Smooth detailed sound, excellent pre-amp section, optional phono preamp, build quality, controls, flexability

runs hot, needs to warm up for best sound, slightly noisy when compared to solid state

This is my first piece of tube gear and I love it. I leave it on all the time so it stays warm. The pre amp outputs / amp inputs make it very flexable in your system. The difference in detail and smoothness between this and a solid state amplifier in the same price range is huge. For those of you who laugh at its 25 watts per channel, take a listen. It plays louder without harsh distortion that a 100 watt receiver any day. It does require lots of room to breathe due to its heat output. With the volume all the way down there is some miss audible in the speakers. It is very sensitive to noise, cheap cables must be replaced. It is very sensitive to gounding. If you get a bad hum when you first install it, list the ground on the power cord with a 2 to 3 adapter. It can also pick up noises from other appliances in the house on the same circuit.
Tube gear is more sensitive and quirky than solid state gear, but the end result is work it. It seems to be best suited for a pair of good bookshelf type speakers, or a small floor standing speaker. I use it to drive B&W CDM1SE speakers.

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Laid-back but detailed sound, soundstaging, affordability, easy availability of tubes

May be TOO laid back for some systems/tastes; mixed reports on SF customer service; susceptible to microphonics

What this amp offers is a cheap, quality introduction to the world of tubes. Presentation is very laid-back, but also very detailed. I agree with some of the reviewers below, it is also extremely good at soundstaging. Build-quality - for its price - is excellent. My system now is not great at bass definition, but I hesitate to attribute this to the amp: tube-rolling has definitely helped, and new cables, cartridges, etc., would also make a difference.

The 25 wpc have never been a problem for me, but others may disagree. I demo-ed a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls with this amp and needless to say it got pretty damn loud; so it's important to take its power capabilities into consideration when you match it with speakers. I now run it with Castle Severn 2s (8 ohms, 87 db).

Some say Sonic Frontiers equipment has a very solid-state, 'un-tubey' character, and they double that for the Anthem line. I say, it's all a matter of taste. This amp is extremely un-fatiguing - I could (and do, sometimes) listen to it all day, and that, after all, is why I got into tubes in the first place: to bring back some of that teenager-who's-happy-to-listen-to-records-all-day fervor. On the other hand, this amp is not so laid-back that it won't be bright or fatiguing with the wrong pair of speakers - definitely not (Klipsch again). There are more 'tubey' tube amps out there, even in this price range, but what this amp offers is a tube sound that doesn't sacrifice inner detail. The Anthem's detail is what leads some to compare it to solid state equipment.

SF designed the Anthem line to accept common tubes, and I think this is one of its greatest advantages: it's a great platform to get into tube-rolling. There are hundreds of different options for 12AU7s, a few good ones for 12AT7s, and EL84s are easy to replace. Right now I have NOS Radiotechniques in the first preamp section, Teslas in the second, an Ei 12AT7 in the driver position, and the stock power tubes (although I have some Ei's to replace them when the time comes). The difference the Radiotechniques made absolutely blew my mind - incredible, don't let anyone ever tell you NOS tubes are a waste. I agree that the JAN phillips tubes are nothing special, but fairly dynamic.

Which brings me to the main problem with this amp, at least in my system, and some of the negative comments below: microphonics. On and off, I've had fairly serious problems with ringing coming out of this amp - so bad I have to turn it off. Microphonics is a pretty complex problem, since it could be the result of bad tubes, bad design, amp positioning (damping), or something else entirely. Since the Anthem line is a budget line, it isn't damped as well as some, and the sockets in the preamp section are fairly cheesy-looking. And the 12AU7 is a notoriously microphonic tube. I have this amp set up much too close to a ported speaker, so that could have accounted for part of the problem. But the microphonics have gone away since I positioned the tubes the way I have them now. The comments below about the conversation with the SF tech guy make no sense to me: the Golden Dragon (expensive, and now out of production) is the ONLY tube that isn't microphonic in the preamp? And to accept the Golden Dragon, the Int 1 needs to be modified by SF (who are notoriously slow, and in any case no longer offer this mod)? Any amp that is microphonic with all but ONE kind of tube is a disaster, if you ask me. I contacted SF about this issue and the guy I corresponded with was extremely obnoxious, although most people rave about SF tech support - I take it this had something to do with the Anthem In 1 being a budget, discontinued item. Anyway the long and the short of it is: I solved the ringing by careful tube-rolling - the Ei in the driver position got rid of it, strangely - and if the problem crops up again I'd take it to a good electrician and get him to replace the cheesy preamp tube sockets and ask him for further suggestions for damping. I would also try tube-traps or DIY alternatives - wrapping the tubes in kevlar, whatever. A search on Audio Asylum on the subject was very helpful. Like I say, I cured the problem with simple tube switching and blu-tack.

The best thing about the Anthem is its price. It retailed for $1300, which is surely too much, at least for this consumer. I bought mine mint-condition used for $500, on www.audioshopper.com. I see it around fairly frequently for $600-900, but I'm sure you could track it down for less. Overall I think SF turns out real quality stuff, and the Int 1 is no exception. It has its problems, but hell, it's made my system a joy to listen to.

System:
Anthem Int 1 integrated amp; Castle Severn 2 speakers; Thorens tt; Parasound phono stage; Onkyo cd player (yuck).

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