Better Amp for Cornwall IV's...

Phono stage is not a big issue for me as I seldom spin vinyl and have not bought an LP since 1985.
I have read that the dac in the Denon is just so-so, but personally, I haven't heard enough difference in dacs to get worked up about.
I have the Denon DCD1600NE SACD player and love it!  That's what got me jazzed about the Denon amp; that and it's 4-Ohm power rating and gorgeous looks.  (Yes, I know I'm weird.)  But...I'm concerned about going from my Parasound's big power down to a "mere" 70 8-Ohm Watts.  That, and my Parasound pre does have some really cool features that I hate to give up: bass management, remote tone and balance, volume display, etc.  And it sounds fine to me.  Of course, I'd have to sell the Parasound pair to get the Denon int. and would no doubt still come up a few hundred shy...but day-um it's nice!

Also, I can't believe my first post is pointing someone to an amp that I might bid on. Oh well, should save me some money.

No fear; not a tube guy!

I would suggest a Luxman integrated

I would LOVE a Luxman, but they're TDE (too danged expensive). :)
And Bill...thanks so much for your advice.  I bet that Yamaha pair is NICE!!

I did see a "scratch & dent Denon 1600 for a good price on Crutchfield today.  I've bought lots of open box and refurbished but never a scratch & dent.  I don't think I want to go down that path.

Just get what you want and it looks like the Denon is your choice.

Bill

Yes, but...I really like my Parasound pair, too!  I'm like a guy who's had a good, faithful but average looking girlfriend for three years...and then I see this sexy beauty walking down the street (Cue Manfred Mann's "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy").

jdmccall - If it "wasn't THAT loud", you may be a db-holic...

Nah...I try to be careful.  If I can't hear the sound of my own natural speaking voice when the music is playing, I turn it down.  I usually stay in the 90-95dB range on peaks.  Loud but not TOO loud.

The room is 15 x 22...and I do like it loud from time to time.  Back last century, from '85 to '93 to be exact, I had a pair of cornwalls powered by a Luxman MX-100 amp (140 8 Ohm Watts).  Sounded real nice but I was surprised how much power was being put out to reach lifelike levels.  The meters would peak around 75W but maybe they were not too accurate.  Even if the sactual speaker sensitivity was only 92dB, that would be 110dB with 64W input.  It wasn't THAT loud!

I'd sure want to make sure I had full return privileges before going that route.  It was discounted pretty heavily (almost $400), so that would be a good way to try one and at least see if I liked it.  And if not, or if it was a little TOO scratched and/or dented, let them have it back.  But...I'm always reluctant to return anything unless it's pretty bad.  I shouldn't feel that way, but I do.

kfscoll:
"You mentioned the DCD-1600NE.  I just received the Denon DCD-A110 SACD player and I'm so impressed with it that it has me thinking about buying the matching integrated (PMA-A110).  In other words, I think your experience with your SACD player will mirror the experience you'll have with the PMA-1600NE.  I wouldn't hesitate for a second to buy the Denon amp if the quality of Denon's other hi-fi gear is any indication what to expect."

I can only imagine as to the build quality of the A110 products from Denon.  Must be in Luxman and Accuphase territory.

I did the deed.  Yesterday (1/11/21), I ordered a Denon PMA-1600NA from Music Direct.  I don't know if it has "higher quality" Watts or not.  We'll see.  I don't know how biased into class A it is.  In fact, I have not really found any independent tests of it with measurements.  Denon's own specs are quite limited, too.  They do provide this: 70W into 8 Ohms from 20-20000Hz with  .07% THD and 140W into 4 Ohms at 1000Hz with .7% THD.  I see no specs for peak power.  The 4 Ohm rating at 1000 Hz just makes me wonder why they didn't spec it from 20-20000.  Oh well, time will tell.  Music Direct gives you 60 days to decide if you want to keep it or not.  That ought to be plenty of time.

After you've had some time with the Denon, please post back here- I'd be interested in what you think of it.

Denon amp should arrive tomorrow.  I'll follow up with impressions.

Denon PMA-1600NE arrived double-boxed from Music Direct on 1/15/21.  Fed-Ex tried to deliver it the day before but yours truly was sleeping in and missed it.  I apparently also missed that a signature was required for delivery.  My bad.
I've got it in the cabinet and everything is purring along nicely.  The amp is amping and the speakers are speaking.  I also moved speakers and subs a bit, so I had to go through sub set-up again.  Integration is pretty good now but I think I can improve it so I plan to hit it again tomorrow.  I've got to keep punching at it and punching at it. :)
The first thing I've noticed is the gain of the amp.  Or maybe it's just the volume control.  I have yet to get the volume up to nine o'clock.  There, it's already LOUD.  Even with headphones, I'm only using a tiny bit of the knob's range.  I haven't noticed any noise issue yet, but I also haven't done the ear-to-the-tweeter test, either.
Oh, I guess I could report that the sound through the headphone jack was quite good, and that fit and finish was really nice.  It seems to be very solid and well-built.

I haven't really pushed the amp at all yet, but after she gets run in for a few days I'll start pouring the coal to her and we'll see what happens.