I’ll throw my .02 in here. Someone else described the passlabs as being warm, lush, etc. Anthem products to me have always sounded very “sterile.” Neither is bad. It’s a preference. And I think in most cases, you’d be happy either way. I prefer a more sterile sound than having a component add something that isn’t there. The downfall of this is that music can sometimes be harsher. I have the anthem separates, and, I love them. But be prepared to hear things you haven’t heard before. Imperfections that weren’t discernible before become more detailed. With Anthem, IMO, you just get what’s there. No color, no warmth or additional smoothness, no lush, unless that’s the way it was recorded.
I guess instead of saying it’s sterile, a better description might be it’s just neutral. It just presents fact based sound. Anthem is very dynamic, tons of power in reserve, and You’re going to hear exactly what the artist recorded without any additional tone change.