I have an Anthem MCA-50 and it is doing a great job. I
auditioned a pair of speakers at a store that was using a
Macintosh 2102 100 Watts X 2 and a pre/pro similar to mine.
I got the speakers home and -- this is probably going to
sound like sacrilege to some -- I couldn't detect any
difference between the set up with my $2,000 Anthem MCA-50
[running my front speakers in two-channel] and the set up with the $6,000 Macintosh tube amp. The Anthem MCA-50 is
fast, the bass is tight, the music swings when it supposed to, and the sound-stage is wide. I highly recommend saving
money on the amplifier by going with the MCA-50 and spending
the money saved on your speakers.
In your price range, I haven't listened to everything,
but I really enjoyed the Paradigm Studio 100's. You can
also find Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home and Revel Performa
F-30's on Audiogon for a similar price to [New] Studio 100's. I really enjoyed those speakers, highly recommend you give them a listen. Only reason I didn't buy the Sonus Fabers was that I ended up buying at a higher price point and liked other speakers at that price. In a head to head
with B & W, I had to go to up the Nautilus 803's to beat
the Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home -- but even then, it was
close and I'm not sure I liked the B & W sound as much as
the Sonus Faber. [To my ear, B & W seems to "bump" the high end a little] If I were shopping around for front
speakers in the 2,000-ish price range, I'd be hard pressed to pass up some of the deals I've seen around here on Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home's. Listen to the Fabers and I think you'll see what I mean. But -- listen to the F-30's, too.
Between those and the Paradigm Studio 100's, I don't think
you can go wrong at that price point.
And, I think you'd be happy with the Anthem MCA-50 until
you can find a two-channel amp or mono-blocks that will
beat it for two channel listening -- and by then, maybe
you'll need 7 channels.
auditioned a pair of speakers at a store that was using a
Macintosh 2102 100 Watts X 2 and a pre/pro similar to mine.
I got the speakers home and -- this is probably going to
sound like sacrilege to some -- I couldn't detect any
difference between the set up with my $2,000 Anthem MCA-50
[running my front speakers in two-channel] and the set up with the $6,000 Macintosh tube amp. The Anthem MCA-50 is
fast, the bass is tight, the music swings when it supposed to, and the sound-stage is wide. I highly recommend saving
money on the amplifier by going with the MCA-50 and spending
the money saved on your speakers.
In your price range, I haven't listened to everything,
but I really enjoyed the Paradigm Studio 100's. You can
also find Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home and Revel Performa
F-30's on Audiogon for a similar price to [New] Studio 100's. I really enjoyed those speakers, highly recommend you give them a listen. Only reason I didn't buy the Sonus Fabers was that I ended up buying at a higher price point and liked other speakers at that price. In a head to head
with B & W, I had to go to up the Nautilus 803's to beat
the Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home -- but even then, it was
close and I'm not sure I liked the B & W sound as much as
the Sonus Faber. [To my ear, B & W seems to "bump" the high end a little] If I were shopping around for front
speakers in the 2,000-ish price range, I'd be hard pressed to pass up some of the deals I've seen around here on Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home's. Listen to the Fabers and I think you'll see what I mean. But -- listen to the F-30's, too.
Between those and the Paradigm Studio 100's, I don't think
you can go wrong at that price point.
And, I think you'd be happy with the Anthem MCA-50 until
you can find a two-channel amp or mono-blocks that will
beat it for two channel listening -- and by then, maybe
you'll need 7 channels.