Denon PMA3000NE

The PMA-3000NE arrives on the market in 2024 with a price tag of over three thousand euros in Italy, 3700€ to be precise, and at that figure the test bench inevitably becomes severe. The first impression, the one formed even before turning on the device, is very positive. The weight-about twenty-two kilograms-immediately communicates the presence of electronics of a certain level. The machined aluminum front panel has a finish that holds up to European competition, with a large, well-centered volume knob that rotates smoothly. It differs markedly from the controls found in products in even the same category, and in fact is of the same caliber as the top-of-the-line SA series, and is directly borrowed from the celebratory PMA110, for Denon’s 110th anniversary ( Denon ‘s history can be found here). The chassis is sturdy, and uses side panels that when disassembled expose the end sections and preamp part, making any service operations much easier. The back is well organized, with adequate quality RCA connectors and speaker terminals-double, for biwiring-that accept banana and lugs without difficulty. The input arrangement is logical, and there is also an HT bypass, a REC output, and a phono that can be MM or MC.

The design follows the Ultra High Current philosophy that Denon has been pursuing for years. The transformers are two of the traditional, generously sized type, shielded by thick copper plates. The two filter capacitors are Denon branded, and are supposed to be 10,000 µF each, but the capacitance is not stated on the case. The output stage operates in class AB and claims 80 watts per channel into eight ohms, a number that while it may seem relatively low compared to the competition, allows it to deliver a lot of power.

PMA-3000NE is a fully analog amplifier, with the exception of the internal DAC, equipped with 4 ESS ES9018K2M, one pair of chips per channel, in dual differential mode, and supports PCM up to 384 kHz/32-bit and DSD up to 11.2 MHz via USB-B. This is a big change from previous Denon amplifiers, which used the Burr-Brown/Texas Instruments PCM1795 chip. The machine dates back to 2024, the year in which ES9018 debuted, so as dated as it may seem today, it certainly was not when PMA-3000NE was introduced. One very interesting aspect is the ability to completely turn off the DAC via the “analog mode” button, which physically removes power from the transformer of the conversion section only (located on the front panel), making the amplifier for all intents and purposes “pure analog.” The DAC’s dual differential mode, so 2 chips per channel and 4 in all, is a well-established technique that is used to approach the theoretical limits of the converter by exploiting symmetry to “erase” imperfections. Many advantages are achieved. Noise reduction: the two chips process the same signal with opposite polarities (+/-) and when recombined the common noise is cancelled and the useful signal is summed. Even-order distortions (2nd harmonic, 4th…) are equal on both differential branches and cancel upon recombination, only odd-order distortions remain, which are lower and much less annoying. Finally, the useful signal doubles in level, theoretically gaining 6 dB of swing and thus improving the overall signal-to-noise ratio. PMA-3000NE is also equipped with a phono stage, in this case compatible with MM and MC cartridges, and with an acceptance of 130 mV/10 mV