[b]Marantz PM6010OSE[/b] I just thought I would write about my 7 months ownership of my Marantz PM6010OSE. Background info: I am student and don't have much money however I have been building up a HIFI seperates system since 1999. My first amp was an Ariston AX910, then a Marantz PM4000 and now the 6010OSE. This review will be comparing the amp to the Marantz PM4000 and the Denon 255SE UK two amps which I also have expereince with at a similar price point. [B]Sound Quality[/B] The sound is rather snappy but at the same time smooth, there is high detail levels and you don't feel like you are missing very much, this does not sound like a low end product, more of a low end mid range product. The timing is spot on, the vocals are very open and convey the realism you would expect from a decent amp. The bass however is slightly lacking compared to the Denon 255SE UK. I am not particualy a bass fan though, I like speed above anything else and cheap sub £100 sub woofers frankly scare me. Spin some Simon and Garfunkel such as Bleaker Street or Sounds of Silence and this amp really shines, both Simon's and Garfunkel's voice really shine through, every pluck of the guitar is relayed and it sounds brillaint. REM's automatic for the people on 12" vynil also sounds very good. Though the amp lacks a bit of bass, the timing is so accurate that dance music still sounds very good, and a lot of my mates who have mini systems comment on how good the bass is. So unless you really much feel every beat then you should be able to live with the bass fine. Compared to the PM4000 this amp holds not much back, its a lot more revealing, this is a bad thing on poor records btw, but the biggest thing you will notice is how much more dymanic and snappy the sound is, I assume this due to the extra 20wpc in power. The Denon probably has a bit deeper bass, but the vocals don't sound as natural and the Denon sounds a tad harsh to me. [B]Features[/B] The PM6010OSE is in between the PM4000 and Denon. Oddly the PM4000 has much more features, however some of these get in the away of sound quality, the PM6010OSE has a good quality switch for input selection rather than the relay driven system of the PM4000. The downside to this is unlike the PM4000 the input selection cannot be controlled via remote control, in fact all the PM6010's remote control does is control the volume. The Denon has no remote control but has tone controls unlike the PM6010SE however I am sure most of you will agree that if you need to use tone controls there is somthing wrong. For example the system downstairs boomed like mad, instead of using the tone controls to fix this I by-passed them and inserted socks in the pass ports which worked just as well without the signal loss. [B]Price[/B] The PM6010OSE can be picked up for around £150 new now, making it a very good bargain as they cost £230 when they were introduced in August 1999. The Denon can be bought for around £120, and the PM4200 (the replacement for the PM4000) for £130. [B]Conclusion[/B] The Marantz PM6010OSE is a very good buy for the money, and will give any sub £100 amp a run for its money. The PM6010OSE has a solid metal chasis, a darlington transistor arrangement, and a semi (i.e still only one power supply) dual mono layout. Listen this amp first but you may well like it.
