Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Any and all comments welcome on amp selection...

I agree that the problem may be with the dealer regarding the Anthem. I had a minor problem with my AVM20 and I called Anthem direct. They sent a new unit to my dealer and switched mine out with no down time for me at all. Hard to beat the AVM20.
gthomas

Sushi,
it is hard to believe that any manufacturer would purposely under-spec their amp, but I guess in a way that's what companies like NAD, Rotel, etc. do. Their equipment consistently overperforms their own rated specs. Some people have said that they lower their 8ohm rating because too many consumers have caught on to the 'double-down' spec on amps and it has become an important buying factor. In that way it's kind of like THD where manufacturers figured everyone was paying attention to those #s and started to fudge them as well. Again, I'm not sure whether I believe that companies would underate their amps @8ohms, but anything is possible.

As far as actual output, I read the review from Sound&Vision and they tested output on the Sherbourn at 253Watts 8ohm and 381Watts 4ohm before clipping (this was one channel driven). And as you stated, output wouldn't be a whole lot different with all channels driven due to the monoblock design. So it definitely doesn't double-down, but does perform better than Sherbourn states.

So after all that, I'm still kind of torn. Despite all this rambling, I am new at this, so if anyone sees anything I've said to be wrong, please correct me. And please feel free to help out with any info or listening they've done with either of these amps.

Keep 'er coming, thanks in advance
Scott

In reply to:

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I read the review from Sound&Vision and they tested output on the Sherbourn at 253Watts 8ohm and 381Watts 4ohm before clipping (this was one channel driven).

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That's actually excellent. Do you have corresponding third-party measurements for the Anthem? Despite my comments in this particular thread, I usually take the manufacturer's numbers for no more than "informational" purposes anyway.

I am not saying that the linear increase in power with decreasing load impedance is a "must" by any means. But as you know, some expensive brands, such as Krell, certainly achieve it, sometimes even down to 2 ohms. Since you are paying a good chunk of $$$ for a separate power amp (even though these may be "entry-level" separates), you are entitled to examine every bit of performance ratings.

I've A/B'd an Anthem MCA 3 versus an Arcam P85/3. The Anthem disappointed me. I've also heard a Sherbourn A/B'd with a Rotel amp, and thought they were both excellent.

I would say this...if it's strictly the money issue, wait until you can afford the Sherbourn. You'll do nothing but spend hour after hour listening to the Anthem wondering how much better your system would sound with the Sherbourn, and end up spending far more money in total ugrading your amp a second time. It's called Upgraditis, and $1000 is peanuts compared to how much the illness can ultimately cost you.

Unfortunately Sushi, in all the reviews I sifted through on Anthem's website, not one independently tested the MCA 5's output (pretty shoddy reviewing in my books). Fortunately, S.F. does seem to be pretty forthcoming about their specs. For example, they do publish output for all channels driven - 170watts @ 8ohm all channels driven vs. 200watts @ 8ohm 1channel driven. Maybe a call to S.F. is in order.

FHW, you do make a good point that not buying the Sherbourn may lead to a wicked case of upgraditis (or buyer's remorse whatever you want to call it). I'm pretty good at not falling for that though and I think I'd be happy with either amp. I just want to make sure I end up with the right one for my setup. As you said, saving $1000 could end up costing me more down the road. I just need to figure out whether the cost/performance ration justifies the extra G-note.

I always take salespeople's comment with a grain of salt unless you have a longer working relationship with them.
The 9B SST has lower power ratings than the Sherbourn and can't be compared. All Bryston are monoblock designs like Sherbourn. I have a 16 year old 4B 2 x 250w, 20 year old 3B 2 x 125w, 19 year old 2B 2 x 60w and they all sing better, with detail and soundstage than my 2 year old Rotel RSX-1065 5 x 100w.
In the end go with most power you an afford(your comfort factor). Amps are something you will be keeping for sometime(Or so you hope).

I certainly agree Saturn. I will talk to Sonic Frontiers and post the info I get.

Well, I didn't find out anything ground-breaking. I talked to a tech at S.F. and they said they're rated specs are pretty accurate. So I figured I wouldn't get any good independent info on the MCA 5. No big deal, so I made the phone call and bought the Sherbourn. It's should be delivered on Friday, so I'm pretty damn excited!!!

I just wish I'd had an actual opportunity to A/B them. I'm sure I'll be very happy with the Sherbourn, I just would have loved to give them both a workout. I'll post my impressions of the beast when I get it home (I may be on workers comp for a while after straining my back trying to lift it - 100lbs - that's crazy!)

Thanks again everyone for your continued help and being patient with someone who's a lot less knowledgeable than he'd like to think he is!