Pace 2045 amplifier

[jaudere]

Hi folks,

Recently I stumbled upon this Pace 2045 amplifier when I went to audio visual showroom nearby to get some cable. I was attracted by the built quality and simple appearance.
1)It is a simple stereo integrated amplifier , rated at 45w/channel.
2)It has 3 inputs, bass, mid treble control and balance control in addition to volume control.
3) Nothing additional. Not even remote controller.
4) Looking through grills, i could see hefty torroidal transformer and heat sink but other components are not visible.

5) MRP was 7k. this attracted me. Other DNM amp, A 8080U , with MRP at 11k, has 80w/ch amplifier, tuner, SD card reader, USB reader, VFD display, remote. This made me think that for 2045, probably all the money was going into quality amplification and nothing wasted on extra, unnecessary goodies.

6)One important feature: It has 'variable line out'. So adding subwoofer is easier than fixed line out which is there on most of the stereo amps. Once you have set the gain on sub, you are done. No need to change gain on sub each time you change the amplifier volume.
It can power 2 pairs of speakers. You can select speaker A/B/A+B. The speaker terminals are very good and accept banana plugs and bare wires.

I could hardly find any information on net. I asked a forum member but he had short audition and the response was not very encouraging. He rated it as average but I don't know what was the quality of speakers it was paired to. I spoke to Mr. Dilip Bajaj of DNM . He said it is a new product and yet to be added to his web site (incidentally he also told me that the price of his hi end integrated amp is likely to be pushed to 25k from 15k due to rise in component cost).

The design was so simple and attractive that I decided to give it a try. I couldn't find a decent pre-amp for the power amp which I recently acquired and I was looking for additional amp anyway. The dealer told me that the price would be 6.2k after discount

 

[jaudere]

Pace 2045 amplifier: listening impressions

In the showroom, I had only Denon PMA 510 AE to compare it with.

Source: Harman Kardon 5 CD changer
Speakers: Initially connected to Polk audio Tsi 100. But I immediately hated the sound (with Both Denon and Pace) It was too boomy and shrill for my liking so the speakers were changed to Mission m34i.
CDs : UB 40, Celine Dion No.1 collection, Eric Clapton unplugged, The best Of Leann Rimes, Murder 2.

The quality was same to my ears. The difference was in the position of volume dial only. I had to push volume dial of Pace to 12 o'clock position in order to get volume equal to Denon 10 o 'clock. Off topic, I did not like mission m34I much.Tthe highs were too shrill for my liking.They were definitely better than Polk TSi100 though. Both speakers were equally good/ bad with both amplifiers but at least both the amplifiers were doing equal job.

So I decided to buy it. I placed order. the dealer gave me the demo piece for temporary use till I get a fresh piece.


Now it was time to compare it to my Marantz pm6002 at home.


Source : Philips DVD player co ax out
DAC: Puprepipre A1 DAC (uses CS4398 chip, same as that of Marantz CD 6003)
Songs : same + Lagan ,Zubeida, Bombay
Speakers: Home-made open baffles.

At home, owing to high sensitivity of my speakers, I never had to push volume knob beyond 9 o'clock on either amplifiers (both are rated at 45w/ch into 8 ohm). Most of the times 8 o'clock was adeqaute.

On Marantz as well as Pace amp, I had to keep "loudness" on to compensate for weakness in bass of my OBs The loudness switch pushes frequencies around 60Hz up in addition to higher frequencies. The bass knob works at 100Hz. I have noticed that turning the bass knob up makes things muddy whereas loudness switch (on both amps) improves thump without making things muddy. That is why i think it works around 60hz approx.

All the other knobs (bass/treble/balance) at neutral position on both amplifiers.

I was surprised to note that the Pace 2045 was actually sounding better in high frequencies while it was equally good in all other departments.

While Marantz is very good with loudness off, switching loudness on makes high frequencies shrill and I used to turn treble knob down to control that shrillness. With Pace 2045, the high frequencies remained smooth and pleasing even with loudness switch on. I didn't even have to touch treble knob.

I also compared Marantz to Pace amp without Loudness on. Here both the amplifiers were comparable. I did not find any difference. Excellent details, superb mid range (probably owing to open baffle design) and pleasant highs.

Now My marantz pm 6002 is paired with marantz DVD player for movies in bedroom while Pace 2045 has become main amplifier with OBs owing to its better performance with loudness switch on. At Rs 6.2k, it is an absolute steal. I have never heard Topping Tp 2020 myself but this could be another excellent option for buyers on budget. In fact I would say not only for budget buyers but for those whose budget is upto 20K for amp and who are ready to do away without the remote controller. To my ears, it did equally well as compared to Denon PMA 510 AE and Marantz pm 6002 which are well known amps within 20k price range. This way, more budget can be allocated to better quality speakers which is probably more important as long as amplifier is decent.

After reading about Topping (where the OP preferred it over NAD 320 BEE) and then experiencing Pace 2045 myself (which did as good as Denon 510 and Marantz pm6002),I am gradually getting to conclusion that very good speakers+Decent amplifier is enough for great music rather than good speakers+ good but high cost amplifier.

 

[avidyarthy]

^ Excellent reporting! +1 ..........

 

[gopib]

Thanks Jaudere for a good write-up. Very practical. Ultimately the frills only add to the clutter and hence noise. Your observation of a no-nonsense amplifier and better speakers is bang on....

 

[jaudere]

If one looks at DNM offerings, all their amplifers (except hi end one) have tuner, USB reader, SD card reader, remote, VFD screen and too many switches owing to these extras. Luckily Mr. Bajaj seems to have decided to make one amplifer by himself without extras (the hi end is made in China and not here in India)

 

[iaudio]

Jaudere, that is good news for a lot of people who are about to embark on their hi fi journey, to have a good amp with enough power per channel at 6-7k. Thank you for your initiative.

P.s Doc, where are the pics?

 

[jaudere]

Have requested Mr. Dilip bajaj to provide some snaps. My camera (I have only my mobile cam, which is 8 m pixel but fixed focus) is hopeless for good close ups.

 

[Flash]

Jaudere. Excellent write up.

At 6.2k for a 45x2 it is a Steal and based on your review when compared to the Denon and Marantx,
Makes the deal even sweeter.

A definite Eye opener that Home grown Hifi companies can provide the best bang for the buck.

 

[jaudere]

Jaudere. Excellent write up.

At 6.2k for a 45x2 it is a Steal and based on your review when compared to the Denon and Marantx,
Makes the deal even sweeter.

A definite Eye opener that Home grown Hifi companies can provide the best bang for the buck.

But guys, please note that it is MY ears and I don't have golden ears. I would like to know when anyone else audiitons it.

I think a mistake we many times do is pairing only a low end speaker with low end amp (costwise) and then we form some conclusion like "the combo is good as starter" or "good for newbies" .

To see what any decent looking/sounding amplifier is really capable of, we should give it a full chance by connection high end speakers and then comment. As I said, I have feeling that all excellent speakers will sound excellent with any decent amp (of course synegry will have to be considered).
while doing this ,we should be frank to ourselves . Many times we reason out that a person buying low end amp will not buy hi end speakers but who knows? After reading Topping owners opinions, we come to know how Topping fares with excellent speakers.

 

[jaudere]

The loudness switch gives a boost of 8 dB at 50Hz and 3 dB at 10kHZ. That explains the thump without making things muddy.

Mr. Bajaj also told me that it is a chip based amp; uses TDA 7294 chip by company called ST. He told me that it is also used in some Genelec models and some Tannoy Tannoy (7293 chip to be specific).

On further search I found some refernces. Linn LK amp uses this chip. There seems to be a lot of debate in DIY audio forums on TDA 7294 vs LM3886.

TDA7293/TDA7294 - by which commercial integrated Stereo Amps in use ? - diyAudio

chipamp performance....? - Page 4 - diyAudio

TDA 7294 chip based amps seem to be rated at 60-70 watts power. Pace 2045 seems to be conservatively rated at 45watts/ch

 

[Hiten]

1)It is a simple stereo integrated amplifier , rated at 45w/channel.
4) Looking through grills, i could see hefty torroidal transformer and heat sink but other components are not visible.

At 45w of power hefty transformer and heatsink is a good sign of a well made amplifier.
regards

 

[jaudere]

Finally,here are some pics. Forgive me for PQ. It is my mobile cam

Don't know why images are not seen. Anyway here are the links


http://imageshack.us/f/577/23072012205.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/215/23072012206.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/40/23072012209.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/11/23072012204.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/23072012212.jpg/

 

[Vinod.R]

Hi Jaudere,

Superb write up, nice and informative and great.

I will definitely audition it here in Bangalore. (Anyone knows who deals/sells PACE/DNM offerings in Bangalore?)

Also it would be nice to have someone figure out a budget pair of speakers to match this amp.

Thanks once again.

Vinod

 

[jaudere]

Thanks for appreciation. I will soon be getting a DBX equalizer in the chain

 

[kaushik]

Very nice review ,
No matter amp may sound good.

some things i have observed ,are you sure paying 7k for it is justified:

-looks like decent desi made amp looking at the "Ok tested" sticker
-Keltron capacitors, unshielded input wires , low cost phenolic PCB,
keltrons i have used they degrade in a year
- input wires sticking to body of transformer :
Is it to save cost?
-Elcheapo carbon resistors:
any knowledged amp builder will go for metal film ones
-ultra low cost poly capacitors for audio ?
the green ones are 2 for one rupee, for inverters ok ,
-warranty? PACE as a company any information on this
-no tone defeat !
many stages of bass/treble filter will sure degrade signal
most quality amps offer tone defeat




Sorry if you feel upset but here at local market such amps come in 2k or so.

The TDA7293 amp kit is available for 300Rs in local market which wil have same keltron,pcb,carbon resistors . Much well made tda7293 kits sale in 500Rs for stereo pair in ebay.

 

[jaudere]

I understand nothing of the quality of electronics. May be they are very cheap as you say. I have to see how it does on long term basis. Somehow, even my Marantz pm 6002 has similar capacitors inside (the value is 10k Mf as compared to 6.8k mf in Pace). So how one should rate marantz for using electrolytics? The chip is TD 7294 from ST electronics. Whatever it is, the amp sounds very good when paired with my speakers. Nothing mentioned about warranty either but Mr. Bajaj got a feed back that the there is some problem about his amps in Goa, my unit was called back, something protective was put in and the amp was given back to me. When I told dealer that I wanted to take snaps of the parts inside, the unit was immediately opened in front of me. No questions asked. No attempt to hide the things. The power is also rated at 45wpc which is again consistent with the TDA chip specifications. Tone defeat switch is not important for me as I am not an audio purist and in fact going ahead with use of equalizers after understanding the logic in using them. Probably Bangalore has great local market with good but cheap amps but the amps available for 2k in Pune/mumbai or Panaji local market do not come anywhere close to it. Lets see how it performs in long term. Will keep you guys posted.

 

[jaudere]

I was reading about commercial speakers recently. One person said that the speakers are sold at 6 to 10 times of the material cost involved ( it may be 15 times for very high end products). Well known brands have to spend a lot on marketing as well. In case this also holds true for eletcrnocs, it may be true that the material cost involved in Pace amp is 1k (I got it for 6.2k). The kit may be available for 5-700 on e bay. Then comes in the chassis, torroidal transformer (costlier than EI), connectors, power cord (this piece has detachable power cord), knobs, connectors, labour charge (how many hours it takes to build such an amp? 2 days? So may be 1000 in labour charge) DNM profit, dealer profit, transport (from Mumbai to Goa transport is minimum 400 for this item). I don't know which caps arekeltron. The big ones in front of the chips are by company Samyong but still I don't know whether Samyong is better or worse than Keltrons. Trying to learn more!

 

[anuragn]

I was reading about commercial speakers recently. One person said that the speakers are sold at 6 to 10 times of the material cost involved ( it may be 15 times for very high end products). Well known brands have to spend a lot on marketing as well. In case this also holds true for eletcrnocs, it may be true that the material cost involved in Pace amp is 1k (I got it for 6.2k). The kit may be available for 5-700 on e bay. Then comes in the chassis, torroidal transformer (costlier than EI), connectors, power cord (this piece has detachable power cord), knobs, connectors, labour charge (how many hours it takes to build such an amp? 2 days? So may be 1000 in labour charge) DNM profit, dealer profit, transport (from Mumbai to Goa transport is minimum 400 for this item). I don't know which caps arekeltron. The big ones in front of the chips are by company Samyong but still I don't know whether Samyong is better or worse than Keltrons. Trying to learn more!

I agree. The cost an international amp selling for 20K rupees wont be more than 4-5K max. Rest is all overheads as listed in above post. Many good speakers (15-20K price) use cheap $10 drivers!
Pace is an old and reputed company and if I remember correctly, I read somewhere that Mr Dilip Bajaj is related to Mr Shyam Bajaj (not sure, may or may not be true).

 

[jaudere]

The Pace amplifier is made by DNM. I spoke to Mr. Dilip Baja, who is proprietor of DNM. He told me that he would soon be putting up info about this amp on DNM website. It was he who told me that he has used TDA7294 chips from ST microelectronics in Pace 2045.

 

[gopib]

You need to factor in the knowledge and effort put in by the manufacturer - in this case Mr. Bajaj. We tend to take this for granted. This in my opinion is quite significant and cannot be trivialized. We need to pay for the experience and investment put into building a product.