Blueskin

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I bought this amp from e-bay for £200. Its about my 10th amp in the last 10 years. I have tried Denons before and loved the dynamic punchy sound they have, especially the bass. The problem with them is they can be a bit bright. But if you have a soft listening room (carpet, sofa, curtains, wall papaer etc) they sound great. Most modern pads now are mainly wood floors and blinds, painted walls etc. Not great for hifi.
My best system to date was a Denon pma355UK paired with some Mission M73 floorstanders. The bass performance was quite simply astonishing. No boom what so ever, and yet so muscular without being over powering. Midrange was just as impressive but the treble would start to cut your ears off after about half an hour.
The listening room was the culprit, hardwood everywhere and a minimal sofa. After trying most of all the other budget amps to solve the issue I found that I could not find an amp with same bass sound as the denon. Also the Mission speakers where never driven properly with any amp I tried. Tho the Nad C351 was pretty good. The Marantz pm7200 being the most lame.
So, on with the bigger Denon then, I have the 1500r mk1. The mk11 came out Nov 04. I went for this boy for the extra quality components and the dual mono build, hoping it should have the same slam but with more finese in the treble. Well at first the amp sounded awful, incredible bright and tight, surely it was run in, it must be about 6 years old. The amp did look incredibly clean for its age. Well I left it on for a week playing away the radio at medium volume. This opened the amp right up and that signiture sound was exposed. Great bass and mid and that nasty treble was now nice and sweet. Did expect a bit more detail but scale is more important to me at the moment. Still I think the amp got better after a good months playing. The longest run in I have come across.
I use the amp with a pair if Mission 780's and Silver Anna cable, bi wired (which definatley improves the bass.) And the sound is excellent. I have also wired it up to some Monitor Audio Bronze 2's and its a big no no. Too brash. It wont drive Proac Studio Ones either, bass is swampy. Does go well with Bose AM5's tho.
The amp will do me for the meantime until the kids grow up a bit. Next stop is a valve amp to go with the proacs.
If I have to give a weekness on this amp it would be the lack of detail and you can't change the source with the remote. But for £200 its an absolute cracker.

Price Paid:  $750.00 from Wantirna, Melbourne

Summary:
Yes, this superb Denon amplifier is still available. I specialise in classical/opera music and the reproduction of every note is nothing short of very true to the original recording/performance. In the short time I have owned this amp. it has given me great satisfaction and pleasure. I am a very strong advocate of MOS-FET technology as it delivers as near perfect reproduction of sound.

Strengths:
Superb detail of musical instruments and very accurate voice reproduction. Warm tonal quality, similar to valve amps.Very attractive design in Gold.I am using B & W 801F speakers, Marantz DV 8300 DVD/CD/SACD Player.

Weaknesses:
Remote control limited; volume control moves too quickly for fine adjustment. I would like to have seen a green power on L.E.D. and red L.E.D. for power off. It's hard to distinguish between orange/red L.E.D's.

Similar Products Used:
Hitachi HA 6800 Mos-Fet amplifier.

Price Paid:  $300.00

Summary:
what a bargain... fantastic build, tremendous attack and drive and untouchable at its price point. Cheaper than NAD C370 and Rotel RA-1060, looks better than either of them too. Who wants an ugly plastic black amp from NAD, when you can have this.

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Denon Dealer

Summary:
Like most of the other reviews here, I agree that overall, this integrated amp is a great buy. But similar to other purchasing decisions we all make, a compromise must be made. I decided on the Denon after long in-home listening sessions comparing it with the NAD C370 & the AMC CVT 3030a. These other two amps are great too, but for the eclectic range of musical styles I listen to the Denon was more suitable in a general sense. The NAD has the most current driving ability with loads or reserve in its 40000 microfarad reservoir, whilst the AMC was definately more musical and more expansive in its soundstage. The Denon appears to have acquired some of the good qualities from both NAD & AMC and melded them together. The Denon will pair up to most efficient speakers without a worry, I would be a bit more cautious with larger and harder to drive speakers. I''m currently using the Denon to drive a pair of Dynaudio Audience 40''s and it does the job with ease, but team it up with something bigger and harder to drive you may notice that the bass is the first place the Denon starts to lose control. In these situations the NAD C370 would be the better choice due to it''s higher current capability. I found that playing Jennifer Warnes "The Well", Diana Krall, Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach''s "Painted from Memory", Grace Knight''s "Stormy Weather" albums really made this amp shine. So much so I found myself turning the lights off to listen to these albums. Although this amp has a greater ability to play jazz and vocals it is also capable of making a great job of other music genres like rock and classical. I have certainly heard better amps out there, but for more dollars. I honestly believe that at this price the Denon allows you to have your cake and eat it with the minimal of sonic compromises. My System consists of AMP - Denon PMA 1500R CDP - Sony XA5ES Speakers - Dynaudio Audience 40 Speaker Cable - QED Silver Anniversary Interconnects - Sonic Link Whisper ( previously known as Sonic Link Pink ) Power Cables - AUDUSA Eupen CSA 2.5

Strengths:
Built like a tank, solid and made to last. Good sound stage and a fairly rhythmic & lively presentation of music

Weaknesses:
Although this amp will go LOUD, it loses some control in the bass as result. I don''t mean that I drive it at volumes that causes it to clip either.

Similar Products Used:
NAD C370, AMC CVT 3030a, Rega Brio

Price Paid:  $530.00 from FNAC

Summary:
Good overall, listen with BW CDM SE1 just sound great.

Strengths:
Very good bass, good connections

Weaknesses:
remote control: inputs can not be changed from remote.

Similar Products Used:
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