decware zen se84cs or anthem int 2

Thomas
I have an Anthem Integrated @ that I am looking to sell. I am selling due to a purchase of speakers that are not very efficient and a need of greater power. I always enjoyed the sound of the Anthem. It has good bottom end, warm mids, and "I could listen for hours" highs. The Anthem also includes a SSP loop for future integration into a HT system. Some have even used the pre amp outs looped back into the SSP for a more robust sound. Plus, you can always change the tubes in the pre-amp section to better tailor the sound to match other components. I used both Marantz and Sonic Frontiers CD players and had good results with both. If you are interested in this amp let me know I'm not asking that much. If you want more information on the Anthem there is a review at www.soundstage.com I do not have any experience with the other amp you listed. So I can not commet.

I tried out an older version (perhaps one of the first as the chassis was not even painted) of the Decware amp with a pair of Klipch Chorus II speakers and it was very musical and 3d sounding. More so than any vintage push/pull tube amp that I have owned which include Eico, Dynaco and McIntosh amps. The Decware should be fine with your speakers, however the one that I played with really showed up faults in the down stream equipment to the point where I hauled my better front end components to a neighbor's to complete the audition. I assume that the later models may be even more revealing, but maybe not. I also get the impression that typical tube life is not super long (perhaps a year under normal listening conditions). This impression comes from both web feedback and a query that I sent to Steve Deckart himself. On the plus side the replacement tubes are "very" inexpensive so I am just saying that you will have to maintain the tubes a little more but the overall expense should be very very low (a little more work and a lot less money). I have not listened to the Anthem amps, so no comment there. I consdidered the Decware amp myself, but went with a more powerful 300b amp instead because I do not own super high efficiency speakers. You the other hand are already half way there and all that it will cost you to demo the amp is the shipping (and the purchase price up front of course) unless there is a restocking fee involved. There has been a lot of "muck" in regard to the power output rating of the Decware amp by white paper "scholars" at another site, but the power rating is clearly stated in "musical power" terms and not quoted by the RMS rating. As most of us have discovered with newer "high current" low wattage amplifiers, there is a lot more involved in the sound and dynamics of playback than the RMS rating implies. I took a leap of faith with a 300b amp (7.5 watts/channel) and am very pleased with the result of musicality vs shear power and dynamics. You may find the same to be true with the Decware amp.