with upsampling should be able to actually reduce jitter from a cheap megachanger)
As for spatial clarity - I did find that both an APC power conditioner and a Monster power conditioner bar placed in front of the AVM-20 power did improve clarity slightly. It also increased the sibilance or "edge" on vocal articulation - to me a slighty improved level of clarity - which I put down to reduced jitter but I am not sure. All I know is that everything else I own (including the cheap megachangers) remained identical in response (to my ears) independent of whether they had a power conditioner or not. Although it is much harder to A/B a power conditioner (due to the gap in time unplugging stuff), I am fairly confident of this observation.
What you are saying about the D2 sounds similar in a way to what I observed by adding a power conditioner to the AVM-20. It suggests that the D2 has a much better power supply design.
Of course, I could simply be "jumping to conclusions" - what do you think?
J.
Just in case I wasn't clear, when I said "copper", I meant coaxial s/pdif (same protocol as TOSLINK, but using copper instead of light).
I suspect the power supply is an important part of the D2, and have heard good things about power conditioning from some stereo folks (with a few different conditioners). Adding an inductive or capacitive local power source near your pre/pro and power amps should be helpful, just like de-spiking caps next to integrated circuits on a pcb. And timing stability often depends on power stability.
Everything you say makes sense to me. I can't possibly describe the D2's sound accurately in a blog, of course. If you have a local stereo shop that carries one, see if you can demo it for an evening!
Paul,
Thanks. Your comments are measured and intelligent. It is a pleasure to find someone who knows what they are talking about and does not speak with typical audiophile hyperbole and mystique.
I will take youadvice and try to find one locally.
J.
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