Denon PMA520AE Integrated Amplifier - Silver

I purchased this amp to accompany a set of Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s, not just because of the great price, but also due to the reputation that Denon has in the home audio market.The black variation of this amp comes in a lovely matte black finish, with beautiful reflective dials on the front of the unit, along with a brushed aluminium finish which I like a lot. This particular unit also comes with sturdy feet (around 2cm high), presumably to allow more ventilation, although there are plenty of outlets on the top and sides of the amplifier. The remote that comes with this particular model seems to be for use with a Denon CD and network player, but controls the volume, power and input mode. Adjusting the volume via the remote physically pushes the volume dial on the front, which is a nice touch, and the fact that they included a remote at this price point is quite generous indeed.The "source direct" button on the front appears to override any tone control applied via the dials, which is nice for correctly adjusting and comparing tone, and the "loudness" button seems to boost the lows and lower mids, as well as adding volume, which works perfectly with headphones, but I haven't managed to get this feature working with the Wharfedale Diamonds yet, but it's probably through fault of my own. On the topic of headphones, I am extremely happy with the performance of the amp when combined with my pair of Sennheiser HD 558's, which were lacking volume, and were quite weak with the lower frequencies, even with equalization. The tone controls completely removed this problem, and I have noticed a massive improvement in sound quality, and removed any previous gripes that I had with my headphones. Note that the headphone jack on the front is a 6.35mm jack, as opposed to a 3.5mm jack that quite a lot of lower end headphones use. This is usually the case with amplifiers, but be sure to check your headphones to see if they are compatible (although adaptors can be purchased for next to nothing).All in all, I'm extremely happy with the performance of this amplifier, and it accompanies my speakers perfectly without breaking the bank.I would certainly recommend this product, and would buy again if the need arose.

I bought this amplifier as my old Rotel was starting to cut out on one channel, and after all it was over 20 years old. I don't have much spare cash but wanted to get my hifi up and running again. I have a Rotel CD player (ancient again, but a lovely deck), a pair of Mission M71 speakers and a Pioneer PL-12D turntable. All basic kit, but solid enough. I've been using this amp for about 2 weeks now.This amp looks good, is wonderfully simple in design (I hate lots of lights and switches). The controls all have a quality feel to them.I was worried at first the sound was a bit warm and woolly, but it's possible my speakers needed waking up after not getting much use for several months or something because I'm getting really lovely sound out of this now.It's simple to set up, solidly built, and my next project is to refurbish my turntable or buy a new one. This amp has reinvigorated my love for music! Oh and it's funky to see the volume knob turn as you adjust the volume on the remote... I'm still more impressed with the sound though.One other thing, many amps have two sets of connectors at the back to suit speakers of 4/8 ohms etc. This unit just has one set, and appears to be good for just about any rating of speaker. I much prefer this simple set-up as it cuts down on wiring required.Of course I can't say if it will last as long as my old Rotel, but Denon seem to have a decent name for reliability. I'll come back in 20 years and tell you. That might be too late to buy your own though, so I suggest you buy one now...

My thoughts after over a year with this amp:It does sound weak on 'Source Direct' mode. Bass is strong but the rest of the sound is slightly muddy, for want of a better word.I'm not going to be another of Amazon's "one-star Charlies" and slag it for being unspectacular, but A/B-ing it against an old Cambridge 640A, a considerably more expensive amp (which I have taken into account), really shows that the Panasonic is lacking when it comes to separation and clarity - important things! I was happy with this amp for over a year at the price, but it is not doing your CD collection justice, it is a reliable and cheap unit for general amplification (I bought it when another blew up and it has been solid, no switch noise even) and it is great for the price. It is just not as 'up there' as some people are suggesting. I've had it on for over 1,600 hours, and became used to it's sound, but was immediately struck by the clarity improvement of the Cambridge through the same cables and speakers.Good points: It auto-powers off after 15 minutes of silence. It is cheap if your amp blows up and you need a quick replacement. Solid build quality and feel. Does not look or feel cheap.Bad points: Not an overperformer as some people have said, just a solid basic unit. Lack of separation. Quieter sounds in complex productions become indistinct.

45 watts per channel into 8 ohms, 70 into 4 ohms.There is a multilingual Getting Started book, but the main manual is provided on CD-ROM (or you could download it).There is a large remote control unit, but most of the buttons control other Denon devices. You may be able to configure a multi-purpose remote to control the amplifier.The remote buttons control power/standby, input (separate buttons), volume (motorised) and mute.The power indicator is a faint green, and the input selector lights are recessed and so not visible from an angle. It might have been better to have a brighter power indicator. There is no illumination on standby, unless Auto Standby is off, in which case there is a dim red light.Markings on the front panel are rather small and unclear (grey on black).