As some of you will have seen I'm taking a long overdue break from the endless pursuit of audio nirvana and simplifying things a lot for the forseeable future with a view to simply enjoying the music. The endless swapping and changing of components has got out of hand and its too costly in both time, money, and listening time to continue.
I thought the Denon DM37DAB was going to be the answer. It sounds great partnered with a pair of Tannoy F1 Customs and has the features I need, all for an excellent price. In many ways it really is a stunning piece of kit for the money.
HOWEVER, I just can't live with the volume control. There is no subtlety in the adjustment. The gaps between each gradation of volume are just too big and quite often I've found myself wanting something in between two adjacent settings. For too much of the time I've felt unable to set a satsifactory volume level and this is a particular problem for me as I live in an appartment. On one setting it is too quiet and loses too much of the tonal quality. On the next its too loud and I end up worrying about disturbing those living around me. I've added a second review of the unit to reflect this issue which, I notice, has been raised on these forums previously. Sadly, for me, its a complete deal breaker. I just can't live with it.
So what am I doing now? Well I've decided to avoid anything with a similar volume control so the equivalent Onkyo units are out of the question. I'm not interested in the Marantz either. So I've gone for a Teac Reference 380 system, which I will be using with the F1 Customs. Its got a proper variable, motorised volume control and the sound is every bit as good as the Denon - in some ways its even better.
I won't get it until next week but I'll report back here and add a review when I've spent some decent listening time with it.
If you want a compact micro system and you are able to crank up the volume I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Denon. It just isn't for me and, with the issue above (and its fairly poor headphone output) it would completely defeat what I am trying to achieve.
I thought the Denon DM37DAB was going to be the answer. It sounds great partnered with a pair of Tannoy F1 Customs and has the features I need, all for an excellent price. In many ways it really is a stunning piece of kit for the money.
HOWEVER, I just can't live with the volume control. There is no subtlety in the adjustment. The gaps between each gradation of volume are just too big and quite often I've found myself wanting something in between two adjacent settings. For too much of the time I've felt unable to set a satsifactory volume level and this is a particular problem for me as I live in an appartment. On one setting it is too quiet and loses too much of the tonal quality. On the next its too loud and I end up worrying about disturbing those living around me. I've added a second review of the unit to reflect this issue which, I notice, has been raised on these forums previously. Sadly, for me, its a complete deal breaker. I just can't live with it.
So what am I doing now? Well I've decided to avoid anything with a similar volume control so the equivalent Onkyo units are out of the question. I'm not interested in the Marantz either. So I've gone for a Teac Reference 380 system, which I will be using with the F1 Customs. Its got a proper variable, motorised volume control and the sound is every bit as good as the Denon - in some ways its even better.
I won't get it until next week but I'll report back here and add a review when I've spent some decent listening time with it.
If you want a compact micro system and you are able to crank up the volume I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Denon. It just isn't for me and, with the issue above (and its fairly poor headphone output) it would completely defeat what I am trying to achieve.
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