I have been using Denon POA in my main stereo system together with NAD 1155 preamplifier for more than a year. The preamp is a legend itself. However, together with this amp, they are beautifull. I also used Denon POA 4400 monoblocks when I wan living in the States. They were also perfect. I like the detail of the sound, the seperation ability of the instruments in music in this amp. I love POA 2800. I think I am going to use it as long as it serves me. One of the price/performance is the best amplifier.

I must admit that I am no "Audiophile" but an enthusiast. I've owned a Denon system, including the beefy 200wpc POA-2800 and it is a remarkable amplifier in all respects with regards to sound quality and value for money when compared directly with similar products. I had replaced an older system powered by a very powerful NIKKO Alpha II. Although the sound quality of the NIKKO was not quite to the same level as the Denon POA-2800, I must admit that the build quality of the NIKKO was far superior to the Denon. Virtually the only thing one could say openly against this amplifier. I had upgraded my older system with a system that was entirely Denon power into Paradigm and the sound was simply remarkable. I too must admit, due to my often moving about, my system tragically spent more time in boxes then out. I am recently upgrading my entire system and have chosen to replace my POA-2800 with the only logical - and superior - step: monoblocks. Anyone who manages to pick up one of these monsters on the used market will be well rewarded with their sound quality and reliability. Very good bang for the buck. Enjoy...

I bought this Amp new back in 1995 for $1600 AU and it has proven to be my best Hifi investment. I use it to run a set of Dali 109's which I have compared to the latest Chinese models and they are way superior.
The POA-2800 is very well detailed and musical. Having said that if you turn it up it becomes a HUGE machine.
If you can pick one up for less than a grand go for it, the amp will sound better and smash most amps far more the cost.

This summary is for the POA-2800, The amplifier sounds cleaner than the Monster Power MPA-2250 I replaced. It is true that, this amp will reproduce exactly what is fed into the input. The midrange spectrum (vocals, female or male) sound uncolored and airy! I am using a Denon AVR 3805 as a pre-amp, Denon DVD 3930ci as the cd player, Monster Power AVS 2000 Line Conditioner, Monster Power 2100 Line Filter, Anthony Gallo Ref 3.1, Anthony Gallo MPS 150 (subwoofer in mono) and Canare Cables. I love these cables but back to the summary! The bass is well defined as has authority on the Gallos, the clarity is just plain better than the H/K PA 2400 and the Monster MPA-2250 even though the Monster is rated at 250 w/ch, it does have power, but the Denon POA 2800 has that clean sound and the imaging is down right airy with the Gallos, the treble seems to extend beyond hearing on certain recordings, especially instrumentals... I find myself digging out old scratched up CDs just to test this beast, it runs warm (normal) but not hot. I am a big Denon fan because I love the sound of the Denon Link option ver.3, it beats RCA hands down. The best feature is the AVR 3805 can custom tune sound in any room, and when it feeds its tailored acoustic sound through the Denon POA 2800, its front seating in the arena! I paid 310.00 off ebay plus shipping, it is a "no-brainer", you can't bridge it, the binding posts suck, and the power cable looks cheap... but I am thinking about doing a power cable upgrade using an "iec" connector. I also have to figure out how to use banana cables with the factory binding posts. No electrical equipment is perfect and this thing is old, but it sounds better than my $3000 dollar Monster, $1600 H/K PA 2400 and etc.

The POA 2800 amp is quiet and powerful. It will drive just about any quality speaker down to very low impedance levels. At normal listening it is pure class A. Add a precise preamp and the sound you hear will only depend on your source, speakers, and listening area. For the money your ears are not good enough to tell one of these from an equivalent powered Krell, Bryston, or Threshold amp.

Oooodles of power
Great bottom end control
Very smooth sound
Great soundstage

Binding posts not the best. Have had to insert banana connections through small holes at the top of the binding posts. Have looked to see if they could be replaced, but looks unlikely.

I had seen this come up on a local auction site and decided I needed to try it.

I have been looking for a matching Rotel power amp (RB870BX) to the one I have already so I could bridge them to get the power I wanted for my Cerwin Vega E-715. A couple of months ago I had a chance to listen to a friends system which consisted of two Denon POA-4400 and absolutely loved the sound and control they seemed to have. As soon as I saw this POA-2800 I called my friend straight away for advice as to how this would compare to my Rotel. After a few minutes of discussion it was decided that i should purchase it. If it turned out it wasn't for me I could quite easily relist it.

Well it's been a few days since Ive had it connected to my system and I've had it running in. This is an absolutely brilliant amp and I will not miss my Rotel at all. First noticable difference was that it sounded very smooth but without lose of detail, compared to the Rotel which is a edgey especially at higher volumes. Soundstage seemed more defined with better placement and depth. Bass is alot more definite and very controlled. There is oodles of power and have not had to turn my pre-amp past 9 o'clock. Even at this volume the sound is very clean and clear.

For an amp of this age (suspect early 90's) it has a classic design which matches my other Denon gear without looking 15+ years old. This is great value for money and would happily buy another unit if I found one.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RB-870BX

capability to play with big speaker. Very good grip in speakers. Neutral sound through the hole frequense response.

No balanced inputs.

I´ve bought this amplifier in spring 2000 and have not regretted it for a second. I´ve bought it because I only have owned integrated amplifiers in my past, and now wanted to go a step further. I connected it to my system, and got really amazed, the amplifier have a fantastic grip in my speakers, even when I played really loud, was my room filled of top class sound. My previous amplifer was also a Denon but a little PMA-480R model. It has a fantastic good price/value ratio and a respectabel sound. But besides this giant it just fades away.

Similar Products Used:

Denon PMA-480R, Sony TA-FE 555

I've had this amplifier for about 3years now. And the strenghtness of this monster is enormous in my opinion. I give this fighter full score for its good quality of sound.
The good thing about POA 2800 is the power of it.

You'll need a good preamp to get the best result for this monster amp. If you use a bad pre-amp, you'll miss the strengthnes of the bass level. When playing too long at a very long period, the fuse might pop, so you'll need to turn the amp off too cool it down before playing again.

The POA 2800 delivers more power to the speakers, then any other amplifiers in the same money-value. I will set the name on this monster of an amp "THE INCREDIBLE HULK"

Similar Products Used:

2x NAD 216 (bridged)

Very significant improvement in sound quality over a reciever

None at this price, speaker connectors seem to work well with Pin type terminals.

Anyone still listening to a Reciever and wondering what's up with seperates might look for one of these or something similar. At $400 used a very worth while improvement in sound (looks cool too) Not just louder, the sound is cleaner, clearer, more life like with much more detail than a strained reciever can reproduce. As an amp will never sound better than the preamp it's connected to, spend more there!

Denon CD
Rotel RC 1070 Preamp
Denon POA 2800
Cat Five Speaker Cables
Advent Model One's

Similar Products Used:

Denon Reciever, Carver MT 400 (borrowed for comparison) Carver was "warmer" Denon has cleaner sound with more detail

I recently bought a POA2800 and PRA1500 preamp to replace the older POA1500bk and PRA1000 I'd had for about 6 years. The new preamp is horrible, build quality is dreadful and the sound totally uninvolving. The POA2800 however is a piece of work, it sounds beautiful. Its internal construction is very good with a 600+ watt toroid with dual tappings and separate rectifiers and separate filter caps. A total of 72000uF in the capacitor bank. Mirror imaged dual mono construction and a classy exterior. I just wish it had rosewood panels to match the old preamp. The only criticisms are: nasty speaker terminals and poor quality level pots (they should be a sealed film Alps at least) and the speaker switch buttons are plastic, whereas the power switch is a lovely piece of aluminium. See Denon, we notice these cost cutting ideas...