Specifically when it comes to audio reviewing; honesty and a good balance of objective and subjective observation is key. Moving to my 2.2 channel setup, I listened to a very dynamic orchestral recording of selections from the various Batman films. Things sounded good overall, but the bass was noticeably tamer than I wanted. The separation of instruments and amazing sense of detail in Howard Shore’s score “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – The Complete Recordings” has never sounded better in my room. And yes, these are completely run in the analog domain, so they still work when you push analog direct mode. Beyond the advent of streaming music and new systems for efficiently digitally archiving and distributing our music collections across a network, the bulk of what comprises stereo audio effectively remains the same. Setting this option to “Yes” allows the amp to automatically turn on whenever a signal is detected. This Relative Linearity chart allows us to examine the above-mentioned errors in a more exaggerated, and easy to see manner. You now have a complete, turnkey audio solution that should be as transparent and linear as one could hope to assemble. The amp’s linear power supply starts with a pair of 600VA toroidal transformers, one per channel. Too often you hear audiophile components trying to reproduce ensemble jazz as if it were a distinct set of instruments. They were replicating not just the impact of the drum hits, which was significant, but the tightness and tonality of the drum skins were coming through clearly as well. Having two properly calibrated subs playing this stuff is just outstanding! For A/D and D/A duties, Anthem has chosen chips from AKM, specifically the AK5552VN (2 channel) ADC and the AK4456VN (6 channel) DAC respectively. I’ve already made mention of the top-shelf build quality and unique design of these STR components. As my reference stereo rig is a 2.2 channel affair that is normally managed with an analog active crossover, I was particularly keen to see how the STR preamp would handle my particular setup. Again, a clean response with two minor harmonics at 2 and 3 kHz registering at 94 and 95 dB below 4 VRMS respectively. 1 kHz 24/192 at 0 dBFS XLR-In XLR-Out Analog Direct, 4 VRMS. It’s got a fantastic room correction system, effective and flexible bass management, very low noise, an overachieving phono section, a very good A/D and DAC section, tons of inputs, great looks and build quality and I can go on. Your support is greatly appreciated! Robert Kozel did a detailed walk through of how to use the ARC Mobile App in his review of Anthem’s AVM-60 processor. REVIEW: Anthem STR Integrated – Is one box better than two? On appearances alone, the STR amplifier certainly looks the part, and while I have no way to measure the amp’s actual output, I would be very surprised if it didn’t meet its rated specs handily based on the quality of construction and parts used. Once again, these are inaudible differences. The Krell Illusion II preamp comes with a high-end internal DAC, RS-232 control, and comparable sex appeal, as you always expect from a Krell component, but it lacks a phono stage, an LED screen on the faceplate, and most importantly room correction. 10 kHz 24/192 at 0 dBFS XLR-In XLR-Out, Analog Direct, 4 VRMS. My nitpicking may sound a bit on the irrational side, but these are billed as audiophile components and, for the money spent, an audiophile looks for state-of-the-art, even if sometimes it’s only for bragging rights. This desire for knowledge-through-deconstruction continued through to the family’s 8-track tape player, turntable, headphones and speakers. In the two-channel world, though, preamps haven't evolved as much, with many of the products that were sold 10 years ago still being somewhat relevant today. Digital In, 192 kHz: 10 Hz – 50 kHz (+0, -0.5 dB) There are other players on the market, such as the super high-end Trinnov Amethyst at over $10,000--a DAC-pre with apex-predator-level room correction. The second harmonics at 38 kHz and 40 kHz are about 90 dB respectively below 4 VRMS. At 10 kHz into the XLR input, THD+N was 0.001135%. Oddly, ARC still does not automatically set the speaker distances; you must do that manually post measurement. Priced at $3,499, this component competes in the sex appeal department with a polished chassis and a very cool front screen. Simply put, performance-wise the Anthem STR stereo preamp can hang with components priced many times above its asking price. It was at about that time as well that Carlo began purchasing “Audio Magazine” on a regular basis and came to appreciate, in particular, the writing and reviewing of the late Leonard Feldman. Again, the STR power amp could not have sounded better with my BESL monitors. The noise and harmonics profile also appears identical to the 24/96 test. The biggest issue in any music playback chain, outside of the source material that you listen to, is the listening room itself. My practice in the past has been having these subs operate as a stereo pair since their individual responses closely match, so I elected to continue that here. The up close and intimate presentation of her vocals and many of the lush orchestrations make for the perfect material to get lost in, while listening through a good pair of speakers. You can liken it to an early analog form of ZIP compression. No clicks or unexpected pops when switching tracks. And of course, they are, but a live musical experience sounds more together--more unified. ARC was performing its due diligence helping keep the acoustic bass lines sounding full yet articulate throughout the song. Repeating the test with the digital conversion on, THD+N becomes 0.005785%. Yes, there is a ton of artificial reverb in this track, but so what? Yes, even a single HDMI input-output would have made it even cooler, but that would have made it more expensive, too, and its price point is pretty fantastic right now. (at 1 kHz, IEC-A, 2 Vrms output), 3.3Vrms (<0.1% THD) Speaking of the back panel of the STR preamp, it has two pairs of balanced XLR inputs and outputs, with a pair of each being dedicated for subwoofers. One would assume Classé will be back with another DAC-pre at some point down the road after being acquired by Sound United (the parent of Denon, Marantz, Polk, and Definitive Technology). This is a representation of the RIAA phono playback equalization curve, plotted onto a graph. Large digital displays are easy to read and look just plain cool. Analog In, DSP Mode: 10 Hz – 40 kHz (+0.00, -0.20 dB) The thing is, once you get used to the convenience of such displays, it’s hard to go back to gear with little dot-matrix readouts or nothing at all. The STR preamp’s A-D conversion stage looks to be doing its job very well. Classé's CP-800 is discontinued but was a good solution from the recent past that you may be able to find for a decent price. But, back in the real world and with all my grousing aside, the STR preamp is an incredibly transparent piece of equipment and the ARC room correction is the linchpin. Vol.12 – December 2020, The Smallcombe Home Theater II – Part 3, “The Future of Audio Shows” Cartoon by Carlo Lo Raso, Setting Up a Bryston BDA-3.14 Streaming DAC and Qobuz Streaming Service – A How-to Series, Part 2, Setting Up an AURALiC ARIES G1 Streamer and Qobuz Streaming Service – A How-to Series, Part 1, DCI-P3 Color – What It Means in Today’s Ultra HD World, AVR-Audio Video Reciever-Build Quality: Part V. Does Your Projector Display Accurate Color, and Why Is That Important? The connections to the STR Preamplifier can be made using either RCA or XLR inputs or a combination of the two which is what I used in my listening room. 1 kHz 24/192 Sine Wave at 0 dBFS SPDIF-In XLR-Out, 4 VRMS. My reference stereo preamp is a Parasound JC2BP with an Anthem AVM 60 in use on the home theater side of things. While every detail and texture of the instruments were heard, I felt like it all gelled into one cohesive presentation. Not much in the way of noise spurs but a few harmonics show up through the spectrum. While this wouldn’t be an overly demanding song for the Anthem’s STR duo, its playback with these components sounded especially well put together and was presented seamlessly across two speakers and two subs. 7: December 2020, A COLLECTION OF NEW VINYL FOR THE AUDIOPHILE: DECEMBER 2020, What We’re Listening To. The congas sounded more like they should, with added weight returning to their sound. Literally, I am holding it to a higher standard than nearly every other audiophile stereo preamp in the market. June 4, 2019 Deon Schoeman Amplifiers , Latest , Reviews 0 The Anthem STR line-up consists of a pre-amp, a power amp – and now, also an integrated amp. My reference home theater processor is the Anthem AVM 60. Or is that two hyperactive sons and a pair of young dachshunds? Moving to the more R&B tinged “Who Will Comfort Me”, ARC once again delivers tight and meaty sounding acoustic bass lines through the Personas which, without acoustic correction, would otherwise sound peakier and more bloated in this room. The STR amp uses a cascoded complementary feedback input stage which, Anthem claims, creates a sound quality similar to Class A amplifier designs but with much greater operating efficiency. Benchmark's focus is a bit more on the DAC side of things, as their half-rack sized components are heavier on the digital inputs than analog. This left the second XLR input on the STR Preamplifier available for connection to my Oppo UDP-205 4K UHD Blu-ray player which was also connected via HDMI to the AVM 60. Together, they comprise as seamless and powerful a playback chain as you are likely to find. Benchmark audio tests were conducted on the RCA and XLR analog inputs and the SPDIF and USB digital inputs of the Anthem STR preamplifier. These are all fine chip choices and are almost identical to what is used in Anthem’s AVM60 pre/pro and the MRX1120 receiver. “Soldier Boy” which is structured like a classic doo-wop tune comes out sounding very full, with significant depth to the presentation. For an in-depth look at how the ARC system works, please refer to our definitive Geeks Guide to ARC 2 and Super Geeks Guide to ARC 2 both put together by Dr. David Rich. Playing her French language classic "Sur Le Meme Bateau" from her S'il suffisait d'aimer album (Columbia/Epic) was just marvelous with the STR in the loop. But what surprised me, especially with grunge music, was how I never got the sense of harshness or listening fatigue even at sustained fairly high volumes that I have heard without the STR in my setup. ConclusionAnthem isn't afraid to throw down with the big-time audiophile or home theater companies, and that's just what they've done here with the Anthem STR stereo preamp at $3,995. 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