New amp for B&W 685

[Audiofoolius]

About a year and a half ago I bought a pair of B&W 685 speakers. They are currently paired with a Marantz (budget) receiver, the SR4320, and I always thought it sounded good. A friend of mine has recently bought a Denon PMA-2000AE amp and I hooked my B&W's up to it. The difference in sound was much bigger than I would have thought. They sounded like new speakers!

So now I am in search of a new amp that has enough power to make these speakers sing. I can't afford the aforementioned Denon amp but the little brother (PMA-1500AE) might just be possible.Has anyone heard this combo before?

If anyone would have any experience with Music Hall a25.2 amp with B&W speakers then I'd like to hear it too. There aren't a lot of reviews about this amp from Music Hall but it is said to be a cracking amp at this (low) price.

At the moment the Denon has the edge for me because it's more powerful and therefore it could survive a future speaker upgrade.

Any input would be welcome!

[class="Apple-style-span"]iin[/class]

 

[Anonymous]

whats the budget??

 

[Audiofoolius]

The price of the Denon PMA 1500AE (1000 euro) is about as far as I can stretch.

 

[Anonymous]

iv just bought a leema pulse for £750 on ebay on my arcam cd72 and ma rx1 it sounds amazing if your after a punchy bass and revealing sound this is the amp reduced from £1200 .

 

[ear]

never heard the pma2000ae but the 1500ae is not a very good amp.some users here have had it before.bass and treble seem always to be on +1.

 

[Chokobolt]

My friend have the Denon PMA-500AE you are mentioning. It is really, and
I repeat REALLY bad. It is like the sound is very distant when you
listen to music, and when you watch films the dialogue is just not clear
at all. In my opinion you should awoid it at all costs. I think you
should look at the Nad C 315 BEE or Nad C 316 BEE. I don't want to sound
rough, I just don't want you to waste your money

 

[ear]

he is talking about the 1500

 

[Chokobolt]

Ups, sorry. My bad

 

[ID.]

My experience and decisions were coloured by different pricing issues. I don't think it is worth 1000 Euros.

Where I am it was priced a bit more competitively. A similar price to the Marantz 8003 which wasn't bad value at the equivalent to around the 5-600 pound mark. I found the Marantz to be superior, but I found that there were better amps than the Marantz, even for less money.

I really think you need to do some auditioning, even looking at amps priced a bit lower put out by smaller manufacturers.

I don't know where you are buying, but after a lot of auditioning I actually ordered a CEC CD3800 and Amp3800 for around 1000 Euro which was easily superior to both the Marantz and Denon in most ways (very musical class a amplification. a very sweet and detailed sound). Whether this brand is even available where you are and what the markup for sales in Europe is like will really change the value presented by these units. Due to the balanced design and potential to use balanced/xlr interconnects it is worth getting both the CD player and amp together.

 

[d_a_n1979]

Deffo agree with the Leema Pulse suggestion

Others to look at would be:

NAD C355BEE
Rotel RA06SE
Rotel RA1520
Roksan Kandy K2

 

[Audiofoolius]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! So the PMA 1500 is off the list. I wondered why the three Denon dealers that I called didn't have this amp on stock. Now I know why...

I guess I'll have to audition to know what amp will suit my speakers best. The first amp I want to hear is the Music Hall. The CEC amp looks sweet too so I'll try to give that one a listen too. The Leema Pulse is way too expensive over here (in Belgium). It costs 1750 euro (£1500!).

I've heard NAD and Rotel amps on B&W speakers before and neither of them blew me away. The NAD is too focussed on the bass imo and Rotel sounds a bit too boring.

The Roksan Kandy K2 costs 1099 euro so it's certainly worth to audition this amp. The reviews of it are seriously glowing. This amp would be a future proof buy. Anyone heard it with the 685's?

 

[FORDFIESTA]

Denon pma 1500 is not in stock because there is a new coming soon, Denon pma 1510

 

[the record spot]

Audiofoolius:Thanks for the suggestions, guys! So the PMA 1500 is off the list. I wondered why the three Denon dealers that I called didn't have this amp on stock. Now I know why...

You're ditching a shortlisted item on the back of a handful of people on a forum saying it's rubbish? How on earth do you know without hearing for yourself? The point is academic given you haven't got it to hear locally, but the logic here baffles me.

What anyone says on here is but a guide; for all the NAD/Cyrus/Arcam/AVI/Sansui/Marantz fanboys out in web land, someone will rate the Sonneteer Campion or the Icon Audio Stereo 40, or any other unheralded amplifier in your price range and they'll be absolutely bang on to think so.

 

[matthewpiano]

I have owned the PMA1500AE. It is NOT a bad amplifier at all. In fact it is excellent in many ways. What I did find irritating is the feeling that the bass and treble were on +1 all the time, but there are many other things such as soundstaging and detail that the amp gets right and the build quality is absolutely superb.

However, I'm not sure it fits your requirements for something that puts timing at the top of the list and I would be considering the likes of the Naim Nait 5i or one of the Creek amps if you can find them to listen to locally.

Fully agree with RS' comment above.

 

[Audiofoolius]

Any amp that I will buy will be first auditioned, don't worry about that. If I should get a chance I will demo the PMA 1510 too. The Naim seems like a fine amp but at 50W it's not really the future proof amp I am looking for. The Creek could be interesting though. I'll put it on my list.

 

[smuggs]

i did see a dealer have some 685's set up with rotel06 pre and power, i have heard from around a dozen people that B&W and rotel work great and that B&W test in there factory with 4 brands one being rotel that may chinnese whipsers though

 

[drummerman]

Chokobolt:My friend have the Denon PMA-500AE you are mentioning. It is really, and
I repeat REALLY bad. It is like the sound is very distant when you
listen to music, and when you watch films the dialogue is just not clear
at all. In my opinion you should awoid it at all costs. I think you
should look at the Nad C 315 BEE or Nad C 316 BEE. I don't want to sound
rough, I just don't want you to waste your money

Well, I agree and in the process disagree with you chokobolt ...

You are quite correct in saying that some Denon amplifiers (and the cdp's I've heard/used) don't 'project' like some others do. Midrange is somewhat between, in certain cases behind the plane of the speakers, depending on which ones you use. Whilst this may not impress immediately, like some others do, in the long run its more balanced. Furthermore, turn the volume up and it stays composed/in proportion rather than the aural insult of midrange forward products. Just depends what your preferences are.

I can't comment on to many newer Denon products (I am familiar with the PMA1500AE and whilst I like it I also think it's a bit 'heavy handed' and can lack the agility and nimbleness of faster amps, both from Denon and otherwise) but I use an older Denon amplifier and it is difficult to change it. My previous system was by cyrus and I recently had a Naim system at home. Whilst both are probably marginally better/different, neither has bettered the Denon one the way you'd expect, considering the vast difference in price but even if they'd have been more evenly matched. Hence me having considered trying an all ATC system.

I remember the Marantz/Dali system at last years bristol show. Very good and impressive ... to a point. Like many lower priced systems, the shortcomings are at the frequency extremes and solidity of sound. Not taking away anything from it.

As always, my opinion only but I'd cautiously recommend Denon products for people that want a more laid-back sound and which enjoy listening 'into' the music rather than have it thrown at them. They also used to be well built and reliable.

 

[AL13N]

(1000 euro) is about as far as I can stretch... over here (in Belgium)... the future proof amp I am looking for.

How about the XTZ Class-A100D3.

700 euro with switchable Class A / AB amplification and a high quality DAC (AD1955) so definitely future proof.

Below is the link to the XTZ distributor in Belgium:

http://www.intosurround.nl

Good Luck