Onkyo M-5010 2-Channel Amplifier (Black)

Let me start of my review by saying this: this is a rather long review, but that's why you're here, isn't it???My Pioneer Sc-81 receiver, unfortunately, is unable to grant me the ability to play both the front height/front wide channels and also the surround back channels, at the same time, in a 9.2 setup. Either I lose the surround back channels or the front height/front wide channels. It's either one or the other...but I wanted both of these to be able to play, which I feel, will give me more of a surrounding enveloping sound.Since my Pioneer receiver can only amplify 7 channels, it does However, have the ability to add another 2 channels in another zone(listening area) or to main listening zone, with the added front height/front wide channels. This is done via connecting another amplifier. And luckily my Pioneer receiver has the pre-out option, for adding another amplifier. This way I won't lose my surround back channels, and have my full 9.1 or 9.2 setup, which is what I was so desperately seeking...insert this Onkyo amp up to the mix!I chose this Onkyo mainly because of the price point. Which seemed reasonable enough for adding yet another amplifier to my home theatre. And guess what...?! It does just fine!I have it powering a set of Polk Rti A7 as my front wide channels in my 9.2 setup...and it's pure awesomeness! It's a modest setup, but it is very much appreciated, by me, everyday! For music listening (mostly from the Pandora app on my X1 cable box, and just good old fashion over the air radio stations) and also for cable on-demand shows(binge watching much), movies, football games, and Blu Ray movies!This amp really changed the Polk speakers dynamics, imagery, and if I dare say it, gave it a little bit of a Hi-fi sound!There's plenty of power on tap, for my fairly large living room, which isn't closed off from the kitchen, nor from the hallway, which also leads to the bedrooms...and pretty long hallways at that...plus 10 foot ceilings(open Floorplan)Basically what I'm getting at is it has more than enough power. If you need anymore power than this amp can deliver, you must have strong intentions of throwing many block parties in the foreseeable future...now back to this amp...I did get a little fed up trying to figure out how to make it shut on and off with the trigger cable(not included) option...so I placed the switch over to "audio" option instead. It will automatically turn on and off when set to this option and detects an audio signal...and that works 100 times out of a 100 times for turning on(with a very short delay as a precaution measure), and 99.9 times out a 100 for turning off.There's no remote included, so it's going to have to be either 1 of those 2 options mentioned above...or...you're going to have to turn the switch to "manual" to manually turn it off and on, if that's you're preference, of course.There's also an impedance switch for switching it to 4-8 ohms or 8-16 ohms to match with your speakers abilities.And lastly there's a volume nob. And let me also suggest that if you're connecting this amp to a receiver, turn the volume nob to the max setting, then let your receiver have the ability to fully control the amount of power feeding your speakers, and if you need more power, you'll have it on tap. Also to note, if your receiver or pre-amp comes with the software and microphone to adjust equalizer and symmetry settings, I would run the software and let it balance everything with the volume set to "max"...unless you are a professional with a golden ear and have the ability to measure everything meticulously, then by all means, knock yourself out with that!All the nobs are on the back to give a streamlined design on the front, as shown in the picture (please disregard the dust). And speaking of the design, let me touch on that quickly...it comes with a nice medal finish and a welcoming blue light to signal if it's sending power or if it's on standby mode(on or off).This amp runs very cool and it arrived double-boxed with plenty of impact absorbing material! 2 day shipping is another plus!Happy listening!

Bought for onkyo a9150 - great match! Sounds incredible and really nice addition to a9150 giving the system a lot more power...

I'm extremely disappointed that there were no wire ( RCA and 12volt trigger). So with that said I called Amazon to ask them to ship my the wires but was told I'd have to Box all back up ship it back and then wait for another one when I bought this specifically for my Super Bowl party to run my outdoor entertainment system. So I went to a LOCAL A/V store and got the wires last night. Not really a big deal... But when I give amazon as much business as I do, I expect things to be rectified in a simplistic manner not box it all back up because of some $8 wire. So, I'm now going to hook it up today and will report back on the quality of the amp, I've loved Onkyo since the day I bought my Tx-NR 818 from Amazon and figured I couldn't go wrong with this one. I also like the fact that I can daisy chain this amp to help run my multiple zones, etc... Update coming soon.

No knock on Onkyo as they make amazing equipment . This amp just seemed to be a dud! Once hooked up was receiving loud speaker hum. Checked all connections and still had a loud hum. Going to go with the Marantz M7025.

First one arrived DoA, and I had to go through some UPS issues to actually get the second one and second back the first so that kind of ruined the experience but it doesn't reflect on the product itself.The amplifier works well for a budget amp. I use it to power two atmos speakers so not much power has to be there per channel which is why I chose this. The set up was very plug and play. If you know where the RCA and speaker wires go, you're pretty much golden. There are a few settings on the back that are self explanatory. The one issue I have with this is the auto on/off feature. It powers on immediately when needed, which is great. But the auto off feature seems to be slacking. Last night I left it on after a movie and it was off when I came downstairs this morning (roughly 8 hours later). Watched some TV around noon today and two hours later the amp is still on. I'm leaving it that way to see how long it does take to turn off. Hopefully not much longer. Overall, happy with the purchase. Definitely saved me some money over powering my front speakers with an amp which would have cost over $1000. If you are on a budget, this works. If you can afford to spend some money, there are way better options.