Marantz 6004 vs Denon 720-AE

I've heard it with both Boston A26s and KEF Q100s and it certainly sounded excellent with both.  It is hard to make a direct comparison when you haven't had the amps side by side but I don't think there is a lot in it either way.  Denon kit tends to fall slightly under the 5-star radar these days but my experience of their seperates has been very positive.  The biggest problem can be getting an audition as some dealers seem to turn their nose up at Denon for some reason.

yeah,

it is nearly impossible to have a demo with these amps side by side :S

I'm not going to compare these two, but I have to share few things about Denon 720 cd-amp combo which I purchased about two weeks ago...I really liked design of Denon comparing to Marantz (which is quite ugly, but you don't have to agree.. )

The things I'd like to point out  today is assembly quality of the units. I have Denon m-38 dab micro hi-fi system,which I bought nearly two years ago,extremely happy with it, sounds good, feels built as a tank...buying Denon separates and paying close to 400 euros each you would expect at least same quality, wouldn't you?well it's not.the case..first thing I noticed on cd player that all the buttons, all of them are misaligned with aliuminium panel...not big deal probably, it looks a bit like B grade product, thats it.Perhaps not many people noticed this anyway..The main reason I'm sharing this  is another thing I discovered today.When turning volume knob clockwise between 10 and 11 o'clock you'll hear a crackling noise on speakers (kind of white noise) My parents Sharp's volume knob started produsing similar noise after 20+ years of wear and tear...You wouldn't expect this from brand new unit. Quite a dissapointment in Denon in general...You can't buy anything decent these days, can you? Any thoughts? Did somebody else have similar issues?

here some tests:

http://www.audiophilefr.com/Site/ecoutes/affichage-amplis-MARANTZ_-_PM_6004.html 

http://www.audiophilefr.com/Site/ecoutes/affichage-amplis-DENON__PMA_710_-_AE.html

My Mara drives B&W 603s2 at 1/4 vol - very well built-made in Japan...

I have the Marantz (with Kef Q500s) and it does what all good amps should do, it stays out of the way of the music.  I don't use the tone controls, I bypass them with "Source Direct", but I'm sure they work ok.  The headphone output is good.  The construction is very good, a really solid piece of kit that I expect to last for many years.  I also think it looks nice but that is a matter of taste (and I don't spend a lot of time looking at it).

Chris

And what about the sound's charateristcs of Denon 720 amp...?