Anthem Unveils its Latest Audio/Video Master

Anthem, the Canadian high-end AV power providing and processor heavyweight, has announced the availability of the Audio/Video Master 50v (AVM 50v), a state-of-the-art music pre-amplifier/home cinema processor. Following in the footsteps of its big brother, the multi-award winning Statement D2v benchmark design, the AVM 50v aims to offer the same state-of-the-art technologies though for significantly less outlay. With the £5999 AVM 50v, the Ontario-headquartered Anthem team has delivered a fully featured 7.1-channel audio and video processor with eight HDMI inputs, broadcast-quality digital video processing, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, XLRs, highest quality 1080p upscaling, Anthem Room Correction, and two stereo zones.

Anthem engineers are among the most meticulous in the industry, and the company’s commitment to quality is confirmed by every aspect of the AVM 50v. It features the latest Sigma Designs VXP® broadcast-quality digital video processing to ensure deep colour while offering improved noise reduction through block artifact and mosquito noise reduction. Two new dual-core audio Digital Signal Processing (DSP) engines, designed in-house by Anthem, offer a total of 800 million instructions per second (MIPS) of processing power to allow decoding of the new Dolby, DTS and other HD audio standards.

In seeking to accommodate the most advanced input formats available, Anthem has upgraded its pulse-code modulation (PCM) input to support 7.1 channels at 24bits or 192kHz. Additional HDMI inputs have been added, bringing that total to eight, along with two parallel HDMI outputs, enabling the AVM 50v to be the true high performance hub of any A/V set-up.

In the AVM 50v, all eight HDMI inputs are connected through high-performance TMDS (Transition Minimized Differential Signaling) timing regenerators and multiplexers. The receiver contains a programmable equalizer and a Clock Data Recovery (CDR) function for each of the three TMDS pairs in an HDMI or DVI signal. The TMDS data outputs are regenerated and perfectly aligned to the regenerated TMDS clock signal, creating an extremely clean low-jitter DVI/HDMI signal that is easily decoded by the HDMI receiver. This is particularly useful for cleaning up a noisy/jittery source, or when a long cable is being used.

Anthem’s heralded Room Correction System (ARC-1) comes standard with the AVM 50v. While equalizing frequency response in a room to achieve some generic (i.e. “flat”) response is a common approach to solving problems with room acoustics, it will result in an unnatural spectral balance, since it does not take into account the
human hearing system. ARC-1 is a true audiophile solution: it differs from other systems in that it uses proprietary processing to compute each speaker’s in-room frequency response, and then computes a target frequency response for each to yield the optimal sound.

BROADCAST-QUALITY DIGITAL VIDEO PROCESSING

• Video Format Conversion—the latest-generation Sigma Designs VXP broadcast-quality digital image processor (supporting deep colour and better-than-ever video algorithms!) converts any SD or HD video standard to other video standard
• Quadruple video output configuration makes it easy to switch from one configuration to another.
• Superior image quality using per-pixel processing and motion-adaptive de-interlacing to ensure optimal image sharpness and picture resolution.
• Dynamic directional interpolation eliminates jaggy artifacts found in traditional de-interlacing algorithms
• Full film-mode detection for all SD and HD inputs
• Video transcoding allows S-Video and Component Video inputs to be digitally processed and enhanced, and then routed through the Component or HDMI outputs

WHAT’S UNDER THE AVM HOOD

• Component parts are carefully chosen for their ability to maintain the lowest possible total harmonic distortion and noise (THD + N)
• Handcrafted circuit board layouts (not done by auto-routers) with extensive use of groundplanes achieve exceptionally low noise, low crosstalk, and protect against electrostatic discharge
• 4-layer hand-designed motherboard includes separate power and groundplanes
• 6- and 8-layer DSP, A/D and D/A boards. A/D and D/A converter boards use separate analogue and digital planes, as well as separate power and groundplanes for remarkably low noise. All critical signal paths are surrounded by groundplanes
• Super-efficient switching power supply:o Low-noise, low-emissions design o Multiple-synchronized dithered-frequency isolation stages ensure exceptionally quiet audio and video operation and excellent electromagnetic compatibility o Fourteen independently regulated output stages ensure optimal operating environment
• Anthem’s proprietary dual-core digital signal processing (DSP) engines offer a total of 800 MIPS to allow decoding of the new HD audio standards: Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD High-Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio. More than enough processing power to handle even the most complex program material with matchless precision
• Superior Analogue-to-Digital/Digital-to-Analogue conversion:o A/D capable of up to 24-bit x 96-kHz resolution o D/A operates at full 24-bit x 192-kHz resolution
• Audio-grade film capacitors and operational amplifiers
• Superior-quality analogue attenuator (volume control)
• Fully buffered audio and video inputs for minimum crosstalk
• Highest-quality video-switching circuitry on completely independent and isolated circuit boards
• High-precision thru-hole passive components
• Heavy-gauge non-resonant chassis
• Headphone amplifier features a high-current/voltage design with a dedicated fully discrete output

AND FOR THE AUDIO PURIST

• Analogue-Direct available on all inputs
• Tone Bypass disables Bass/Treble adjustment
• Balanced 2-channel XLR digital input for best digital signal
• True-Balanced 2-channel analogue input for best analogue signal
• True-Balanced analogue outputs provide best noise rejection and purest signal transmission

In the UK Anthem products are handled by Anthem AV Solutions, the authorised distributor.
info@anthemavs.co.uk and www.anthemavs.co.uk