One is a streaming all-in-one and the other is an amplifier. Judge them on how many boxes you want and what you already own, not on the spec sheet alone.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | evenly matched | Effectively the same output - 70W against 75W into 8 ohms is under 1dB, which is not an audible difference in loudness. |
| Grip on hard loads | evenly matched | Both behave much the same into 4 ohms - output nearly doubles (140W and 150W). |
| Built-in DAC | evenly matched | Both have a DAC on board with much the same capability. |
| Streaming | B | Only Cambridge Audio Evo 75 has AirPlay 2, Chromecast and Roon. |
| Analogue inputs | A | Denon PMA-1600NE takes more analogue sources - 3 against 1. |
| Phono stage | depends | Denon PMA-1600NE has a built-in phono stage (MM,MC) and Cambridge Audio Evo 75 does not. Decisive if you own a turntable, completely irrelevant if you do not - and an outboard phono stage is easy to add later either way. |
| Use with a TV | depends | Only Cambridge Audio Evo 75 has HDMI ARC, so the television can drive it directly and one remote controls the volume. If the system is for music only, this changes nothing. |
| Room to grow | B | Only Cambridge Audio Evo 75 offers preamp outputs - which decides whether you can add a subwoofer or a power amplifier later without replacing the box. |
| Amplifier class | depends | Denon PMA-1600NE is Class A/B and Cambridge Audio Evo 75 is Class D. Class A/B runs warm and is the long-established mainstream choice; Class D runs cool and draws almost nothing at idle. Modern examples of both measure well - judge by the rest of the page. |
| Shelf space | depends | Cambridge Audio Evo 75 takes up about 39% less shelf area (1190cm² against 1949cm²), and it is 76mm shallower, which is the measurement that decides whether a rack door shuts. |
| Price | A | Denon PMA-1600NE costs less - $2,099 against $2,499 at list. |
A Denon PMA-1600NE B Cambridge Audio Evo 75
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both amplifiers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
The usual trade-off: Cambridge Audio Evo 75 measures better, Denon PMA-1600NE costs about 16% less. With most speakers in most rooms that gap is smaller in practice than it looks here. If you play records, Denon PMA-1600NE saves you buying a phono stage; if you do not, ignore that row entirely. If this sits under a television, Cambridge Audio Evo 75 is the one to buy - HDMI ARC means the TV remote controls the volume and there is no second box in the way.
What a spec sheet cannot show: how either sounds with your speakers, how the controls feel day to day, and what the app is like to live with - which is where most all-in-one amplifiers are actually won or lost. Power figures are the manufacturers' own and are not measured to a common standard, so treat small differences as noise. If you can hear both, that will tell you more than any row above.