I was using a 50 watt triode Cary V12i amp with a pair of Spendor 1/2e speakers that are 88db efficient. However, I was using an active preamp with 12db of gain. I did not have the volume control issues you had and 50 watts seemed to make the amp work a bit harder, but the sound was wonderful so I kept with it for a while.
However, I was still a bit curious as to what more power could do with my speakers, or less power could do with more efficient speakers. I tried the Cary in ultalinear mode (100 watts) but was not that impressed. So I decided to experiment some more and while I am very high on Cary products, I made the decision that if something had to go it would be the amp and not the speakers. While I heard many efficient speakers with excellent sound, I came to the comclusion that the Spendors are the constant in my system.
So I decided to try a 225 watt solid state amp with the same speakers. Well the difference was amazing. The amp seemed to be able to drive the speakers effortlessly and they sounded much more dynamic.
In your case solid state may not be an option, but there are higher powered tube amps (mainly push-pull configuration) and hybrids that should work nicely with your speakers and passive preamp. Also, the biamping option could be your answer as well, especially if you decide that you want to keep the Anthems. An active preamp will add more gain, which will probably solve the issue with the volume control to some extent, but not necessarily improve the sound significantly.
However, I was still a bit curious as to what more power could do with my speakers, or less power could do with more efficient speakers. I tried the Cary in ultalinear mode (100 watts) but was not that impressed. So I decided to experiment some more and while I am very high on Cary products, I made the decision that if something had to go it would be the amp and not the speakers. While I heard many efficient speakers with excellent sound, I came to the comclusion that the Spendors are the constant in my system.
So I decided to try a 225 watt solid state amp with the same speakers. Well the difference was amazing. The amp seemed to be able to drive the speakers effortlessly and they sounded much more dynamic.
In your case solid state may not be an option, but there are higher powered tube amps (mainly push-pull configuration) and hybrids that should work nicely with your speakers and passive preamp. Also, the biamping option could be your answer as well, especially if you decide that you want to keep the Anthems. An active preamp will add more gain, which will probably solve the issue with the volume control to some extent, but not necessarily improve the sound significantly.