Onkyo m-5200 4 ohm stable?

dudeinaroom

I have searched hi and low and can not find an answer to this question. Was wondering if anyone knows if this thing is 4 ohm stable, and what it would put out into this load? On a side note, is Onkyo a sleeper brand? I just can not believe the sound that comes out of this thing for the price they go for. I have only had my Parasound on my SDAs, and the Onkyo on my 7s, but I'm tempted to say this thing sounds nearly as good if not as good as my Parasound. It has a lot of detail for it's resale price point. I really haven't had a chance to really sit down and have a dedicated listening session with it running my mains in stereo so I can not attest to it's sound stage presentation. I'd love to hook it up to my SDAs, but don't know how it will handle a 4 ohm load, and do not want to risk the amp or my speaker. Any help would be great guys.


Thanks,
Ted

halo71

I am not 100% positive but pretty sure that its not 4 ohm stable. That model is on the lower end of the Onkyo scale power amp wise. A friend of mine had one of those and he loved it. He ran it with the matching pre to a pair of vintage Yamaha speakers and it sounded really nice. Onkyo was known to make some nice amps! Mostly in the Integra series like the M501, 504 etc. And then there are the Grand Integra amps like the M508 and 510. But those are pretty dang rare I think. I've had an M504 for years now and its never failed me yet. Great amps imho.

dudeinaroom

Okay I take back my previous comment about this sounding about as good as my Parasound. I decided to put my pre back into the mix, not even close. The factor that was holding the Parasound back was the AVR. Man I love having a HT system, bvut just can not stand what an AVR does to 2 ch goodness. SDAs are soooo much clearer and fuller sounding with a pre compared to an AVR. I'm not just talking about the frequency range and detail, but also the sound stage.

tonyb

Chances are if there is no mention of 4 ohm stability in any of the info, then it isn't. My x-wife never mentioned she was stable either, and low and behold, she wasn't.

dudeinaroom

tonyb wrote: »

Chances are if there is no mention of 4 ohm stability in any of the info, then it isn't. My x-wife never mentioned she was stable either, and low and behold, she wasn't.

lol...
The problem is I can not find any thing more than a rating of 150w int 8 ohms...that is the only spec. I can find, no mention of frequency response, input impedance, channels drive, just people spouting off what the rated power was into 8 ohms, I can not find an owners manual anywhere. Doesn't matter, I'm over it. I was thinking of running my 2As off of it, and bridging the HCA 1000 and running the center off of that. I was using it for a while with my surrounds, but didn't want to see that much gear in the living room at the time. I don't know, might hook the center up to one channel of it, and use the other channel to zap the wife when she gets out of line.:eek:

tonyb

Try it anyway. Just start off at a real low volume and slowly turn it up. If you start to hear the music compress/collapse then turn it down. At what volume you reach when that happens will give you a good idea. If the sound collapses at a moderate volume, shut her down and remove it, not going to cut the mustard.

Then again, why mess with a good thing ? Leave the Parasound in place.

unc2701

I'm pretty sure it's not- look right under/over the speaker clips on the back: there should be a warning that says "8 ohm minimum" or something like that by UL regs.

You can use it with 4 ohm speakers, but do what tony says- there will be two things happening: 1)the power supply will get tapped out and you'll get that clipping/compression and 2)it'll get hot. Typically the overheating happens first- the design will use an off-the-shelf power supply, but not invest in the high-temp components and additional heat-sink area, so you might be able to get a little more out of it with a fan.

cnh

Halo is right; the models he lists are really the more desirable Onkyos. I know that I'm pretty happy when I use my P-304 as a pre. Those early Onkyo pre-amps are a great "value" for what they currently sell for and have very robust and capable phono sections. Tough to find as good a pre in that price range unless it's, let's say a Hafler.

Not really familiar with what they call the Onkyo Delta amps, which is your amp?

Below is the P-304 with matching M-504. I do not own an M-504. But, together, they are a very capable combo. Of course, Parasounds are probably a step above. But these Onkyos can definitely "hang around" with the higher stuff!

cnh

halo71

Ya just had to play the Hafler card ehh? lol