@kerrybh I did use the Anthem STR amplifier for about 10 months with the Il Cremonese. Overall it did a great job powering the speakers as long as I set my crossover to the subwoofers at 80hz. That took the demand off the amp to power those rear firing subwoofers. Without doing that, it sounded lean.
The difference between the Anthem STR to the Burmester 218 was tremendous. For 8 times the retail cost it should be though! I thought the STR allowed the music to come into the room and the vocal imagery was great. The Burmester 218 brought all the fine treble details forward to match the presence in the room....as if all aspects of the musical track came out of the shadows. All details are illuminated fully (Burmester) compared to partially (Anthem). The power and control over the fine details in the bass was another big improvement between the two. I can also run the Il Cremonese full range with the Burmester 218. I actually prefer the crossover set to 40 or 60hz when listening to Jazz because I hear way more detail in the bass coming from the Il Cremonese vs. the JL E112 subwoofers.
Overall, the Anthem STR did a nice job, but the Il Cremonese deserves something more capable to get the most out of them.