The Final Chapter in Denon’s Integrated Amplifier Legacy?

I bought the PMA-2000 to replace my original beloved Denon PMA-900 Integrated Amplifier. Both the PMA 900 and the PMA-2000 are Denon’s respective top of the line integrated amplifiers; the only difference being that these days; the PMA-2000 is the only Integrated Amplifier still manufactured by Denon.

Integrated Amplifiers are becoming a rare find these days and I suspect that this model will not be offered much longer by Denon. As it was I got mine on clearance from an online retailer for $ 950 and they could not wait to get rid of it. The PMA 2000 is a 2 channel interated amplifier that boasts 80 watts/channel into 8ohms and is also rated for 160 watts/channel into difficult 4 ohm loads.

As always amplification is a thing of beauty in the Denon integrated series. The PMA 2000 features twin transformers and has a huge capacity “block” capacitor to store all of the power. If you understand why tubes sound so good; it has a fair bit to do with the hi-stability of the power supply and the huge dynamic range you can get with this kind of power stability. This is what I like most about the PMA is the sound quality; it is very tube like. Soft; subtle and refined and completely lacking in the mechanical sounding brightness that is so common to many of today’s component’s.

The PMA 2000 also has a ton of old school inputs; Cd, Tuner, DVD, Dat, Tape 2 (mon), and even Phono ! All with source direct ability. If you are into older vintage gear and do not have a ton of space; you simply cannot go wrong with the PMA 2000. I use this model in my den and rotate some of my older components in and out of the system and enjoy them all. The 80 watts/ channel is very conservatively rated and it will drive most decent floor standing speakers very comfortably’ although I have found it is a tad light on planar speakers.

One other nice touch is a remote control, handy because when you sit back you cannot resist the temptation to turn up the volume. The PMA 2000 has a very unique sound; it is earily guiet of any background harmonics; hiss of whatever else; just pure music in stunning detail and accuracy. It is a very musical and accurate amplifier section that is great with instrumental and vocal tracks. It is one of the few Integrateds I have come across that is actually “fun” to listen too. Very non-fatiguing. At times it is almost too neutral and you find yourself turning up the volume to increase the dynamics; but it always retains a very subtle; laid back kind of sound. It’s surprisingly pleasant all around

Build quality is first rate; the speakers connectors are things of beauty; and the connectors are all top quality as well. It even has phono inputs that can run mc or mm cartridges ! I was also impressed that there are non bridged pre-outs for added flexibility as well as amp-inputs as the amplifier section really is a thing of beauty. Final point that impressed me is having built in switched and unstitched AC outlets on the back panel; in my opinion too many companies are moving away from this rather basic convenience. I was also impressed with the removable power cord; something every $1K component should have and noticeably lacking on a new Adcom unit I recently came across.

Dislikes ? Very few. It would be nice to have had coaxial and toslink inputs for digital sources and certainly the remote is surprisingly basic. I am also going to have to take a poke at the price; at the usual price of $ 1200 I think for many it will be too tempting to head off into full separates or into the more sonically revered Arcam/Creek/Cambridge integrated amplifier territory.

Summary. If you are a 2 channel guy looking for a very simple; but very nice sounding integrated it is a pretty nice unit. I just don’t know about the overall value.