Anthem A5 enough to drive B&W 804D3 fronts and HTM1D3 Center?


I bought a Parasound A31 (250w/channel) and, while I love the sound, I can hear hiss up to 2 feet away. I’ve troubleshot extensively, and Parasound tells me that it’s just the noise floor (112db) of the amp.

My dealer has offered me a trade to an Anthem unit, so I’m looking at the A5 (noise floor 120db). But I’m worried that it’s "only" 225w/channel into one channel and 180w/channel into all channels. That seems like it might be enough for the fronts (which are rated at 50-200w), but the Center is rated up to 500w.  The other big disadvantage is that the Anthem has roughly HALF the capacitance per channel as the Parasound. There is no opportunity for me to hear before purchasing because they do not stock Anthem locally.

The alternative is to stick with the A31 and deal with the hiss given that I should never hear it from my couch 8 feet away. I’ve asked a similar question on another forum, but I wanted to make sure I ask here too just in case someone brings up something that I did not consider.


isaywhateveryo

Showing 1 response by mallen123

I also have the Triton and Typhon combo in my tube horn set up.  
I upgraded my outlets to porter ports which made also made a difference. 

While the Triton/Typhon are great for  lowering noise floor and removing grunge, it won't fix noise generated by the amp.   I have 107DB speakers and can pick up a very small amount of 60hz hum generated from the 60 watt Nagra VPA amps.   This would most likely never be heard from 85 to 90db speakers  that the Nagras were designed for in the early 2000s. 

It's noticeable at 2 ft, but not at my 12 ft listening position.  I of course tried all the usual tricks like cheater plugs, and thought that the ground terminals on the Trident would help, but the noise always remained.   I I've had other amps that were dead quiet, but so far the Nagra had the best sound quality overall, so I live with the fact that there is audible very low level hum at 2 ft that i can't hear from my listening position.


If Parasound is correct and the hiss  is the noise floor of the amps, then it's unlikely you will be able to get rid of it with external power filtering.