denon pre / anthem amp ???

I visited Genisis Audio saturday to check out projectors, and ended up listening to a pair of Focal JM Lab Chorus S series (714 I think) on an Anthem PVA 2 (with an anthem pre and anthem cd player)...
It was incredible how much better the speakers sounded than my Chorus 716 S on my Denon AVR 2805...

I was curious, if I happened to use the Denon AVR 2805 only as a preamp, and purchase an Anthem amp, would the Denon perform well as a preamp?

On another note, the salesman also spoke about the MCA series amps which are a bit higher power than the PVA series amps. Should I consider this higher power series, or is that a bit too much for the Focal JM Lab Chorus S 716's?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

Going seperate and putting more power for your speakers would make them sound better. But personally, I feel Anthem amp is too good for your Denon 2805 pre-out. Why don't you start with some good valued brand like NAD, Adcom and Rotel?

Thanks for the input.
I would like (sometime in the future) get an anthem preamp as well... but seeing as their cheapest is around $3k, I'll be waiting a wile for this purchase...
I figured it best to not take a half step, and if I go with an amp, go with one I would want to keep for a wile...
if, with the denon as the preamp, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an anthem, and a NAD, Adcom, or Rotel, then perhaps I shall price these amps too...

thanks,
Mike

Mike, the Anthem amps are nice, especially for the money. If you went MCA it would not hurt your speakers as long as you don't over drive them. It's better to have more power to a speaker than not enough. You will gain some improvement with the better amp but it will be limited by the Denon's preamp. Since, in my opinion, the Anthem sounds better than either NAD or Adcom, you would gain more of an improvement in sound by using the Anthem. They aren't that much more expensive than those two either.

You should ask the store if you could do an in home audition. This would be the best way for you to tell if it's going to be worth the expense for you.

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Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

Mike, the Anthem amps are nice, especially for the money. If you went MCA it would not hurt your speakers as long as you don't over drive them. It's better to have more power to a speaker than not enough. You will gain some improvement with the better amp but it will be limited by the Denon's preamp. Since, in my opinion, the Anthem sounds better than either NAD or Adcom, you would gain more of an improvement in sound by using the Anthem. They aren't that much more expensive than those two either.

You should ask the store if you could do an in home audition. This would be the best way for you to tell if it's going to be worth the expense for you.

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I agree with you, Mr. P, and not with minye. I haven't experience with Anthem, but I suspect NAD, Adcom, or Rotel would be a mininal improvement over the Denom itself, (maybe a little "different" but not likely "better"). If Rock789's budget stretches to a better amp, he should go for it -- later he can go for an Anthem prepro if his budget is up to it. It's a generalization, but preamps make less of a difference than power amps.

Used equipment is always an option. That is, one might buy used, say Adcom, commonly available for attractive prices on eBay, then sell it later for close to the same price.

And I agree too that you cannot "overpower" a speaker at normal listening levels.

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Originally Posted by Rock789

Thanks for the input.
I would like (sometime in the future) get an anthem preamp as well... but seeing as their cheapest is around $3k, I'll be waiting a wile for this purchase...
I figured it best to not take a half step, and if I go with an amp, go with one I would want to keep for a wile...
if, with the denon as the preamp, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an anthem, and a NAD, Adcom, or Rotel, then perhaps I shall price these amps too...

thanks,Mike

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Not terribly familiar with Amthem pre-amp for 3 K but it can't be better that much better than a host of competive pre-amps at around 2K, solid state and tube.

I believe Mike was referring to Anthem's preamp processor. This is a very compotent preamp that is loaded with features, including a dedicated headphone amp section. I know this isn't apples and apples but I heard the Anthem set up driving Paradigms and a Mac system at the same store and I would have taken the Anthem with out a second thought and for much less money. But there could have been set up variables between the two systems that could account for the difference. However, what the Anthem did, it did very well.

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Originally Posted by Rock789

I visited Genisis Audio saturday to check out projectors, and ended up listening to a pair of Focal JM Lab Chorus S series (714 I think) on an Anthem PVA 2 (with an anthem pre and anthem cd player)...
It was incredible how much better the speakers sounded than my Chorus 716 S on my Denon AVR 2805...

I was curious, if I happened to use the Denon AVR 2805 only as a preamp, and purchase an Anthem amp, would the Denon perform well as a preamp?

On another note, the salesman also spoke about the MCA series amps which are a bit higher power than the PVA series amps. Should I consider this higher power series, or is that a bit too much for the Focal JM Lab Chorus S 716's?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

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I know this is nutty but ya think the difference could have been the use of different rooms and speakers???

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Originally Posted by 46minaudio

I know this is nutty but ya think the difference could have been the use of different rooms and speakers???

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the room, yes... the room was much smaller than my living room...
the speaker, not so much...
I auditioned the 714, 716, and 726 prior to purchasing my 716S...
when I auditioned, the 714 lacked dynamics in the lower mids and upper bass where the 716 and 726 sounded very nice...
although the 726 had more bass, they seemed to be a bit muddy in the lower mids...
reason I went with the Chorus 716 S...

I do not recall what was driving these speakers (some sort of intergrated amp), but it was an A/B/C/... comparrison (with several other speakers)

while listening to the 714S just a month or so ago on the anthem components... the 714S was much more dynamic in all frequencies (low, mid, hi) than my 716S on the denon receiver...

Rock: I will be doing much the same as you. I have just purchased Anthem's PVA7 and will be using my Yamaha RXV-2200 as the preamp until I get the courage to purchase Anthem's AVM50 pre/pro. Although, I am still waiting for the PVA to arrive, I am hoping it makes a substantial difference in my current sound which uses only the Yamaha for power and which I am quite disappointed in. Besides using it to watch movies, I also listen to a fair bit of music so that end of things is important to me also. I use Paradigm's v3.0 Studio 60's and CC-470 up front with mini monitors as my rear/surrounds, but when listening to music, I prefer to only use 2 ch stereo. My sub is the Paradigm Seismic 10. Currently, I find the sound to be very "muddy" on certain music and the imaging is not that great and almost has a thin or non-dynamic sound. Hopefully the new amp will correct these issues. I am comparing it with my upstairs stereo which consists of a Rotel RB-1080 Power amp/ RC-1070 pre/ Arcam 7se CD and B&W matrix 804 speakers. The sound on this system is absolutely fantastic and the downstairs system doesn't even come close, so I am hoping that the addition of the Anthem Power Amp into my downstairs system will bring it more on par with my upstairs system.

Comments or thoughts from others would be appreciated also. Any suggestion on what is best component to upgrade to improve sound?

I believe the power will help some but don't expect miracles. Most here tend to disagree but your real improvement will come when you finally upgrade your preamp section. The Anthem will be limited by the Yamaha's ability.

Mark E, (cool, my brother's name is Mark, and our last name is Elliott ;o)
anyway...

I got the PVA7... and it did make an improvement in the lows, and highs, but the mids are about the same...
just for testing, I used the 2ch analog out's from my marantz sacd player, put them into an old B&K preamp, then took that to my PVA7, and wow was it night and day! still not up there with the anthem preamp, but it was worlds better than the denon as a preamp...

so I 2nd MrPeabody's advice, and would say, it is a half step in the right direction when you can't afford everything at once...

fyi... I also tried my rear speakers with the B&K, and was very supprised how nice the 706S speakers sounded! Infact, the 706S's with the B&K pre/ anthem amp sounded better than the 716S's with the Denon pre/anthem amp...

Update: I received my PVA7 and was so amazed with the difference it made in the sound I've ordered the AVM50 and Oppos 970HD. Should be in next week.

cool dude!
I don't have the guts to order the AVM yet... maybe after christmas ;o)
glad it was a good turnout for ya :cornut:

I haven't heard the AVM-50 yet, but it is as good as the 20 was, you will be one happy camper. I'm happy for you!

thanks for the input everyone,
I too just ordered an AVM 50