What about subjective comparisons?
Subjectively, all three units sound great. I genuinely do think the PM-90 has subjective warmth with vocals and that may be the high 2nd order harmonics and it's a great deal at the used $1K price they go for.
You need to know measuring system residual noise first. DAC noise x amplifier gain + ADC noise. This is measured in a complete setup but with no test signal. Then disconnect the DAC from amplifier input, short amplifier input with 50 - 100 ohm and measure noise again. Usually you will find that the DAC output noise x amplifier gain is too high and higher than amplifier noise. It is very difficult to make correct THD+N without switched input attenuator at ADC and switched output attenuator at DAC. You will need the DAC with maximum noise 1 - 2 uV. If the amp has gain 20 x, you have 40 uV error noise. This is still quite good. But with a common sound card with output noise 8 - 10uV the THD+N measurement is unusable.THD+N
That's from the technical side from a person like you or others here who excel the subject,right?You need to know measuring system residual noise first. DAC noise x amplifier gain + ADC noise. This is measured in a complete setup but with no test signal. Then disconnect the DAC from amplifier input, short amplifier input with 50 - 100 ohm and measure noise again. Usually you will find that the DAC output noise x amplifier gain is too high and higher than amplifier noise. It is very difficult to make correct THD+N without switched input attenuator at ADC and switched output attenuator at DAC. You will need the DAC with maximum noise 1 - 2 uV. If the amp has gain 20 x, you have 40 uV error noise. This is still quite good. But with a common sound card with output noise 8 - 10uV the THD+N measurement is unusable.
You should summarize the results in a table for easy comparison.
Thanks. Besides measuring well, it really does sound great.Enjoyed reading your comparison test. The PM-10 is at the top of my buy list.
Russ
Agree, a balanced power amp in would be a nice way to connect the front L/R balanced outputs of my Emotiva XMC-2. I’ve noticed also that many integrateds, not just the PM-10, lack triggers which I see as a big oversight.Thanks. Besides measuring well, it really does sound great.
Tricky part is that the NCx500 is a drop in replacement and PM-10 is now 2017. So it’s pretty easy to make a PM-10s2 and they could even add a power amp direct with balanced input or a preamp out.
But I bet the PM-10s2 is going to be expensive.
I am also torn on the new styling. It looks very nice overall but the classic build is still nicer. Perhaps a PM-10s2 will have better build than a Model 30/40n.
The biggest weaknesses of the PM-10
- no pre outs. Needed for adding subwoofer to system or if you ever wanted to take advantage of the premium preamp circuitry
- no balanced power amp in. Would have been awesome to build a HT with this powering the fronts. There is an unbalanced power amp in
- no 12v trigger. Even if you use unbalanced input for your home theater mode, you cannot have your AV processor turn on the PM-10 other then firing a IR signal in a fancier setup. The IR power is not discrete on vs off either.
Marantz was my first love, a hand me down 2270 from my brother with a dodgy volume knob … that I had no idea would be a collectors item when I sold it at a garage sale. Like to get that one back.