Proton D940 Score!

[Ibemiked]

Proton D940! What a great receiver! Dynamic Power on Demand! Sounds amazing and also sounds much louder than you would expect from a receiver rated at 40WPC! It also has some great unique features, Bridge mono mode, an incredible phono stage with MM and MC mode, MC Low and high, Phono capacitance selector and A.C.C. I tested it with some power hungry Paradigm Studio 80’s and it drove them nicely! They need a good amount of power to sound good and this Proton delivered better than some of the 100WPC receivers I’ve tested them with. Definitely happy with the purchase, got a great deal too. Really like the fact it can be bridged, that’s an uncommon feature for receivers. Definitely impressed by the build quality and overall performance of this thing. It was highly rated when new in 1986 and people still to this day hold it in high regard, I’m definitely impressed. It’s similar to my Nakamichi TA-2A but in my opinion better. The TA-2A is actually rated at 50WPC but the “40WPC” from the D940 produces seemingly much more power. I haven’t tested the phono stage yet but will soon. I would definitely recommend purchasing the D940 for anyone who needs a preamp, receiver or even a stand-alone amp. It can really do it all! And do it well! I’m really becoming a fan of quality 1980’s gear! Im the proud owner of the McIntosh MAC 4280, Technics SU-V9, Proton D940, Nakamichi TA-2A and Denon DRA 435R. All great pieces of 80’s audio.

 

[damacman]

Dynamically, it was something like 10x its rated output if you can believe that.

 

[Ibemiked]

Dynamically, it was something like 10x its rated output if you can believe that.

I can definitely believe it!

 

[Ibemiked]

That was a truly great sounding receiver. I used to sell them in the 80's, GordonW would remember. Lots and lots of headroom, also the D1200 power amp with VU meters, I'd love to have another one of those.

Proton equipment doesn’t come up for sale that often but I’ll be actively searching for it in the future. I guess when this D940 was released in 1986 Crutchfield gave it a “glowing review”. I’m not surprised. It seems to be durable as well. I read one recent review from a guy who bought one new and said he hasn’t turned it off since! Lol.

 

[coonmanx]

Technics SU-V9.... Yes please. Nice unit.

 

[damacman]

That was a truly great sounding receiver. I used to sell them in the 80's, GordonW would remember. Lots and lots of headroom, also the D1200 power amp with VU meters, I'd love to have another one of those.

I ran a pair of D1200s on 18" DVC subwoofers in big vented in my HT in the 90s ...

 

[Ibemiked]

Technics SU-V9.... Yes please. Nice unit.

Yea the SU-V9 is a beast! I picked it up along with the SH-8055 spec analyzer/EQ, SL-QX300 turntable, M245X cassette deck, ST-S6 Tuner & the digital timer a few months ago. It was all higher end Technics equipment of the time. The SU-V9 has a lot of power and a great phono stage. Only thing I wish it had was main in/preouts but other than that it’s a great integrated amp.

 

[62vauxhall]

... Bridge mono mode, Really like the fact it can be bridged....that’s an uncommon feature for receivers.

That would seem to corroborate the Proton/NAD connection.

NAD made a receiver that could be bridged to mono and a corresponding power amp to which one could do likewise.

Unsure of the models but one of NAD’s power amps, 2100, was 60WPC with 6dB headroom. If that was the amp intended to mate with the receiver, the pair would have been fairly potent.

I’ve no real interest in receivers but am drawn towards power/pre’s and owned a 2100 for a time. If Proton is a NAD clone, then as you said power delivery would be good and Phono playback, pleasant. I’ve read opinions that NAD’s sound “dark”, whatever that means. Might not be my word of choice because it sounds negative. What I experienced was anything but. So again, if Proton mimics NAD your receiver should be a good one.

 

[Ibemiked]

That would seem to corroborate the Proton/NAD connection.

NAD made a receiver that could be bridged to mono and a corresponding power amp to which one could do likewise.

Unsure of the models but one of NAD’s power amps, 2100, was 60WPC with 6dB headroom. If that was the amp intended to mate with the receiver, the pair would have been fairly potent.

I’ve no real interest in receivers but am drawn towards power/pre’s and owned a 2100 for a time. If Proton is a NAD clone, then as you said power delivery would be good and Phono playback, pleasant. I’ve read opinions that NAD’s sound “dark”, whatever that means. Might not be my word of choice because it sounds negative. What I experienced was anything but. So again, if Proton mimics NAD your receiver should be a good one.

I’ve never personally owned or heard any NAD receivers or amps but I’ve heard mostly good things about them. I’ve seen some NAD receiver/integrated amps that can be bridged, actually I believe it was a newer model, it was out of my price range but looked like a really nice piece of equipment that I wouldn’t mind owning.

 

[62vauxhall]

I’ve never personally owned or heard any NAD receivers or amps but I’ve heard mostly good things about them. I’ve seen some NAD receiver/integrated amps that can be bridged, actually I believe it was a newer model, it was out of my price range but looked like a really nice piece of equipment that I wouldn’t mind owning.

One of my employers was an audio chain store and sold NAD. I began with them in 1988. Not too long afterwards the brother of a friend who lived out of town visited me to buy the power amp. It was he who clued me in to the ability of those NAD components to be combined. He had the receiver for a while and wanted to upgrade his power. Happy with overall sound quality so no wish or desire to change brands.

He explained of his original sales person proposing he go on a limb for a lower power receiver than what he was shopping for and then pick up the power amp when funds allowed. Even though a complete neophyte, he was able to notice superior sound quality (not volume) and followed that advice.

 

[coonmanx]

I owned a NAD 7140 receiver but I never really did care for the look of it. Worked great although the tuner was always off by 0.05. LOL.

Had it for thirty years and when I let it go to the side I went back to the old school Technics stuff. First an SU-V6 until I messed that unit up. Then an SU-V4 until it went pop. And now an MCS 3842 that is pulling duty. Not so much need for any massive headroom at this point. I rarely take it past the 1 watt mark.

The NAD was a solid unit but I think part of it was just gimmick to make a 40 watt receiver that could put out 100 watts at times. Some other companies did the same. Proton was related to NAD. The crazy thing is that 40 watts isn't going to sound a lot less loud than 100. So to me it really just depends on getting quality watts up until you get to the point on the volume knob where you should know better. LOL. Right now that point is less than it was 20 years ago. I don't really crank it since I live in an apartment building.

 

[Ibemiked]

its Crazy to me how this Proton rated at 40WPC sounds so much better and louder then for instance the Marantz 1610 HT receiver I have. The Marantz is 7.1 @ 50WPC and even in stereo it’s not even close to the Proton or the Nakamichi TA-2A which is also 50WPC. My old Pioneer SX-737 sounds better with only 37WPC! I don’t know what happened but in order to get good quality loud sound nowadays you need to have an amp that can put out 150WPC or better. The only piece of equipment I have that’s fairly new that I enjoy is my Marantz MM9000 Power amp and it’s from 2003. So it’s not new either. The new stuff is nice with HDMI capabilities and what not but I prefer the sound of older gear. You really have to spend a lot to get powerful quality stuff new these days. I rarely buy anything new anyways. The last “new” thing I bought was the Marantz 1601 (which I was disappointed with) and it was Factory refurbished and less than half of the retail price. Most of my HT setup is from the early 2000’s aside from Marantz SR5003 which I use as a preamp and for the HDMI.

 

[onwardjames]

I so want one of those D1200's. And I have a Threshold, but lord, I'm a sucker for those VU's.

 

[Blackdog61]

I paid $400 or so for one around ‘88 and enjoyed it until cold solder joints made it problematic. I ended up trading it for some nice speakers.