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 70W into 8 ohms is under 1dB, which is not an audible difference in loudness. |
| Grip on hard loads | A | Denon PMA-1600NE holds up better into a 4-ohm load: its output nearly doubles to 140W, where the other increases modestly. That matters with demanding speakers far more than the 8-ohm figure does. |
| Noise floor | evenly matched | Much the same signal-to-noise ratio (108dB vs 106dB). |
| Built-in DAC | A | Both decode on board. Denon PMA-1600NE goes higher - 384kHz against 192kHz. Very few recordings exist above 192kHz, so treat this as headroom, not as sound quality. |
| Streaming | B | Only Marantz Model 40n has AirPlay 2, Roon and HEOS. |
| Analogue inputs | evenly matched | The same number of line-level inputs (3). |
| Use with a TV | depends | Only Marantz Model 40n 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 Marantz Model 40n offers preamp outputs - which decides whether you can add a subwoofer or a power amplifier later without replacing the box. |
| Price | A | Denon PMA-1600NE costs less - $2,099 against $2,499 at list. |
A Denon PMA-1600NE B Marantz Model 40n
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?
Neither runs away with it - they trade advantages. Let the "depends" rows and the speakers you already own settle it. If your speakers are a difficult load - 4 ohms nominal, big woofers, or a sensitivity in the low 80s - Denon PMA-1600NE is the safer partner, because how an amplifier behaves when the impedance drops matters more than its 8-ohm rating. If this sits under a television, Marantz Model 40n 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.