The verdict is in.
Remember, this is just my opinion, of my amps, in my system, in my house. As I said, I will only post my favorite 3. I do not want to piss someone off, because I don't like there favorite amp.
Here we go.
If the results were based on looks alone, the Onkyo M-504 would win. This amp is a sight to behold, build quality is very good. Overall sound quality is again, very good. Low frequency response is powerful, and just sounds right. Mid's, and treble again sound very good. And, who does not love the 2 big green meters!! To be honest, I probably rated this one a little higher, based on looks, and the fact that I really wanted one for a long time. In contrast, I probably rated the NAD 2200 PE amps a little lower based on ugly looks, and my past experience with less than reliable NAD products.
The 2 Denon POA-6600A mono blocks. Build quality is excellent. Powerful is the first word that comes to me about these amps. They sound excellent, Low frequency's will slam you in the chest, IF, your speakers can handle it. 60 amps of peak current, and Huge power supply filter caps = headroom galore. I could easily live with these amps.
Mccormack DNA-1, holy crap is this a well designed amp. Build quality is amazing! The design is first class. These do not have huge power supply filter caps, Instead Mr. Mccormack decided to put a 80v 4700uf cap right beside each individual output transistor.. There are 8 outputs per channel. This gives it a capacitance of 37,600 uf per channel, with a very high current transformer, (65 amps peak) This amp has extreme headroom. Rated at 150 watts per channel, it easily outperforms other, more powerful amps. The sound quality is superb, this amp gets everything right. Low frequency's are delivered with authority, the mid-range is lush, treble is perfect, never grainy or harsh like alot of other solid state amp's. If I could only ever have one of the amps in this review, this is the one I would choose.
So, there it is, short and sweet. Nobody really wanted to play along and guess the outcome, so there is no winner of the Sony CD player.
The final results are,
1) Mccormack DNA-1
2) Denon POA-6600A mono blocks
3) Onkyo M-504
Hope you all enjoyed this little review, I know I sure enjoyed the listening. By the way, most of these amps are now for sale.... or trade, Tom has dibs.
