Marantz PM-10 Integrated Amplifier (Various Colors)

Marantz started making amplifiers with their now well-known, original Audio Consolette entry amp back in 1950, and have since continued their line of classics with models such as the Model 7/8 entry amp/power amp all the way up to their most massive model, the Project tube amp T1 which was produced in 1990. The bar they set had to be maintained, so this New Reference line is really special, with the new amplifier - Marantz PM-10.

• High power: 200Wpc per channel at 8ohms and 400Wpc at 4ohms
• It will easily play practically any speakers.
• Wide range dynamic capabilities thanks to high current power supply.
• Marantz Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Modules (HDAM) modules in the pre-amplifier circuit.
• Dual mono power amplification configuration.
• Separate power supplies for the pre-amplifier, control processor and each power channel.
• Discrete isolated Phono input for MM and MC turntable head types.

Marantz began making amplifiers with their now well-known, original Audio Consolette entry amp back in 1950, and have since continued their line of classics with models such as the Model 7/8 entry amp/power amp and all the way up to their most massive model, the Project tube amp T1 which was produced in 1990. The bar they set had to be maintained, so this New Reference line is really special, with the new amplifier - Marantz PM-10. Arguably an entry-level amplifier and two monoblock power amplifiers in one, the PM-10 uses variable power amplification to deliver high power - 200W into 8 ohms and 400W into 4 ohms - ensuring compatibility with almost any speaker and fast power delivery for dynamic and accurate music reproduction; The new reference class integrated amplifier; Four channels of variable power amplifier and bridge mode for maximum dynamics; Massive power: 200W per channel at 8 ohms and 400W at 4 ohms; Easily move almost any speakers; Wide dynamic range of powerful power sections; Fully balanced: both pre-amplifier and power amp section; Marantz Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Modules (HDAM) and preamplifier section; Dual mono power amplifier configuration; Separate power supply and processor for the starting and power amplifier; Separate phono section for MM and MC turntables in a separate protected housing; High-quality construction with double-layer base, 5mm thick aluminum top, solid die-cast aluminum front panel, copper-plated base and pure copper speaker terminals; Double copper layer PBC even only for outputs but also for the main power supply unit;

Amplifiers are at the core of Marantz history:  its very first product was a high-quality preamplifier designed to make the most of the then-new LP record format. And with a history stretching all the way to that ground-breaking Audio Consolette – which Saul B Marantz started manufacturing in 1952, and which soon became the first real Marantz product, the Model 1 preamplifier – , it's no surprise that the company's very latest Premium Series model, the PM-10 , is an integrated amplifier built to set new standards with all of today's music formats.

In fact, this massively powerful integrated amplifier is constructed more like a high-end separate preamplifier and a pair of monobloc power amps, but all in one beautifully finished case, designed both to maximize performance and create a strong visual statement.

Making an integrated amplifier with dual monobloc design fitting in a normal size cabinet is made possible by the use of a stereo switching amplifier. Its aim? To reveal the maximum musical involvement from everything from LPs to the latest high-resolution audio files and beyond, and with all the power and control required to drive the most demanding loudspeakers, allowing them to perform at their best.

Optimized design

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To achieve such quality, while still delivering class-leading power, means optimizing each section of the amplifier for its task, just as would be done in a design using a separate preamplifier and monobloc power amps.

Commonly, amplifiers use a single transformer, with separate power supply regulation for the preamplifier and power amplifier sections; the PM-10 takes things much further.

A dual-mono design, it has separate power supplies for the preamplifier and each of the power amplifier channels, with one transformer dedicated to the preamp to ensure the delicate signals passing through that section of the amplifier aren't affected by the demands of the high power output stages. There's also a dedicated supply for the microprocessor controlling volume adjustment, input selection and so on, ensuring no noise from the control section finds its way in to the audio path.

Pure analog

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Another important part of the noise-reduction here is the fact that the PM-10 is a purely analogue amplifier: many rival designs are today including digital-to-analogue conversion, or adopting digital amplification and volume control, but the Marantz keeps things as clean and simple as possible with its highly-developed all-analogue design.

Why? Well, although it may seem convenient to have a DAC in the amplifier, digital circuitry is, by its very nature, noisy (in the electrical sense) and can interfere with the delicate analogue signals passing through the amp. That's why Marantz chooses to design its Premium Series range with any digital-to-analogue conversion in its Super Audio CD or network music players, keeping its amplifiers as pure and clean as possible.

What's more, to make the most of that purity of design, the PM-10 has also been designed with the option of working in 'Purest Mode': when engaged, this deactivates any superfluous circuits, giving the signal the cleanest possible path through the amplifier. There's also a Power Amp Direct input, taking the signal straight from the input section to the power stage to let the unit work as a pure power amplifier.

Fully balanced, from input to final power section

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The benefits of balanced audio layout have long been understood: unlike a conventional layout, one half of the signal path is in the ground plane of either an amplifier or a cable, balanced working uses two conductors or paths – one for positive, the other for negative – and an entirely separate ground to protect them.

The benefit in cables is that any external interference will affect both positive and negative conductors, but since the signals they are carrying are the mirror image of each other, they will mutually cancel out any effect – which is why such cables are widely used in pro audio and studio applications, where sources of hum are common, and the longer cable runs involved makes them particularly prone to picking up interference.

The same is true when balanced working is applied to audio circuitry: not only does this mirror-imaging of the layout, in which identical components are handling the positive and negative 'legs' of the signal, cancel out any potential interference, it also means any noise or errors introduced in the circuitry will also be canceled out.

An additional benefit is that balanced working also uses stronger signals than unbalanced designs, simply because both halves of the circuit are active – rather than just having one half pushing and the other just providing the ground, here we have a 'push pull' operation. And a stronger signal means one less susceptible to any outside interference: the more signal there is, the less obvious any noise will be.

The PM-10 uses a fully balanced layout, from the input section all the way through to the final power amplifier section: it has two sets of balanced inputs, and also conventional unbalanced line-level inputs (plus a high-quality phono stage) , the signal from these inputs being converted to balanced working before being passed through the amplifier.

By keeping the signal balanced all the way through the amplifier, and combining that with optimized power supply design, the Marantz engineers are able to achieve maximum noise rejection throughout the audio path, and the highest possible signal purity.

Balanced, bridged power amplification

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For the PM-10, Marantz wanted the purest possible sound, plus the power and dynamics to drive and control some of the world's most demanding speakers. To achieve this, they continued the balanced working found in the preamp stage right the way through to the power amplifier stage to its speaker outputs, and also adopted bridged working to develop the power required while maintaining that balanced design. This True Balanced Concept realizes a ground-free signal management from the input to the output.

What is the bridged amplifier about? In a conventional amplifier, one speaker is driven by the positive and negative part of one single output stage per channel, but a bridged amplifier does things differently, using two separate amplifier stages per channel to drive one speaker. To greatly simplify things: one amp pushes the speaker cones and domes, while the other pulls them back.

That much greater control over the way the speaker drive units behave, in that the amplifier can make them start moving, and stop, much more precisely is very important for definition and the 'speed' of the system, meaning it can play music with much better rhythmic and spatial controls, not to mention making voices and instruments sound more realistic.

In the PM-10, the bridged amplifiers in the power output stage – a total of four amplifier channels – allow this control to be combined with huge power output: it delivers 2x200W into an 8ohm load, and can easily cope with demanding speakers or those whose impedance varies widely with frequency, thanks to a 2x400W output into 4ohms.

That ensures not just the power to drive even big, power-hungry speakers to high levels while keeping the sound clean and distortion-free, but also the 'grip' to make sure those speakers are doing just what the music demands. It's all made possible by the use of the latest switching amplifier technology, allowing a compact integrated amplifier design while still fulfilling Marantz performance requirements.

Carefully selected components

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Marantz has long built a reputation for choosing the best possible components for its Premium Series products – and if it can't find what it wants, it designs and builds the required part.

That thinking informed the design of the Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Module (or HDAM): unhappy with the audio quality available from 'amplifier on a chip' IC components, the company designed its own alternative, in the form of a miniature amplifier module built entirely of discrete components. As with all such design decisions, the engineers selected and optimized the HDAM through extensive listening in dedicated Marantz facilities in Europe and Japan, and since it was introduced this component has both been developed and also found its way into an ever-wider range of products .

In the PM-10, the latest-generation HDAM SA3 is used, as part of a current feedback topology designed for the widest possible frequency and dynamic ranges – just the thing for today's ultra-high-resolution audio formats – and aided by ultra- fast custom made block capacitors for the fastest possible response to demands for high current.

The same current feedback design is applied to the phono stage in the PM-10, which is configurable for use with either moving coil or moving magnet cartridges for the best possible playback of those favorite LPs. This isn't a case of Marantz responding to the current 'vinyl revival': over the years, while developing and refining its digital competencies, the company has remained totally committed to the excellent sound possible from LPs and singles. It has long been fitting its products with high-quality phono stages – even before vinyl came back into fashion!

Built to perform

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Like the partnering SA-10 Super Audio CD/CD player/DAC, the PM-10 is constructed to the highest possible standards, with a double-layered copper-plated chassis for excellent rejection of mechanical and electrical interference, and casework constructed from thick , heavy, non-magnetic aluminum panels. Both products also sit on aluminum die-cast feet.

SPECIFICATIONS

Properties

Channels	2
Current feedback topology
Full balanced circuitry architecture
Double Mono Power Amp construction
Phono EQ: Standard / Marantz Musical / Marantz Musical Premium	/  /
Digital in: USB-B / optical / coaxial / USB-A	/  /  /
Sample Rate Digital In
USB-A: DSD/WAV/FLAC/AIFF/ALAC
USB-B DSD Audio Streaming (DoP): DSD2.8 / DSD5.6
USB-B PCM sample rate
DAC chip
Asynchronous mode rear USB
Bit-perfect transmission
Ground isolator for DAC Mode operation
Bluetooth / aptX / NFC
Playback of audio stream from local network
Wi-Fi / Wired LAN
Internet radio
AirPlay Audio Streaming
Windows Play to
vTuner / Spotify*
DLNA certified
DSD-Audio network streaming
Lossy formats: MP3 / WMA / AAC
Lossless formats: DSD / FLAC192/24 / ALAC96/24 / WAV192/24 / AIFF192/24
Gapless Playback
Remote APP: iDevice / Android
Analog mode
HDAM version	SA3
Power transformer: Toroidal / Standard	SMPS
High-class audio components
Selected components
Symmetric plate topography
Homogeneous aluminum radiator	(separately)
Copper chassis
Three-band timbre control ("Tri Tone")
Balance / Bass / Treble / Loudness	/  /  /

Other

Marantz Musical Digital Filtering
"Linear drive power supply"	(pre-amplifier stage)
Linear volume control
Bi-Amping and multi-channel amplification capability
Schottky diodes
Input Buffer Gain (All Inputs / CD Only)	/
Shielding of the system unit: copper / metal / none	/  /
Double layer bottom plate
Low Noise OELD display
Low noise LCD display
Source Direct
Power amplifier direct input
5mm aluminum top plate

Inputs / outputs

Audio inputs	7
Digital in: USB-B / optical / coaxial / USB-A	/  /  /
Turntable input: MM / MC	/
Audio outputs	1
Balanced inputs/outputs	2 /
Pre-out / Main-in	/
Power amplifier direct input
Gold-plated RCA jacks	/ CD & Phono nickel-plated
Columns A / B
Speaker Terminals	Marantz SPKT-100+
Number of connections	4
D-Bus
Control connection (3.5 mm mono jack x 2)
Headphone output
Headphone Gain Control (low / mid / high)

Specifications

Output power (8 / 4 ohms RMS)	200W / 400W
Reproducible frequencies	5 Hz  50 kHz
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)	0.01%
Damping factor	500
Input sensitivity: MM	2.6 mV / 47 kohm
Input sensitivity: MC	280
Input sensitivity: High level	400 mV / 20 kohm
Input sensitivity: Balanced high level	800 mV / 40 kohm
Signal to noise ratio: High level	111 dB(2V input/Rated output)
Input Sensitivity: Power Amp Direct In	1.5 V / 20 kohm
Signal to Noise Ratio: Power Amp Direct In	113 dB

General information

Available colors: Gold / Silver / Black / Silver-Gold	/  /  /
Metal front panel
Energy consumption, W	270
Power consumption in standby mode, W	0.3
Automatic shutdown
Replaceable power cable
Remote control	RC004PMSA
System remote control
Maximum Dimensions (W x D x H) in mm	440 x 168 x 453
Weight, kg	21.5

INSTRUCTIONS

User Manual (EN).