Anthem Pre 1 Preamplifier
Howard Saltzman
I was wondering if anyone has heard the Anthem Pre 1 preamp from Sonic
Frontiers. I took a listen recently and was fairly impressed. But it
seemed to have a big bottom end to it's sound. It also wasn't as
clear as a Conrad-Johnson PV10 I had the opportunity to spend some
time with. The PV10 sound was definitely thinner, though. I'd
appreciate hearing about anyone else's experience with these two
preamps.
Thanks,
Howard
Robert Petriello~
Just recently bought an Anthem. Heard it on a chance visit to a local
shop. Tried it in my system and didn't want to return it. Last time a
pre-amp dropped my jaw on the floor like that was hearing the ARC
SP-11 in '87. It's not quite in that class, but for under $1500., a
remarkable achieve- ment. Replaced a more expensive piece with it that
the Anthem blew away in detail and sense of spaciousness in the
presentation. Never heard the PV10 so I can't comment. The Anthem
definitly has a full sound to it but I wouldn't describe the bottom as
bloated or overdone though. Lot's of great stuff happening at far more
reasonable prices lately. Check out the Audble Illusions Modulus 3A as
well. It's nice to see that some companies may be out to make a fair
profit for top performance and parts quality, seemingly without the
"whatever the market will bear/strictly rich boy toys" exclusivity
we've seen over the past 5 or so system.
YMMV but the Anthem sings the right song to my particular set of
preferences, in my particular system. FYI, that is:
VPI 19, ET II, Virtuoso Dti - analog front
Krell CD DSP w/Mk. II software - digital front
Magnum Dyna. FT-101a - wave front
Counterpoint SA-220 - power
ML Monolith II - landing gear
Tice PB/Titan - Texas 2 step, line dancing electrons :)
Robert Petriello
Sr. Design Engr. (Itty-Bitty Circuit Designer)
Intel Corp.
--
Intel, Corp.
5000 W. Chandler Blvd.
Chandler, AZ 85226
bell...@aol.com
Have had the Anthem is my system for about six months. It's not going
anywhere. I rolled NOS tubes into the line stage (RCA/Mullard) in
place of the stock Sovteks with great success. In fact, my dealer
tells me switching the outboard power supply rectifier tube with a NOS
RCA or Philips widens the sound stage considerably (have not tried
this yet, though...)
If you like vinyl and digital sources (like me), I think the Anthem is
hard to beat. The phono stage is excellent. As mentioned earlier,
the Anthem, Audible Illusions, or Melos pre-amps on the market in this
price range are all hard to beat in any class (IMHO.)
~Mike Beller
bell...@aol.com
Jiahua Lu
In article <56qcv6$e...@agate.berkeley.edu>, bell...@aol.com says...
Well, we all know that Anthem, M3A and Melos are very good performers,
but has anyone done direct comparison between the three? In their ad
Anthem seems to stress the point that it offers more equipment for the
money than Modulus. But if Anthem offers both MC/MM and better sound
and at a significantly lower price, why is Audible Illusions still in
business? I'd most interested to hear any comparison between these two
units.
Jiahua Lu
jiah...@princeton.edu
Mark Perlman
jiah...@Princeton.EDU (Jiahua Lu) wrote:
>Well, we all know that Anthem, M3A and Melos are very good performers,
>but has anyone done direct comparison between the three? In their ad
>Anthem seems to stress the point that it offers more equipment for the
>money than Modulus. But if Anthem offers both MC/MM and better sound
>and at a significantly lower price, why is Audible Illusions still in
>business?
Why might a lesser product win over a superior competitor? Why does
every video store in the country carry VHS when Beta was better?
Quality doesn't always win - sometimes marketing and name recognition
and good press wins. And sometimes it is just a fluke that people
like one brand better than another. These things aren't always
rational.
Mark Perlman
per...@imap2.asu.edu
bell...@aol.com
jiah...@Princeton.EDU (Jiahua Lu) writes:
> Well, we all know that Anthem, M3A and Melos are very good
> performers, but has anyone done direct comparison between the three?
> In their ad Anthem seems to stress the point that it offers more
> equipment for the money than Modulus. But if Anthem offers both
> MC/MM and better sound and at a significantly lower price, why is
> Audible Illusions still in business?
Audible Illusions is a good product, as is the Anthem. Thank goodness
there is room in the audio market (or most markets for that matter) to
have more that one quality product in a category and price range. I
own the Anthem. I love it. It has the features and price I was
looking for in a preamp. I listened to the AI unit. Thought it was
good. Liked the Anthem better. But as they say, "better sound" is in
the ears of the beholder...
--
Mike Beller
bell...@aol.com
Kevin Deal /UPSCALEaudio/
In article <575a7q$a...@canyon.sr.hp.com>, Mark Perlman
<per...@asu.edu> wrote:
> jiah...@Princeton.EDU (Jiahua Lu) wrote:
>> Well, we all know that Anthem, M3A and Melos are very good performers,
>> but has anyone done direct comparison between the three? In their ad
>> Anthem seems to stress the point that it offers more equipment for the
>> money than Modulus. But if Anthem offers both MC/MM and better sound
>> and at a significantly lower price, why is Audible Illusions still in
>> business?
> Why might a lesser product win over a superior competitor? Why does
> every video store in the country carry VHS when Beta was better?
>
> Quality doesn't always win - sometimes marketing and name recognition
> and good press wins. And sometimes it is just a fluke that people
> like one brand better than another. These things aren't always
> rational.
Depends on where they are winning. A rather large market today is in
Asia, where they are going through a hi-fi craze similar to the
U.S. in the late 70's early 80's. Hi-End is big. And the products
they purchase or what is "hot" doesn't always reflect the Stereophile
Recommended Components list.
Which is a good thing. Think about the great stuff never to see that
list because it's not reveiewed. Aranov, The Presence Line Stage, the
list goes on. I think customers, in their fear of making a mistake
and not trusting their own ears and dealer, depend on "The List" too
much. But who can blame them. It's not just performance they look
at, but prestige of owning the flavor of the month.
A tube customer in Hong Kong told me that in his country the Anthem
Pre-1 is considered a "refined Mac C-22". Quite a complement. I'm
sure there are other products made in the UK and other countries that
they consider top notch that we don't see here.
--
Kevin Deal
UPSCALE Audio