Dear all,
I'm in need of help. My music doesn't sound as good as I would like. And I don't have three thousand to drop on a new pair of active genelecs. But by halving my noodle/ vinyl purchase rations, I could manage roughly £300. I currently have a pair of wharfedale diamond 122's, a computer with s/pfdif, an audio technica LP-3 vinyl player and a POS AV receiver. So I would like to bring the amp from the status of free and sad to match the rest of my cheap but cheerful, workable setup. However, I'm currently very much limited when it comes to ability to demo hifi gear due to my location. Same goes for picking up used deals, even though I'm keeping my eyes open.
So requirements: Vinyl preferably via decent phono (although the lp3 does have a pre), streams and occasional cd's via computers s/pdif (although a separate DAC could be considered if money was saved on the amp), some kind of loudness control for quiet listening and enough power to get ~90 dB and be able to disable the loudness nonsense. Direct switch would be a benefit for those days.
I prefer a punchy and detailed, rhythmic delivery, lots of roots and funk records being played. Clarity is great but being overly tame and polite is not what I want.
I suppose the contestants are the usual ones.
Marantz pm6006 (Praised tone but with apparently a poorly shielded internals resulting in common problems with especially the digital inputs and the phono box..) I've also heard the pm6004 which sounded good but a bit limp (although could've been the speakers fault as well).
Onkyo 9010 or 9110. Particularly interested in the latter. Lacks a DAC though.
Yamaha 501. Don't know anything about this. I realize this is not made in Japan, but from past experiences with Yamaha, I would assume quality control would have to be at least equal if not better than the others.
Denon PMA-600ne. Don't know anything about this. Seems to tick a lot of boxes though.
Has anyone a/b'd these? The first two are reviewed on this site but the grains of salt needed might lead to severe hypernatremia.
Any input would be greatly appreciated, especially on how the tonal qualities compare and what the denon box is all about 🙂
I'm in need of help. My music doesn't sound as good as I would like. And I don't have three thousand to drop on a new pair of active genelecs. But by halving my noodle/ vinyl purchase rations, I could manage roughly £300. I currently have a pair of wharfedale diamond 122's, a computer with s/pfdif, an audio technica LP-3 vinyl player and a POS AV receiver. So I would like to bring the amp from the status of free and sad to match the rest of my cheap but cheerful, workable setup. However, I'm currently very much limited when it comes to ability to demo hifi gear due to my location. Same goes for picking up used deals, even though I'm keeping my eyes open.
So requirements: Vinyl preferably via decent phono (although the lp3 does have a pre), streams and occasional cd's via computers s/pdif (although a separate DAC could be considered if money was saved on the amp), some kind of loudness control for quiet listening and enough power to get ~90 dB and be able to disable the loudness nonsense. Direct switch would be a benefit for those days.
I prefer a punchy and detailed, rhythmic delivery, lots of roots and funk records being played. Clarity is great but being overly tame and polite is not what I want.
I suppose the contestants are the usual ones.
Marantz pm6006 (Praised tone but with apparently a poorly shielded internals resulting in common problems with especially the digital inputs and the phono box..) I've also heard the pm6004 which sounded good but a bit limp (although could've been the speakers fault as well).
Onkyo 9010 or 9110. Particularly interested in the latter. Lacks a DAC though.
Yamaha 501. Don't know anything about this. I realize this is not made in Japan, but from past experiences with Yamaha, I would assume quality control would have to be at least equal if not better than the others.
Denon PMA-600ne. Don't know anything about this. Seems to tick a lot of boxes though.
Has anyone a/b'd these? The first two are reviewed on this site but the grains of salt needed might lead to severe hypernatremia.
Any input would be greatly appreciated, especially on how the tonal qualities compare and what the denon box is all about 🙂
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