Great preamp with customer care to match
Steven from Chelsea, MI on 3/23/2025
So far I am incredibly pleased and impressed. I shopped a long time for the right stereo preamp but settled on this one pretty early on while I saved and waited. All the ones I considered as alternatives either lacked a feature the Anthem has or had something that I didn't want. The quality is obvious and made in North America. I was lucky to find one in the outlet and saved a ton. Great experience with a Crutchfield customer service expert also. If you do take the survey after speaking with one of them, make sure you check the option to get them coffee or lunch. I was totally prepared to buy lunch for Red who helped me out before I realized it's something Crutchfield does, not me. I was so satisfied with my experience I was getting the credit card back out to buy my advisor lunch. So this is also my review of their customer service chops.
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0 of 1 found this helpful
Great Sound, Elegant Look, Addictive Convenience
Sam from Fort Wayne, IN on 5/9/2024
Great Unit.don't ignore the flexibility and sheer ease of use from your listening position. Remote(solid aluminum) and menus are intuitive and direct. Unit itself has an understated elegance and looks great.not to mention a display that can be read easily from your chair. Oh, it sounds great. or more specifically has no sound at all. Dead silent. Like another user, I am driving a MCA225v2 amplifier(and Aegir Monos).not sure what an STR Amp offers beyond this for normal listening spaces.I am never wanting for power. My current speaker rotation includes Zu, Paradigm, PSB and Maggies. And these electronics are silent even on the 97db Zu's. Dac is fabulous IMHO.notably bests PS Audio SGCD and Bifrost 2 in my experience. Phono Pre sounds good to me.but I have limited experience here. my Vincent Pho 8 was the best I owned until this. Like many in this hobby, I change gear often.but cannot bring myself to part with this.3 years running.
Pros: Build Quality Ease of Use Flexibility Dac Remote Display
Cons: Expensive.but should be.at least when compared to others in category. Cheap, plastic feet(easily resolved, but an oversight considering an MCA at half the price has much nicer from same factory)
4 of 4 found this helpful
Best preamp made ?!
Crutchfield customer from Haines City, FL on 5/5/2024
Very pleased, this unit right out of the box is sounding really sweet. It's replacing a Nad c658 blu sound that was a major disappointment mainly because of the Dirac. I have not ran the anthems acr as of now because I am still working on getting a pair of M/L XT800 subs. Which is what I'm looking at now and only from Crutchfield as I will not get any of my electronics elsewhere so long as they sell what I'm looking for. Sound quality is so superior over the Nad c 658 blu it's crazy. I am driving it into Anthems mc225 gen2 amp and the power response is stellar, all of a sudden it gets loud and really fast after a certain point, which is how it should be. Way better than the Rotel integrated amps I tried. I can direct stream hi res 24/192 from my Mac book air with hardwire and it's totally bad ass. It will only get better with 2 nice subs and set up the act. Yes it is pricey but too me I can hear the huge difference and it is worth every penny. Please do your extra homework, not all these toys are created equal, there is a reason some things are just better, and not all hype. Thanks for the time and Crutchfield Rocks!
Pros: Sound, straight up the dac is far better than most. It's easy to navigate. It's beautiful. I think I'm in love.
Cons: My head hurts trying to think of one, so I'm going to quit now.
3 of 4 found this helpful
great looking Unit
Anthony from jacksonville,Fl on 12/28/2022
well now that i had this 2nd unit for six months, the first had display problems which was corrected by crutchfield by replacing the unit I can say great sound, very easy to set up, multitude of connections i have ran out of component's to connect to this thing and now much better with latest firmware update that allows you to control from your phone, however very limited functions. if Anthem is listening, why a unit at this price point does not have a headphone jack, or a digital output jacks so i can sent to my DAT recorder or minidisc ???, This is replacing my Sony TA-N77ESD
Pros: easy setup, multitude of connection options, easy to read large display
Cons: no Headphone Jack, no digital output jacks
5 of 6 found this helpful
Best 2 channel preamp with room correction and full bass management
Robert from Escondido, CA on 10/16/2022
I purchased this after trying multiple products and just never getting the sound quite right in my challenging small room. Bass management was also an issue, and with two sets of speakers having a level control was important with several subwoofers placed in the room to fight nulls. I gave a listen to the unit and it was quite good, I was impressed. I then ran ARC room and phase alignment and finally it sounds right. It was a significant improvement and there is no doubt this was the right move. The sound quality of this preamp is outstanding, and if you have a less than perfect room this is a great tool to help in addition to placement and room treatment. I also wanted remote control of everything which this provides. I use a Harmony remote and it supports a massive number of direct access inputs, even though the remote just scrolls. I'm very happy with the configuration options and screen interface. You will be hard pressed to achieve this level of sound quality and functionality in any other product short of a multi-channel preamp where it will cost much more to get close to this audio quality. I was also able to significantly simplify my system removing 5 pieces of equipment in trade for this one piece. The DAC is also great quality striking a perfect balance and not coloring the sound. I would absolutely recommend this preamp, though not cheap, it costs more to try and piece something as good together and Anthems ARC is superior in my opinion.
Pros: Audio quality Ease of setup Features galore Plenty of inputs Value for cost
Cons: Not a budget buy Doesn't support streaming No remote configuration / web interface No WiFi for ARC setup, have a cable ready. (No need for internet once setup)
8 of 8 found this helpful
Bass Management, in a 2-channel preamp?
Eugene from LONGMONT, CO on 3/4/2022
I mainly bought this unit for its bass management because for some reason, a lot of integrated amps and two-channel preamps offer no options when it comes to high-passing the speakers. That being said, it was quite the upgrade from my Audio-gd DAC and LH Labs Infinity Pulse. One thing that was immediately noticeable was just the greater control over the bass when I had my speakers playing full range. The bass was tigher/quicker. The feature set of this unit allows me great flexibility when it comes to integrating my two subs. While I don't do MQA, I was a little disappointed that it didn't offer something like this at this pricepoint. Overall, I am satisfied with it but like I said, I was trying to find a pre-amp that offered bass management features (high-passing the speakers) and there aren't a lot of options
Pros: Dual subwoofer outs Measures really well according to Audioholics Big digital display Bass management Multiple profiles support and you can assign a specific profile to a specific input.
Cons: Expensive
5 of 6 found this helpful
Excellent Pre Amp
Crutchfield customer from Orlando, FL on 3/23/2021
I compared it to two other Pre Amps, by Ayre and PS Audio BHK....Anthem was not quite at that level. However, the features are excellent. Having separate Bass management, Phone input, and ARC are nice options. Solid performer. I felt it just came up a bit shy on the warmth and overall soundstage. Very quiet black background that is very appealing. It's just shy of 5 stars.
Pros: Nice Features Bass control Phono Stage Great input selection Great display Quality build As quiet a Pre Amp as I have ever heard
Cons: Not as natural sounding as other top Pre Amps ARC is a positive and negative, takes away some bass and midrange but balances other frequencies out. Not a big fan. Anthem Support was a total disappointment. Thank God for Cructhfield, they are first rate.
10 of 10 found this helpful
Great stereo preamp
Crutchfield customer from Hancock, NH on 5/6/2020
Dead silent, extremely transparent and highly articulate preamp. This applies to both analog and digital sources. The high quality internal DAC provides a nice upgrade in sound quality over the DAC and analog output of my 23 year old high end CD player. I also have an old BAT tube preamp and recently purchased A/V pre-processor so HT bypass is an essential feature for me. Just started experimenting with ARC Genesis. My initial impression based on one set of measurements is favorable. Better integration of bass and a fuller more cohesive sound stage.
Pros: Extremely low noise floor High quality analog signal path High quality DACs and digital processing and room correction Home theater bypass
Cons: Limited XLR inputs (minor con)
16 of 29 found this helpful
Anthem STR Preamplifier
Trent from CORDOVA, TN on 7/1/2019
Well, when I took mine out of the box, the feet were so uneven the unit rocked on the diagonal a good 8th of an inch. Then I hooked it up and found the left channel was dead as a hammer using the xlr outs. I plugged the cables into the opposite terminals to verify the problem wasn't my left cable or (powered) speaker. It wasn't. I checked the balance control, and it was set to centered. So, less than an hour after I signed for it, I had to pack it up and send it back. Mine was sold as an "open box" item, which I went with because it was the only silver one Crutchfield had (other than a dent-and-scratch). Maybe it was fine when it left the Anthem factory. I don't know.
Pros: Features
Cons: Quality control
12 of 37 found this helpful
Impressive
Mike from Portland, OR on 3/8/2019
I have been using the STR for about a week now. It is a fine preamplifier, and it has the bass management features and ARC2 room correction that set it apart from the pack. I've used other room-correction approaches (both automated and manual) and think ARC2 is better than the others I've tried. It may help that all the comuptation is done at 192 kHz. In my music system, this replaced a more expensive preamp with manual equalization features. ARC2 was able to tame some glare that I couldn't get rid of with the old preamp, and I really like ARC's simplicity and multi-point measurement approach. It integrates my two subs perfectly. The STR's tone controls are transparent and useful for badly done recordings. I would recommend that anyone looking for a 2-channel preamp with bass management and room correction give the STR a listen. It's hard to beat.
Pros: Great sound Nice looks Anthem Room Correction
Cons: No streaming input
11 of 11 found this helpful
Anthem STR Preamplifier
Alejandro Saurez from Doral, FL on 2/3/2019
All great reviews of this unit were as I expected. Besides the great sound performance and intuitive user interface this unit provides great bass management through the Anthem ARC room Correction System. One of the coolest features of this preamp is that you can share the front L/R and subwoofers with your AV receiver through the HT Bypass function so you can watch movies even if the Preamp is turned off. ARC software is very intuitive and did a great job in my 2,500 cu ft room. Would like to thanks Crutchfield International Sales team for their great support!
Pros: Bass Management through Anthem ARC software HT Bypass User Interface Build Quality High Resolution DAC
Cons: None found yet
21 of 23 found this helpful
Product has potential but did not work as advertised
Jorge from Independence, OH on 2/20/2018
I like ARC room correction so I was looking forward to using this preamp with my existing AVM-60 prepro. Unfortunately, the HT bypass did not work via RCA, only via XLR. I contacted Anthem and they sent me a new firmware but that did not fix the problem. I did think the preamp sounded very good with ARC enabled. Also, it is very easy to run ARC if you have an ios device as they include a microphone to connect to an iPhone or iPad. I tried the phono stage and didn't like it much. Also, the preamp must be off to use the HT bypass so if you plan to turn on your amp with a trigger from this preamp, that won't work when using HT bypass. Ultimately, I sent this back as it was very disappointing that all features did not work out of the box, especially for this kind of money.
Pros: Good sound with ARC
Cons: Home Theater bypass did not work via RCA Phono stage doesn't sound very good with MC cartridge Preamp must be off to use HT bypass so amp trigger will turn off amp
44 of 48 found this helpful
First Impressions
just received this unit in the mail today. I have to admit, I am underwhelmed. First off, I had a loose screw rattling around inside the unit (had to pull the top off and found a circuit board missing a screw). Crazy, for the price I paid. Tried the ARC room optimization and actually preferred it off when I did an A/B test through my Mcintosh MC452 and my Tekton Double Impacts. I have found that speaker placement wall treatments are much more effective than any kind of DSP Ive ever heard. Call me crazy, but I actually prefer the DAC in my Node 2 vs the output this unit was providing, even when sounding a little thinner. Sorry Anthem, I will be sending this back and giving the NAD m12 a shot.
Pros: Looks nice decent eq with mains and subs
Cons: ARC not as impressive as i initially expected. No MQA Questionable quality control.
Dear Ryan, I apologize for the poor experience you had with the STR Pre. There is no excuse for a loose screw. We strive very hard in our Canadian factory to provide the best made product. We do extensive bench testing & competitive testing to design and mfg. products with superior performance and reliability. We obviously failed with your unit.
I agree that speaker placement and room acoustic treatments are essential for optimal listening, dsp is another tool but even the best can't fix everything. ARC has built in tools (Quick Measure) to help check speaker placement & the effect of room treatments. ARC in automatic mode can resolve most room acoustic issues by boosting some frequencies & suppressing others to provide a unique EQ curve individually calculated & specific to each room which is preferred by most listeners. "Most" isn't "all", so ARC has extensive manual adjustments that can be used to tailor the freq response for specific room acoustic issues / individual tastes. The user dials in exactly the freq response desired. The STR Pre also can store up to 4 ARC dsp curves so that multiple factors can be addressed, like window treatments which might be open / closed, thereby impacting room acoustics.
Again, I am sorry that we let you down & hope that sometime you'll give Anthem another opportunity to earn your trust.
Chris L, CEO Anthem
52 of 57 found this helpful
