Denon Afficionados?

[legal eagle]

legal eagle,

Yes, I am going to have to eat you alive. Just kidding. Everyone has their own taste.

I am a HUGE fan of Denon cd player, turntable and amplifiers.

What do you like so that maybe we can start grilling your taste?

wsjoe

My personal view is that a brand is judged not only by its TOTL stuff I am sure Denon made some good stuff (so did Optonica), but actually more by its below TOTL stuff and how its holds over time. Take for example - just an example - Yamaha. Its design is timeless and distinctly Yamaha. Take any Yamaha gear of the CR of CA series, and after 10 minutes listening you'll know it is a Yamaha. Same with Sansui and Marantz (my two personal favorites. Go ahead, grill all you want). I have yet to see or hear a "Denon" sound and look as such.

You're either a Troll looking to stir things up or incredibly ignorant about Denon gear.

Well if you are going to bash Denon you should at least learn how to spell it properly. :thumbsdn: Posts like this always crack me up. You're certainly welcome to your own opinions but why post something negative without backing it up? Have you ever owned any Denon gear? I've owned lots of Denon gear but not any Dennon stuff. To use Denon and Sanyo in the same sentence is an insult to the rest of us owners so take your comments elsewhere. :yes:

I currently have:
Denon AVR 3808CI
Denon POA 2800 200 wpc amp
Denon DAP 2500 pre-amp
Denon DVD 2900 used for SACD/CD/DVD-A playback
Denon DVD 555 used for CD and MP3 playback in my garage

I've also owned:
Denon DP 60L
Denon AVR 3805

All of the Denon gear I've owned is top quality stuff.

Guys, grow some humor and open mindness, lighten up - its an opinion. No Trolls here and no Denon owner should be crying if a certain Legal Eagle doesn't like Denon gear...so ducking what? Legal Eagle does not like bananas too... and yet no banana growers were hurt in the making of this thread.

My aunt has a black AV Denon receiver with a Bose AM-5, did not tickle my fancy. A buddy of mine has one of the bigger Pro logic receivers with a KEF 104 Ref pair - he swears by it, I don't. What can I do... I just don't hear it. BTW, he just got a Cambridge Audio AV set, sounds light years better :thmbsp:.

Had a Sanyo integrated a long time ago, and a Sharp boombox and a receiver too. reliable stuff, nothing special. Looked into an Optonica integrated, solid...did not take it in the end. Got Technics and Kenwood gear instead, love it.

 

[rmorano]

I have a DRA 1035R, nice unit but seems a little light on mid bass for 135 wpc

 

[rockin1150]

denon avr-3806 here... love the sound. and it beats the onkyo m-501 for extended listening (less fatigue) Denon has always kicked major ass in the audio industry and continues to have some of the best gear out there each year. The denon avr series receivers beat all others I have owned pound for pound, watt for watt. They keep a high current, low impedance drive and lots of capacitance (great headroom) in their gear.

 

[trontank]

My Denons:

Denon PMA-700Z, TU-500

Denon PMA-700Z

Denon TU-500

Denon PMA-850

Denon TU-850

 

[wsjoe]

Very nice pictures. I always wondered on the sound of these vintage Denons. I like them ALOT! What's the power output and weigh to of the PMA. I am trying to restore my POA-3000Z amp I bought over a year ago!

 

[Raynald]

I can understand to a certain extent the diverse opinions concerning Denon. I sold their gear in the late 80s and early 90s. Like most companies they were cutting quality in favor of features to compete and stay alive in the market. When our store first got the product I was quite excited because I had read a lot of good stuff about the company and heard good reports from customers.

When the product came in I was a little underwhelmed. Not bad at all, but they they were positioning themselves as a premium brand with a price to match and they did not always pull it off. Often their design was not as well thought out as a comparable, cheaper Yamaha. Some Denon pieces sounded better, but sometimes the Yamaha won. If you did not care about features, often a NAD or HK would be the clear winner.

Denon still made some very high end pieces that were incredible, but often they had weird reliability issues that should not have happened. The DCD-3300 was a great example. Lots of skipping problems. The Yamaha CDX-1100 series was fine for us.

Every now and then I would get a look at a slightly older pieces and think "this is what the fuss was all about". Tape decks are great example. We had the three head DRM-800 as the high end model. It was OK, but sort of light and plasticky. Then I saw the older DRM-44 and thought it was much nicer (forgive me if I got some model numbers a bit wrong, it has been a while and I am working without notes!). The even older series like the TU-850 is in another league entirely, but the same goes for a lot of companies.

Bottom line, Denon gear is great and there is lots of it I would grab today but like any company they had some stuff that was nicer than others and they had no choice but to follow the market.

 

[trontank]

I can understand to a certain extent the diverse opinions concerning Denon. I sold their gear in the late 80s and early 90s. Like most companies they were cutting quality in favor of features to compete and stay alive in the market.

This is so true, sadly. However, i can only say the nicest things about my Denon gear. I am totally in love with the looks of my PMA-700Z/TU-500, the build quality including the nice real wood veneered housings is stunning. I almost exclusively listen to vinyl and I have to say the phono stages of both the PMA-700Z and the later produced PMA-850 are amazing.

Denon PMA-350Z/500Z/700Z, TU-500 german catalog


Denon PMA-850/TU-850 german catalog

 

[rcspkramp]

I just let go three Denon DCD 1500 II cd players. These were better built, heavier, and better sounding than any of my Luxman and Sony ES cd players (though there are some nice sony ES cd players out there).

I am really sad to see those three beasts go- the sheer build quality and heft of them alone was back-breaking, and the performance and sound was phenomenal.

On to the denon POA amps- these are also beauty and beasts.

I have three POA-1500s (one champagne and two black series II), that are rated at 150wpc but bench test between 177wpc and 200wpc.

Under-rated amps (both collectable and power wise), even though I have moved to some boutique amps, I will keep, and use, at least two of the three Denons as they are close in performance, and beautiful to look at.


Even pull the cover off these units, and the incredibly clean layout, massive can-of-beans twin capacitors, and beautifully crafted innards are impressive.

I've seen one that the owner even built a plexi cover for, they are that good looking internally.

Full of protection circuitry that actually works well, a delay start-up for safety, subsonic filter and high filter, and more- these are loaded.

And they come with those big, huge dancing meters, rosewood themed side panels, and rigid casing.

These units are no jokes.

My first cd player was a 1500. Fantastic build quality. Denon is serious. I use a 3805 for HT duty and it runs like a champ.

 

[MisterFishey]

I run a TOTL Denon DCD-3300 CDP in my main system, the sound is excellent and the build quality is beyond belief. The entire chassis is machined aluminum, and there is tons of copper plating everywhere. There are even dual transformers (and dual power supplies) for the Digital and Analog sections! Tell me that ain't high end. Even got XLR outputs. Still confused as to why the disc tray is cheap feeling plastic, though...

 

[KentTeffeteller]

I like better Denon gear, mainly their early high end CD Players, their classic turntables and the DL series moving coil cartridges. Their receivers not so much but their older high end separates are fine. So, yes, I like better Denon. :tresbon:

 

[trontank]

More pics:

Denon PMA-850 (not my photo):

 

[opossumcrush]

This is the only piece of Denon gear I am familiar with. I'd like to hear more.

 

[rcspkramp]

Always loved that TU-500. If I didn't already have a bunch of tunas, I'd be looking for one.

 

[Frank Sol]

I like my Denon TT & DL-160. What's not to love about the DL-160?

I picked up a DVD2200 universal player about 3 weeks ago. Runs hot then wont read discs well... Common problem. It was a cheap yardsale find so I drilled some holes (No joke) on top over the transformer & transport so it can breath. Works better

(On Edit - Added a Picture) Is that sick or what :yes:

 

[trontank]

In Germany, Denon was distributed by Bolex in the 70ies and it looks like the PMA-700Z and TU-500 sold fairly well over here. Both pop up on the german bay multiple times each year. To aquire my PMA-850 / TU-850 set was more difficult, though. The cool thing about theses tuners is that the meters can be used as power meters for an external amp.

PMA-500Z, the PMA-700Z´s little brother:

And another pic of my much appreciated TU-500:

 

[Echosphere]

I love my Denon DCD-1650G CD player! It´s a japanese market model. It looks to me as an updated DCD-2560:

(pictures ar not mine)

This beast weights more than 12 Kg (26 pounds). Previously I had the DCD-1500 and DCD-620 players. I love them all!

Wonderful CD player, congrats!!!!

 

[Gary D Olson]

OP (Denon DRA-1025R)

First post alert!

Hello everybody.

I can see this is an old thread, but I couldn't resist telling you all that I picked this receiver UP in the late 1980s - brand spanking new - along with a pair of new JBL L20T bookshelf speakers at Federated's "going-out-of-business" sale. I think I paid $1000 out-the-door for both. I was a pro drummer in those days and practiced playing to cranked up music through the Denon which powered a large set of JBLs. All of the above are still with me today and perform as new, thought the L20Ts look like hell. Clearly none of this stuff was made in China, but don't get me started...

In 1995, after the arrival of AC3/Dolby Digital, I bought Integra's 53 pound top-of-the-line THX-rated AV receiver (model TX919 something-or-other). It was an excellent receiver but died a slow painful death and was replaced with a new Sony STR-DA3000ES. Not the robust power of the old Denon's class-A, but a good replacement AV receiver none-the-less.

Two years ago, our 60" Pioneer Elite big screen (also circa 1995) took a dump & we finally entered the world of hi def. Too bad the Sony ES was pre-HDMI, so I replaced it with Onkyo's pidly HT-RC270 which was way down on their food chain. ALL the reviews on this model were so bad Newegg was practically giving them away! A quick perusal of the reviews revealed the reviewERS suffered both from group-think and rather questionable intelligence. ALL proclaimed the very highest "Tech-Level" of course. Their flea-bitten reviews were completely untrue. Everything works just fine and it does a decent HT job with our old 1995 Canton Karat speakers. Or maybe I'm just getting old.

The Sony ES is still with us but now powers a dedicated music system in our previously-never-used living room. A pair of Infinity reference bookshelf speakers (RS-325) is securely tethered to the Sony, but I sometimes plug the old L20Ts in. Either way, the system sounds pretty good. Again, maybe I'm getting old.

Sorry for the lengthy post.

Gary

Are there any Denon afficionados around here? I have always been partial to Denon - my first component stereo was an all Denon system - DRA-425 receiver, DCD-810 CDP, DRM-12HR tape deck - all silver with mahogany side pieces :drool:

I am still hanging on to a little DRA-345R, and I have just picked up a DRA-1025RA. I am having a hard time finding info on any of the stuff, but my main question is about the new-to-me DRA-1025RA. Would that have been TOTL? There also seems to have been a DRA-1035, but was that maybe a follower? What are the differences between these units besides the 125wpc compared to 135wpc?

Many thanks

Frank

 

[Hendrikus]

Old Denon gear

Hi,

To my opinion Denon gear is quite underrated, especially pre 1980's After a couple of years hunting, a few months ago I acquired a Denon POA 1003 power amplifier to join my Denon PRA 1003 control amlifier. This set is great, in every respect. Great sound, looks and build quality. But the other gear is also very good so take a look.

PRA1003 POA 1003 1977 2 x 80W
PMA 630 1977 2 x 80 W
PMA501 TU 701 1978 2 x 50 W
PMA 730 TU 710 1981 2 x 60 W
DR 350 1978

 

[crwilli]

Still using my gold faced DVD 5000 and if I could convert its power to 110, my AVR3600 (also gold). Both were purchased when I was based in Hong Kong in the late 90's.

They are both built like tanks, especially the DVD5000.

 

[Wolverine]

Holy Thread Revival Batman!
I am a fan of Denon and own several pieces such as POA 2400/PRA 1200 combo.
I guess I will post some pics when I get back to show some of what I own.