Anthem Statement A2 Power Amp


I am contemplating the Anthem Statement A2 power amp. Reviews of the amp are scarce and dealers around me do not have it handy for audition. This model seems to be around for more than a decade without any refresh from Anthem.  Any views or feedback on the Anthem A2?

ct221933
What amplifier are you coming from?  What kind of sound are you trying to get?
Currently I have a 22 year old Hafler 9303 power amp, with a Rotel RC-1570 pre-amp and speakers are Paradigm Prestige 75F. My source is a Cambridge Audio CD player. As you can see, I upgraded all my equipment in the last 3 years except the power amp. Hard to describe what kind of sound I am after....I have a vast jazz CD collection (standards and fusion) and listen occassionally to Latin music.

The amp has to fit inside a cabinet that is 15 inches deep. (lots of room above and to the sides). That's why the Anthem A2 (13.7 inches depth) made my list of amps. 

I really asked so that others know what you are working with.  I don't have direct experience with Anthem, but I can give you my thoughts.

The Anthem products have been stated as being excellent products.  Reading a lot, the Anthem A2 tends to be towards very transparent and clean (as well as their other preamp style products). 

Your Cambridge is engineered to be very transparent/clean/revealing.  The Rotel is also more of a transparent/clean signature (to the point that several people do not like Rotel because it is too "bright").  When you combine these two with the Anthem A2 amp, you will have a lot of detail and transparency and attack.  However, I think there may be a slight possibility that it will be too bright/harsh.

Another amp you could look at that is in the same budget range is the Parasound A21.  I have seen it written that it is not as transparent as the Anthem, but I think it may "sing" better in your situation due to its high bias into Class A.  I think it will fill out the body of midrange and midbass better than the Anthem and the sound will be smoother / less harsh (not that I'm saying the Anthem is harsh at all).  The Parasound has a significantly beefier power supply (it's 60 lbs compared to the 32 lbs Anthem). The Anthem A2 looks to be just an A5 with only 2 amp boards and a trimmed down power supply.

Yeah, sorry. I totally missed your restricted space requirements.  The smaller Parasound A23 is 13-1/4" deep.  It's less power and less refined than A21, but keeps the Parasound sonic signature.