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 willland

Those Anthem Statement "A" amps are rock solid performers that should have an easy time driving your speakers.  The "A" series is not the flagship "P" series but still built with some serious quality parts.

Anthem is known for their low noise floor dead quiet presentation.

Tough call to switch but my experience with the lower Anthem MCA and PVA series has been more than stellar.

Bill