Denon PMA-900HNE

[Almost]

Hello all

Wondering what your opinion is about the Denon PMA-900HNE
Ive heard it with Oberon 5 speakers, it was impressive

But chances to try out other Amplifiers where limited, anyhow what do you think about the Denon PMA-900HNE?

​

 

[SuicideSquid]

Hello all

Wondering what your opinion is about the Denon PMA-900HNE
Ive heard it with Oberon 5 speakers, it was impressive

But chances to try out other Amplifiers where limited, anyhow what do you think about the Denon PMA-900HNE?

​

Don't trust demos of amplifiers. Any properly designed amplifier operating within spec will sound identical to any other properly designed amplifier operating within spec. Unless you've got some kind of crazy outlandish speakers, look at the features, aesthetics, and price, and make your decision based on those factors. If you're hearing differences it's almost certainly because the amplifiers are not volume-matched - you can't consciously perceive a 1dB difference in output between two amplifiers, but you'll hear the louder signal as sounding "better", all other things being equal.

Denon engineers quality hardware. The only criticism I have of the PMA-900HNE is it seems a little anaemic for the price, only spec'd to deliver 50 watts per channel. If you're just driving bookshelfs at moderate listening levels that's plenty of power, but if you're trying to push big floorstanding speakers I'd look elsewhere.

As for features, my experience with Denon's HEOS streaming software is that it's completely worthless, so I wouldn't treat its inclusion as a selling point.

 

[audio_tony]

The only criticism I have of the PMA-900HNE is it seems a little anaemic for the price

Positively anaemic!

It claims to be "high current" but yet power into 4 ohms is not very good. And there's no mention of frequency response in any of the PDF files I could find.

One to avoid I think.

Rated output power:
2-channel driving (CD → SP OUT)
50 W + 50 W (8 Ω/ohms, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, T.H.D. 0.07 %)
85 W + 85 W (4 Ω/ohms, 1 kHz, T.H.D. 0.7 %)

Total harmonic distortion:
0.01 % (Rated output: –3 dB), 8 Ω/ohms, 1 kHz

EDIT: Fixed spelling and corrected frequency to 'frequency response'!

 

[Almost]

Thank you

The Denon 900 gives 50watt at 8 Ohm, that is what I can find. The Oberon 5 is a floor standing 80cm tall, not that big

So what amp could I better be look for, price range about 500-700 Gbp?

 

[staefer]

Hey man, Denon is good stuff. You will have no issues whatsoever running a couple Oberon 5's with the 900hne.

I'm running 900hne with Oberon 7's and I can turn them up way more than is consider okay in an apartment and still have no distortion.

The hardware in the 900hne is great, some parts of the software leaves a bit to be desired but it does work when you get it going. Also streaming services such as Spotify and Tidal have integration so you you don't have to use the Heos app. With that said Tidal has been a bit on/off for me so I'm running it through Heos and it does work. Some pair it with a simple music streamer for better integration with the streaming services.

Negotiated a good price since I bought it all at the same place, but if I had to buy it separatly I'd go for a Yamaha amp instead.

Denon rates their amps based on a what's achievable with a constant output without distortions, so on the sheet their products look underpowered compared to compeditors but that's not really the case, they're usually compeditive (and even sometimes considered best) in their price bracket.

Sound character and quality can vary between different amps in my opinion, but I mainly got something well built since I want the stuff to last. Usually I find my ears adjust to the characteristics of what I listen to the most anyways. But there's some consideration to be taken when it comes to the DAC for example. All is not created the same even of they're "within spec".

Hope this is of some help.
Hope you have a great time enjoying your stuff

 

[pandasonic]

Hello all

Wondering what your opinion is about the Denon PMA-900HNE
Ive heard it with Oberon 5 speakers, it was impressive

But chances to try out other Amplifiers where limited, anyhow what do you think about the Denon PMA-900HNE?

​

Just wanted to add my experience of the Denon PMA-900HNE (connected to pair of Focal 826 floor standing speakers), for other's benefit.

We were playing music at a very moderate volume (40/100) for a couple hours before increasing the volume a medium level (55-60/100). To my surprise the system stopped playing music after a few songs and entered some cooldown mode due to it over heating. The device was on top of a console, open to air on all sides except the bottom (on its feet). The ambient temperature was around 30 deg C.

After a restart it would play a song or two, max, before it stopped playing music and entered cooldown mode again. Very frustrating considering all the factors I listed.

It only got back to playing continuously after we pointed a fan directly at it and ran it on a high speed, to keep the device cool.

Sound output and the sound in general was good.

 

[Marc v E]

Hello all

Wondering what your opinion is about the Denon PMA-900HNE
Ive heard it with Oberon 5 speakers, it was impressive

But chances to try out other Amplifiers where limited, anyhow what do you think about the Denon PMA-900HNE?

​

Try the wiim amp ultra. It has more and cleaner power, has a streamer, has eq and can handle a subwoofer.
Imo and ime those last two matter most.
Other choices could be a Denon avr like the x3800h that will probably have discounts and even better bass control due to more subs that can be connected and individually driven.