Two weeks ago I joined a very select club by getting hold of a Denon PMA 850, a behemoth vintage solid state amplifier that was top of Denon’s line from 1977 to 1979.
The catalyst for this leap into the dark was finally acquiring my dream speakers, a pair of Shahinian Obelisk Mk 2s. It quickly became apparent that my trusty Rega Elicit couldn’t quite cut it with the Obs, which are notoriously difficult to drive – despite claiming a nominal impedance of 6ohm, their four top mounted super tweeters and two midrange tweeters tend to hover around the 2ohm mark. While they made a nice sound with the Rega overall, some strain was evident particularly in the higher frequencies.
Having already stretched to get the Obs, I was dismayed by the prospect of shelling out for a high current amp that could handle them (no, I handn’t thought this through ). Some forums (not this one!) were full of bullish Obs owners insisting I’d have to rig them up to Battersea power station to get them sounding as they should. I considered a used Dynavector at one point, but it was still going to be costly once I factored in a suitable preamp. If only there was an affordable integrated that could do the job! Enter the Denon PMA 850.
Some of you will no doubt be familiar with the Denon through Geoff Old (Oldious of this Parish) who has championed the amp since it became a cornerstone of his own system. Were it not for Geoff I would never in a million years have considered a 40+ year old amplifier with no remote - and a Denon to boot!
There was one – just one – for sale – on eBay, a minty-looking example from a reputable vintage hi fi seller in Spain. It arrived safely, with battleship build quality and in amazing nick for its age. There were a few teething issues as it settled into my system – realising I needed a new digital cable, fine-tuning my TT to suit a much more revealing setup, etc. Once I’d banished these gremlins I really started to bond with the amp. The first thing you notice is its sense of authority and grip – it controls the Obs impeccably from top to bottom and really makes them sing . There’s nothing ‘seventies’ about this kit. It sounds thoroughly contemporary - precise, neutral and highly resolving, with a refined and imperturbable treble and deep, firm bass. It gets straight to the heart of the music and communicates exactly what’s going on.
The internal phono stage is superlative. It reminds me of the stage on a Leema amp I once had, but better. My Arcam R Phono, while cracking for the money, cannot compete. The PMA 850 hails from an era when amps lived or died on their phono stages, and I reckon you’d be talking serious cash to equal it with an external stage. The icing on the cake is the fabulous headphone stage, which has made my Graham Slee destined for the classifieds.
After a week or so, out of curiosity I tried the Rega back in my system. The Elicit is a great amp, but it was clear the older amp was in a different league. With my Rega and warm Revolver speakers, I could never hear that much difference between Red book and high res streams/downloads – now I can. Next up, once the lockdown ends, is to get it serviced and recapped to ensure I can continue to enjoy it for decades to come.
Including the anticipated cost of the recap, after the sale of the Rega, the Arcam and the Graham Slee, I will still be quids-in (Actually that’s not quite true - my Ikea rack is now looking decidedly wobbly from the weight of this thing so I’m going to have to fork out on something more robust, a proper grown up hi fi rack!)
Between the amp and the Obs, I feel I finally have the kind of sound I’ve wanted since I went to a hifi show in Manchester 11 years ago and came out thinking I had to get me some of that. I was beginning to think that kind of sound was only achievable for the well-off, but with the Denon I feel I have managed to cheat the system!
In today’s money the Denon would have cost somewhere around £2,500 - £3,000 when it came out. It was at a time when Denon were a company with something to prove and they really overengineered this amp, which must be one of the best integrateds of any era.
To anyone like me who is long in hi-fi ambition but short on cash, I say: if you can find one, get one.
Thanks to Geoff for his patient and wise advice :^ :notworthy:
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