The second harmonic at 40 kHz is now at 86 dB below 4 VRMS and the noise floor rises by 3 dB again. On the heels of Anthem’s well-regarded STR stereo integrated amp, the company has drilled further down the 2-channel rabbit hole with the introduction of these two new STR separates. Anthem suggests that you take your time and listen to your newly calibrated system to become attuned to how everything sounds, and it is wise advice to heed. And yes, these are completely run in the analog domain, so they still work when you push analog direct mode. The resulting sound was absolutely spectacular. I am in the military and have an assignment overseas and I don't want to just box this up in storage. Starting with a closer look at the STR preamp, the custom 4-inch TFT display allows access to various setup and feature menus, all of which are sensibly laid out and easy to navigate via the front panel buttons or included remote control. The preamp has an Ethernet port on the back panel which allows ARC to communicate with the STR preamp over your home network, this is particularly handy when the unit is a distance from the seating area. Basslines in some of my favorite hard rock songs now had tautness to their tone but would still create a palpable floor of sound that could rumble ferociously when called upon. I should also note that the Home Theater Bypass functionality can be used with any brand of home theater receiver or processor. Bought as a dealer demo about a month ago, plans have changed quickly. I’m talking about you Marantz with your silly little porthole scheme! 1 kHz 24/96 Sine Wave at 0 dBFS SPDIF-In XLR-Out, 4 VRMS. Unlike some room correction systems in other AVRs that downsample to 48 kHz, we can see here that the ARC implementation in the STR is indeed processing at 192 kHz. I connected the subwoofer outputs from the STR Preamplifier to the built-in subwoofers in the Triton Reference speakers. Krell is going through a whole reorganization and I am sure they will have new preamps that are more like the STR at some point, but for now their offering is sonically comparable but close to double the price and lacking in features. As you can see the AKM AK4456VN DAC of the STR preamp starts to exhibit trace levels of linearity error before it hits its noise floor at -140 dBFS. Benchmark audio tests were conducted on the RCA and XLR analog inputs and the SPDIF and USB digital inputs of the Anthem STR preamplifier. The quality construction continues on the inside of the STR preamp with well laid out board designs and neatly mounted components. 7: December 2020, A COLLECTION OF NEW VINYL FOR THE AUDIOPHILE: DECEMBER 2020, What We’re Listening To. At low volumes, I could easily make out all the dirty details. ARC room correction and complete bass management for a variety of installations. The second harmonic at 20 kHz is about 94 dB below 4 VRMS. It successfully takes all the essential analog and digital elements of a top-notch stereo front end and successfully mates them to the almost practical necessity of an advanced and flexible room correction system with proper bass management. Unlike with some higher end automatic room correction programs, setting up the Anthem STR was a breeze and took less than half an hour including all connections, installing the ARC software onto my laptop, and following the onscreen instructions as well as using the included microphone. After listening to those initial results, which were notably more linear but a little bass-shy for my tastes and also missing a little of the added presence in the vocal region, I experimented with a few changes that got the sound more to my liking. Things sounded good overall, but the bass was noticeably tamer than I wanted. Its exterior design and construction matches the quality and attention to detail of the STR preamp, just on a larger scale. Looking at the internals, it is a Class AB, dual mono design rated at 400, 600 and 800 (3 second burst) watts into 8, 4 and 2 ohms respectively, with both channels driven. My reference stereo preamp is a Parasound JC2BP with an Anthem AVM 60 in use on the home theater side of things. This helped make my BESL monitors sound as controlled and musical as I’ve ever heard them. While the STR Preamplifier still includes technology like up-sampling of lower-resolution sources, the STR Preamplifier has eclipsed the D2v 3D with features like MM and MC phono inputs, asynchronous USB supporting 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD 2.8/5.6 MHz sources, pre-RIAA curves, and stereo bass management. It became quite clear after repeated listening that the A/D conversion and processing that Anthem was employing in the STR was as transparent as I have yet come across in a digital component. ARC had effectively corrected the biggest problem area in the room (within its acoustic capability) and allowed me to extract the best performance possible out of an already stellar pair of speakers. In my case, I didn’t need an HDMI input on the STR Preamplifier because I could make use of the inputs on the Oppo UDP-205. Listening to the opening track “Baby I’m a Fool” through the STR duo and the Persona 7F speakers made for a heavenly combination. 1 kHz 24/192 at 0 dBFS XLR-In XLR-Out, A-D DSP On, 4 VRMS. Also, the internal DAC in the STR Preamp cannot decode MQA, which might miff some of the Tidal fans out there who are streaming HD music for $20 per month--many of which are MQA encoded. We see some distortion spurs throughout the spectrum. There is a dedicated pair of RCA inputs for both cartridge types. The first STR model is the subject of this review: the full-featured STR Integrated Amplifier ($4499 USD), now followed by the STR Preamplifier ($3999) and STR Power Amplifier ($5999). Dandy Hydraulic LP Cleaning Apparatus MKII, PreSonus Eris E3.5 Powered Speakers Review, Still Blown Away After All These Years: JBL Launches 75^th Anniversary Edition of L100 Loudspeaker. Listening to Elvis’ rendition of “Fever” in my studio with the Anthem STR components brought me that same feeling again. But to assuage said analog purists, the included RIAA EQ filters use such high-quality components that they achieve a +/- 0.1dB tolerance. The STR amp is about as good a 2-channel amplifier as you are likely to find for all practical purposes. I started by bringing ARC’s correction limit down to 300Hz. 800 watts @ 2 Ohms (3 seconds max. Competition and Comparison The revolutionary STR Preamplifier is a new type of audio component that gives you more control and more refinements, including more connection options and more advanced technology, in a single, easy-to-use component. Far too often, AV manufacturers choose to ignore an internal phono stage from their stereo preamps, be it for greed's sake (so they can sell you another black box) or perhaps for performance's sake. Where I once felt just a sense of bass coming from cellos and the lower octave stringed instruments, I now have this churning wave of bass floor that that adds so much more depth and dimension to the performance. Our magazine, which began with the publication of the SECRETS Primer, is available exclusively on-line and offers to our readers an extensive information resource about home theater and high-end audio. ANTHEM STR PREAMPLIFIER AND POWER AMPLIFIER SPECIFICATIONS. The STR amplifier had no trouble keeping up with the dynamics and volume swings regardless of the level I was listening to. Robert Kozel did a detailed walk through of how to use the ARC Mobile App in his review of Anthem’s AVM-60 processor. The overall build quality on both units is outstanding, with a solid weight, good material choices, and an appealing tactile feel to each component befitting of their elevated stature. The nuances of the female harmonies on the track “Time” from the Delicate Balance album “Driftwood” were noticeable. The monitors were crossed over to the subs at 80 Hz. Yes, technical specifications of the equipment we use have undoubtedly improved, but these advancements really are incremental at best. While Diana Krall has become one of the most often heard female vocalists when it comes to demo material at audio shows (for better or worse), I find Melody Gardot to be just as good, if not better, a musical gauge in this regard. I first cued up Nirvana's Nevermind (DGC Records) on CD. Still with vinyl lovers in mind, listening modes can be set to allow one to listen to those mono LPs on either the left, right, or both speakers in mono. Priced at $3,999, the Anthem STR stereo preamp isn't cheap by any measure, but considering that it includes Anthem Room Correction, a high-end internal 32-bit, DAC and the latest in analog preamp technology--as well as the coolest front faceplate complete with an TFT display for full control--it is uniquely positioned as a potential high-end audiophile value. For the money, a more state of the art A/D D/A solution. But after weeks of listening, that preconceived notion was put squarely out of its misery and I found myself preferring to listen to my vinyl with ARC engaged. On the digital side, the Anthem STR accepts most digital inputs except HDMI/ I2S. Everything else that fell above the ARC EQ cutoff sounded, subjectively, as close to identical between being in pure analog mode and converted to digital for processing. I can't imagine pushing this feature anywhere near its limits, but I like the flexibility nonetheless. It's also worth noting that with the STR Pro mated with the STR amplifier, I ran through my standard battery of high resolution audio tracks and IMD test samples and found no audible problems, which is a very good sign. The rear panel has both balanced and unbalanced inputs, a pair of robust 5-way binding posts per channel, a USB input for firmware updates, and a pair of trigger jacks with toggle switches to set their operation. Anthem STR Duo with Paradigm Persona 7F Speakers, Anthem STR Duo with BESL Monitors and Dual Subs. The unit comes in black or silver and can be matched to an Anthem STR power amp with the same finish starting at $5,999. I would have to say the price. Yes, it is not inexpensive, domestically designed and manufactured products like this almost never are, but it is a quality item and I imagine we will see more components like it arriving soon from other manufacturers. As I mentioned earlier, the STR preamp will accommodate practically any 2-channel speaker configuration that you can come up with, from a simple pair of monitors or towers to a pair of speakers and a pair of subwoofers (in either mono or stereo configuration). The Personas sounded good in this room already but now, any hint of boominess to the bass had been filtered out and yet there was still a tight and visceral impact to the bottom end. The monitors maintained the imaging and liveliness that I liked about their sound but now the subwoofers were more seamlessly integrated into the whole. Overall response is clean with two very minor harmonics at 2 and 3 kHz registering at 100 dB below 2 VRMS. A number of the tracks from the films prominently feature tympanis or bass drums being played with abandon. In real life, these sweeps would sound identical. Another alternative is to use the ARC Mobile App which is available for iOS and Android which allows you to run ARC from your smartphone. However, as a premium audiophile component, I would have expected Anthem to have picked from AKM’s higher level chips or ESS’s new Sabre chips. Repeating the test with the digital conversion on, THD+N becomes 0.005785%. As you’ve no doubt surmised, I really like these Anthem STR separates. It is also reassuring to know that the STR Preamplifier doesn’t have to be updated when the HDMI standard changes. Carlo currently lives in Granville, Ohio with his wife, two young sons and a pair of hyperactive dachshunds. The second harmonic at 20 kHz is now at 92 dB below 4 VRMS and the noise floor rises by 3 dB again. At 10 kHz into the XLR input, THD+N was 0.001135%. Any phono preamp must administer this EQ curve (or decompression, referring to the ZIP analogy) to any signal coming in from a turntable in order for the music to be reproduced correctly. And it doesn’t sound thick, noisy or overwrought, it sounds tight, tangible and right where I want it to be. ARC might not be Trinnov in terms of total room correction power. I was able to adjust the MC Phono input level a touch and raise the gain by a few dB to get a good, noise-free, overall playback level. The power amp seemingly has plenty of clean power to spare at any volume. Particularly noteworthy is that you can configure up to 30 separate inputs each with their own ARC profile, whether ARC is active or not, digital conversion of signal or pure analog throughput, speaker configuration/bass management, input and speaker levels, etc. As with the 24/96 test, converting the incoming analog signal to digital raises the overall noise floor by about 3 dB and actually improves the THD+N figure to 0.000566%. At no point did his voice sound unnatural or lacking at all. Today, Anthem is making waves in the stagnant pool of stereo preamps with its STR DAC-preamp. And the close mic-ing of Gilberto’s vocals came across in a beautifully detailed presentation. The clarity of Joao Gilberto’s acoustic guitar playing in the right channel along with Stan Getz’s saxophone coming from the left was as good as I’ve ever heard it, perhaps better in some respects. His backup singers, The Jordanaires, were imaged to the right and behind him, filling in the soundstage nicely but not overpowering the main man. Through that formative experience, Carlo developed and appreciation for good music, and for good sound reproduction. I don't see that the NAD M12 has any kind of room correction, however. As a self-contained solution on a preamp, this is outstanding performance. Great deals on Anthem Amplifiers & Preamps. The attacking bass performance on the track “Mars” was palpable and precise thanks to the Triton Reference and Anthem Room Correction on the STR Preamp. We repeat the same frequency response sweep but now with the incoming signal converted from analog to digital by the STR. Using the MM input and precise test tones generated by SpectraPLUS, I’ve plotted the left and right channel RIAA tracking response for the STR preamp’s phono section and overlaid them on the target plot. 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