I was able to get everything up and running for the most part yesterday evening. I haven’t had time to watch a movie but listened to some 2 channel, SACD and DVD-A as well as a DTS DVD-video of a concert. I just did the auto-set-up so I will check it manually regarding distance and volume.

My amps have separate attenuators for each channel output so I set them at around ¾ open for all channels per their instructions. After the setup, I can’t come close to “reference” of 0dB – it starts to get uncomfortable around –12dB. Clear as a bell there, no distortion whatsoever but approaching a dB level that may have OSHA paying me a visit.

My Denon 3910 was connected 3 ways – Coax 1, CD 2 channel analog and 5.1 analog. The player has 2 additional analog outputs for 2 channel as well as the 5.1 analog outs. First, I played my reference CD in 2 channel and found the Stereo setting on CD was not near as good as listening in the bypass mode. The manual states that bypass delivers a somewhat cleaner sound than stereo mode. That is an understatement! The upsampling mode was about on par with bypass. It was tough to tell the difference between bypass and upsampling. They both sounded good. I also toggled between CD analog in bypass and upsampling with the coaxial 1 output of the DVD input. Again, the differences were very subtle, so much so that I might have a difficult time identifying the source if someone switched inputs while I listened. It did surprise me that the digital coax listening was so similar to bypass and upsample, but stereo was not good. Maybe I had it in surround mode upsample - if that's possible. I need to check to see what mode I was listening in the DVD menu. I just can’t remember and will check it out tonight. I was trying to cram a lot of listening in a short timeframe.

Multi channel SACD and DVD-A did not disappoint me in the least. Very good soundstage, presence and clarity. Of course, I had to use 7.1 input on the 990 for those.

I liked the 2 channel sub offset adjustment for turning down the sub for 2 channel listening. Programming was easy and the 990 is whisper quiet. No hum on any channels even with volume maxed out. I am using balanced connections. I really like the way you can choose inputs on the fly with very little switching delay between them. Great way to A/B sources and see which you prefer. The default volume setting is nice too.

When I played the DVD-V concert I had to press DTS on the remote, but I might not have given it time to switch automatically? Anyway, it sounded very good as others have reported with surround sound formats. I will re address that too as it did automatically choose DD for CSI that I recorded in HD Thursday.

I still have a lot of tweaking to do but so far, for $1,099 it is a very solid unit. It’s got features: individual bass management, sub offset, USB, RS-232, upsampling, default volume setting, auto set-up etc.

(The following is about as politically correct as I can be):

The big question: does it sound as good as or close to the Anthem AVM 30? I can’t really say at this point. As previously mentioned, I still have to make adjustments to speakers, the 990 and the 3910. The AnthemLogic surround circuitry really made for a sweet listening experience, and 2 channel is superb, but 990 in upsampling mode yields no complaints from me; I was happily impressed. I would love to do a side by side comparison in my listening area but that is not possible. If Anthem has an edge (and it very well may in an A/B real time listening test: for pete’s sake, it costs $2,000 more, and around $3,300 more for the D1) but I have to ask myself if it is worth paying another $2000 + whatever the upgrade will cost for the AVM 30? If it sounded leaps and bounds better, I probably would get the Anthem. I’m not able to say with certainty that the Anthem would “spank” the 990 soundwise at this point. Is it $2,000 better? To some I think it will be. It definitely is feature packed as well – 6 inch increments in speaker distance, ½ dB volume adjustments, HDMI upgrade soon and others (read their spec sheet). And it’s smaller and prettier. There will continue to be a market for both of these units. Everyone’s ear, set up and preferences are different. I plan on upgrading again when formats get closer to being standardized and as the 990 is not able to support those formats. Right now I am not willing to take the plunge with so much uncertainty in the air. After I finish making adjustments and do some serious listening to various formats I will be better able to make the choice, or not, to go with something else at this point in time.

Good read. Its funny how sound is. I really like the bypass mode (using an XCD-88) and the stereo mode, but upsampling to me is kind of harsh and digital sounding. At least we agree on the bypass mode. Your impressions of it compared to the Anthem is about what I would expect.

LOL Jed, I will have a better handle on it when I get more time to really listen for a period of time.

With DAC's like the Burr Browns you have in the Onix and the ones in the 3910 it would be hard to argue the bypass issue!

Barnabas, likewise. I am going to give upsampling another try as some tracks really did sound good. Hopefully I will be able to pinpoint what it is I like about it and don't like about it so I know what kind of music I prefer/dislike with upsampling.

I agree with you about the Burr Browns. Seriously good sound.

Nice post. Thanks for the listening notes.

I'm curious to hear what you think once you're sure you have the digital input set to stereo, bypass, and upsample, compared to the same 3 modes on the analog input. That's because, on the analog input, the bypass mode feeds the L and R full range with no manipulation, but the sub gets a full range signal as well. On the digital input, the bypass mode feeds the fronts and sub their bass-managed frequencies as set in the speaker setup. It bypasses the speaker delays, etc.

I have a Denon 2910, and I've found that because of the above, it's not so easy to do a direct comparison of the 990 and Denon DACs unless all speakers are set to large in order to avoid the bass management aspects automatically applied to both analog and digital inputs.

Mark