Marantz PM5005 vs Pioneer Elite A-20

Marantz PM5005 review

It loses in terms of power. Pioneer has 30W compared to Marantz’s 20W (8 Ohms). The amplifier part of the Marantz PM5005 is built according to the current feedback circuitry, which ensures compatibility with various loads and a uniform frequency response. A shielded excess power transformer is installed in the power supply unit of the device, and the input stages are built on proprietary HDAM modules (SA2, SA3). Selected components of the audiophile class are installed in the most important parts of the amplifier circuit in terms of sound quality.

Pioneer Elite A-20 review

With a few buttons and only four knobs, the ergonomic issues, great or poor, of the A-20 are few. The remote, one which is obviously furnished with several other Pioneer products, contains keys unrelated to the A-20 like SACD/web-player play/pause dumpster and also a five-way cursor pad. These make finding the ones that are significant (mainly volume/mute) a bit less natural initially, but the thumb's way is shortly found by it. Nevertheless, the scores points that are distant for copying every front-panel control, and aside from its zero visibility that is in the dark, it passes muster.

Marantz PM5005 pros & cons

Pioneer Elite A-20 pros & cons