The eight boldfaced bullet points include "Four HDMI Inputs" and "Leading-Edge Format Video Conversion." In fact, every paragraph on the page has to do with video. Am I reading a sales sheet for a plasma TV? No, I am looking over the press release for the new Anthem Statement D2 surround-sound processor. The entire document concentrates on video switching and processing. A surround processor is supposed to be about sound, right? Focusing solely on its video capabilities seems like touting a VCR’s ability to display the time.

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The front panel of the Statement D2 is packed with controls—you can select the source, access AM/FM tuner presets, set surround-sound channel levels, adjust the tone controls, and activate or deactivate the main zone and the two auxiliary zones that the D2 can feed. There’s also a headphone jack. (Click image to enlarge)

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Of course, I am taking this extreme position merely to make a point. (If it works for such greats as Wilde, Voltaire, and Ann Coulter, why can’t it work for me?) As any home theater aficionado knows, video capabilities have become an important part of a surround processor. After all, several of the latest processors have circuitry that converts all incoming video into high-definition signals that can be output on an HDMI digital video cable. This way, you need run only a single HDMI cable between the processor and your video display, and you never need change inputs on the display.

But the performance of this circuitry greatly affects the picture. It can degrade sharpness and introduce annoying artifacts, such as jagged edges on curved and diagonal lines, and moiré effects appearing in striped or patterned areas. We have tried two surround processors with video upconversion to HDMI, but neither aspired to state-of-the-art video performance. The Anthem D2, however, uses the latest VXP Digital Image Processor chipset from Gennum, which in theory should make it competitive with the finest stand-alone video processors.

It’s almost a shame that Anthem put so much effort into the video because the D2’s audio features are also extraordinary. My favorite is the room resonance filter. Every room has at least a couple of frequencies at which, for acoustical reasons, it makes deep bass notes boom out. The D2 lets you eliminate the boom where it’s worst. Just activate the built-in test tone to find the frequency at which the bass sounds boomy, then use the filter to attenuate the sound at that frequency. You can adjust the filter frequency, depth, and width in 1-hertz increments. Although this feature may sound overwhelmingly technical, it’s actually quite simple to adjust and fun to experiment with—and you don’t necessarily need to use test equipment. I find that my ears are perfectly capable of finding the boomiest frequency in my room (which happens to be 40 hertz), and determining that 9 decibels of attenuation and a 5-hertz filter width sounds about right.

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Although the Statement D2’s remote has colors that catch the eye, there’s really nothing special about it—it’s a generic design used for many surround-sound processors. (Click image to enlarge)

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Then there are the little things like subwoofer phase and polarity adjustment. Almost all subwoofers have their own controls for these, but if your sub is concealed in a cabinet, it will prove much easier to make your adjustments through the D2’s on-screen menu. You can also set separate lip sync delay for each source, which will come in handy if you see lip sync errors with your digital TV tuner but not with your DVD player, as is the case in my system. And you can feed video and stereo audio to two extra rooms.

The video options may overwhelm even an Imaging Science Foundation-certified technician—which I can say with authority because I am such a technician and the D2’s video setup menu overwhelms me. Check this out: The D2 includes 42 video output format options, including 1080-line progressive at five frame rates, and every other high-definition and digital TV resolution extant. It also features several computer-friendly resolutions, up to 2048 by 1536 pixels. You can set various color and video data output formats and perform aspect-ratio control. Fortunately, I find I can leave most of these settings at the factory defaults; all I need to set is resolution, and you can easily determine the best resolution for your video by consulting your video display owner’s manual.

Converting 480-line interlaced video from a DVD player or a TiVo to 1080-line progressive high-definition HDMI is a tough task. We use various test DVDs to determine a video processor’s ability to do this. Even most high-end video projectors and plasma TVs flunk at least one of our tests. But with every test I can think of running, the D2 performs flawlessly. The picture looks extraordinarily detailed and I never notice a single video artifact, whether I set the D2’s output for 1080p to feed a Brillian LCoS rear-projection TV, or for 720p to feed my Sony video projector. Video geeks will be ecstatic to learn that the D2 properly deinterlaces 1080i signals; for non-geeks, that means a more detailed picture from most network and cable HDTV programs.

I feel certain the D2 will earn a fantastic reputation as the first surround processor that totally eliminates the need for an external video scaler. Yet I fear many will overlook its other outstanding quality: sound. In my comparisons, the D2 sounds better than every other processor I have on hand—and, I feel safe saying, every other processor I have reviewed, with the possible exception of the Theta Casablanca II Extreme, which cost $15,000 when we reviewed it in 2003. (You can read that review and countless others on hemagazine.com.) I often find the distinctions among surround processors subtle; the higher-end models usually sound better but don’t make their inferiors seem unpleasant. But the D2’s sound is so much more detailed and natural that it makes returning to a lesser processor feel like going back to a standard-definition TV after you have owned an HDTV set.

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The Statement D2 outputs a high-quality digital video signal through its HDMI output. An HDMI-to-DVI adapter can be used to feed video DVI-equipped video displays. (Click image to enlarge)

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You may have divined from the above text that the D2 has one flaw: complexity. We noted this same problem in our review of Denon’s top-of-the-line audio/video receiver, the AVR-5805. Both of these products offer so many features, adjustments, and connection options that it is easy to get lost in their on-screen menus, wondering where to find the adjustment you want, and perhaps even forgetting what you wanted to adjust in the first place. Of course, this problem is easily solved: Have a custom installer program an AMX or Crestron touchscreen to control only the D2’s essential functions, and shove the D2 into a closet where it is safe from prying fingers.

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Most of today’s multichannel amps offer seven channels of amplification, but the P5 has only five. Why? Because it’s a traditional, linear amplifier design, and because it puts out 325 watts per channel. The two-channel P2 is also available. (Click image to enlarge)

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I should also mention the accompanying Anthem Statement amplifiers: the P5 five-channel amp (which the company supplies with my D2 review sample) and the P2 two-channel amp. Both are hulking conventional (i.e., non-digital, non-switching, heat-generating) amplifiers putting out 325 watts per channel. Although the P5 is just an amp, not a tenth as sexy as the D2, I find it can easily drive any speaker in my possession to ear-splitting levels, and it sounds smooth doing it. However, it weighs 130 pounds and measures more than 22 inches deep, so you’ll need a heavy-duty rack and a deep equipment closet to accommodate it.

The Statement D2 sets a new standard of excellence for surround-sound processors. I expect it will draw home theater enthusiasts and audio/video system designers to the Anthem line the same way the iPod has attracted so many people to Apple computers.

DESCRIPTION

Surround-sound processor with internal video scaler/processor and AM/FM tuner; 325-watt-per-channel power amplifier

SURROUND-SOUND MODES

Dolby Digital, Pro Logic IIx, and EX; DTS ES-Matrix, ES-Discrete, and Neo:6; AnthemLogic-Music and AnthemLogic-Cinema (proprietary modes); All-Channel Music, All-Channel Mono, Mono, Mono-Academy; THX Surround EX (with Music and Games modes)

CONNECTIONS

D2: four HDMI digital video inputs, four component video inputs, seven S-video and seven composite video inputs, seven coaxial digital inputs, three Toslink optical digital audio inputs, AES/EBU balanced digital audio input, seven RCA stereo analog audio inputs, XLR balanced stereo audio input, RCA six-channel input (for DVD-A/SACD); one HDMI output, two component video outputs, five S-video and five composite video outputs, 10 balanced XLR and 10 unbalanced RCA audio outputs (7.1-channel plus extra center/sub or zone 2), two coaxial digital audio recording outputs, four stereo analog audio outputs (two recording plus zones 1 and 2); coaxial connector for FM antenna, spring clips for AM antenna; three 3.5mm jacks for trigger output, five-pin block connector and two 3.5mm jacks for IR emitter output, DB9 connector for RS-232 control

P5: five balanced XLR audio inputs, five unbalanced RCA audio inputs, five pairs of five-way binding posts for speaker connection, 3.5mm jacks for trigger input and output

DIMENSIONS

D2: 5.875 x 19.25 x 15.25 inches (hwd)

P5: 9.125 x 19.25 x 22.5 inches (hwd)

PRICE/CONTACT

PRICE: D2 $6,699, P5 $5,999

CONTACT: 905.362.0958, anthemav.com