DENON POA-1500

[Archguy]

Greetings all: Just purchased this Denon amp because I am weak in the presence of beauty. Unfortunately it arrived with its front glass dislodged and one channel not playing. Fortunately Denon made the glass 1/4" thick back then so even though the amp was likely dropped in transit the glass didn't break. So I've glued it back in place and that seems okay. The shipper did package the amp properly.

The other issue is a bit more involved. I really don't want to send the amp back because it weighs a ton and I like it aside from the fact that it's broken. I found two ways to make the right channel play, once I hooked up the amp and tried it out. First, adjusting the input pot and second, twisting the RCA jack. Weird to me that both of those manipulations should produce the desired result. Well, sort of. It's very touchy and if you jiggle either just slightly the sound cuts out again.

The good news is that the sound is good. Powerful and with real presence. Right away I thought, deoxit on the pot right? But (see photo below) I can see no way of opening it up even. Advice anyone??

 

[Archguy]

Next I will try the auxiliary high-cut inputs to see if they act differently. But I don't want to have to depend on them since 1) the amp was advertised as working perfectly and 2) they may affect the sound even though the slope cuts pretty much above the 'information' frequencies (I downloaded the user manual but can't find a service manual).

 

[kjello]

Service manual

https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/denon/poa-1500.shtml

Register to HiFi engine its free and safe.

 

[Archguy]

Thanks very much. Already registered there but forgot about it!

 

[EngineerNate]

Paging @dr*audio and @restorer-john . They're the resident experts on this amp.

Subbing because one of my RCA jacks feels looser than the other and I feel it's a matter of time before it gives out. If there's an easy way to sub for some nice neutriks on this amp I'd like to hear it.

 

[restorer-john]

Just remove the two knobs, unscrew the securing nuts and 4 screws and remove and inspect the PCB, the solder joints on the pots and particularly the RCA jacks. Also, give the subsonic switch a very small application of contract cleaner and move it back and forth. It is highly unlikely the sealed Noble pots will give you any trouble. IIRC, they may be conductive film so don't attempt to squirt contact cleaner into them.

The 'high cut' input is indistinguishable from the normal input so you can safely use it. The roll-off is way above 20KHz, it was designed prior to the introduction of CD and there were fears of HF hash affecting stability of very wide bandwidth amplifiers such as the POA-1500.

 

[Hajidub]

Deoxit should be the first thing. Maybe bad rca's?

 

[Archguy]

Paging @dr*audio and @restorer-john . They're the resident experts on this amp.

Subbing because one of my RCA jacks feels looser than the other and I feel it's a matter of time before it gives out. If there's an easy way to sub for some nice neutriks on this amp I'd like to hear it.

Just remove the two knobs, unscrew the securing nuts and 4 screws and remove and inspect the PCB, the solder joints on the pots and particularly the RCA jacks. Also, give the subsonic switch a very small application of contract cleaner and move it back and forth. It is highly unlikely the sealed Noble pots will give you any trouble. IIRC, they may be conductive film so don't attempt to squirt contact cleaner into them.

The 'high cut' input is indistinguishable from the normal input so you can safely use it. The roll-off is way above 20KHz, it was designed prior to the introduction of CD and there were fears of HF hash affecting stability of very wide bandwidth amplifiers such as the POA-1500.

Thanks very much guys. I'll do this and report back!!

 

[Archguy]

Aww crap, seller says 'ship it back'. I'd rather repair it, but not for free.

 

[restorer-john]

Just fix it.

It's a 35 year old amplifier- you can't expect everything that age to be perfect.

 

[Archguy]

Just fix it.

It's a 35 year old amplifier- you can't expect everything that age to be perfect.

I hear you, and I don't expect that, but there's the issue of having paid a price for something which was claimed to be without fault.

 

[EngineerNate]

Sure. But you have to evaluate whether it's worth the hassle to find another one, which might have bigger cosmetic or functional issues once it gets to you.

Unless you paid absolutely top dollar I'd probably go with John's advice.

Alternatively you could try to get a quote to fix the RCA from a pro and see if the seller will refund that amount once you have an actual quote in hand. Worth a shot.

 

[Ray Gianelli]

I hear you, and I don't expect that, but there's the issue of having paid a price for something which was claimed to be without fault.

It may well have been without fault before it was shipped. I suspect the solder joints around the RCA jacks may have cracked during rough handling.

Edit: restorer-john mentioned solder joints in his post first. Since it obviously was dropped or handled roughly enough to dislodge the glass I believe that's the issue.

 

[Roadrash]

Would it be possible to negotiate a partial refund and then apply that toward having the amp repaired? That's a really nice piece and I personally would hate to send it back If there were any way around it.

 

[kwkshift]

Would it be possible to negotiate a partial refund and then apply that toward having the amp repaired? That's a really nice piece and I personally would hate to send it back If there were any way around it.

This is the route Id try to take. I have this amp and I love mine. It's so good looking when running and performs very well.