Anthem STR or Lyngdorf TDAI 2170?

@yyzsantabarbara : You asked about XLR cables. I use cables made for me by a pro audio shop (Pro Audio LA) from Neutrik XLR connectors and Mogami W2549 cabling. In a single-blind test, they sounded considerably more neutral to me and to 4 experienced listeners than a boutique brand costing about $2200.

Power amp is the Bryston 4B3, which I have owned for a little while. If starting fresh, I would give the matching STR power amp a try, to see if there was any special synergy when pairing Anthem equipment.

P.S. I don't know if using the pre section of the STR integrated will give you results equivalent to the STR Preamp itself. I would hope that, given the small cost delta, the STR Pre is better.

@caphill : I agree about making the room as good as possible and doing without DSP if possible. Unfortunately, not every room can give good results without it. The space may be too lossy, not lossy enough,  too small, too poorly proportioned, and so on. In such cases, DSP can improve overall realism considerably, in my experience.

I was speaking with an experienced audiophile who has been playing with the Anthem STR preamp for the last few months. I asked if he had an opinion on the Lyngdorf 3400, Anthem STR pre, and the Linn Selekt DSM with respect to room correction. His answer surprised me in that he told me to have a look at the Dirac system found in miniDSP SHD.

Don’t forget to include the miniDSP SHD preamp. It does essentially everything the STR does with Dirac Live (which I use) instead of ARC.

I am going to take some time to check this out since in a perfect world I would buy a preamp to match the amp I want to get. The following product seems to fit that purpose,

https://www.minidsp.com/products/dirac-series/product-line-summary

Another DSP system that came to my attention as I was looking into the miniDSP is some software from Europe called Acourate, https://www.audiovero.de/en/acourate.php

Supposed to be extremely powerful but maybe difficult to use.

@mike_in_nc Thanks for the XLR info. I am definitely going to go with something like you use and have a very long interconnect to hide my components far from the speakers.

@keoliphant I did not have a good demo with the Yamaha because the room was a nightmare. However, I heard enough to make it the speaker I will get. I wrote something about the demo experience on the NS5000 thread I started in 2017.

@yyzsantabarbara : I also have a miniDSP SHD, and it is a tremendous unit. Since I have them in very different systems (STR Preamp in high-end system, SHD in TV system), I can’t compare sound quality directly. But here are a few things to look at:

Anthem STR pluses:

• Computing at 192 kHz (vs 96 kHz)
  
• Tone, balance, sub level controls (none on SHD)
  
• Bigger display
• Simpler setup and correction (done through network - no need to connect computer or mic to STR directly)
• Better user interface
• Phonostage (MM and MC)

miniDSP SHD pluses:

• Includes a streamer (renderer)
  
• Lower price -- an incredible bargain
  
• Dirac is somewhat more flexible than ARC in setting target curves
  
• Mic can be recalibrated by 3d party if you want

Good luck with the decision!

P.S. the SHD is miniDSP’s latest, so may be better than some of their other solutions? ALSO, I have looked into Acourate for years. My conclusion was, it was far too complicated for me. Others say it gives the best results, which I suppose it may well do. The developer is a perfectionist and extremely knowledgeable. However, the documentation is not easy, and setting it up is complex. Well, you will examine it and decide for yourself.