I have had a Krell KAV300i integrated for 21 years without a problem. And I have had a Anthem 225 for over ten years. They both sound really good to me.
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I've never heard Krell either but they seem to need maintenance after 10+ years so I would stay away from a used one. |
steve59-
Thanks! for sharing. The Anthem 225/225i is special indeed. The more modern Krell is the Vanguard. it is on my list to demo as well. I have never heard any Krell amp- I own Thiel loudspeakers. These babies crave high current. Keep me posted on your buying decisions.
Feel free to give a shout -out for your local dealer/retailer. Happy Listening!
Happy Holidays & Season's Greetings
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been living with the Anthem 225 for nearly 2 years now and am actively looking for comparisons to the parasound halo int, I have a pair of revel f52 in my listening room for nearly as long and the anthem has plenty of clean power but is dry paired with the revels and I know from experience system matching matters, my kav 300 il made hard sounding speakers musical and I would love a modern/new version of that integrated. I think the 225I is smart money and better sounding than much of the stuff out there powerful enough to drive anything but definitely solid state. |
I own the Anthem and like it. However I'm curious about other gear like Exposure, Simaudio, etc. My previous setup was a Sonic Frontiers Line 1 preamp and Monarchy mono block amplifiers. With that said, I like the simplicity of an integrated and will probably stay the course.
Oh well, something to look forward to! |
I tried an Anthem and really wanted to like it but felt it was kind of dry sounding Had an Exposure 210S2 next to it and i would have sworn the Exposure was the bigger amp Just more alive and sounding more like live music. |
I hear ya (no pun) Gary.
Yes, I have spent much time w/ both the Rega & Anthem.
In short, the Anthem offers much more power and much more
current. It is powerful enough to drive Thiel (my reference)
loudspeakers to concert levels.
The Rega is much less powerful in this regard. It should be utilized in a smaller system that will not be driven to concert spl.
Keep me posted and Happy Listening! |
Did you ever listen to the Anthem? I'd be interested In the difference you noticed between the Rega and Anthem.
No brick and mortar shops around me... I live vicariously through others!
Best,
Gary |
Thanks for resurrecting my thread; my journey took me to a Rega Elicit-R integrated and not the Anthem. Now...I'm about to upgrade the Rega, searching for an amp with more power.
Currently looking at Parasound's new Halo integrated, along with amps from Wyred4Sound and Bel Canto.
J |
The 225 is from Anthem's entry level line up. I had their entry level TLP-1 pre and found it veiled and underwhelming. I'm not sure if the pre amp section is the same as the TLP's was, but you can certainly do a lot better. |
Hi, maybe too late but I own the Anthem 225i. I find it sounds great with plenty of power. I'm not an expert with tubes vs ss, but it gives me everything I want.
I went from a tubed preamp and ss amp, and the Anthem is plenty transparent to my ears. I don't find it harsh or edgy. I use it with tone controls bypassed. Sounded great with Usher, Sonus Faber, and Silverline Minuets.
Hope this helps.
Gary |
I've seen the Anthem get labeled as "tube-like." Has that been yours (or any other owners) experience with this unit? |
I will chime in here-
last year spent some time w/ the Anthem 225. It has both high power & high current -enough to drive (t perfection) the Thiel C 2.7 and CS 3.7 models. This is not an easy feat, as Thiel, craves high power + high current from its power source. I was impressed to say he very least. I am a separates guy, but, I could easiy live w/ the Anthem- my highest suggestion. Happy Listening! =JA |
this thread is ancient but i'll respond. A local hiifi shop that sells Klipsh, paragigm, and revel loudspeakers uses the anthem 225 in their hi end room swearing that it drives their most difficult speakers (revel) with ease. I auditioned the F 208 and F32 at the store, I was able to enjoy the music and asked to take the anthem demo home to see how it likes my system. I bought a new unit after the home demo It replaced my Krell kav300il that couldn't stay out of the shop. You can biamp the anthem and they say in the brief you can even use y splitters on the pre outs, The unit doesn't have a tape loop though so an active crossover is going to relegate the I225 to pre only and there are probably better pre only for the same money. I prefered the sound of the krells mid and treble smoothness, the Anthem can be harsh, but, it is getting better as it breaks in. My kef 105/3 sounded stunning, my 107/2 a little shrill and usually the 107 is the more forgiving speaker. Anthem makes an A2 seperate amp that should mate perfectly if you go this way. |
