Anthem, the Canadian home cinema specialist, has released details of its new Audio/Video Master 50v (AVM 50v) multichannel preamp/processor.
Following in the footsteps of its big brother, the Statement D2v, the AVM 50v aims to offer the same state-of-the-art technology for less money.
Mind you, it will still cost you £5999. For that you get a 7.1 channel audio and video processor with eight HDMI inputs, Sigma Designs' VXP digital video processing, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding, XLR connections, 1080p upscaling, Anthem Room Correction and the ability to feed two stereo zones as well.
Two new dual-core audio Digital Signal Processing (DSP) engines, designed in-house by Anthem, offer 800 million instructions per second (MIPS) of processing power to handle decoding of all the latest high-definition audio formats.
Anthem has also upgraded its pulse-code modulation (PCM) input to support 7.1 channels at 24bits or 192kHz. All eight HDMI inputs are connected through high-performance TMDS (Transition Minimised Differential Signalling) timing regenerators and multiplexers.
For audio purists, a tone bypass control disables the bass/treble adjustment, and there are balanced stereo XLR digital inputs and true-balanced analogue inputs for improved stereo sound.
Anthem products are distributed in the UK by Anthem AV Solutions.