Onkyo A-9050 Integrated Stereo Amplifier (Black)

Very pleased that I made the switch from the Cambridge 651A, as this unit's 24 bit Wolfson makes streaming a no-brainer. The remote is terrible, however you should be using a master one anyway. Negatives: Have detected transformer noise when not plugged into a power conditioning strip. The subwoofer LFE out does not have an adjustable crossover setting and Onkyo does not publish what the crossover frequency is. Channel separation is not 100% accurate, as detected by setting the balance entirely to one side and still hearing sound in the "off" channel. Stereo imagery is moderate at best. Positives: PM bass is an improvement over traditional Loudness, hi grade build quality, impedence switch is useful for parallel speaker configuration, male vocals sound very realistic without the common bloated bass many other units produce, treble detail is excellent. The move away from traditional source labels future-proofs the design and allows greater configuration freedom. If your needs are reliability and simplicity without breaking the bank, you cannot go wrong with this integrated amp. If you're looking for a more premium sound, look for a unit with a dual mono-block preamp section, a toroidal transformer power supply, and a class A or AB amplifier section. I'm looking into some offerings from NAD, however their traditional input labels are a deal breaker for me. I do not own a single CD or vinyl, so I do not want those labels on my amp (along with other legacy mediums such as DVD). Also, 7 segment displays are an eye sore in the HD era we are in, so a lack of one is another necessity. This unit fits all my prerequisites minus the dual mono and toroidal.

I waited a while before writing this. I have owned the product now for a month and half. I was drawn to this product for a few reasons: -Multiple analog inputs; great for my cd player/record player/tape deck, etc. - Digital inputs; Would have preferred two optical to one coax, but the fact that both are here is a huge plus -Good power rating; I wanted to be equipped for any speaker I buy -Preamp; I got good use from this as I was using active speakers to start (speakers with amps built-in), and it worked effortlessly Ok, so let's start with the bad. As other reviewers here have noted, the lettering is tiny and hard to read. While the minimal style is nice to look at, it's not very functional. You will however get used to it and I would say that this should be the last thing to deter you from buying this. I might put a dab of white nail polish on the volume knob because I have the most difficulty with this, otherwise because the digital inputs are indicated with a white light and analog with blue, it's not hard at all to remember where it is or where to go. The remote is somewhat useless. It's basically a power on switch, volume, mute, and input selector. That's it. the other 20 buttons do nothing. Would have been nice to at the very least have access to the loudness button or direct amp button. Again, not a deal breaker, but something to consider. Now the awful, the phono preamp is just bad, really really bad. I thought it might just be me, so I pulled out two old preamps plus my nicer Schiit Mani and all three blew it away. I really think they could have put more effort into it. Good thing I have the Mani preamp, but otherwise it's a wasted input. Would have been nice if they put a switch to let us defeat it at the very least. Now the good, the built in DAC is great. Not good, but great. I pit it against my CEntrance Dacmini, my Rega cd player, as well as a nuforce dac I had kicking around and it was on par in comparison. Virtually indistinguishable. I can hardly tell the difference and that's a very good thing. Keep in mind I was A-B'ing all this with my Bluetooth adapter. I did not test my direct FLAC files through my Macbook. I've given up on digital music unless it's streaming or on CD. Now the great and why this is staying put, Power is present and plentiful. I'm running some ELAC UB5s which have a reputation for being hard to drive and they're completely effortless here. They sound great with plenty of volume left to go. I did not switch it to the 4 ohms setting on the back. I follow the audioholics rule on that (google it). They sound great at low volumes as well. I also like how flexible it is. I have a line out for recording on my tape deck (which I use as a flashy graphic eq light show sometimes), I have the aforementioned preamp for when I want more speakers, I have 5 analog inputs, 2 coax, 1 optical. It's great. So overall, for 350, this should be the bare minimum you should purchase when going the budget route. You won't be disappointed.

This is my first proper amplifier. I read the reviews that said the sound was cleaner than the owners' previous A/V receivers. I had a hard time imagining that, even with my humble entry-level Sonys I've had since the 90s. To be real about it, the sound was nice and clear on the Sony AVRs with the Volume knob turned up to about 1/3 or so. Above that, it was always distorted, and I always blamed my affordable speakers. (Bose 201, Bose Interaudio 4000) Then, I picked up a nice set of the large Klipsch bookshelf speakers, with the 8" woofers. They're rated to handle MUCH more power than my old Sony AVR could put out. But still, I got distortion when turned up past 1/3 volume. I installed a powered 100 W Sony subwoofer. Bass was helped a lot, but everything still distorted past 1/3 volume. By comparison, this Onkyo doesn't distort anywhere on the dial. Granted, the volume doesn't go up in a linear fashion as the dial is turned, but I'll take that over distortion any day! The Phase Matched Bass button is just what is called for, for quiet listening. It boosts the bass just a bit, without going over the top. I was cross-shopping this amp vs. the similarly-priced Yamahas with their conventional Loudness dials, and wondered if I'd miss the adjustability of a variable Loudness control. I don't. Another reason I like this over the Yamahas is that this one is UL Listed. That guarantees a certain minimum level of internal component quality. (transformers, line voltage components, PCB materials, connectors, etc.) Lastly, this gives more Watts/Dollar. Some reviewers have complained that we can't see what input is selected without getting really close. That's true, but let's face it. Most of us are going to use 1 or 2 inputs almost exclusively, so there's no guesswork, really. I'm sure the Yamaha would have satisfied too, but I'm glad I went with this one. The old Sony AVR is now upstairs on TV duty, with the old Bose 201s and Sony subwoofer. The Onkyo is in my basement lair, with the Klipsch speakers and a proper CD player and turntable hooked up, for when I want to do some "serious" listening. No sub is needed, unless I want to start listening to hip-hop or something. (not bloody likely!) Buy this with no worries. If you're not sure you need this much power, I wouldn't hesitate to get the A-9010 and save a few bucks.

It's a good amp and sounds fine - good value for the money. I was aware that it's a bare-bones amplifier and that's why I bought it - I'm looking for good sound for as little $ as possible. One thing I didn't think of, and is kind of a drag, is the fact that there is no way of knowing what the volume is set at without looking up close at the volume knob and finding the little tiny indented indicator on the knob. No way you can see it from anywhere but up close. So if you're using the remote from across the room, you can't tell whether it's cranked or not. I have to leave it cranked and use the volume on my phone (I'm running mainly Blue Tooth), which is no big deal, but worth a negative star. Other than that, I like it so far after a month.

Wonderful Buy !! Its wonderful to be able to listen to music with good sound again. I am very happy with this purchase.

He tenido muchos amplificadores y he escuchado otros tantos de distintos precios, pero éste en especial, m encantó. Tiene un sonido limpio bien balanceado en respuesta a frecuencias. Lo estoy utilizando con unas bocinas Monitor Audio Bronze 2, una excelente combinación, ideal para un espacio de unos 15 metros cuadrados. Lo amo!

Es una buena opción por el precio beneficio, tiene un excelente procesamiento del sonido recomiendo ampliamente para un nivel básico.

Estoy satisfecho con mi compra, suena bien y el envío fue rápido El servicio de Amazon es de lo mejor.