Denon PMA-600NE Integrated Amplifier Review

[DesertHawk]

I get the feeling from comments on a lot of those videos that some of the followers cycle through a fair amount of $100-700 products. It may be a smaller number than I had imagined. But I see quite a few "I have ..... and I think I'll try this now"

With so many of these infomercials just gushing over the components, why would anyone up their price range to $800-1200 or more? If I'm listening to my $500 amp and it doesn't make me think of all the words he is using to describe this $400 amp then his cheaper amp sure seems like an upgrade.

That is the start of an endless expectation bias loop.
1. My component sounds fine
2. His description of that component sure seems better than mine
3. Buy new component
3. It does sound the way he described, this is so much better
4. Over weeks or months the expectation bias fades
5. Back to step one

You're right. Also there's probably folks with the entry level Yamaha that are thinking about upgrading and watch that video and are convinced to buy the next tier denon or whatever.

 

[Dalprad]

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

 

[pseudoid]

Thank you @amirm for the review/conclusions and @JSmith for the photos.
I imagine such a product from an international manufacturer would cost around in this price range. I cheated and looked at the poll first and then, scrolled thru all the graphs and guessed at @amirm conclusion.
Could this be the era where the LP-resurgence is replaced by early days of rocket-science in crappy old DACs?

 

[D700]

It is depressing indeed and that is how I felt through the review, test after test. Hopefully in the future measurements will play a more important role in the company as I am sure a lot of these results could be improved with little to no cost.

Wiim Pro Amplifier inbound

 

[Angsty]

Sorry fellas, I'm reading through this thread and feel you're being really hard on a low cost integrated amp with some facilities *and available from a dealer network* offering after care and hopefully a service department if needed!

I generally agree that it’s low priced with acceptable value. I just look at how it’s engineered and wonder how much better could be done with a modern design with the same manufacturing costs. The benefit of this old design is that the R&D is long paid for and does not have an impact on the unit cost.

 

[pseudoid]

I just noticed the integral power-cord on this unit's photo. How considerate of them to make sure you would never lose it!
I just hope this does not become the latest trend in the industry... considering that the manufacturers could save about buck-two-fifty in parts/labor.

 

[Rottmannash]

Not interested in it. I am not interested in consumer class commercial audio.

What "class" are you interested in?

 

[musicforcities]

Hmm. $500-$700 integrated seem like a challenging price point for Class AB.
Seems like the recent fossi amp Amir reviewed, a top measuring $100 da, a $100 phono preamp and a smoke source selector might measure better and be less expensive if you don’t mind all the little boxes.

 

[Angsty]

I just noticed the integral power-cord on this unit's photo. How conisderate of them to make sure you would never lose it!
I just hope this does not become the latest trend in the industry... considering that the manufacturers could save about buck-two-fifty in parts/labor.

What’s the point of a $150 power cord on a $400 integrated amp? The tests on ASR have not shown that upmarket power cords make a difference. I’m not sure what the point would be to simply have a removable power cord.

It’s actually a throwback design versus a “latest trend” - most units before 1990 had fixed power cords.

 

[DesertHawk]

Hmm. $500-$700 integrated seem like a challenging price point for Class AB.
Seems like the recent fossi amp Amir reviewed, a top measuring $100 da, a $100 phono preamp and a smoke source selector might measure better and be less expensive if you don’t mind all the little boxes.

I'm with you but unless I'm missing something, the source selector is hard to fill, especially if you want a remote.

Why are preamps so expensive?

Help me better understand preamps. My understanding is that if you only have a dac as a source and you buy a dac with built-in volume control then you don't even need a preamp. Basically, a preamp is needed if you are using a power amp that isn't an "integrated amplifier" and you have more than...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[pseudoid]

What’s the point of a $150 power cord on a $400 integrated amp?
The tests on ASR have not shown that upmarket power cords make a difference.
I’m not sure what the point would be to simply have a removable power cord.

Let us not exaggerate more than need be, shall we?
I was talking about connectors.
You know: Like those other thingies stuck to the rear panel of this unit.
You?

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I'd rather have a fixed cable. The amp can be tucked further against the wall if it doesn't have that IEC connector. Can't see why people are against fixed cables as it had served it purpose on most appliances for multiple decades without issues.

 

[TonyJZX]

IEC is great for companies who want to sell worldwide with one sku

fixed socket is for the bigger established players (ie. the big japanese)

BUT to me fixed cable looks cheap... i mean any equipment that is the least bit more 'prestige' uses IEC.

Also you can get 90 degree IEC cables.

 

[pseudoid]

I'd rather have a fixed cable...
The amp can be tucked further against the wall if...

Where do you draw the line? May I ask?
P'haps "fixed cables" for the speaker interface, as well?
Or speaker cables on the side of the hardware, so that you don't have to play shoving games?

 

[TonyJZX]

i much prefer IEC

you know why? when you swap equipment you dont have to fish out the cable from the wall socket

just pull out the iec and also reusing the rca xlr interconnects etc.

 

[damirj79]

So why would one choose Denon PMA600 instead of NAD C328?

 

[Hammeredklavier]

So why would one choose Denon PMA600 instead of NAD C328?

The Denon is cheaper.

At a glance, the NAD looks better but it's £200 dearer in the UK.

 

[dr0ss]

hundred dollars/UK pounds now but having said that, does anyone here have a Yamaha 201 they could send in for testing, as it's a different layout than the 301 upwards and maybe more 'traditional' on the inputs and volume control and so on...

We have an R-S201 in a vacation house. It is awful, but I can't explain why without using audiophilespeak. It replaced a defunct 80s Technics receiver, which I loved with the same (Wharfedale) speakers.

 

[damirj79]

The Denon is cheaper.

At a glance, the NAD looks better but it's £200 dearer in the UK.

You can find NAD C328 for about 449€ on iacono.fr and Denon PMA600 is somewhere between 410-450€, but you can find it on black friday deals for about 328€ at the moment on hifiklubben.de. So it is 120€ difference at the moment. Is it worth the difference or not?

 

[Hammeredklavier]

You can find NAD C328 for about 449€ on iacono.fr and Denon PMA600 is somewhere between 410-450€, but you can find it on black friday deals for about 328€ at the moment on hifiklubben.de. So it is 120€ difference at the moment. Is it worth the difference or not?

That's a question only you can answer!

I think mine would probably be yes, if there was only ~£100 or so in it then I'd probably take the extra wattage, more modern amplifier design (it's Class D I believe), greater compactness, and yes, better specs (although I haven't studied them closely). Assuming I wanted it for something vaguely serious and not just another desktop blaster!