Not happy with DENON PMA-600NE

[mabad]

Hi all! Hopefully someone is kind enough to help me with my first ever setup!
I’m a student, with student economy living in an apartment for myself. I recently bought my first system: a pair of Dali Oberon 5, with the first amp I saw available in my local hifi-store - Denon PMA-600NE.
The Dali Oberon 5s sounded great when I tested them at the store with a pretty expensive AMP and streamer, not so great in my living room with the aforementioned Denon 600NE, which cost me ~499€.
I’m new to all of this, and would truly appreciate any and all recommendations for a better amplifier, as I can still return it.
I’ve found a cheap Cambridge Audio Azur 340A, which I see has a rating of 5 stars on What HIFI… Could this be better than the 600NE?
Hopefully this isn’t too stupid of a post.
Thanks again!!

 

[Chrispy]

I wouldn't look to whathifi for ratings in the first place, a wacky site at best. What is lacking with the amp? It's a bit pricey for what it is. More likely it's just the difference in speakers in your room vs showroom rather than an an issue with the speakers themselves. What features and amp power do you need in an integrated amp? Why did you select the Denon to begin with? We're not mind readers....

 

[mabad]

I wouldn't look to whathifi for ratings in the first place, a wacky site at best. What is lacking with the amp? It's a bit pricey for what it is. More likely it's just the difference in speakers in your room vs showroom rather than an an issue with the speakers themselves. What features and amp power do you need in an integrated amp? Why did you select the Denon to begin with? We're not mind readers....

Thanks for the reply.
Firstly, the Denon sounded good at the store, and was the cheapest one I could try out there, the other option was a Argon Audio SA1 MK2. You likely have a point about the room being different and all, but I’m finding I can’t differentiate instruments nearly as well as I could at the showroom, and the bass is rather muddy, even when turning the bass down a notch.
I’m unsure about power needs - I’m using the Dali Oberon 5s, which are specified at 30-150 watts? I’ve honestly no idea how the technical stuff works.
I’d need phono, CD and optical audio. HDMI is a big plus, but not necessary.

 

[Chrispy]

Thanks for the reply.
Firstly, the Denon sounded good at the store, and was the cheapest one I could try out there, the other option was a Argon Audio SA1 MK2. You likely have a point about the room being different and all, but I’m finding I can’t differentiate instruments nearly as well as I could at the showroom, and the bass is rather muddy, even when turning the bass down a notch.
I’m unsure about power needs - I’m using the Dali Oberon 5s, which are specified at 30-150 watts? I’ve honestly no idea how the technical stuff works.
I’d need phono, CD and optical audio. HDMI is a big plus, but not necessary.

Saying one integrated amp at a store sounded better doesn't make a lot of sense to begin with....they're mostly differentiated by inherent power and dsp (which can make for differences, but not an inherent one). Speakers are the biggest factors followed closely by room, the electronics are generally not relevant.

ps Best is to level match amps and do a blind test, btw

 

[JiiPee]

If possible, You could try to move Your speakers and/or Your listening position to see how that affects the sound.

 

[Power Pop 23]

Hi all! Hopefully someone is kind enough to help me with my first ever setup!
I’m a student, with student economy living in an apartment for myself. I recently bought my first system: a pair of Dali Oberon 5, with the first amp I saw available in my local hifi-store - Denon PMA-600NE.
The Dali Oberon 5s sounded great when I tested them at the store with a pretty expensive AMP and streamer, not so great in my living room with the aforementioned Denon 600NE, which cost me ~499€.
I’m new to all of this, and would truly appreciate any and all recommendations for a better amplifier, as I can still return it.
I’ve found a cheap Cambridge Audio Azur 340A, which I see has a rating of 5 stars on What HIFI… Could this be better than the 600NE?
Hopefully this isn’t too stupid of a post.
Thanks again!!

Welcome to ASR,

Your perception of muddy bass and undifferentiated instruments is not likely due to the Denon amp. It is more likely due to the interaction of the loudspeakers and the room.

WiiM makes devices that can mitigate this interaction and some may be an alternative to the Denon amp.

What sources do you want to amplify ?

 

[Miker 1102]

Did you ever resolve your amp situation? I was wondering because sometimes the responses here seem like "hey, your ears are wrong and you are wrong,and the solution is more complicated than it seems" I know that is not really the case as people are giving you the right answers. I just figured I would try to reach out.

 

[pinger]

Hi all! Hopefully someone is kind enough to help me with my first ever setup!
I’m a student, with student economy living in an apartment for myself. I recently bought my first system: a pair of Dali Oberon 5, with the first amp I saw available in my local hifi-store - Denon PMA-600NE.
The Dali Oberon 5s sounded great when I tested them at the store with a pretty expensive AMP and streamer, not so great in my living room with the aforementioned Denon 600NE, which cost me ~499€.
I’m new to all of this, and would truly appreciate any and all recommendations for a better amplifier, as I can still return it.
I’ve found a cheap Cambridge Audio Azur 340A, which I see has a rating of 5 stars on What HIFI… Could this be better than the 600NE?
Hopefully this isn’t too stupid of a post.
Thanks again!!

I have that amp. Its fine. Solid state amps all sound the same. Its either your room or the speakers or both.

 

[Moks]

The Cambridge Audio Azur 340A's power output stage is based on an LM3886 integrated circuit (a hybrid micro-assembly/hybrid IC), rather than discrete transistors.

 

[valerianf]

Loan/borrow a more powerful amp (i.e. Crown) and test if you ear a difference.
It may be that the 45w rated amp has an issue driving the column speaker impedance.
It happened to me with a Yamaha AVR.