[Jag86]

Thanks for your opinions!
 
My Tannoys are pretty warm speakers with slightly rolled-off treble, I'm wondering if a warm amplifier like Denon or Marantz could be a right choice. In fact, I'm more oriented towards Rotel (I'm going to put it on my desk, so the missing remote control won't be a problem), which have a brighter sound.
But I don't know anything about its headphone output, while I've read from you and other people that Denon and Marantz one is very good.
 
It's a rough decision!

 

[dailysmoker]

Well my Dali's are more neutral and the Denon do sound warm so think for you the NAD would be the better option they sounded more neutral unless you don't mind having no remote control then the Rotel would maybe be the better choice it was the best amp under 500 $ this year according to what-fi awards

 

[koolas]

I have the Denon pma 720 also and my brother too he bought the NAD 326bee first but returned it cause the Denon sounded better warmer and more punch in it,the NAD was more neutral a little flat also,the marantz is also really good and the Rotel does not have a remote control which sucks a lot.For speakers i have the Dali Zensor 7's and the combi with Denon is awesome don't know about Tannoy tho....I have not high end headphones i have the Sony xb700 and the ATH ws55 but the headphone output is very good much better then the Fiio e10 for example...

I was wondering how good is 720's headphone output. You say it's better than e10's? That's a good new then.

How does pma720 compare to dedicated headphone amps like for example Lyr or m-stage? Does anyone know?

You think it could drive LCD2?

 

[dailysmoker]

Well the denon has a phono equalizer amp on board but if you use a seperate phono amp it would sound better the same with headphone output it's very good but if you use a amp pure for a headphone it would sound better but that's only logic to me and yes it can drive your LCD2 without a problem it has enough power to drive them....

 

[koolas]

Well the denon has a phono equalizer amp on board but if you use a seperate phono amp it would sound better the same with headphone output it's very good but if you use a amp pure for a headphone it would sound better but that's only logic to me and yes it can drive your LCD2 without a problem it has enough power to drive them....

Thanks. My pma720 currently is over 1000km away from where I live. Now I was considering bringing it here, but I was unsure if it's worth it. I would like to buy LCD2 or HD800, but I don't know if what I have will be able to drive them. You say this Denon will do quite ok, so I can buy headphones first, and see how they sound. I was thinking about whether to buy dedicated dac and amp like burson's conductor, or maybe I'd be just happy with this dennon plus maybe this one http://www.head-fi.org/products/denon-dvd-3930ci-a-v-combination-dvd-dvda-sacd-cd-player-with-realta-t2-hqv as a source?

 

[Jag86]

In my opinion, headphones like LCD2 or HD800 deserve a dedicated amplifier. Audeze specially are planar magnetic headphones, which are pretty hard to drive properly.
 
Regarding my current headphones, I think I'll buy an integrated amplifier (Rotel RA-10) for the moment. Later on, maybe I'll go with a dedicated amplifier such as an Asgard 2 or similar, because I would like to try Hifiman HE-400

 

[koolas]

I was thinking about this guy: http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/Burson-Conductor-Headphone-Amplifier-+-USB-DAC-+-Pre-Amp/product_6832?ref=gmc&gclid=CJPG7vP_4bcCFRAq2wodQQcAsg

 

[Jag86]

It's one of the best amplifier, good choice

 

[koolas]

Just got my pma720 in Ireland. My gf brought it for me from Poland
It is amazing! Really Denon I <3 you
10o'clock and I'm almost deaf!
Time to buy better phones, and them... maybe dac... busron, shiit or matrix - dunno, but something good

Actually I just realized it is PMA500AE not PMA720. Anyways it sounds great

 

[dailysmoker]

Spending 1400 $ for a headphone amp to drive a 400 $ headphone  is a little bit over done in my opinion a 400 $ headphone amp will also blast the HE-400,and for that money i have floorstanding speakers with a good stereo amp haha

 

[dailysmoker]

What did you buy man the PMA500AE is not really a good amp  it only gets 2 stars on what hi fi who sold you this old piece of junk it's old and they say this about it  :  (really poor effort from a company that usually does so much better) you should have bought the newer pma 520 or 720

 

[koolas]

What did you buy man the PMA500AE is not really a good amp  it only gets 2 stars on what hi fi who sold you this old piece of junk it's old and they say this about it  :  (really poor effort from a company that usually does so much better) you should have bought the newer pma 520 or 720

Have you heard it? It's actually quite good Better than my o'new NAD 744 (Just bought it, because there was good price for it So basically NAD has good DAC and Dennon has good amp, so I married them together. edit: Not so sure about that. I start thinking that NAD sounds better. It's hard to say - both are quite good. However as it occurred my Audigy is some value edition, and the socket that is supposed to be s/pdif instead of LED has a see-though hole:/ I need to buy better sound card now...

 

[dailysmoker]

I don't understand why they sold you this one,cause i can't even buy it here anymore.But if you say it's good then who am i enjoy dude...

 

[koolas]

I don't understand why they sold you this one,cause i can't even buy it here anymore.But if you say it's good then who am i enjoy dude...

I don't really understand your surprise. I bought pma500 long time ago. I've read that review with 2 starts, and must admit pma500 is not perfect. However it have punch so I hope it can power some more power hungry phones. Currently testing nad744, and I think it does sound better than pma500, but I'm afraid it wouldn't have enough power to drive some cans. The dac though is very nice (nicer than laptop's hd sound).

I was thinking of buying some akg240 and see how they sound with either of these amps. As far tried hd570 and hd215's. I found that hd215 do synergy with pma500 with loudness on, while hd570 are better with nad and all tone control off. What do you think, should I try k240?

 

[dailysmoker]

Aha i see now i thought you just bought it haha