"Trevor Wilson" wrote


**Fair question. I have not (yet) opened up either of the two Denon amps
in question, so I can't comment on the topology, nor the quality of the
pots and switches, though it is reasonable to assume that Denon have
probably used an Alps 'Blue Velvet' or equivalent pot in the PMA1500AE and
a cheap carbon pot in the 655. I'll know soon enough, when they start
appearing on my bench for service.


OK. My suspicion was that, for cost effectiveness, the pre section
componentry and circuit might be common to most (if not all) of the
range....?


I have, however, performed some short listening tests
on both amps, using a Thoren turntable, with a couple of nice cartridges.
The PMA1500AE blew away the 655. The sound was far less hard on my ears
with the 1500, yet, surprisingly, more detailed. I readily admit that I
was not only comparing preamp sections, so the test was not as
comprehensive as I would like it to be. Ideally, I'd have them in my own
system for a few days. Having said that, the difference between the two
amps is not subtle. I sugest to you that if you think the 655 is a good
amp, then you have not heard very many REALLY good amps yet.


I don't know about it being a *good* amp as such - I'm pleased with it and
it's doing what I bought it for well enough, but I wasn't expecting to get
the 'best amp in the world' for 200 ackers, believe it or not.....




I really only wanted the top half of the amp for serious listening and
didn't need/want to pay for unnecessary beef. I'm also gambling that the
'pre' side of an amp like this is going to be effectively *invisible* and
I suspect/believe that this valve/SS hybrid combination will be better
than the other way round - I've tried a valve pre/SS power combo before
and it stinks! (Gives you the worst of both worlds!)

**I understand that you may not have a lot of experience in choosing a
good SS amp yet.


OK, perhaps you could point me in the right direction, I have had various
models of the following makes of SS amps (in no special order):

Denon
Pioneer
Cambridge Audio
Sony
Yamaha
Cyrus
Marantz
NAD
Quad
Rotel
Technics
JVC
Nikko
Musical Fidelity
Acoustic Solutions
Parasound
Luxman


And also heard these:

Arcam
Roksan
Meridian
Krell


Probably plus a few others I don't remember in each case - and although I
loved each and every one of them (almost) at the time, I wasn't really happy
until I got my first valve amp. Best of that lot above? Possibly the
Meridian Pre/Power Monos, see on the floor in this pic:

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/meridians.JPG


With a Quad pre/power combo that I heard recently (already forgotten the
'numbers') following very closely, otherwise there's bugger-all to choose
between most of them - they all do the job fairly well and I reckon it comes
down to what 'bells and whistles (and blue LEDs) you get for your money at
the end of the day.

(The truth is, you get a better bang for your buck with a Chinese valve amp
off eBay these days! ;-)