THRIFTY old-school audiophiles may be glad to know that some hi-fi manufacturers are still making equipment sans the fancy stuff. You know, like a good old CD player or integrated amplifier that won’t break your bank balance. Denon has got you and audiophiles wannabes covered with its new 600 series products.
The DCD-600NE CD player and PMA-600NE integrated amplifier mostly eschew the sort of digital connectivity that’s in vogue these days… they’ll entertain you musically without an Internet connection! A note of caution to the technophobes, though – the amp has a DAC section and Bluetooth on board. However, there is a mode that disables the digital section.
“Getting started with a serious two-channel listening system can seem daunting when the majority of components boasting hi-fi qualities tend to be tens of thousands of dollars,” says Denon brand management senior manager Michael Greco.
“Denon wants to take the risk out of choosing your first hi-fi system. The PMA-600NE and DCD-600NE deliver the power, build quality, essential features and sonic precision found in much more expensive components. The amp and CD player are a great stepping-stone for music enthusiasts looking to begin their journey into hi-fi,” he adds.
Denon has made consumer and commercial CD players since the early days of the format, and the DCD-600NE builds on this heritage. It supports CD, CD-R/RW, MP3 and WMA formats and features Denon’s AL32 processing technology for maximum sonic performance.
The DCD-600NE is “outfitted with power transformers fitted near the bottom and immediately above the insulators to prevent unwanted vibration. For listeners looking to elevate the listening experience even more, the Pure Direct Mode feeds sound directly to the amplifiers by deactivating the front display that might otherwise colour the sound, leaving listeners with clean, accurate audio.”
Also, “the circuit design is thoughtfully engineered to make signal paths as short as possible. With layered circuit boards and shorter circuits, the interference between left and right channels is reduced, and the adverse influences on audio signals are minimised. As a result, the circuit paths in the DCD-600NE reproduce cleaner audio signal that remains faithful to the original recording.”
Meanwhile, the PMA-600NE has been “engineered with Denon’s Advanced High Current (AHC) single push-pull circuit power amplification technology, delivering 70 watts per channel (into 4 ohms).”
It also features a 24-bit/192kHz DAC that “makes CDs, records and streaming files sound amazing.”
According to Denon sound master Shinichi Yamauchi, “Our team in Japan meticulously listens to every product to ensure the voicing and build quality is consistent with other Denon New Era series products. The new 600 series products have the same precise, clean and powerful Denon sound because they have the same hi-fi engineering concept, including advanced components, circuitry, amplification, and layout as other Denon hi-fi products. The overall aesthetic, sound quality and design integrity of the PMA-600NE is unparalleled at the price.”
“Denon engineers carefully selected each component and constructed the amplifier circuit to secure a frequency response of up to 100 kHz. The main power transformer has separate coiled wires for the audio and control circuits as well as an integrated micro-processor that features a Stop Mode. The user-selectable Analog Mode allows the amplifier to operate as a purely analogue amp by disabling digital inputs as well as Bluetooth. Avoiding high frequency digital influences on the analogue selection gives listeners their favourite analogue sources with uninhibited clarity and musical fidelity.”
The PMA-600NE has five analogue inputs (MM phono included), two optical inputs and one coaxial input.
Both the products will be available in September – the DCD-600NE retails at US$299 and the PMA-600NE at US$399.
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