What tier do you consider Anthem integrated?

Most sell in the $3-4k range depending on condition.  For future reference, you can go to hifishark.com and search for a component.  You can see a list of all that are currently for sale across several sites, but you can also click the tab that’ll show you all past listings for items that already sold that will give you a good reference for a real-world price range.

https://www.hifishark.com/search?q=nola+contender+3

take a look at Ayre used.....they are very supportive, and have sound that's midway between tube and solid state.  Even old Ayre stuff is excellent.

The Anthem STR takes a back seat to nothing mentioned in this thread.

Whoever said it was "sterile"....wow...

I’m an Anthem STR owner.  I can’t imagine you’d be disappointed in the purchase.  It does everything quite well and I think you’d be hard pressed at your budget to find anything better.  I’ve continued to shop/audition gear post-purchase and I’ve shrugged at the sound from some amps 2-3X the cost

Just placed an order for an STR combo. I too live in a stereo desert. As I have built my system through the years(around five or six) I would have tremendous anxiety over whether the new piece that I had purchased would be worth it. After going through this, several times, I realized that it was a worthless endeavor to worry whether it was gonna work or not . At this level pretty much anything you throw at the fire is going to make it go poof. at this point I have no doubt that the STR is going to be 1/4 of July fireworks display for me. I know this is an old thread just came across it as I am trying to read everything I can about the STR online. So I guess the question bags did you get the anthem and if you did, was it as thrilling of a ride as one could expect? Hey have fun enjoy listening