Well, I guess only fools cannot change their perception of things! I had been thinking about my initial Yamaha audition when I purchased my Anthem 225. It had me thinking for months...well, I gave it another go and must admit that finally, it does sound more refined in every parameter - so I sold the Anthem and purchased the Yammy. The Anthem is still a fantastic amp for the money, but overall, it is more of your basic amplifier and a very well executed one at that. The Yamaha has a better phonostage built-in, a better headphone stage, much better tone and volume controls, and sounds stellar even when compared to much higher priced units. One final thing, the Yamaha actually sounds subjectively just as powerfull as the Anthem's whopping 225 watts per channel.