feedback reqd on denon intergated stereo amps

vilfy

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hi,

i needed some feedback on how are denon stereo amps (pma 500ae and pma 700ae)...

1. owners / users kindly share ur actual usage experience

2. experts / audiophiles please give ur views on denon compared to CA 340SE or 540 and NAD 315bee and 325bee

3. also pl guide on speakers that go well with denon amps

thanx in advance,
vilfy
 
hi,

i needed some feedback on how are denon stereo amps (pma 500ae and pma 700ae)...

1. owners / users kindly share ur actual usage experience

2. experts / audiophiles please give ur views on denon compared to CA 340SE or 540 and NAD 315bee and 325bee

3. also pl guide on speakers that go well with denon amps

thanx in advance,
vilfy

Hi,
I brought down the Denon PMA 700 for a friend and he has paired it with KEF IQ 1. He likes it.(To my surprise the amp was made in Japan). Build quality is really very good for an amp that cost me less than 16K.(Dunno local MRP).

Vilfy i am not a fan of any CA amps. Nad i think are very good budget amps and even though the denon looks slicker i would go with the NAD. Have not heard the nad u mention but look for the now discontinued 320BEE or 352.
Will get both at discounted rates and in my opinion would be a great starting block.

Regards
 
It is better to stay away from entry level hifi amps from Denon. You can do much better with Rotel, Marantz, Creek, CA, NAD etc.
 
As a CA owner myself, I would say start your auditions of the CA Azur range with 640A V2 and above, nothing below that. My 540A V2 is fine for my small room but I find it lacks power for classical and for movies. Not a bad amp at all considering its price!! I believe the NADs are 30-40% more. Not a big issue though since satisfaction is the priority, not price. Only, they are a bit on the smooth side while NADs seem more agile.
 
Vilfy
Denons are very good at HT , but for Stereo , they have little to challenge the Budget class leaders like NAD , Rotel , Marantz , Creek etc etc., try some other brand instead of brands like Denon , onkyo , Yamaha.
 
i run a denon integrated pma2000ivr through a denon dcd700ae source and i am very satisfied with the resolution and sound staging. i havn,t heard the lesser models but the denon amp is rugged and made in japan. however they need slight warmer speakers since the greater detail in sound makes it a bit thin. its a tradeoff depending upon what u prefer, details or warmth.
 
thx everbody

rr,

my total budget for stereo system is 50k:

18k amp

22k speakers (only bookshelfs... space constraint)
cables - 1 or 2k

since a lot of my music is on my 160 gb pod...
10k ipod-dock (a wireless model of denon... dont know any other brand which has wireless ipod docks)

cdp - planning to currently use my philips dvd player. have a lot of CDs too and hence plan to upgrade later cos of budget constraint now.

should i cut on amp budget and go for more budget in speakers?

any combos you can suggest?

i listen to hard rock music and prefer tight bass.

cheers
 
For speakers go for a MA. In that range they will suit you a lot. The more you spend on speakers the better.

Don't cut on the amp any further, you are good on that. Go for a Marantz amp. They would be pretty decent. Or a NAD.

Put off your idea for a CDP now. Add it a later time. Let iPod give you return on your money first.

Don't spend on a dock. That's a gimmick. If you want a better sound scrap the iPod idea altogether. But so long as you wanna use an iPod as a source, using a decent IC is enough. Spend on an AudioQuest IC. That will serve you a good purpose.
 
rr,

why do u call ipod docks a gimmick.... have heard that much better sound qlty is available from docks than thru ep2rc interconnects.
 
I want to be clear that I haven't done an A-B comparison ever of this. What I said was based on what I heard and my own common sense.

I consider a dock as a marketing gimmick because I do not know if it does anything other what an IC does and the extra things it does (charging the Pod and letting you control it thru a remote) doesn't add any qualitative change to the sound. That's what I think. I am willing to go back on this and more than willing to learn if a dock really improves the sound, and how.
 
hi,

i needed some feedback on how are denon stereo amps (pma 500ae and pma 700ae)...

1. owners / users kindly share ur actual usage experience

2. experts / audiophiles please give ur views on denon compared to CA 340SE or 540 and NAD 315bee and 325bee

3. also pl guide on speakers that go well with denon amps

thanx in advance,
vilfy


Hi ,

i own a nad325 bee with whardale diamond 9.3.. the nad is soft and good on the ears.. though i am currently having problems with their service(under warranty)


Regards

Neetant
 
This might upset fans of Denon & various other Jap made amplifier lovers but our home grown names such as Norge, Sonodyne & Pulz have reached the sound quality levels that can easily rival some makes/models of Jap/Brit made amplifiers. The finish should not be compared but a perfect example of superb build & sound quality is the Sonodyne Pre-Power Combo.

I am saying this cause I now own a Pulz & I have come from a back ground of old school Akai, Technics, Rotel, Yamaha & Sony amplifiers & this technology has not changed all that much other than the introduction of Digital Class amplifiers.

Denon makes great stuff so go ahead & buy it. However I do feel you can get a few more watts of power for a wee lesser money with other makes of stereo amplifiers
 
Sandeep

This is slightly off topic but related to your post above. How would a Norge amplifier work when the source is mp3 music (high bit rate - 320 kbps). Have you listened to a Norge extensively?
I ask this as i used a marantz to listen to mp3 and it was totally acceptable. Technically, its not hi-fi and hence I am not posting a separate thread here.
Let me know if you have any inputs here.

thanks
Vaibhav

ps to the original poster of the thread - if i get any response, I will post a separate thread so as not to hijack your thread.
 
I consider a dock as a marketing gimmick because I do not know if it does anything other what an IC does

I'm with you on this one. I also don't know why a dock would sound better than a good IC. What I've heard people say is that the dock accesses the sound output of the ipod at the chip level itself (digital signal) and sends that to the amp, which supposedly has a better DAC than the iPod does. There may or may not be any truth to this.

-Ajinkya.
 
Vaibhav

I have zero experience with MP3 and cannot comment how well a Norge can deliver with this format. However I do not see any reason why it won't sound good.

I have not done any extensive listening with Norge products.

Cranky

I am well aware that output rating (watts) & sound quality have no connection. I mentioned it only for the one fact that you could get a few more watts of output power for lesser money & this will help in a small way to drive a more demanding speaker system.
 
This might upset fans of Denon & various other Jap made amplifier lovers but our home grown names such as Norge, Sonodyne & Pulz have reached the sound quality levels that can easily rival some makes/models of Jap/Brit made amplifiers. The finish should not be compared but a perfect example of superb build & sound quality is the Sonodyne Pre-Power Combo.

I dont know about Pulz and Norge (haven't heard) but a visit to the Sonodyne demo room had left me sorely disappointed. I think their products have actually gone backward from the 1990's. I've heard some old Sonodyne gear and the stuff on demo seemed distinctly inferior.
 
Cranky.....I fully disagree with your ways of going about this.

First off; I am not going by any stupid marketing gimmick. I hope this does not need any more reminding.

Next; why on earth is a speaker/amplifier specification published? Its for better system matching or to atleast give you an idea about pairing components well.

If all manufacturers decided not to publish their speaker/amplifier ratings; how does one go about this? How do you pair products?

I do agree that wattage is not the sole factor to consider; but it is something you should look into when pairing a amplifier & speaker system.

Jai1611

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with Sonodyne. I too did at their Bangalore outlet. The walls at the listening room in Bangalore is all glass so this does not help one bit. I found their top of the line wood based floor standers too bright. Do try & listen to them in a home environment. Things do change. I would rate their electronics & sub woofers as best buys from the entire Home Audio line up.
 
Hi ,

i own a nad325 bee with whardale diamond 9.3.. the nad is soft and good on the ears.. though i am currently having problems with their service(under warranty)


Regards

Neetant

Thats precisely its weakness I've realized lately. I own a nad325 too. The effect on most music is the visual equivalent of worn out threading on a smooth galvanized water pipe - the definition is gone, smoothened over. No wonder many forum members praise the Marantz for its ripeness bloom in the midrange on Sax and brass instruments. But I realized this only when I got really revealing speakers. WF and budget speakers will not expose this weakness.

Cheers
 
Cranky

Thank you for the valuable inputs & I have not taken anything personally.

I have yet to see a performance graphs in a Brochure/User Manual of a amplifier. There must be some reason why they do not find a need to publish it. The "watts" bit must be a bunch of lies from a manufacturer but I do consider this figure when it comes to a purchase. I honestly do not have the patience to dig into graphs for each & every Hi Fi system to gauge performance cause its just too much to do.
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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