This receiver is an excellent example of value for dollar and should be part of anybody’s HT setup for those looking to upgrade their system. It’s by far the best receiver I’ve owned to date. I recently replaced my old NAD T752 which I’ve owned since 2003. It suddenly wouldn’t turn on one day, so I had to the option to fix it or buy new. I decided to buy new since it would probably be expensive and the old NAD lacked HDMI input/pass through, or any of the new built-in HD lossless decoding features like DD True HD, DTS Master Audio.
I budgeted for around $1000. Let’s face it. Even though the combined value of all my setup is worth thousands of dollars more, I don’t have the $10 K to watch movies/concerts that some of you may have. The new Anthem MRX series seemed ideal, plus all the speakers in my home theatre are Paradigm Studio/Reference, which is a match made in heaven. A company who’s been building high end seperates for over 20 years and tests their equipment on Paradigm speakers-you can’t go wrong.

The sound. For movies, the sound is VERY transparent, open, clear, detailed, and smooth. The sound is perfectly balanced and no channel draws attention to itself unless it’s summonsed to do so by the producers of the soundtrack. The soundstage is large and full. Dialogue in movies is much more clear/coherent than previously heard on the NAD. Another plus is the ARC technology it uses. It uses a very sophisticated setup to balance the sound in your room since no room is perfectly ideal under normal circumstances. After setting up the ARC and uploading the data to the receiver, I really noticed a difference in imaging and special queues within the room. For example after hearing the Eagles ‘Hell Freezes Over’ DVD, the rear channels came to life and I felt like I had a seat in the middle of the audience. Spacial queues were everywhere around me. Way more convincing than my experience with the old NAD.
I am very happy with my decision to purchase the MRX 300. I did not require the extra 20 watts per channel, the USB input on the front of the unit to play music, Ipod dock or internet radio capability of that of the MRX 500 for an extra $500. At least in my opinion, it wasn’t worth a 33% price increase. I further didn’t think an extra $300 on top of that for an extra 20 watts for the MRX 700 was worth it either. I currently power my Studio 100’s with an external Musical Fidelity A5 so power was not an issue here. The MRX series is high current. I’ve blasted concerts to insane levels and never once did the MRX not play loud enough for my tastes.

All in all, I’m very satisfied with this product and would recommend it to anyone looking for a home theatre receiver whether they are running a value based system with a budget in mind or a very high end configuration-it will serve both equally well and you will not be disappointed. Build construction and quality are above average in this price range.

My current setup:Paradigm Studio/reference v. 2 100's (main), Paradigm Studio/reference v. 2 (centre), Paradigm Studio/reference Servo 15 v.2, and Paradigm Studio/reference ADP-590 v.5 (rear). Musical Fidelity A5 integrated amp (250 wpc x 2) KimbreKable 8TC speaker cable, Logitech Harmony 1000 remote