I won't comment on Bryston or Rotel as I haven't heard them enough to give you an informed opinion.
The Anthem amplifiers...I have listened to the MCA 20 quite a bit..Very good amp. Seems well built. Good solid sound...would take care of most any speakers, in my opinion.
The TLP-1, however, was a nightmare for ME. I went through 5 of them before giving up. They seem to have SO much promise. Cool, USEFUL features, and a nicely balanced sound. However, in my case (and I am NOT speaking for anyone else) each unit I had exhibited a rather unpleasant problem...the headphone jacks simply sucked. I had a pair of Grado headphones, and on ANY song with bass it would distort and crackle...I'm not talking about cranking it and it would distort. At ANY volume level. This is a problem they became aware of, and perhaps by now they have fixed it. BUT...if you decide to demo one, audition it with some headphones as well...I used Grado's, Senns and AKGs and they all showed the problem.
Also, on mine, the processors never performed the way they were supposed to. Glitchy and kind of unreliable.
Keep in mind that this was 2005/2006. If they have properly addressed these issues, it WOULD be a very nice preamp, but if not....I would shy away. Stick with the power amp. I really liked the MCA-20
The Anthem amplifiers...I have listened to the MCA 20 quite a bit..Very good amp. Seems well built. Good solid sound...would take care of most any speakers, in my opinion.
The TLP-1, however, was a nightmare for ME. I went through 5 of them before giving up. They seem to have SO much promise. Cool, USEFUL features, and a nicely balanced sound. However, in my case (and I am NOT speaking for anyone else) each unit I had exhibited a rather unpleasant problem...the headphone jacks simply sucked. I had a pair of Grado headphones, and on ANY song with bass it would distort and crackle...I'm not talking about cranking it and it would distort. At ANY volume level. This is a problem they became aware of, and perhaps by now they have fixed it. BUT...if you decide to demo one, audition it with some headphones as well...I used Grado's, Senns and AKGs and they all showed the problem.
Also, on mine, the processors never performed the way they were supposed to. Glitchy and kind of unreliable.
Keep in mind that this was 2005/2006. If they have properly addressed these issues, it WOULD be a very nice preamp, but if not....I would shy away. Stick with the power amp. I really liked the MCA-20