Integrated Amplifiers

Like the PMA-2500NE [HFN Aug ’16], the PMA-3000NE is rated at 80W/8ohm and, in similar fashion, it smashes this meagre specification with a full 2x130W/8ohm and 2x200W/4ohm with the capacity for 160W, 291W, 495W and 750W into 8, 4, 2 and 1ohm loads under dynamic conditions [see Graph 1, below]. But there are important improvements witnessed in the ’3000NE – overall gain is reduced by 3dB to a (slightly) more practical +43.7dB while the A-wtd S/N ratio is now stretched from a below-average 81dB to a magnificent 96dB (re. 0dBW). The response is now far flatter and extended to within ±0.2dB from 2Hz-100kHz/8ohm while distortion remains very low indeed at <0.001% from 20Hz-1kHz over its rated 80W range, increasing quite steeply – but less aggressively than in the ’2500NE – beyond 5kHz to reach 0.015%/20kHz and 0.08%/40kHz.

The performance of the ’3000NE’s digital stage is steered, in part, by Denon’s ‘Ultra AL32’ upsampling algorithm, an adaptive, linear phase filter used here with two ES9018K2M DACs per channel. With transient-rich content the filter adopts a ‘Slow’ roll-off with reduced time domain distortion, a gentle –2.5dB/20kHz treble roll-off and limited 14dB stopband rejection. With less dynamic content, the filter becomes steeper with greater ringing but improved 73dB stopband rejection and a flatter –0.4dB/20kHz response (re. 44.1kHz LPCM media). Jitter is a low <10psec, the A-wtd S/N a wide 110.1dB (via rec. out re. 2V) and THD suppressed to a minimum of 0.0001% over the top 20dB of its dynamic range and 0.0004% over 30dB [re. 20Hz-20kHz, Graph 2]. With 48kHz, 96kHz and 192kHz media, responses reach –1.0dB/20kHz, –4.4dB/45kHz and –7.5dB/90kHz. PM