Denon PMA-980R - anyone have experience?

JayMX
JayMX Posts: 446
in 2 Channel Audio
I picked up this older integrated today. First hooked up to a nice pair of Monitor 5's I landed earlier this week, Much too many power for those little guys, wow! So I brought it inside and hooked it up to the 2B's. Smile gets bigger. Then hooked it up to the 3.1's and I’m like jaw on the floor. This thing is blowing my mind for 90 watts, holy p00p.

From what I’m reading, it’s. Nelson Pass design. Anybody know what “New Optical Class A” entails? Anybody ever own one of these?

I’m honestly flabbergasted. Great synergy with the SDA's. Would love to hear any stories or insights.
Not much said on the interwebz bout this one... Thoughts?

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Current Collection: Monitor 4a (Peerless), Monitor 5B (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7b (Peerless), RTA15TL (SL3000), SDA CRS+ (194’s), SDA SRS 2.3TL, R100's, R200’s, R300 🤩
Pairs that have passed through: Monitor 4b (Peerless), Monitor 5a (Peerless), Monitor 5b (SL1000), Monitor 5b (SL2000) (4x pair), Monitor 7b (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7c’s (194’s), Monitor 10a (Peerless), Monitor 10b (5x pair), RTA8, RTA8TL, RTA 11T, RTA12c (194's), SDA CRS, SDA 2 (2x pair), SDA 2a, SDA 2b, SDA 1b, SDA 1c, SDA SRS 2 (2x pair), SDA SRS 3.1TL (198’s) (2x pair)...and more to come, it’s a sickness.
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Comments

  • aprazer402
    aprazer402 Posts: 3,145
    edited July 2020
    Can't help on the integrated itself. But in the photo it appears that the loudness button is depressed "on". At medium-higher volume this would not sound good. If I ever use a loudness contour is when the volume knob is no greater than 8 o'clock. Very low volume settings only. Should work very well with the Monitor 5's.
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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    aprazer402 wrote: »
    Can't help on the integrated itself. But in the photo it appears that the loudness button is depressed "on".

    Good eye. :)
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
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  • JayMX
    JayMX Posts: 446
    @aprazer402 I was just experimenting, loudness engaged sounded great with the 5's at low levels, don’t get me wrong, At higher levels (with loudness disengaged) I could tell it had deeper reserves to tap.
    Current Collection: Monitor 4a (Peerless), Monitor 5B (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7b (Peerless), RTA15TL (SL3000), SDA CRS+ (194’s), SDA SRS 2.3TL, R100's, R200’s, R300 🤩
    Pairs that have passed through: Monitor 4b (Peerless), Monitor 5a (Peerless), Monitor 5b (SL1000), Monitor 5b (SL2000) (4x pair), Monitor 7b (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7c’s (194’s), Monitor 10a (Peerless), Monitor 10b (5x pair), RTA8, RTA8TL, RTA 11T, RTA12c (194's), SDA CRS, SDA 2 (2x pair), SDA 2a, SDA 2b, SDA 1b, SDA 1c, SDA SRS 2 (2x pair), SDA SRS 3.1TL (198’s) (2x pair)...and more to come, it’s a sickness.
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  • JayMX
    JayMX Posts: 446
    edited July 2020
    The other thing I find really interesting are the infinite knobs. There is one good article about the design.
    Here's a quote:
    “Both knobs (Speakers and Input) do not have end positions but can be turned infinitely. They have "notch" positions however which convery a very upworthy feeling. Turning a knob won't redirect any signals right away, instead, the knob action causes the processor to calculate what to do, and adjust the relays accordingly.”

    https://joes-tech-blog.blogspot.com/2017/01/fixing-denon-pma-980r-input-volume.html
    Current Collection: Monitor 4a (Peerless), Monitor 5B (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7b (Peerless), RTA15TL (SL3000), SDA CRS+ (194’s), SDA SRS 2.3TL, R100's, R200’s, R300 🤩
    Pairs that have passed through: Monitor 4b (Peerless), Monitor 5a (Peerless), Monitor 5b (SL1000), Monitor 5b (SL2000) (4x pair), Monitor 7b (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7c’s (194’s), Monitor 10a (Peerless), Monitor 10b (5x pair), RTA8, RTA8TL, RTA 11T, RTA12c (194's), SDA CRS, SDA 2 (2x pair), SDA 2a, SDA 2b, SDA 1b, SDA 1c, SDA SRS 2 (2x pair), SDA SRS 3.1TL (198’s) (2x pair)...and more to come, it’s a sickness.
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,933
    Nice clean example! Congrats on the nice find.
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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    JayMX wrote: »
    The other thing I find really interesting are the infinite knobs. There is one good article about the design.
    Here's a quote:
    “Both knobs (Speakers and Input) do not have end positions but can be turned infinitely. They have "notch" positions however which convery a very upworthy feeling.

    To infinity and beyond.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
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  • mlistens03
    mlistens03 Posts: 2,767
    edited July 2020
    I have a Denon PMA in my closet somewhere... a fairly base model one, but I do really like it. Sounds great! I used it in a second system by my computer for some time, and it’ll probably make its way into another system of mine in the future.

    I can’t remember for the life of me what it is at the moment. Pretty much bottom of the barrel for the line though. :) Glad to year that you are enjoying it sir! Happy listening!
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  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,372
    The Denon amps are generally quite nice. The topology looks similar to my DRA-835R receiver, which is quite powerful for 90 watts as well. It can drive my LSi15's quite nice with well managed bass. It has full command over my RTA-11TL's. This is the first that I had heard of Nelson Pass involvement.
    Stan

    Main 2ch:
    Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.

    HT:
    Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60

    Other stuff:
    Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
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