Yamaha WXA-50 or Denon PMA-60

[Meridiusuk]

Hi all looking for a small amp for my pc setup as I have a Yamaha A2 from 25 years ago and now I don’t have the room for it and needs replaced. I am undecided to which to go for the denon PMA-60 or Yamaha wax-50 as I can get them at the same price.

I am using Cambridge audio bookshelf speakers

I did buy a ampster bt ii but had to take it back. Not a bad amp for the price at all and would have kept it but has a feature that auto shutdown the amp with no sound at 15 min which you can not disable or change which I found ridiculous and was always turning off. So had to go back.
Thanks for any help or info.

 

[VersionMonkey]

Not sure if it will help your decision or not, but I've had a Denon PMA-50 (so previous model, I guess) for quite a while now and it's been solid. Primarily fed through the digital out port from the onboard motherboard sound but occasionally over bluetooth from my phone.

 

[Meridiusuk]

Thanks. Does the Denon amp get hot at times ? How’s the connectivity as it’s Bluetooth v 3 and sound. Can u use airplay

 

[VersionMonkey]

Yes, it can get hot after a while. The aluminium top/bottom (or sides, depending the orientation - you can switch the feet around and have it vertical if you want), are essentially heatsinks.

I don't very often use the Bluetooth, as I'm not very often in here when my PC isn't on; so I wouldn't set much store by my experience, but I had no problems pairing and never
ran into disconnection problems. It's only AptX, though, not AptX HD, if that is a consideration for you. Don't have an apple device, so can't comment on airplay - the manual doesn't mention it.

Sound wise I've been happy; although I'm no audiophile. I've had my ancient Warfedale Diamond IV speakers on it "temporarily" all this time and I didn't notice a significant
change in the sound compared to my Hi-Fi amp when I moved them here. So I guess you could say the Denon doesn't particularly colour the sound. Mind you, I suspect my
ears aren't what they used to be.

 

[Meridiusuk]

Thanks for the help. I know what you mean with your ears as I am in my mid 40s and even cheaper equipment nearly sounds the same to me but might be a good thing as it saves money on higher end. Lol.

still undecided but might have to demo each of them as they both seem to be much the same.

all this to save desk space as I had my old Yamaha dap-a2 on there but it’s a Hugh beast and takes up to much space just to listen to sounds from a pc.

I did have the Ampster BT II which was half the price of the denon and Yamaha and sounded really good for the price to be fair but had to take it back as it’s got a 15 min standby function that can not be turned off or changed which is really silly as it’s impossible to use on a pc as sometimes you don’t send sound all the time. I see the denon has three settings I think for this plus a disable and the Yamaha has 5 I think.

 

[MrRockliffe]

I did buy a ampster bt ii but had to take it back. Not a bad amp for the price at all and would have kept it but has a feature that auto shutdown the amp with no sound at 15 min which you can not disable or change which I found ridiculous and was always turning off. So had to go back.

I have a feeling this is a power saving requirement - an EU regulation

I know my KEF powered speakers do it, and so does my AVR if there’s no signal passing through it.

 

[Meridiusuk]

I have a feeling this is a power saving requirement - an EU regulation

I know my KEF powered speakers do it, and so does my AVR if there’s no signal passing through it.

I did look at the denon and Yamaha manuals and this option can be changed for a longer period or disabled. I don't think they need to add this option but they do and at least Yamaha and denon let you disable it.

it was a mistake on ampsters part not to have a disable feature

 

[MrRockliffe]

I did look at the denon and Yamaha manuals and this option can be changed for a longer period or disabled. I don't think they need to add this option but they do and at least Yamaha and denon let you disable it.

it was a mistake on ampsters part not to have a disable feature

In which case, I’d go for the Denon. It’s typically a more expensive amp and, as a personal preference, I think it looks smarter.

 

[Sgt_Pepper]

Loxjie A30, lot of people on ASR seem to rate it.