Denon PMA-880D (1989)
The PMA-880D was Denon's top integrated amplifier with a built-in D/A converter for the Japanese domestic market in 1989. It was priced at ¥82,000. It belongs to Denon's "Optical Class-A" era (1987-1996), when the company was experimenting with optocoupler-based bias control to eliminate crossover distortion. The front panel carries a dense row of badges - "Real Time Audio Technology," "Double Super Linear Converter," "Optical Class-A" - and they tell you where this unit sat in the lineup: at the top of the D-series, above the 780D, 580D, and 1010D.
The headline feature is the optical bias control. Instead of a conventional class-A/AB switching scheme, the 880D uses an optocoupler to send the bias control signal from the high-speed bias control circuit to the power transistor bias stage. Denon claimed this completely isolates the main signal path from the control circuitry. That allows pure class-A operation up to the average music level and non-switching class-A at higher outputs. The final stage uses a single push-pull pair of 20 MHz, 150W MT-200 transistors. A 6.2 kg shielded transformer feeds the power supply. A large heatsink physically separates the supply from the main signal circuitry, and the left and right channels are arranged symmetrically.
The DAC section is a real 18-bit super-linear converter with independent left and right channels and a 4-times oversampling 18-bit digital filter. Digital inputs are one coaxial (0.5Vp-p/75Ω) and one standard optical. The phono stage handles both MM (2.5mV/47kΩ) and MC (0.2mV/100Ω). Rated output is 110W + 110W into 8Ω and 130W + 130W into 6Ω, with dynamic power reaching 350W at 2Ω. THD is rated at 0.004% (20Hz - 20kHz, 55W, 8Ω) and S/N ratio at 108dB (line). Dimensions are 434 × 172 × 395 mm and weight is 15.7kg.
Surviving documentation is thin. No professional reviews from the period have surfaced, and the only owner commentary found is a Russian forum post saying it "is a little better than the A&D DA-U7000, although they are similar." One drive2.ru owner-researcher, who appears to have done the most thorough investigation of this model anywhere, refutes the common claim that the 880D and 780D are "the same batch." He points out that despite the near-identical external design, the 880D lacks the 780D's DDS op-amp circuitry and uses different capacitors and resistors throughout. He also notes that by specifications the 880D is the "older brother" of the much later PMA-1520, though the construction is completely different. The 880D was succeeded by the heavier, more competent PMA-890D in 1990.
- Rated output: 110W + 110W (8Ω), 130W + 130W (6Ω)
- Dynamic power: 170W (8Ω), 275W (4Ω), 350W (2Ω)
- DAC: Real 18-bit super-linear converter, 4× oversampling digital filter
- Inputs: CD, Tuner, AUX1/2, Tape1/2/3, Phono MM/MC, coaxial digital, optical digital
- Original price: ¥82,000 (1989, Japan only)
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