Here’s a brief review of the $999.00 Marantz PM8004 integrated amp. I’ll keep it short.
My initial impression when I removed the amp from the box was that this is a quality Japanese product, robustly made. You can tell it’s made to last. Often at this price you get a light weight Class-D HT amp with a switching power supply.
Construction high points: Large toroidal transformer, Nichicon Capacitors, unusually massive speaker terminals (two sets), weighty Japanese quality construction (27 pounds).
Appearance high points: Large stylish curvy chassis cool blue LEDS, simple layout, all black.
Features: Bass (50hz), Mid (900hz), Treble (15K hz) tone controls, source direct option by-passes all tone controls, preamp-out drives my subwoofer, direct power amplifier input jacks in back with a direct power amp on/off switch on the front, decent remote, earphone jack.
Sound: Clean, deep wide sound stage, voiced very slightly to the warm side and very detailed. Imaging is strong and stable on a good recording. The depth of the sound stage is above average. The bass is punchy. The high-end is silky and extended. I love this amp for my jazz collection.
One thing I noticed was just how quiet this amplifier is by putting my ear next to the speaker with the volume turned up. It’s dead silent which enhances details. Indeed the specs say the amplifier S/N ratio is 125dB!
This amp is rated a modest 70 watts @ 8 ohms, 100 watts @ 4 ohms. Every bit of it is high quality amplification. The Marantz manual says the amp is capable of greater than 25 amps of current available for peaks.
It’s obvious that I love this amplifier. It’s a great buy used because of solid construction. I’ve also seen Marantz PM8004 discounted to $700-$800 brand new because it’s nearing the end of its product cycle.
(My speakers are DIY, Seas 27TDFC tweets, Parts Express RS180 woofers in ported .5 cu ft cabinet. The design, including the crossover, was done by Jay Kim. I just built them. My source is a PS Audio DL III DAC and a laptop.)
The pics below were provided by another audiophile, "airtime".
