Amplifier recommendations

[Cjamrr]

I don't know why the STR would sound warmer. and what does "warmer" really mean, could you tell the 3 amps apart if you couldn't see them? Without knowing the reason, you can't fix it by matching the power amp with a preamp. You would have better chance with EQ.

Are you referring the EQ on the Onkyo?
I just felt the bass was a little more noticeable on the carver amp hooked up to the onkyo verses the Anthem mca325 to the Onkyo.

 

[PENG]

Are you referring the EQ on the Onkyo?
I just felt the bass was a little more noticeable on the carver amp hooked up to the onkyo verses the Anthem mca325 to the Onkyo.

Yes, using the Onkyo. I was asking about the STR vs MCA. The Carver sounding different is not surprising but I am confident that Anthem designed the STR and MCA amps for accuracy, transparency and neutrality.

 

[Cjamrr]

Yes, using the Onkyo. I was asking about the STR vs MCA. The Carver sounding different is not surprising but I am confident that Anthem designed the STR and MCA amps for accuracy, transparency and neutrality.

The STR power amplifier was a lot better but a lot more money

 

[PENG]

The STR power amplifier was a lot better but a lot more money

But was it a level matched blind session?

 

[Cjamrr]

But was it a level matched blind session?

Yes.

 

[PENG]

Yes.

Wow, then if you can tell the two apart you have the golden ears. Congrats!!

The MCA amps have THD supposedly well below human perception:

THD at 100 W at 1 kHz . . . . . . . .0.0010% 20 kHz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.015%

and exceptional IMD and noise performance:

IMD at 100 W ITU-R (19 kHz + 20 kHz). . . . . . 0.0005% SMPTE (60 Hz + 7 kHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............................................................................0.002% SNR, IEC-A, ref. 225 W. . . . . . . . . . . 120 dB

It is truly amazing that you guys can tell the STR (that costs a lot more money), sounds "much better"..

Maybe you should audition some even more expensive, though still relatively affordable amps from Boulder, Krell, Passlab, Luxman, Moon, Theta, Audio Research etc..

 

[Cjamrr]

Wow, then if you can tell the two apart you have the golden ears. Congrats!!

The MCA amps have THD supposedly well below human perception:

THD at 100 W at 1 kHz . . . . . . . .0.0010% 20 kHz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.015%

and exceptional IMD and noise performance:

IMD at 100 W ITU-R (19 kHz + 20 kHz). . . . . . 0.0005% SMPTE (60 Hz + 7 kHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............................................................................0.002% SNR, IEC-A, ref. 225 W. . . . . . . . . . . 120 dB

It is truly amazing that you guys can tell the STR (that costs a lot more money),sounds "much better"..

Maybe you should audition some even more expensive, though still relatively affordable amps from Boulder, Krell, Passlab, Luxman, Moon, Theta, Audio Research etc..

Wow, then if you can tell the two apart you have the golden ears. Congrats!!

The MCA amps have THD supposedly well below human perception:

THD at 100 W at 1 kHz . . . . . . . .0.0010% 20 kHz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.015%

and exceptional IMD and noise performance:

IMD at 100 W ITU-R (19 kHz + 20 kHz). . . . . . 0.0005% SMPTE (60 Hz + 7 kHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............................................................................0.002% SNR, IEC-A, ref. 225 W. . . . . . . . . . . 120 dB

It is truly amazing that you guys can tell the STR (that costs a lot more money),sounds "much better"..

Maybe you should audition some even more expensive, though still relatively affordable amps from Boulder, Krell, Passlab, Luxman, Moon, Theta, Audio Research etc..

The Anthem STR Intergrated is a beautiful piece, I wanted to purchase it, but I misinterpreted your advice on post 104.
Telling them apart, I barely notice the difference except for slight bass. And yes I couldn’t tell which was playing because I wasn’t switching the switch box for amps. Anyway,
(1) I heard the more expensive Athem STR poweramp hooked up to Onkyo that sounded the best. (6k)
(2) I heard the Anthem mca325 ($2500) and Carver ($700) hooked up to the Onkyo and thought carver sounded slightly better in some way.
(3) then the Carver was hooked up to the Anthem Intergrated STR ($4500) using the rca switch box, and I thought carver had a slightly more bass.
(which is what I think audio expert calls warmer or more relaxing audio). ( bright meaning less bass and more fatiguing) I didn’t mean that it was drastically noticeable, but i could tell barely. Now, correct me If I’m out of line, I thought to purchase the least expensive of the bunch, which all are very good products with minute differences.
Your concerns and opinions helps me understand the process of making better choices. I may not have choosen the best option yesterday. However I still have $4300 to spare for my setup.
Everyone of you, are awesome and I value your imput.

 

[Danzilla31]

The Anthem STR Intergrated is a beautiful piece, I wanted to purchase it, but I misinterpreted your advice on post 104.
Telling them apart, I barely notice the difference except for slight bass. And yes I couldn’t tell which was playing because I wasn’t switching the switch box for amps. Anyway,
(1) I heard the more expensive Athem STR poweramp hooked up to Onkyo that sounded the best. (6k)
(2) I heard the Anthem mca325 ($2500) and Carver ($700) hooked up to the Onkyo and thought carver sounded slightly better in some way.
(3) then the Carver was hooked up to the Anthem Intergrated STR ($4500) using the rca switch box, and I thought carver had a slightly more bass.
(which is what I think audio expert calls warmer or more relaxing audio). ( bright meaning less bass and more fatiguing) I didn’t mean that it was drastically noticeable, but i could tell barely. Now, correct me If I’m out of line, I thought to purchase the least expensive of the bunch, which all are very good products with minute differences.
Your concerns and opinions helps me understand the process of making better choices. I may not have choosen the best option yesterday. However I still have $4300 to spare for my setup.
Everyone of you, are awesome and I value your imput.

$4300 you can still spend on gear for your enjoyment. Sounds pretty Damn good to me bro. Congrats!

 

[PENG]

The Anthem STR Intergrated is a beautiful piece, I wanted to purchase it, but I misinterpreted your advice on post 104.
Telling them apart, I barely notice the difference except for slight bass. And yes I couldn’t tell which was playing because I wasn’t switching the switch box for amps. Anyway,
(1) I heard the more expensive Athem STR poweramp hooked up to Onkyo that sounded the best. (6k)
(2) I heard the Anthem mca325 ($2500) and Carver ($700) hooked up to the Onkyo and thought carver sounded slightly better in some way.
(3) then the Carver was hooked up to the Anthem Intergrated STR ($4500) using the rca switch box, and I thought carver had a slightly more bass.
(which is what I think audio expert calls warmer or more relaxing audio). ( bright meaning less bass and more fatiguing) I didn’t mean that it was drastically noticeable, but i could tell barely. Now, correct me If I’m out of line, I thought to purchase the least expensive of the bunch, which all are very good products with minute differences.
Your concerns and opinions helps me understand the process of making better choices. I may not have choosen the best option yesterday. However I still have $4300 to spare for my setup.
Everyone of you, are awesome and I value your imput.

When you said "much better", I thought you meant the sound quality. I thought so because we have been talking about AB comparison of the two to find out if you could hear a difference in sound quality, and we both know the STR has better build and specs already.

Another point for clarification, I thought you were comparing power amps, now you mentioned the STR integrated, so did you have both the STR power amp and integrated amp home for your comparison sessions. If so, you dealer is being very generous, even if they have more than one demo of each.

 

[PENG]

However I still have $4300 to spare for my setup.
Everyone of you, are awesome and I value your imput.

I would suggest you spend $300 to get the Outlaw M2200 mono block for your center channel.

 

[Cjamrr]

When you said "much better", I thought you meant the sound quality. I thought so because we have been talking about AB comparison of the two to find out if you could hear a difference in sound quality, and we both know the STR has better build and specs already.

Another point for clarification, I thought you were comparing power amps, now you mentioned the STR integrated, so did you have both the STR power amp and integrated amp home for your comparison sessions. If so, you dealer is being very generous, even if they have more than one demo of each.

Yes. I had 3 Anthems. The MCA325, the STR poweramp and the STR Integrated in my house.
The Integrated i was ready to buy.
However, i would love the Athem STR preamp and the STR power amp for fronts and MCA325 for center and rear. Then problems solved. Except I would be in debt. So, 5 k won’t get me far in this hobby after paying for Focals.

 

[Cjamrr]

I would suggest you spend $300 to get the Outlaw M2200 mono block for your center channel.

Post 103, was when i brought the Integrated amp home, then i thought you were against that. So i felt the cone of shame. Lol. I will check out the outlaw m2200. I did like the SRT integrated amp from Anthem when i play into the darkness by star trek as well as the records playing. I still think about it.

 

[PENG]

Post 103, was when i brought the Integrated amp home, then i thought you were against that. So i felt the cone of shame. Lol. I will check out the outlaw m2200. I did like the SRT integrated amp from Anthem when i play into the darkness by star trek as well as the records playing. I still think about it.

Your Onkyo has the AK4490 DAC that is an ex flag ship, its prepro section looks good so imo you only need the power amp.

 

[lovinthehd]

But was it a level matched blind session?

Yes.

Earlier you said (For example the MCA325 would be louder than the STR when switched) which doesn't indicate you had level matching. You didn't know what amp was playing and later matched up guesses to what amp was playing? If not, not very "blind".

 

[Cjamrr]

Earlier you said (For example the MCA325 would be louder than the STR when switched) which doesn't indicate you had level matching. You didn't know what amp was playing and later matched up guesses to what amp was playing? If not, not very "blind".

Possible on the level matching not being done right. However the switch box we knew which was playing, not doing blind test.

 

[PENG]

and MCA325 for center and rear. Then problems solved. Except I would be in debt. So, 5 k won’t get me far in this hobby after paying for Focals.

It is an overkill to use the MCA amps for the rear surround channels. IMO, a waste of money that could be spent on things that count for the best possible sound quality. I do recommend the M2200, because for most movies, the center channel tend to get more contents than the L,R speakers. Not that the Onkyo is not powerful enough, but if you are giving the L/R such nice power amps such as the Carver, why short change the center? The Onkyo's internal amps are more than good enough for the rear channels, unless you sit very far from them.

Given what you have now, I think you can get the best value for 1) acquire high quality recordings, 2) source media player(s) that include turntables, disc players, digital players (external USB DAC, PC/laptop) etc., 3) surround speakers. That is assuming there isn't much you can do with the room. Other than that, I would play around with the Onkyo's REQ. I know how Audyssey works, but know nothing about Onkyo's, apparently the latest version have some good reviews.

 

[Cjamrr]

It is an overkill to use the MCA amps for the rear surround channels. IMO, a waste of money that could be spent on things that count for the best possible sound quality. I do recommend the M2200, because for most movies, the center channel tend to get more contents than the L,R speakers. Not that the Onkyo is not powerful enough, but if you are giving the L/R such nice power amps such as the Carver, why short change the center? The Onkyo's internal amps are more than good enough for the rear channels, unless you sit very far from them.

Given what you have now, I think you can get the best value for 1) acquire high quality recordings, 2) source media player(s) that include turntables, disc players, digital players (external USB DAC, PC/laptop) etc., 3) surround speakers. That is assuming there isn't much you can do with the room. Other than that, I would play around with the Onkyo's REQ. I know how Audyssey works, but know nothing about Onkyo's, apparently the latest version have some good reviews.

 

[Cjamrr]

The MCA would be a waste for center and rear channel, I like the idea of the M2200 for center.
I have to check out the EQ on onkyo, but I heard the microphone test does that for you. Tweaking the EQ in the Onkyo’s settings is a desired preference?

In a blind test, would the ATI AT6003 be the same as Anthem STR Amp?

 

[Cjamrr]

What is your opinion on Onkyo TX RZ 1100 and Schiit Saga passive/active remote preamp sharing the Carver amp with a RCA Amp Switchbox? Especially for using Schiit to run record player. Would I get purer sound this way?

 

[PENG]

The MCA would be a waste for center and rear channel, I like the idea of the M2200 for center.
I have to check out the EQ on onkyo, but I heard the microphone test does that for you. Tweaking the EQ in the Onkyo’s settings is a desired preference?

In a blind test, would the ATI AT6003 be the same as Anthem STR Amp?

I don't know how good AccuEQ is, if it is as good or better than Audyssey, you should run auto and try different crossover settings after.