One word describes this preamplifier. Musicality! With the DM20 the user can forget 'digital nasties', harshness and artificial / aggressive presentation. It allows music to flow naturally without missing any of the subtle detail in the recording. It's fast when it comes to the lower registers of music and its timing is superb! One of the very few preamplifiers that can reproduce most instruments faithfully including piano, notoriously difficult for most systems to sound convincing. The weight of the left keys comes through the DM20 in a natural way that impresses. I have purchased and used quite a number of preamplifiers over the years, some very expensive but, I keep going back to the Densen! Incredible when you think this is a 25 y.o component! Its a very attractive piece of equipment in its simplicity, the polished very thick acrylic front and the huge knobs are of a unique design which is timeless. It would grace any decor and its looks are not intrusive. Very high WAF acceptance factor is guaranteed.

A remote control would have been nice but not really necessary. Also, a balanced input / output could have been useful for a fully balanced system, however, I don't think it would make any difference to the 'magic' this preamp offers the user.

The DM 20/30 is ultra high end in every breath. Design to die for. Very Very expensive gear in its time, and still hard-to-come-by. Prepare to pay:) But believe me, they are worth every penny. Sweetest sounding amps ive ever heard. Never dull or bland - just one hell of an air guitar factor. Transparent, deatailed but Never harsh or edgy. If you can find them - get them. Legendary stuff! Oh, and, service for these babies stellar from Densen.

No remote. Soundwise, none.

Wow!.. What a preamp!

The musicality of this machine is out of this world.

If you're interested in listening to music rather than the HiFi itself, this gem is hard to beat, at ANY price, and that is not an overstatement, it is seriously good!

The sound can be described as velvety smooth, the music just ... flows through it and its timing is absolutely superb. Finer detail is all there without any glare or harshness while the bass notes are fast and resonant. You can easily tell if the low notes come from a double bass or a bass guitar, in fact each instrument sound so real and natural, that puts many "high end" current model super expensive preamplifiers into shame.

Unfortunately, I don't have the matching DM30 power amplifier, however, the DM20 does a fine job with my Meridian 556 power amplifier that seems very happy to be driven by the amazing Dane.

I won't go on about aesthetics, to me it's a very attractive piece of equipment, stylish in it's own right and will have a very high W.A.F. ( wife acceptance factor ) due to it's good looks and innovative design.

Pretty hard to get you paws on one of these, but if you see one for sale, just GRAB it.

You will not be sorry you did!

Cheers.

Gee nice amp. Plugged it in and woke up after 57 years sleep. It's that good I am hearing favourite CDs for the first time - great. I could wax on about the sound but I have found most reviews fail when trying to verbalise what something sounds like. All I can say is it's excellent value for money if you can score a second hand unit. Don't worry that it is 20+ years old, still sounds great. It won a lot of praise when it was released and I can see why.

Strengths: 1. Sound amazing, great deep bass, plenty of power
2. at last I have a pre amp that I can adjust the volume control with my boxing gloves on.
3. Pre amp knobs a great conversation starter.

Weakness: 1. Power switch at rear, and gives tha speakers a bit of a thump when powered down. I thing I will be an environmental vandal and leave the power connected 24/7.
2. Big knobs take some getting used to.

Regards,
Brad.

The dirict sound experience. Good Looking.

No Remote. No Balanced In- and Outputs. The Case "sounds" if you knock with the finger on the top.

The Densen DM 20 is a nice looking pre. The big knobs are the eyecatcher of this amp. The sound: strong and quick. I used a lot of preampliferes. And I can say, for me there is one better: the Audio Research SP 11 Mk II. But if you see the price, there is no other Pre around that beats the Densen... since this time.

Similar Products Used:

Threshold T2 and Fet9. Audio Research LS 1 and SP 11 Mk II.

Music

No remote

There's NOTHING comparable at this price. The guys at DENSEN are great!!

Similar Products Used:

Lots