PRODUCT REVIEW A5 “… performed flawlessly … incredibly versatile and rock-solid … amazing clarity and immediacy.” BY BRYAN DAILEY The Statement A5, little brother to Anthem’s The design philosophy behind the baby. Rated at 180 watts per channel into top of the line Statement P5 multi-channel Statement line of amplifiers is “keep it eight ohms (200 per channel for the A2), amplifier, has many of the best qualities of simple”: use as few parts as possible, the A5 features massive toroidal power the Anthem flagship powerhouse in a use the best quality parts available supplies, oversize convection-cooled smaller, less pricey package. From the and keep the price within the Earth’s aluminum heat sinks, mirror-imaged sleek black brushed aluminum face with atmosphere. Although there is a laundry frequency-response channel matching list of features that make the Statement and a no-fuse design. An outstanding blue accent lights outside to the Advanced A5 and A2 amplifiers unique, to the lay signal to noise ratio of 120 dB allows for Load Monitoring (ALM) technology inside, person, the end result is one of the easiest- incredible detail in music and sound it doesn’t feel like corners were cut, yet to-set-up-and-use amplifiers that I have effects in movies that are mixed at very this feature-packed 180 watts per channel ever had the pleasure of auditioning. low levels. amplifier is well priced. For two-channel enthusiasts, a two-channel version of Although Anthem pride themselves on A5 amplifiers each have eight bipolar this amp, appropriately named the A2, is having “simple” amplifiers, there is no output devices per channel in the available for even less. shortage of technology packed into this amplification stage, which allows for a A5 2 large reserve of power. This is important when watching wire up the front, left and right channels to three of the functional action movies with large explosions or listening to music with channels and unplug the two rear/surround speakers and at large, rapid crescendos. least have a system while you are taking care of the one channel that is not working. With Anthem’s reputation for reliability, On the outside, the A5 is beautifully built, with smooth black I don’t foresee needing to deal with this any time soon, but curved front corner panels flanking a black brushed aluminum knowing how easy it is to take care of should the situation faceplate. Weighing in at 57 pounds, the A5 is light enough for ever arise is a good feeling. most able-bodied adults to move it around while installing it in a rack, cabinet or on the floor. I recently had the comparably- I was able to audition this amplifier with a few surround priced but much heavier Adcom GFA-7805 five-channel sound systems, including a complete RBH MC Series system, amplifier in my system and the almost 40-pound weight Energy’s Connoisseur and Anthony Gallo Acoustics Micro difference made installing the A5 a pleasure rather than a satellite speakers. The primary system for this review is the chore. A reset switch, five gold speaker wire binding posts, RBH set-up, consisting of a pair of WM-24 left and right wall- five rows of XLR and gold RCA jacks and the power cord plug mounted speakers, the MC-414 MK II center channel and a round out the back panel. pair of MC-615-70 in-ceiling speakers. After connecting the XLR outputs of my Anthem AVM 30 to the amplifier inputs At its core, the Anthem A5 shares many similarities with the and then connecting my XLO speaker wire to the large and previous Anthem MCA series. The MCA amplifiers are note- solid posts on the back of the amp, I was in business. Moving worthy performers as well, but many found their boxy silver out the old amp took more time than getting this one in the design a little cold cosmetically. Unlike its big brother P5, the batter’s box. A5 automatically senses which type of input is being used and switches internally, saving you the hassle of having to flip a series of switches should you decide to change from one type “… as the bullets seemingly flew around of cord to another. I have seen installers put a system together only to find that one of the channels in the loop isn’t working. my living room and explosions were shaking On other amps, one of the switches might be set to the wrong my walls — I was in no danger of running out type of input, but this may not be obvious, so before you know it, the homeowner or installer is scratching his or her of gas with the A5 … details were reproduced head, wondering if perhaps one of the amplifier channels is with amazing clarity and immediacy — as blown out. Assuming all of the cords are property plugged in, this should never be an issue with the A5’s auto-input- was the dialogue … I was never even close sensing capabilities. to pushing the amp to its limits, while the From a practical standpoint, the A5 has a nice feature that sound was still clean and precise.” allows the amp to remain on, but when no signal is passed to the amp for 20 minutes, it automatically turns off. When you fire up your system and send an audio signal to the amp, it THE MOVIES automatically turns on. The are two other options for turning Team America: World Police (Paramount), the latest feature the amp on, including the standard on/off switch and a 12v film from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, is a trigger that would be controlled via the 12V output from a high-budget spoof of horrible action movies like Pearl Harbor, preamp. I will admit that I am terrible about turning off my Thunderbirds and SWAT. It stars one-third-scale animated gear, so I opted for the auto-off setting. This surely has saved marionettes and features a host of musical numbers and, at its me some dough when my electrical bill comes each month by climax, some huge explosions that make the soundtrack to Top not accidentally leaving the amp on all day long when I’m not Gun seem tame by comparison. Parker and Stone’s band home. There is a small delay when the amp turns back on, DVDA provides Team America’s battle song “America - F**K which means you may see picture on your TV a few moments Yeah!” right before an aerial dogfight with North Korean Air before sound kicks in when you power up your system, so Force planes. The planes on screen may be on wires, but the don’t start cranking the volume knob if you don’t hear your sound effects are right out of a Michael Bay blockbuster. The music or movie immediately. It only took me doing this one Anthem A5 was given a workout as the bullets seemingly time to quickly learn a lesson in patience. flew around my living room and explosions were shaking my walls. With my moderately-sized home theater speakers, I was A modular interior design makes repairing the amplifier much in no danger of running out of gas with the Anthem A5 pow- easier, as the damaged channel can be removed for repair or ering them. The ominous action movie musical score underly- replacement. This may not sound like a huge selling feature, ing the scene is intentionally clichéd, featuring orchestral but things can and do happen to even the best-made crescendos, horn runs, strings section accents and tympani audio/video gear and the moment something goes awry with rolls. All of these details were reproduced with amazing clarity an amp and it has to be pulled out of a system and boxed up and immediacy, as was the dialogue as the characters have for shipping, you’ll be wishing you had a modular system like discussions amongst themselves a la the Death Star the A5. After obviously unplugging the power cord, the top sequence at the end of Star Wars. cover can be removed with a Philips screwdriver and the malfunctioning channel can be removed and replaced or While Ben Affleck was learning how to play poker and gallivanting repaired. In the meantime, the amplifier can still be used, around town earning the nickname Bennifer, his buddy Matt minus the missing channel. If you had a surround system and Damon was busy making one of the most underrated thrillers one of the channels on the amplifier died, you could simply of 2004. In The Bourne Supremacy (Universal), espionage and A5 3 betrayal traverses the globe as Damon’s Black Ops agent and pitch that might break glass, the song busts into a riff so Jason Bourne is being hunted by both the FBI and a terrorist intense that I feared the amp might explode. This two-chan- organization who want to frame him. In the scene in Munich nel track thunders along and, on what could easily be a mix Germany where Bourne sneaks into a fellow agent’s home to that is too intense and breaks town, the Anthem A5 was able confront him and find stolen information, the low noise floor to provide plenty of juice. Metal can prove a tough test for an of the A5 with its (reported) 120 dB signal to noise ratio amp and speaker system to reproduce accurately. However, made a welcome addition to my system. No music plays for a the A5 performed flawlessly.