No single best amplifier here. What decides it is what you have to drive, what you need to plug in, and how much of the system you want in one box.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | evenly matched | Effectively the same output - 40W against 45W into 8 ohms is under 1dB, which is not an audible difference in loudness. |
| Room size | depends | We rate NAD C316BEE V2 the better fit for desk or near-field listening, and Denon PMA-600NE for a very large room. Match the amplifier to the room you actually have, not the one you want. |
| Noise floor | B | Denon PMA-600NE is the quieter design on paper - 105dB against 95dB. Audible mainly with sensitive speakers in a quiet room. |
| Built-in DAC | B | Denon PMA-600NE has a DAC on board; the other needs an external one, which is another box, another power lead and another purchase. |
| Analogue inputs | A | NAD C316BEE V2 takes more analogue sources - 5 against 4. |
| Room to grow | B | Only Denon PMA-600NE offers preamp outputs - which decides whether you can add a subwoofer or a power amplifier later without replacing the box. |
| Price | evenly matched | Priced within a few per cent of each other. |
A NAD C316BEE V2 B Denon PMA-600NE
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?
Denon PMA-600NE has the edge on paper, though not by much. The rows marked "depends" are more likely to decide this than the score is. If you already own a DAC or a streamer, the built-in one is money you are paying twice for, and NAD C316BEE V2 becomes the more rational buy.
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.