Denon PMA-900 Owners- Speak Up!

braxus

braxus

FeCr Type III
I made a deal to buy a Denon PMA-900V off someone here in Canada. I will most likely receive it next month. Anyway any comments on this amp? I used to own a 300V and sold it some years later. Good little 60 watt amp. I know the 900 is another ball of wax. Any comments? Someone on here said the following model 920 doesn't have the best preamp, but the amp is good. How about the 900V?
 

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I got an email in regards to some info on the 250-900 series vs the later models. This is what was passed along:

"The 915, 920 and the ones that didn’t end in “00” were of the newer versions that I think they called something like Optically Coupled and they were of a completely different design. I had one of those (I forget the model #) that was nothing but trouble. It went bad and instantly fried any speaker that was connected to it. I sent it in for repair and was told they were baffled as to why it would do this, so I ended up tossing it.

The 300, 500, 700, and 900’s where from the era before Denon made some company changes and the original designer/leadership also changed..."

Interesting bit of history. Makes sense why the design changed so drastically after the 250-900 series was over. I suspect this series was out in 1986-87.
 
I can only speak for the 920, and I would describe my experience as nothing less than satisfied. The 920 did not disappoint me in any area of operation. If anyone wants to toss this particular model, please toss them my way.:smoke:
 
This probably sounds like a foolish question, but is the PMA-900v rated into four ohms? I would think so, but I read something off Google about it only going down to six.

There's a couple on CL around here and I want something that can drive a pair of Infinitys... :smoke:
 
There is a 2 ohm rating as well. This is for dynamic power or peaks momentarily. For peak power at 4 ohms, its 280 watts. For 2 ohms its 380 watts. Again that is not sustained power, but brief bursts.

I'll add since I have the next series brochure as well that the 920 became the second down model, and the 1520 became the top of the line in 1988. The 900 was top of the line for 1986. The 900 was 120 watts per channel rms, while the 920 was 115 watts per channel rms. The 1520 was 130 watts per channel rms. Not bad for an old amp.

As for the 900V, I always wonder what people do with those wood side boards? Mine will be missing them. An above poster was lucky to get his on his 900. When people sell these units, I'm surprised they dont keep these parts. Getting them now would be pretty much impossible.
 
I am a proud owner of a "new to me" PMA 860....:yes:
It is performing quite well in my bedroom system with a pair of B&W DM 110i's.
It could easily be a main rig amp, I really dig Denon gear. Good stuff Maynard....



Bill
 
I finally got my 900V out of the box today and had a look at it. Funny on the back it says only 6 to 16 ohm speakers, yet there is a 4 ohm rating in the specs. Anyway I openned her up since I needed to get a rattling piece of plastic out of it. Nothing seems to be broken. Anyway this amp was heavy and I can say is pretty robust. 6 caps in the power section! Anyway take a look. Eventually I'll hook her up and have a listen.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=143285

Here above is another recent 900V post.
 

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I have been reading AV mags since the early 80's, but couldnt afford the equipment till now. I thought buying state of the art new would be better, but I have to say the Denon PMA 700v from 1986 sounds almost as good as my seperates and better than my new 2k yamaha.

B&W 640 from early 1992 have great imaging and sound where the Klipsh CF series give you a huge stage. True HD and uncompressed PCM sound good for H/T but for stereo, seperates (PRE , AMP) have a warmth and punch that is hard to beat.

OBTW if you find a pair of Signet speakers, buy them, I picked up a pair of SL-260's and were blown away by their bass and imaging, they ALMOST sound better than my B&W, which some think are too british sounding, overall I havent heard better than B&W (exception QUAD , but not a fair comparasion).
 
I know this post is old, but I got a hold of a 900 with the side panels a few weeks ago. I must say I love this amp, especially with it powering a pair of Infinity RS 3.
 
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This amp is built ( a little better) like my Denon AVC-3030, uses the same torroid, and looks really similar, except mine has all that DPL crap inside, but 110wpc clean all day long! I love denon now, wish I would have bought an older one sooner. The newer ones sure don't crank like these old ones!
 
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rafjr00 said:
I know this post is old, but I got a hold of a 900 with the side panels a few weeks ago. I must say I love this amp, especially with it powering a pair of Infinity RS 3.
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I love mine too. I think they are one of the best buys out there. Mine has the wood sides also. :thmbsp:
 

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I had two 520s, two 720s, and still have a 920 & it's been flawless. A variable loudness control would make it a notch better, but it's pretty damn good as is.


je
 
Does anyone know how to fix a switch on one of these amps? The knob switch seems to cut out the sound when turned to Tape 1-->2. You have to fiddle with it to get the sound to come fully. Would Deoxit fix this or is there an internal problem with the switch?

Had this amp for well over a year now and its still sounding good. Haven't tested the power capability though, since they are only hooked up to a set of bookshelf Energy C200 speakers.
 
Braxus,
Did you get this fixed?
I pushed mine quite hard awhile back. Was putting a new roof on the house, so I got the bright idea to crank the system up so we would have music. Mine is hooked up to a pair of Infinity RS III. I turned the speakers around to face the open window and we had music. You had better have your fingers in your ears to go inside, the wife was not home. I checked on the amp after about 2 hours of this and it was quite warm but was not suffering any ill effects.

Bought my father a 4 C200 and the center for Xmas. I broke them in before I gave them to him, always happy to help. :music:
I like the way they sound and he loves them.
 
rafjr00 said:
Braxus,
Did you get this fixed?
I pushed mine quite hard awhile back. Was putting a new roof on the house, so I got the bright idea to crank the system up so we would have music. Mine is hooked up to a pair of Infinity RS III. I turned the speakers around to face the open window and we had music. You had better have your fingers in your ears to go inside, the wife was not home. I checked on the amp after about 2 hours of this and it was quite warm but was not suffering any ill effects.

Bought my father a 4 C200 and the center for Xmas. I broke them in before I gave them to him, always happy to help. :music:
I like the way they sound and he loves them.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing you have very understanding neighbors...?
 
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