detailed...pinpoint imaging.

Sorry, cant find any.

After reading these reviews, many were complaining of being overly bright...not enough bass...so on and so on...This amp had incredible definition....period. One thing it''s not, is sloppy..A very good perfomer, that wont hide any other componets shortcomings.. I am extremely happy with this amp. Very analytical...

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you name, I probably have had it..

Great value. Blows away anything at this price from what I have heard. I have all silver and it looks great.

None!

Great for under 1K. I am playing a pair of Linn Ninkas across this amp with the AVM20 feeding it with balanced interconnects. I love the sound of my system. The combo of this amp and my Ninkas gives me a very detailed sound at all volume levels. Someday, I will upgrade to Linn amps inorder to take the Ninkas active. But of course, this is no reflection on the MCA-2.

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Rotel and Marantz

High resolution, neutral sound, and extremely quiet.

None that I can tell for price. Am giving a 4 out of 5 overall because it isn''t in the Levinson Class...but it is a much better value

This is a very nice amp. It sounds very clean and neutral. Very, Very high resolution. I think some reviewers of this product may be mistaking resolution for brightness (they should look at their other components or speakers for the problem). This is one of the great bargains in hi-fi. My system: Bryston BP25 Anthem MCA2 Series II Marantz CD6000 OSE Marantz TU6000 Castle Severn II

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Rotel, NAD, B&K

Great looks, stays cool, very transparent sound, auto on/off, and price

none so far

This amplifier solved my "music" problems, is very good for home theater and saved me a bundle. I was using a Yamaha RX-V995 receiver with B&W 603 S2s and while the detail and clarity was there, I found myself hearing the speakers instead of the music. Apparently, Yamaha receivers are known for their brightness and coupled with the 603s the sound was in my opinion a little on the aggressive side. Also, while I always felt that the 603s were great speakers, it seemed their soundstage was not as good as it should have been. I was considering buying the 804s because they have a more recessed, laid-back sound. After letting the mca2 burn in for over 50 to 60 hours, I was amazed at the radical difference. The 603s literally disappeared and for the first time in over a year I found myself absorbed in the music instead of listening to the sound from each speaker. Much more airy, transparent and greatly improved soundstage. With the mca2 the edge or sharpness is totally gone from the treble. The bass is less punchy, but for prolonged listening periods this is a good thing. I now have no desire to upgrade to the 804s (which will probably save me from a divorce).
At first I worried about the recommended 12" clearance (I have only about 5" to 6" above the unit), but this amp never gets the least bit hot no matter how long it stays on.
I am sure that there are many good amps out there, but at $629 I cannot say enough about the difference this amp has made in my system. The only question I now have is whether to upgrade to the mca3.

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rotel

Words can not describe how good this amp is for the money. I payed $575.00 and it is worth every penny.

None, the guys at Sonic Frontiers have outdone themselves If you listen to the MCA 2 you will buy it.

I am simply amazed with this amp. The build quality is excellent, 200 Watts a side, RCA and Balanced inputs, a massive Torodial transformer and the list goes on and on. I finally realized how good my speakers could sound with this amp. If you are in the market for a 200 W/channel amp under a grand, give this unit a listen. I would give it SIX stars!

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Adcom, B&K, Rotel, NAD

SOUNDS WONDERFUL FOR THE PRICE, XLR INPUTS, 200WPC, LARGE POWER SUPPLY PAYED $599.00

ANTHEM USES BINDING POSTS THAT ARE WIDER THEN THE STANDARD BINDING POST, I HAD TO CUT THE PLASTIC BETWEEN MY BANANNA PLUGS TO MAKE THEM FIT...

SOUNDS CRISP AND CLEAR, AND DETAILED..LITTLE WEEK IN THE BASS DEPT.. OUT PERFORMS MY OLD PARASOUND 1200 MKII..
ENDLESS VOLUME AND VERY LOW ALMOST NON EXISTANT DISTORTION..

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PARASOUND, AND SOUNDSTREAM

Great dynamics, very smooth and detailed, plenty of punch, balanced inputs, build quality, 200 watts/channel

Requires at least 70 hours of break in time before it settles in to its true sound.

This amp is one heck of a performer. I was looking to replace my B&K ST1400 amp with something a little more musical, detailed and smooth.

Given I had just purchased a Bryston BP-20 preamp I naturally fell in love with their 2 channel amps, the 3BST and 4BST. Great sounding amps known for being bass monsters and having really good transparency.

I compared the Bryston amps with the Rotel, B&K, and Classe. All were very solid performers providing a deep sounstage and provided a very nice soundstage with clean,crisp sound.

After several visits to my local hi-fi shop and an abundance of source material I was set on the Bryston. It provided the best overall listening experience and I was just about ready to take a 4BST home when the Anthem MCA 2 caught my eye. Knowing I was a little weary of spending a little over my budget for a new amp my sales associate offered to demo the Anthem for me. I tossed in a few of my demo cd's and was blown away but what I heard. I didn't hear as much bass as with the Bryston 4BST, but to my surprise and delight, I actually heard a little more detail and smoothness in the midrange and higher frequencies.

Needless to say after a few more demo sessions comparing the two amps I choose the Anthem. The sound was just that good and far better than I anticipated for an amp costing $700! This would be a great amp at $1500-1700, but at $700 it is a steal! Highly recommended!

My current system includes:
Bryston BP-20 preamp
Anthem MCA 2 Amp
JM Lab Cobalt 810 Speakers
Sonic Frontiers SFT CD Transport
Sonic Frontiers SFD2 DAC
Audioquest Viper XLR interconnects
Audioquest Slate speaker cable

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Bryston 3BST, 4BST, Classe CA150, Rotel RB-991, B&K Reference 4420

Price, balanced inputs, transparency and overall sound quality (when used within its limits and expectations..see below)

Bright, hashy sound on some material and a bit tipped up in the treble in general. Transparency requires good associate equipment or hashy sound is even more pronounced. Has some difficulties with tougher loads. My unit was brand new and unopened yet had a few minor blemishes...so quality control a possible issue. The future of Anthem's parent company Sonic Frontiers is a little uncertain.

As long as this amplifier isn't expected to perform to the level of a $2000 plus amp and you don't demand high volume from tough-to-drive speakers, this is a wonderful amp. This is not to say that it won't produce high volumes with tough speakers, it just doesn't do so very cleanly.
I've lived with this amp for about 2 months and it has at least 250 hours on it. This is certainly sufficient time for break-in and critical listening. The sound is less focused than some and the upper mids and highs tend to run on the aggressive side. Listener fatigue sets in rather quickly at high volumes with less than par recordings. Like others, I also found the edginess of the MCA-2 to be different than the sound of the MCA-5. You'd think they'd sound the same, but they don't. The MCA-5 also seems to have a better midrange and a bit more slam in the bass.
I found the bass to be adequate in both quantity and detail. I certainly wouldn't call it lacking. It may be just a bit shy in the slam factor. Otherwise, the bass is one of this amp's attributes, at least in my system.
Like the previous reviewer, I also own Magnepan speakers and they are used for 2 channel critical listening and for a high quality home theater set-up. The biggest difference I noticed with the Anthem is that it was a good 6-10 decibels lower in volume than the other amps I mentioned above when it began to compress and congest a bit. Some of them are even rated at half the wattage. At the other amplifier's levels, the Anthem had completely run out of steam and began to audibly clip. It also seemed to veil the sound a bit and the focus was a bit hazy. Maggies are famous for transparency and staging, so they revealed this immediately. At moderate levels, the Anthem had a nice, lush midrange and better focus. In addition, the bright treble actually gives it good detail.
I hooked the MCA-2 up to a pair of highly sensitive Infinity Preludes and what a difference. It was if though someone switched amplifiers on me overnight. At high volumes the compression and congestion was gone. My ears gave out before the amp did. The soundstage was better and had a bit more focus. The MCA-2 is definitely better on higher efficiency speakers.
Here are the nuts and bolts. If you listen to music or theater at moderate volumes, this amp is fine for any speaker load and will provide very good sound. When used in this manner, it is one of the best in its class. If high (re: real world) volumes are your thing, however, this may not be the amp for you. You'll need to listen and decide. It should match darker sounding associate components well. If you have bright equipment, it may send you running for cover at concert levels.

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Too many to list all, but here's a few. Anthem MCA-5, Krell, Parasound, Rotel, Madrigal/Citation, Sonic Frontiers, Adcom, Sunfire

This is the best two channel amplifier that money can buy for under $2000.00 period...This amp was tested against the sunfire and it held its own within 90% of the sunfires performance...Also, this amp sells for $700.00, which makes it one of the best buys in audio...enjoy...

I had the opportunity to evaluate an early sample of this amplifier and have to agree with the previous reviewer about it's value. It's hard to believe that the two Chris's and their design team at Sonic Frontiers were able to squeeze so much quality performance out of a high powered solid state amp and keep it at the $699 price point. At the time I owned a Rotel RB991 power amp, rated at the same output (200 watts per channel) as the MCA 2. This amplifier received a very favorable review from Stereophile in their August issue and deservedly so. It is in it's own right one outstanding amplifier. Anyone considering investing $1000 in a power amp should certainly consider it. Or maybe I should "should have" considered it. Because without a doubt the MCA 2 at $300 less outperforms it in all respects. More detailed, more dimensional and more dynamnic. It also emparts an added smoothness to the highs that caused me to play my system at a somewhat higher volume than with the Rotel. It just sounded SO good!
Let me warn those of you who might audition it at a dealer or buy it without a comparitive audition...this amp MUST HAVE an extensive break-in for you to get a true picture of it's sonic capabilities. It is recommended that it receive at least 70 hours before it will begin to settle in to it's true sonic signature (any piece of audio gear that is not perfect has one too, by the way - and nothing has been made yet that can truely be considered "perfect").
I have one more thing to add for any of you who may have or may read the review in the latest Audio magazine on the MCA 5, the 2's 5 channel equivilant. While the reviewer was correct in his assessment of the overload protection circuitry and it's effect on the amp, I understand from Sonic Frontiers/Anthem that that has been changed somewhat in newer production units.
When it comes to his comments regarding sound quality, unless there is some unbelievable difference between the MCA 2 and 5 re their sound quality (which I highly doubt) then either he did not give the amp time to properly break-in (which I imagine is the real truth) or he simply lacks the proper auditory tools to realistically evaluate audio gear (which I doubt is the case).
In any case, this is certainly one outstanding value in the industry today and if you don't take the time to listen for youself to one that has had the proper break-in then you are doing yourself an extreme disservice in your hunt for the best sub-$1000 amp out there.

PS. I ended up not buying a MCA 2...I was so impressed with what Anthem had done for $699 that I bought an AMP 2, 200 watt/ch hybrid tube/solid state.
Wise choice too...unreal. See my review of that amp.