Hi Jeff,
I owned the Anthem amp1 for a while, and eventually sold it on audiogon. I wonder if it was mine you bought ( :
I am also quite familliar with Dynaudio speakers, as I own the S1.4
While I agree the Anthem amp is an excellent amp, it frankly is not suited for Dynaudio speakers. While it will work with them and give acceptable sound, you really are not getting the most with your speakers.
I'd be interested in hearing what SS amps you tried.
Dynaudio is kind of an interesting beast because you really have to get the components right for them to really shine, but when you do, they are incredible with their dynamics.
My experience has been tube preamp / SS poweramp really is the way to go with these. You really don't need to spend a lot of money, but the match does have to be there. You could pick up something like the Eastern Electric minimax preamp which is great and is a blessing with the dynaudios, along with the SS amp of your choice. I've used a CJ Sonographe 400 (200WPC) with them to great results. I bought the CJ here on the gon for something like $500. I switched to that amp directly from the Anthen amp1. I was using a Supratek Syrah as preamp at the time which is great but pricier. Swapping to the CJ brought out the dynamics of my dynaudios, and at first sounded like a lot of bass went away - but I realized that it actually just cleaned up the loose bass of the amp1. My overall enjoyment of listening to my stereo went up dramatically with this change, as the Dynaudios really do need a strong force to properly control the inefficient drivers.
So with that - I would recommend you at least try a tube preamp + SS amp combination. It would be an interesting experiment
I owned the Anthem amp1 for a while, and eventually sold it on audiogon. I wonder if it was mine you bought ( :
I am also quite familliar with Dynaudio speakers, as I own the S1.4
While I agree the Anthem amp is an excellent amp, it frankly is not suited for Dynaudio speakers. While it will work with them and give acceptable sound, you really are not getting the most with your speakers.
I'd be interested in hearing what SS amps you tried.
Dynaudio is kind of an interesting beast because you really have to get the components right for them to really shine, but when you do, they are incredible with their dynamics.
My experience has been tube preamp / SS poweramp really is the way to go with these. You really don't need to spend a lot of money, but the match does have to be there. You could pick up something like the Eastern Electric minimax preamp which is great and is a blessing with the dynaudios, along with the SS amp of your choice. I've used a CJ Sonographe 400 (200WPC) with them to great results. I bought the CJ here on the gon for something like $500. I switched to that amp directly from the Anthen amp1. I was using a Supratek Syrah as preamp at the time which is great but pricier. Swapping to the CJ brought out the dynamics of my dynaudios, and at first sounded like a lot of bass went away - but I realized that it actually just cleaned up the loose bass of the amp1. My overall enjoyment of listening to my stereo went up dramatically with this change, as the Dynaudios really do need a strong force to properly control the inefficient drivers.
So with that - I would recommend you at least try a tube preamp + SS amp combination. It would be an interesting experiment