I purchased one second hand locally, at a very attractive price. I did some research prior to buying it, and all of the published reviews I could find were favorable. A common opinion among those was this amp had a bit of a forward presentation in each of the reviewer's systems. My experience is much the same. It is however not necessarily as bad thing. In fact, in my set up, I liked it. I used it in a second system running digital audio signals from both iTunes (uncompressed files) from my computer, as well as the audio from satellite TV into an MSB Digital Director to de-jitter and re-clock the signal, and then to a TacT RCS 2.0 (by passing the exceptional room correction features as to not alter the sound of the amp) into the PVA 2 and then to an old pair of Energy 5.1e floor standing speakers. All interconnects and speaker cables were Audience Conductors.

With this set up in my room, the presentation was more forward than I am normally used to, but it did not detract in any way. In fact, I liked this for use with TV. Movies, and football especially. (This might be desirable for some.) At the same time, my sound stage was fairly deep, as well as wide. Across the frequency band, I found it to be very linear. Nothing was missing, nor over emphasized. I was surprised by the amp's bass performance, and control.
This is not a top tier high-end amp. But at its original retail price, I think this is a very nice amp, and a great value. Based on what I have seen these sell for used, they are a steal. They are solidly constructed, with nice understated cosmetics. Too bad they are not bridgeable. I would get another and run them as mono's for fun. There is a limitless amount of gear out there re-selling for much more money than the PVA 2, but very little of it can stand with this thing at its current market value. I have committed to sell it to a friend, as I, like many here, continue to buy gear at a pace quicker than I sell. I have other gear at a considerably higher price point I own and feel compelled to use, otherwise I would keep it.

Strengths:
Great detail, and natural sounding amplifier, with very good bass performance. Exceptional at its current value.

Weaknesses:
Not really, at this price.

Build quality

focus, soundstaging along with depth, and gosh, the S's..exp..SSSit. bass is bloated.

I do not recommend for 2 channel audio. Much better choices can be made for the $400.00 used value of this amp. The bass is plentyful but bloated and not controlled. The midrange (voices) is smooth but not focused. The S's in words will drive you nuts unless you like the 70's bright tinny music. The soundstage is not deep or 3 dimentional at all. I used this amp with vandersteen 1C's, A great passive preamp, and a Rega jupitor cd player. I replaced the amplifier with a Ps Audio 200cx and man, what a differance. However, If your into home theater it may make a pretty good surround amp. I think Anthem tried to make up for the sound with the build quality because its great. Even though they put 20 or so screws in the cover it still raddles to vibrations from the bass notes..I tried to be as honest and fair as possible. I was not impressed at all and I have had many 2 channel amps.

Customer Service

dont know

Similar Products Used:

primare, bryston, ect....

plenty of power, detailed and natural sound, price

soundstage (but still pretty good for this price range)

This is an excellent all-around amplifier. Extremely detailed and natural, especially in the treble range. Good imaging, but lacks the soundstage of more expensive amps.