Onkyo M-5000R Reference Series Power Amplifier (Black)

What an incredible audiophile amplifier!! Can't wait to get the 3000R to finalize the deal!!! Never heard music better! May be giving McIntosh a run for it's money. Blooms with vinyl and cd's alike!

works and sounds and looks great

Solid piece of gear!

I finally bit the bullet and bought one of these amps to replace my Yamaha a-s500 (which is great). I just couldn't stop drooling over how it looks with those meters on the front! Also, the curiosity of how something top of the line that weighs 52 pounds would sound compared to my 400 dollar yamaha.To be brief, it sounds great. I'm using my onkyo 9050's preouts fyi. I can't afford the p 3000 preamp that was made to go with this.... yet. The difference in sound is noticeable but not mind blowing. Everything is tighter and clearer. Cleaner. Especially lower end sound which has a tendency to sound loose on the yamaha by comparison. Even at mild volumes the sound is noticeably clearer. I hooked several speakers to this amp and my opinion of these speakers changed after listening through this setup (jbl studio 530s, Definitive studio monitor 55s, and Martin Logan Motion 12s). Overall the change in the sound of the 530's was most impressive. The imaging on these things is killer. Detailed too. But this is off topic....The fit and finish of this amp is....amazing. It looks better than the pictures. The heavy duty speaker posts on the back are really nice too. I can't say its has 4 times better sound of the yamaha compared to the price, but it looks 10 times better! And, like most of high end gear, there is that diminishing returns thing you must think about.Update 1/28/14I finally got the p-3000r to go with this amp. Finally after all my purchases, this question started creeping into my head. What more can you ask your stereo to do? There is nothing more that I can think of. This pre amp and power amp combo is so superb, I can't justify wanting anything else. Except maybe another m5000 to connect in bridged mono mode! Highly recommended

I own this unit, recently bought, along with the Onkyo C7000R CD Player, and the P3000 Onkyo Preamplifier. Ancillary equipment includes B and W 804D Speakers, Sony HAPZ!ES Digital Player, and Transparent Audio interconnects.What can I say? I have owned many high end combinations over the years, have always had B and W speakers though I have owned McIntosh, Krell, Meridian Audio, and a few other pieces over the years.Rated at a modest 80 watts at 8 ohms, this amp rocks. It easily powers the B and W 804's effortlessly. Soundstage is wide and unassuming, no edginess to the sound, particularly with women's vocals where this can happen. Sound is very warm, neutral, and effortless, easy to listen to all day, instruments and vocals very lifelike. I would compare this set-up to some of the best tube amps out there, at well less the price. One would thing they were listening to a tube amp with my set-up. Very warm, very lush, no edginess or crispiness to the music. I highly recommend this amp. Bang for the buck, perhaps the best out there. Hard to find now, but worth tracking down. Buy it, you will not be disappointed.My musical tastes run from acoustic, bluegrass, country rock, jazz, blues, alt country, country swing, Merle Haggard, George Jones, some rock, and more. This amp combo handles them all easily, effortlessly, and without distortion.

great

This is truly an excellent stereo power amplifier! It reminds me of my Onkyo M-504, or the M-508 or beastly M-510. This amp has great drive and power, and sounds just like my McIntosh MC162. Back in the 80's, Onkyo had a high-end line called the Grand Integra. I believe this amp is the modern day equivalent of the high-end Grand Integra line. I am driving mine with a Little Dot MKIII tube preamplifier, running CBS Hytron tubes (NOS tubes, vintage 1952), into Magnepan MG12/QR speakers, and the sound is 'to die for'!