| Anthem Statement D2 AV Preamplifier |
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| Home Theater Preamplifiers AV Preamps | |||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Matthew Evert | |||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, 01 December 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||
Page 3 of 3 The Downside I would have liked to see a quick set-up wizard on the Anthem Statement D2 AV preamp as part of their onscreen display. Anthem could structure an option in here to ask the most important questions (in an interview-like format) in the configuration process, so that the customer is quickly up and running with sound and video. Seeing that most people who buy this will likely have a custom installer or geek set it up, this is probably not a big priority, yet making the unit even more consumer-friendly like Apple’s Network configuration, which walks anybody through why their Internet connection isn’t working. The remote is nothing sexy, but it is functional and on par for a processor of this class. Another element that I would have liked to see from Anthem in the D2 is some form of room correction. Meridian and Lexicon AV preamps offer such features at much higher retail prices. It is hard to deny the importance of calibrating your speakers to your room through your system controller, and an Anthem D2 is certainly a worthy system controller. Perhaps if this idea ever took off with Anthem, it would be a good extra to sell for the audiophile looking to take his system over the top. Conclusion Anthem took an unquestioned winner in the Anthem Statement D1 and raised the bar with the addition of a dazzling video processor, better audio and killer connectivity in the new D2. Focusing on using quality components for achieving mind-blowing sound quality and video performance, the D2 does not disappoint at any level. At its price, I toss around the term “bargain” infrequently, but when you consider you need to put the Anthem Statement D2 up against preamps from the likes of Krell, Halcro, Meridian, Lexicon, Sunfire and others at the upper echelon, perhaps the D2 is a bargain. I would certainly say so. With a poised pen, I paid the D2 the ultimate compliment and paid for one at a time when I had no less than three other AV preamps in my system. The Anthem Statement D2 is so good that I couldn’t resist buying it.
3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
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