Denon PMA-600NE Integrated Amplifier Review

[Bernard23]

No, they are tuned differently. I cannot go into depth at this point but they are quite different in sound.

How do they tune them differently, and to what target?

 

[JSmith]

Spent a few weeks doing these tests...

Could you elaborate further on your test conditions and setup?

tuned differently

Amps are not musical instruments.


JSmith

 

[Mantra]

Its a library thing in my case, Spotify caters more for my flavours and the sound quality from Spotify the the 'very high' setting running through FXSound app is rich and dynamic and far better than Apple Music at the moment as Apple are still withholding the option to customize their EQ leaving presets only which imo always leave alot to be desired. My current set up imo is very well rounded and easy to live with and if I am honest does give me a bit of a wow factor everytime I switch it on, not bad at all for an upper entry level effort in Class A/B.

does reallu FXSound improve so much audio quality?
and it doesn't work in wasapi exlusive mode
thanks

 

[Golf]

It's interesting how very different people use very different methods to choose an amplifier.

Yes, but not very surprising. After all, people have different ways towards their happiness.

 

[DanielT]

So, I was really into that Denon PMA-600NE, thinking it was gonna give me the best bang for my buck. But then, I was like, hold up, let's do some A/B tests to really figure out what's gonna rock my 2.1 system. Spent a few weeks doing these tests...

Checked out these amps: Yamaha A-S501, Rotel A11 Tribute, Denon PMA-600NE, Marantz PM6007. And for speakers, I had the ELAC Debut Reference DBR62, Revel M16, Klipsch RP-600M lined up. Subs : Klipsch R-100SW, SVS-SB 1000.

After all that, I settled on the Marantz 6007, Revel M16 speakers, and SVS-SB 1000 sub.

The Denon was booming too much with the M16s, but sounded alright with the DBR62s.

Rotel just couldn't drive the M16s like I wanted, and the Yamaha wasn't delivering that crispy sound I was after.

Guess it all comes down to personal taste, but figured I'd share in case it helps someone else out.

Now I'm thinking about digital room correction, gotta fine-tune this setup. Maybe miniDSP... View attachment 356023

Yep, I had a similar situation. Within a 6 month period I tested out the Rotel A11 Tribute, Denon PMA800 and PMA600 Onkyo 9010 and the Marantz PM6007. I only used one set of speakers namely the Monitor Audio Bronze 200 floorstanders. To keep it short, PMA800 nice but not quite my taste, dry sounding. PMA600 smoother than the PMA800 but a lot of bass although quite well handled. Rotel A11 Trib nicely balanced, quite rich but lacking power, no where near the grunt of either of the two Denons. Onkyo 9010, not bad at all considering the price, big soundstage but a little hard in the upper bass. The Marantz PM6007, balanced sound with good amount of dynamics and detail and enough power to drive my speakers easily. All pretty decent amps to be fair but I settled on the Marantz PM6007 too and then spent around it to squeeze everything out of the amp. Upgraded the speaker cable to Audioquest Rocket 11 with plugs and Chord Clearway X for the Topping E50 and the Creative Audigy FX2 sound card in the PC which is a superb soundcard for any Windows machine and comes with decent software. MCRU Belden/Furutech power cord for the amp and PC as well as iFi power supply for the dac. Completely settled on the sound. I use Spotify a lot and run it through the FXSound app for the extra EQing and the system sounds sublime. Plenty will say cables don’t matter but truth is, they do!

It was sad that you would run into such bad amplifiers that color the sound. I thought they didn't make such bad amps these days?
Unless you tested very low powered amps, so they were driven into clipping but other than that I'm surprised.

If you had read through some amp tests here at ASR, it wouldn't have been a problem.

 

[petebone]

I'm feeling pretty good about my Yamaha RX-596 + SMSL SU-1 combo after reading this review.

I just picked up an RX-596 for cheap and man does this thing sound good.

 

[Dalprad]

I just picked up an RX-596 for cheap and man does this thing sound good.

I just bought a Yamaha A-S801 and I can't say it's any better except for the digital inputs and the more functional remote. You can be confident you got a great amp. How's the input selector? Mine is buggy like many are from that era.

 

[Mantra]

It was sad that you would run into such bad amplifiers that color the sound. I thought they didn't make such bad amps these days?
Unless you tested very low powered amps, so they were driven into clipping but other than that I'm surprised.

If you had read through some amp tests here at ASR, it wouldn't have been a problem.

hi
i have tested both and they are no bad amps at all , comparing to the others brands /prices
ok , i have other vintage amps and they are another "music" , and i see you have some beauty vintage gears , they are build with love and to be rock solid , gems
about the new products , well , compared to some vintage amps integral or tube ,they are made in a different "way" not for really music lovers ♫♫♪

 

[petebone]

I just bought a Yamaha A-S801 and I can't say it's any better except for the digital inputs and the more functional remote. You can be confident you got a great amp. How's the input selector? Mine is buggy like many are from that era.

Input selector is fine but this morning, I was playing a CD and when I turned the volume down, the music became muffled. It came back to normal in a few seconds but I’m now worried that something is up.

 

[Dalprad]

Input selector is fine but this morning, I was playing a CD and when I turned the volume down, the music became muffled. It came back to normal in a few seconds but I’m now worried that something is up.

Was the CD direct engaged at the time off the issue? I have found that using CD direct bypass a lot of the circuitry that causes problems.

 

[petebone]

Was the CD direct engaged at the time off the issue? I have found that using CD direct bypass a lot of the circuitry that causes problems.

I had it on and then I turned it off. Yeah, I am wondering if that was/is the issue.