Marantz PM-10 The new reference class Integrated amplifie - Page 6

INTEGR ATED AMPLIFIER Balanced, bridged power amplification 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 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 competences, 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 Like the partnering SA-10 SA-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 machining feet. Even the speaker terminals here are special: even the highest-aiming rivals tend to use components bought in from third party companies, or designed as much for 'show' as 'go', but the PM-10 has newly-designed and exclusive Marantz SPKT-100+ terminals, made from high-purity solid copper. In common with every other design and engineering decision behind this new reference class amplifier, those terminals are there for one very simple reason: 'Because Music Matters'. The New Reference - PM-10 and SA-10 6 Power amplifier block with 4 modules in full bridge mode configuration