Scheer Home Theater Systems Portfolio

Anthem Statement D1 Surround Sound Controller, Audiophile Preamplifier, and Home Theater A/V Control Center

Author: Brian Florian - www.hometheaterhifi.com | Source: statement.anthemav.com

Functionality | Continued from previous page - 1 2 3 4 5

You can, for example, set "Stereo" to be the default for two-channel audio, Pro Logic II Movie the default for Dolby Digital 2.0, and THX Ultra2 Cinema for the 5.1 formats. These choices can be unique to each input.

The Anthem Statement D1 has its own clock with time/day, offering a comprehensive set of timers. It can turn on every day at a preset time (30 minutes before you get home to warm everything up for example) and turn off every night at midnight (in case you forget to do it).

The home theater D1 presents DRC (Dynamic Range Control) very plainly as a cycle of Off, Reduced, and Late Night. A nice touch is that at power off, DRC always resets to Off. I like this a lot because there have been many times I've turned DRC on and forgotten that it is on. The next day I get halfway through a movie before realizing why the soundtrack sounds less than dynamic. The D1 (and the AVM-20) are to my knowledge the only SSPs which offer to do DRC on DTS material, forever dispelling the myth that such a thing is "just not done on DTS". DRC has always been an available option with DTS, the difference being that, where Dolby requires that a decoder offer the option, DTS never did. Note that the soundtrack author has to specify DRC parameters in the metadata of a DTS soundtrack, or this function will be benign.

The Center EQ introduced in the AVM-2 has been carried forward. If used, it offers a simple choice of several TV sizes. Pick the one your TV fits into, and a filter is applied to the center channel to counter the chesty reinforcement the speaker tends to get from sitting on top a large flat surface.

Digitally controlled analog volume control is now the norm in SSPs, but no one comes close to exploiting the potential of it quite like Anthem. A default power-on volume level may be specified for each of the three zones. We've already mentioned that each input has its own gain trim. A maximum volume level can be set (may I suggest for your safety you set it to "0 dB"), and at your option, the Mute button can either be a total cut or an attenuation (your choice of -15 dB to -30 dB in 5 dB increments).

I harp on front panel displays, or specifically the brightness thereof, for good reason. More often than not, the A/V equipment of a Home Theater is within our field of view. A component which can disappear into the darkness of a home theater will not distract as such. More and more home theater components are offering a "dim" option, but it is never dim enough. Here is one area where the D1 actually takes a step back from its predecessor. While the AVM-20 offered a brightness adjustment of 0-15 where "1" is almost not visible in a pitch black room, the D1 offers only four levels from "Low" to "Brightest" (in addition to "Off", but I would rather a barely visible display than a non-existent one). The "Low" setting is not even close to being low enough for me. The reason for the shortcoming is that Anthem elected to go with a fluorescent display on the D1 versus the AVM-20's back-lit unit. The voltage on fluorescent displays can only go so low before they just turn off altogether. I'd have stuck with the back lit technology myself, but oh well. Just be advised: While my wife never noticed the AVM-20, the first day the D1 was setup she exclaimed, "What is that?!?...and is it going to be glaring like that the whole time?!?"

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