His Trusty Onkyo Cyclops Blew Up and You Should Help Him Figure Out What Happens Next!

concealer404

Got you with clickbait!

But yes, my beloved Onkyo M5150 is dead. Came home from work on Tuesday, turned on the TV, and no sound. Realized amp was off (i left it running 24/7), hit power button, nothing happened.

Fuse was VERY blown. Put a new fuse in, it'll power up, but refuses to come out of protection mode. I may try to repair it, but right now i'm shopping.

Current preamp: B&K Reference 5 S2
Current speakers: Paradigm Legend V.3s

For the moment, i took my SMSL SA50 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F0H8TOC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00) from my outdoor setup and threw it in the rig. It sounds... acceptable, but not awesome. Good enough that i can sortof take my time and not sell my body in order to get another amp.

Budget for a new-to-me amp is $300, give or take. Because i'm a child, looks are somewhat a concern with me as well. I love VU meters and dancing lights. If looks weren't a concern, i'd just grab a Hafler.

Current list of interest:

Onkyo Integra M504 - Probably out of budget
Yamaha M40/60/80 Class A - Doable, very interested
B&K ST140 - not super interested, but probably the "right" answer
B&K 200.2 - interested, out of budget
Carver various - seems to be in price range, haven't loved what i've heard in person, and seem to remember reliability issues
Silk Audio MS-38

Left field:
Since i have something that "works" right now, is now the time to try a tube kit?

Or a chi-fi tube amp in general?


This baby amp looks funny in my rack.

20150611_214848 by concealer404, on Flickr

concealer404

Clearly nobody likes me anymore.

tonyb

concealer404 wrote: »

Clearly nobody likes me anymore.

Clearly...lol. It's the plants on top of the speakers.

300 bucks isn't all that much, the Silk Audio is twice that. If you can squeeze another hundie, I'd look for a Parasound HCA1200. Sound signature is along the lines of the B&k.

concealer404

tonyb wrote: »

concealer404 wrote: »

Clearly nobody likes me anymore.

Clearly...lol. It's the plants on top of the speakers.

300 bucks isn't all that much, the Silk Audio is twice that. If you can squeeze another hundie, I'd look for a Parasound HCA1200. Sound signature is along the lines of the B&k.

Eh if they weren't just a black veneer whatever, i wouldn't put plants on them.

Gotcha on the Parasound, i'll add it to the list.


I can probably stretch a little bit if necessary. This little Class D isn't killing me in the meantime, so i can sell a kidney or my body on a street corner to gain a little extra capital.

The Silk Road is out anyways... i didn't realize at first that it was an integrated.

Simplyrandom

That budget is a little weak for too many bells whistles and shiny things. The chi fi you would want would probably be the 100-b which is twice your budget but does have the option of bypassing the internal pre-amp section. I think your right about the B&K St-140 being a solid choice but I would only go that route if I could find one local and test it before dropping cash.

EndersShadow

Watch CL in Chicago and be ready to drive lol...

Not much on the local CL but I might be able to find something if your hard up using my local INDY contact but likely looking at a ADCOM...

concealer404

Simplyrandom wrote: »

That budget is a little weak for too many bells whistles and shiny things. The chi fi you would want would probably be the 100-b which is twice your budget but does have the option of bypassing the internal pre-amp section. I think your right about the B&K St-140 being a solid choice but I would only go that route if I could find one local and test it before dropping cash.

Honestly the $75 Oinker served me well for many years. I have to imagine that anything near the top of my range should be an upgrade, right?

concealer404

EndersShadow wrote: »

Watch CL in Chicago and be ready to drive lol...

Not much on the local CL but I might be able to find something if your hard up using my local INDY contact but likely looking at a ADCOM...

Yeah Adcoms are falling out of the sky in my range, i could probably somewhat easily stretch to a GFA-555, which is the only Adcom i'd really consider anywhere in my range. I don't like the lower end ones, i've had a few in my setup. (5200, 5300, 535)

Maybe i'll wait an extra week or two and stretch to a B&K 200.2.

EndersShadow

concealer404 wrote: »

EndersShadow wrote: »

Watch CL in Chicago and be ready to drive lol...

Not much on the local CL but I might be able to find something if your hard up using my local INDY contact but likely looking at a ADCOM...

Yeah Adcoms are falling out of the sky in my range, i could probably somewhat easily stretch to a GFA-555, which is the only Adcom i'd really consider anywhere in my range. I don't like the lower end ones, i've had a few in my setup. (5200, 5300, 535)

Maybe i'll wait an extra week or two and stretch to a B&K 200.2.

Yeah the B&K will be good stuff. I scored a Parasound 1200ii not too long ago locally and its quite nice and very much overkill for my RTA 11TL's.

I also have a B&K 200.5 and it sounds GREAT with my LSi's and its basically the 5 channel version of the 200.2.

I'd like one of them at some point for my 2 channel as well, been watching em on eBay but they all go for more than I'm willing to pay lol...

@indyhawg @mccarty250 @bored184 @trav0810 you guys know anyone with an amp to sell?