Denon PMA-600NE Integrated Amplifier Review

[pavuol]

This is one serious looking orthodox box. Just keep in mind for a price of this you can have three black boxes at once (SMSL M300 SE DAC + a pair of JBL 305 shrews...]
Oh, no turntable in the given budget, my bad!

[disclaimer: this is junk comment, I just wanted to feel young for a second and sound like a teenager praising subaru in a saab forum lol..]

 

[Beave]

You guys just seen too much of Fosi SMSL and Topping.

These Denon and Yamaha etc have not changed and have measured the same for like the past 20 years. The Yamaha in particular is pretty impressive considering its era.

There's a lot of truth in this.

The big brands are more interested in re-using designs; designing for reliability instead of taking any risks in making changes; and designing using parts they're very comfortable and familiar with; and using parts from reliable sources - as opposed to making any changes that would eek out that last drop of performance but increase costs even a few cents or make sourcing parts more complicated.

Meets spec? Good enough for them. Now, let's find a way to build it cheaper to increase our margins. That's their mentality.

 

[Beave]

A quote from Denon, as reported in the Audioholics review (here: https://www.audioholics.com/amplifier-reviews/denon-pma-600ne-dcd-600ne ):

"No product leaves the Denon factory until it has the Sound Master seal of approval, for which our team in Japan meticulously listens to every product to ensure the voicing and build quality is consistent with other Denon New Era series products. The new 600 series products have the same precise, clean and powerful Denon sound because they have the same Hi-Fi engineering concept, including advanced components, circuitry, amplification, and layout as other Denon Hi-Fi products. The overall aesthetic, sound quality and design integrity of the PMA-600NE is unparalleled at the price."


-Shinichi Yamauchi, Sound Master at Denon

 

[Bleib]

Wow, I'd love to know how the cheaper AVR compare, back when I at first got into hi-fi Swedish LTS wrote that they were much better than the 2 channel amps

 

[TonyJZX]

to me this one is trying to do too much

eg. i look at the internal design and clearly, theres a lot going on there.

again this sort of against the ethos of this place

i would rather this unit lose phono and the digital section and tone controls and.... yeah you get the idea... do a little but do it better, dont try to do lots of things in a shit manner

you're better off starting with just an Audiofonics MPA-250NC and then adding bits and bobs you need need... some kind of $100 dac, some kind of line stage preamp w/ remote and these kinds of budget Japanese amps made in Vietnam will always be in your back window mirror.

 

[GWolfman]

There are enough good amp options to replace those included in a receiver, but we’ve yet to find one with a DAC worthy of praise (compared to desktop/portable options).

 

[Billy Budapest]

What does that even mean?

I thought the meaning was obvious. The amplifier offers sufficient performance to be able to reproduce 16/44.1 data accurately. Anything higher resolution will be adversely affected by noise and distortion because the unit’s measured performance barely reaches the 16/44.1 threshold.

Make sense to you now?

 

[Chrispy]

I thought the meaning was obvious. The amplifier offers sufficient performance to be able to reproduce 16/44.1 data accurately. Anything higher resolution will be adversely affected by noise and distortion because the unit’s measured performance barely reaches the 16/44.1 threshold.

Make sense to you now?

No, not particularly.

 

[pogo]

A Reactive Load Test would also have been interesting.

 

[GXAlan]

-Shinichi Yamauchi, Sound Master at Denon

Vivid and Spacious is the current "claim" for Denon as opposed to "delicate and powerful"

110 Anniversary Interview Series Vol.1 - Shinichi Yamauchi | Brand | Denon Stories

As we celebrate our 110 year anniversary, we thought it would be fitting to delve deeper into our philosophy of sound as well as the engineering process behind our key products via interviews with the people who produce them. In this first edition, we speak with Sound Master, Shinichi Yamauchi...

www.denon.com

We definitely see a difference between this entry level product and the PMA-A110's measurement. This is why you cannot just go with brand and you need to look at individual products from a brand.

Denon PMA-A110 Integrated Amplifier Review: BIGGER Sound than Power Ratings Reveal?

Denon’s PMA-A110 Integrated amplifier is a finely crafted piece of audio gear that sounds as good as it looks while delivering more power than its modest 80wpc rating suggests. Read our review to see why.

www.audioholics.com

 

[AdamG]

I gave it a Fine score. Some of us use the price in our calculations for value of features and functionality for the money. I know you don’t like to do this for good reason and I don’t think you should change your approach in this regard. For us budget focused folks. This Amp from a longtime contender in the AVR Segment is pretty good value for the asking price. A great starter kit or as the anchor for a secondary system. Thanks for the expansive technical performance Review Amir. For some here this is as much as they can afford and it delivers for the category it’s competing in.

 

[TonyJZX]

over here the obvious competitors are the Marantz PM5005 and the Yamaha 501

the Marantz you're probably getting the house sound

I'd go the 501... on paper substantially more power and its a Yamaha

 

[Tangband]

Wow, I'd love to know how the cheaper AVR compare, back when I at first got into hi-fi Swedish LTS wrote that they were much better than the 2 channel amps

The AVRs ( I have own 3 Denons and has been a member of LTS ) wasnt particularly better than this unit - but they had more power for the money .
Still not stellar amplifiers , an Aiyima a07 or Fosi V3 is better sounding ( and has lower noise )

 

[NHL99]

A Marantz Special Edition amplifier would be of interest in ASR. 'Exquisite, perfectly pure power for connecting sources and driving loudspeakers.'

 

[natna]

It is an entry level all in one thing, but for what it measures it's overpriced in Europe.
Best price in Amazon is 405E to 470E VAT incl. + shipping.
Power is ok, frequency responce is just ok and crosstalk meh...

I also disagree with the opinion, that -50db on crosstalk is enough. I have gear with 65-70db and stereo image is flat and unimpressive.
A good crosstalk mark, could uplift the overall music experience. But, It requires a nice design, good grounding, shielding and cable management.

 

[Blumlein 88]

There is another thread about the smell of this amp. Did Amir conduct a smell evaluation?

 

[HarmonicTHD]

There is another thread about the smell of this amp. Did Amir conduct a smell evaluation?

Blind please.

 

[audiotron]

That's worse than the Sony STR-DH190.

 

[Overseas]

Had it, listened to it with 3-4 pairs of speakers and it sounded quite bad to me, compared to Yamaha and Rotel. A little better with external Topping DAC. Sold it. Looks impressive.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Thanks, @amirm
This is disappointing. Without the performance mismatch between both channels, it would have been acceptable. As some said, at least it matches the specs, but there's no excuse for such inconsistent results between L & R (that could also explain the poor crosstalk)...

Is it on purpose or nobody knows in these brands 10% of the knowledge smsl, topping, Fosi

If ever SMSL or Topping would have 10% of the knowledge of these brands regarding reliability...