Denon UDM33

[Gaffer]

I bought this, along with the SCM53 speakers supplied, for a friends birthday present.

I must say, i was surprised by how GOOD it sounded. Nice clean sound which becomes nicely full-bodied (not overblown) with the SDB system (horror of horror's, it's a bleedin' equalizer thingy 

)

A bit of heresy from an avowed seperates/clean signal path afficianado then :dude:

It also plays WAV files, and MP3 discs, and you can connect iPods/PC's and things with a suitable cable......not my cup of tea but much appreciated by the user.

It still probably won't steer me away from buying seperates with no tone controls in the future but has made me pause to think about how good these micro system are nowadays.

nice.

 

[earl of sodbury]

Nice.

It's anupdated DM3/ DM30/ DM31 - a venerable design of deserved popularity: I've still got my DM30 despite 2 major upgrades, and will part with my MF before I let the Denon go - pity the amp is a puny 20W (22 in the DM31 & 33), but with sensitive speakers it has a lovely warm tone that more than compensates for a slight lack of both rhytm and accuracy. Overall it punches well over its weight IMHO, and when I hear my second system (DM30, Castle Richmond 3s BK XLS200) sounding luscious I sometimes wonder at the insane lack of value of audiophool kit... :Not Sure: You have a lucky friend indeed!

churz, eofs

 

[SSM]

Gaffer74 wrote:

nice.

:shock:

:shock:

Wow. I have not been up to date with Denon latest lifestyle series. This new one looks absolutely desirable in a sci-fi way.

Can it drive a pair of 4 ohm Epos ELS3s, anyone thinks?

 

[subterranean-alien]

Can be your friend please?? Im lucky to get a bru from my mates.

 

[ray70]

earl of sodbury wrote:

Overall it punches well over its weight IMHO, and when I hear my second system (DM30, Castle Richmond 3s BK XLS200) sounding luscious I sometimes wonder at the insane lack of value of audiophool kit... :Not Sure:

Agreed. I have used manysystem combinations over the last 18 months, but one of the most enjoyable ones was DM31 / Castle Richmond 3s. The system cost about £350 and gave me a months worth ofpleasure. Then upgradeitis set in

.

Given the choice, I wish I could use that system for a long time and be happy with it. This HiFi lark can just take over your life sometimes.

 

[earl of sodbury]

solidstateman wrote:

:shock:

:shock:Wow. I have not been up to date with Denon latest lifestyle series. This new one looks absolutely desirable in a sci-fi way.

Can it drive a pair of 4 ohm Epos ELS3s, anyone thinks?

the supplied speakers are 85dB/W/M and nominal 6 Ohm load, your Epi are more sensitive (87dB/W/M) if a stiffer load so shouldaverage-out at least as well - better, probably, as the supplied speakers are pretty basic to say the least...

Be warned the colour (in the UK at least) is a sort of nickel shade, somewherebetween gold and silver...

churz, eofs

 

[earl of sodbury]

ray70 wrote:

Agreed. I have used manysystem combinations over the last 18 months, but one of the most enjoyable ones was DM31 / Castle Richmond 3s. The system cost about £350 and gave me a months worth ofpleasure. Then upgradeitis set in

.Given the choice, I wish I could use that system for a long time and be happy with it. This HiFi lark can just take over your life sometimes.

Totally - if I hadn't discovered HiFi forums I probably would be doing just that! :Not Sure:

churz, eofs

 

[SSM]

earl of sodbury wrote:

solidstateman wrote:

:shock:

:shock:Wow. I have not been up to date with Denon latest lifestyle series. This new one looks absolutely desirable in a sci-fi way.

Can it drive a pair of 4 ohm Epos ELS3s, anyone thinks?

the supplied speakers are 85dB/W/M and nominal 6 Ohm load, your Epi are more sensitive (87dB/W/M) if a stiffer load so shouldaverage-out at least as well - better, probably, as the supplied speakers are pretty basic to say the least...

Be warned the colour (in the UK at least) is a sort of nickel shade, somewherebetween gold and silver...

churz, eofs

Thanks Earl. :shock:I find it rather amazing that a major hifi company would pair such insensitive speakers with a relatively low-powered cd receiver. Would have thought Denon might have scouted for >89dB ones to maximize the M33's output.

The nickel-ish finish is okay by me, as long as it isn't poofy champagne gold.

Love those rounded contours on the SCM53s. Wish more speaker companies could produce little standmounts shaped like that!

SS

ps: Why is it upmarket Jap minis always come with insensitive speeks? I remember my Kenwood had 85dB ones too. :Upset:

 

[Biscuit]

because low volume standmounts tend to be insensitive?

 

[earl of sodbury]

Biscuit wrote:

because low volume standmounts tend to be insensitive?

^^^^^ wot 'e said - a tiny driver in a tiny box has to be driven hard to produce any bass at-all...

 

[Gaffer]

Well, my friend is in Germany, so i got it from there. Retailed at €409, but got it from MediaMarkt for €350 (translates as about £220)...with the spkrs and 2 year warranty and the radio set to German wavelenths (I think their band range is slightly different to ours, but may be wrong).

With that SDB button pressed, the sound rounded out nicely- no distortion. I placed the port bungs in for the rears as they were placed close to a rear wall, and the sound was still very good, in fact, the depth of bass is something that astounded me when listening (these speakers are tiny but very "long".....they look good on a beech bookshelf, very inconspicuous)

I think this system is marketed at non-audiophile people who just want good sound with minimum fuss (and space) and it fits the bill perfectly....more than loud enough for the odd party, so Denon maybe don't have enough reason to opt for higher sensitivity speakers?

PS it looked just as silver as the teac's/onkyo's/yamaha's i was comparing with, but didn't really pay too much attention....although less of the "champagne" and more of the silver was quite a good result imo

 

[Testure]

solidstateman wrote:

The nickel-ish finish is okay by me, as long as it isn't poofy champagne gold.

Whats wrong with Champagne gold

Looks like Marantz are trying to get into the act with theCR-401

However always been dissapointed with there lifestyle products, so I doubt this will be as good as the Denon. Doesn't look as good either

Testy

 

[SSM]

Testure wrote:

solidstateman wrote:

The nickel-ish finish is okay by me, as long as it isn't poofy champagne gold.

Whats wrong with Champagne gold

Nothing.

If you live in a pumpkin huedroom...

"your marantz sounds better if you blow out your lugholes. Wahahaha."

Looks like Marantz are trying to get into the act with theCR-401

Simply horrible. :nup:Looks like the head of a robot model reject for a 1970s B-grade sci-fi movie.

 

[Testure]

solidstateman wrote:

Testure wrote:

solidstateman wrote:

The nickel-ish finish is okay by me, as long as it isn't poofy champagne gold.

Whats wrong with Champagne gold

Nothing.

If you live in a pumpkin huedroom...

"your marantz sounds better if you blow out your lugholes. Wahahaha."

The evil side of Solid the Storm Trooper is now shown to us all :

:green:

 

[Guest]

this has made me think! do you know one of the best systems i have EVER heard was my friends top of the range technics with 18 band graphic and all. running floor standing missions the sound that thing made was truely breathtaking. and i had an lp12 at the time with audiolab pre- power, and epos es11's and i will say in all honesty his system destroyed mine in every possible way. he used to come over and listen to mine, and laugh at all the money i threw into my system, one other frightening thing was he brought his 100 quid technics deck over one day and we had a few friends come over and listen and under blind listening test's that crappy technics deck sounded far superior and i mean in a different league( i sold my system 2 weeks later) but caught the bug again a few years after.

you should never assume these all in one jap systems are no good coz many are very good.

 

[Sony6million]

My dad got a dm31 for the bedroom and hooked it up to Mission m30s, sounds excellent for the money.

I wonder if Teac and others will catch its market share

 

[Gaffer]

That marantz may look robotic but it also looks kinda simple/retro.

Have a look at the onkyo site, THIS is where I think micro systems are heading, tiny network servers that are far less costly than yamaha/cyrus offerings like "music cast" :

http://www.eu.onkyo.com/ir_img/5236262_98d6c9af5a.jpg

apologies for piccie size, but the onkyo site doesn't have smaller ones.

The only problem is that if you have a noisy pc, it has to be on to broadcast, no?

 

[Guest]

use this one and delete your big one

 

[Gaffer]

Thanx analoguekid.

I've edited as a link instead

(...for some reason, this wigwam editing interface doesn't like Safari).