Me:

* Anthem MRX 310
* Roku Stick of some vintage

For both I'd call it the triumph of modern DSP and at a low (to trivially low) price.

The Anthem receiver (whose power amp I use only for rear surrounds) is a terrific surprise. In particular, how good is the Anthem ARC correction algorithm and how well it integrates a conventional sealed subwoofer with large dipole speakers (Magnepan 3.6R).

Anthem ARC, after modest adjustment from defaults (limiting upper frequency of correction most importantly) seemed to nearly fully eliminate the weakness of the Maggies and kept all of its strengths. The system now sounds truly amazing and immersive, and the Maggie mid bass opacity and excess resonance at 42 Hz is gone with the well-done subwoofer crossover.

The quality of the DSP/correction makes a giant difference, and I think Anthem (and by all accounts Dirac & RoomPerfect) are loads better than the typical Sony/Denon/Yamaha/Marantz systems.

What are the bonus features and very pleasant surprises:
* Dolby Volume. Real, physically calibrated to absolute SPL modernized Fletcher-Munson loudness correction, with no perceptual tonal shift other than "better!".
* Surround synthesis from stereo sources using Anthem's proprietary algorithms. These "AnthemLogic" modes are more tasteful and subtle than the other ones (Dolby or Neo:6), and still keep most of the sound quality from the front mains. I keep on 'AnthemLogic-Music' as my default mode, and it's always better than straight 2-channel stereo. Along with the ARC it's a clear improvement in quality & immersivity.

The internal power amp in the Anthem 710 demo I tested wasn't as good as an external amp, so I ended up buying the 310 (less power but same DSP) and use an external class D amp (NAD M22) for the front mains. (No center).

The other bonus is how good the cheap Roku stick is---this is the power of high volume consumer electronics. In a $50 equipment you get full on video processing after streaming on many channels, a remote, and now Netflix uses DolbyDigital Plus (the Plus is critically important and much improved over the non-plussed) which is automatically recognized by the Roku and passed straight to the Anthem. Sounds great to me for TV & film.

On the market An Anthem receiver with ARC runs used for $500-$600 and a Roku new for $50.

 RE: New Equipment II: pleasant surprises - immatthewj 10:54:20 12/01/20 (1)
 RE: New Equipment II: pleasant surprises - immatthewj 11:48:25 12/01/20 (0)
 Acoustic Treatment - AudioDwebe 21:50:46 11/30/20 (3)

...

Show full thread outline!

 RE: New Equipment II: pleasant surprises - immatthewj 10:54:20 12/01/20 (1)
 RE: New Equipment II: pleasant surprises - immatthewj 11:48:25 12/01/20 (0)
 Acoustic Treatment - AudioDwebe 21:50:46 11/30/20 (3)
 RE: Acoustic Treatment - pictureguy 22:40:34 11/30/20 (2)
 RE: Acoustic Treatment - AudioDwebe 06:13:01 12/01/20 (1)
 RE: Acoustic Treatment - pictureguy 10:43:11 12/01/20 (0)
 RE: New Equipment II: pleasant surprises - Cut-Throat 13:59:44 11/30/20 (0)
 A few bargain pleasant surprises - AbeCollins 06:54:30 11/29/20 (2)
 No pics but... - ghost of olddude55 08:38:25 11/29/20 (1)
 RE: No pics but... - AbeCollins 09:25:14 11/29/20 (0)
 RE: Expectations exceeded - tketcham 06:45:42 11/29/20 (0)
 RE: Push-pull forever - B. Scarpia 18:37:19 11/28/20 (0)
 Dual 1209 - ghost of olddude55 04:29:33 11/28/20 (8)
 AR TT (Shure cart) opened my ears. Had a Thorens and a Dual, too, but stuck longest with the AR. nt - tinear 07:31:07 11/29/20 (1)
 RE: AR TT (Shure cart) opened my ears. Had a Thorens and a Dual, too, but stuck longest with the AR. nt - ghost of olddude55 08:37:02 11/29/20 (0)
 My first two real turntables were Duals - Road Warrior 10:33:31 11/28/20 (2)
 Thorens turntables - dbphd 11:34:05 11/28/20 (0)
 Still have a 1219 and a 1229Q - ghost of olddude55 11:21:49 11/28/20 (0)
 RE: Duals - M3 lover 10:22:18 11/28/20 (0)
 Something's Very wrong then.. - bare 08:17:19 11/28/20 (1)
 No Thorens to compare it with... - ghost of olddude55 08:40:22 11/28/20 (0)
 RE: New Equipment II: pleasant surprises - marc g. 23:25:30 11/27/20 (0)
 My first set of "good" speakers were some Sansuis, circa 1975 - Road Warrior 18:36:19 11/27/20 (1)
 I always wanted those! nt - tinear 07:42:52 11/29/20 (0)
 pleasant surprise - Goober58 17:56:42 11/27/20 (3)
 +1 RPI - AbeCollins 11:55:31 11/29/20 (0)
 +1 RPI - LtMandella 09:50:21 11/28/20 (0)
 +1000.................. nt - Cut-Throat 18:02:11 11/27/20 (0)

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"E Burres Stigano?"

One component was a Goldring 1012GX cartridge, which showed up as a substitute (same price) for the 1006 I'd ordered. I still had my Music Hall mmf-2.1 and had added a Herbie's Way-Excellent mat and that made a noticeable difference but when I upgraded the stock Goldring Elan cartridge with the 1012GX I was amazed at how good that humble turntable sounded.

Another component that really impressed me was the Bluesound Node 2i network streamer/player. For $500 I wasn't expecting to hear the quality of sound that the little player offers, especially with an external DAC. It motivated me to start purchasing hi-res albums, which can sound as good or better than comparable CD or LP releases.

And I have to include a shout out to the Schiit Audio Loki Mini Tone Control. For $150 it transformed the way I set up my speakers and subwoofers, allowing me far more latitude in experimenting with placement and roll-off frequencies. My dream wish list would include a Legacy Audio Wavelet Processor but the Loki is a cheap alternative. :-)

Tom

Bargains that surprised me:

* Raspberry Pi DIY builds for network streaming
* PS Audio NuWave DSD DAC
* Topping D90 DAC
* Bob's Devices CineMag 3440A* Step Up Transformers (SUT)

- Raspberry Pi: A Raspberry Pi based DIY streamer with all the parts can be assembled for under $100. You're basically just stuffing a small PCB into a case, flashing a SD memory card with your favorite OS/player, and plugging in a decent power supply - your choice $10 to $1000. Bryston's own BDP-Pi is $1500 and is built around the $30 Raspberry Pi board.

- PS Audio NuWave DSD DAC: The [discontinued] PS Audio NuWave DSD DAC was around $1200 MSRP but dealers and PS Audio often have a generous trade-in or trade-up program going. I paid about 60% of MSRP by trading in my previous generation PS Audio DAC. I put this DAC side-by-side [literally] with my $4000 Ayre QB-9 DSD DAC. I sold the Ayre and kept the PS Audio. Both are outstanding but I ever so slightly preferred the PS Audio in my setup. I still own it.

- Topping D90 DAC: I was skeptical of all the internet buzz around the $700 Topping D90 DAC especially some of the stellar specs and measurements posted to a popular website that is all about measurements with no regard for how an item sounds. I've owned gear in the past that spec great on paper and look pretty on the spectrum analyzer screen but fall apart miserably in how they actually sound. This was not the case with the Topping D90 DAC. It specs well but more importantly, it sounds great! I put it right up there with my PS Audio NuWave DSD DAC and the Ayre QB-9 DSD DAC. The Topping D90 a modern day bargain DAC.

- CineMag SUTs: To my ears the best sounding vinyl setups use a Step Up Transformer for the MC cartridge. In some cases I would run a quality MC/MM phono preamp in MM mode and drive it with a SUT because this often sounds better vs the MC amplification path built into many phono preamps. I have the Bob's Devices CineMag 3440 "Red" and still own it. The CineMag 1131 "Blue" is possibly ever so slightly better but I sold mine and kept the bargain CineMag "Red". *It was a bargain because I picked one up used for $300 years ago. I ended up selling the "Blue" for around $1000. The difference isn't huge. I have no idea what Bob charges these days for his best SUTs but the lowly $300 CineMag 3440 "Red" is truly a bargain. But it no longer matters to me as I gave away most of my vinyl and thoroughly enjoy hi-res digital these days.

A couple of my older Raspberry Pi streamers:

PS Audio and Topping D90 DACs - and two DIY Raspberry Pi 4 to the left:

My Bob's Devices CineMag SUTs:

1.) Raspberry Pi with PiCorePlayer ~ $100
2.) Paradox 1 Speakers from GR Research ~ $300
3.) Oris Orphean System Horns ~ $4000
4.) Hypex PSC2.400 Plate Amplifiers -Pair for ~ $800
5.) Welborne 45 SET Monoblocks ~ $2000

I suppose that when I decided to replace my JVC AV receiver (in '94) with Cary's most basic stereo tube amp (four 6550s) I really did not know what to expect, & I must have liked it a lot, because I have never looked back.