Opinions on Onkyos A-9070 and 9000R Integrated Amps?

DanielTura

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Hello everyone,

Heres my story im looking to get an amplifier that is a good allrounder(as i listen to a wide variety of music genres)and would match either the MA RX6 or the Epos Epic 5 or maybe the Elac FS 67.2/68.2 floorstanders(i have to get the amp first tho).Anyone heard these amps opinions and comparisons are very welcome...is the 9000R worth the extra cash over the 9070?(tho if i buy that one i wont be left with any cash to spend on an outboard DAC and ill have to settle with a didgital interface instead(the Audio-GD DI maybe?)..opinions on the onboard DACs would be nice on how they stand against outboard ones up to 500 pounds?

Id like to hear ur toughts..thank you.
 

DanielTura

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Thx for the reply :)

Id like to know if u auditioned other amps in this price range and how does the onkyo stand against them?(only reviews i found were in dutch and german and google translate doest do a very good job in translating audio reviews..still what i could make up out of them was the low quality remote...witch i honestly dont give a rats a** about my only intrest is sound quality/value.

The main reason im interesed in this amp was the knoledge that Monitor Audio themselfs demoed the RX6s with an Onkyo amp(duno witch one but since the 9000R shares alot of traits with theyr top of the line PA+PRE ...im inclined to think that the 9000R will do a very good job driving them).

PS.What speakers did u pair yours with? :)
 

ID.

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I briefly looked at a Japanese review of the 9000r that seemed rate it as natural with plenty of power, detail and good dynamics (I'm paraphrasing here). It was pretty short. They tested it with MA RX6 speakers. a lot of the user reviews rate it highly for sound quality, including someone who mentined using Elacs.
 

hughesfleming

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Finding speakers has been more difficult than I first expected but that is due to my room acoustics and where I need to place my speakers. I ended up with Sonus Farber venere 1.5's with the SF stands.
 

hughesfleming

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Hi,

First post here but I have a 9000r and it is not mentioned here often so perhaps I can help. There are several differences beween the A-9070 and the 9000r but the one that stands out is that the 9000 supports async. USB in addition to the other digital inputs. The onboard dacs are fine but it depends on the sound you are looking for and the quality of your source. If I were considering buying an external dac, I probably would have gone a different direction with the amp. The 9000 made sense to me because I wanted an amp with an integrated dac to cut down on the number of boxes and I think the end result is great.
 

hughesfleming

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Why don't you pick up the a-9000 and see if you like the onboard dacs? The speakers you chose will have a much greater effect on your end result. One of the reasons I chose the a-9000 was the fact that it could be setup so many ways. You could always add a tube preamp or a hybrid tube dac like the music hall 25.3 or run it as a premap to a tube amp etc. It is also perfectly setup to run something like an antimode 2.0 for room correction and so on. You might find you like how it sounds all by itself!

You should start auditioning speakers first. The amp can handle relatively inefficient speakers with ease so you have lots of choices. I would look at KEF R's, B&W PM1's or Dynaudio's. Perhaps some Quadral Aurums for something a bit different. The Sonus Faber venere's are also an interesting option. I would head in the direction of something neutral-warm rather than neutral-analytic.

Have fun
 

DanielTura

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I plan on using the onboard DACs(the Audio GD DI is a digital interface...aka USB>SPDIF converter and one of the best from what ive heard..certanaly the best at the price..as for speakers i want towers..and ive allready made a short list of what to audition , might try others that are available in those showrooms...but there arent alot of options where i live(not in the UK).
 

hughesfleming

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Ah Ok. My mistake for not understanding what that was. I am still not sure why you would need one but I will take a look and see what it does. I understand your problem with auditioning as I don't live in the UK either. I rely on finding free time on business trips but it is never ideal.

regards
 

DanielTura

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Well its basicly a transport of digital signal..reduces digital jitter(there are plenty of solutions from inexpensive ones to very expensive..M2Tech Hiface / Musical Fidelity V-Link to name a few popular ones)..and from what ive heard a good transport will almost always give a small boost to soundquality..add other smaller improvements like quality digital cables and the overall improvement should be greater.Not shure if the Asyc USB on the Onkyo is on par with the Audio GDs...but i highly doubt it and even if it is , its a small investment..i can allways sell it if doesnt improve sq(still have to buy it to try it)I have time to think since i wont be buying any audio equipment until i move to my own place in a few months(cant fit more stuff where i live now..allready prety crowded).

Best regards.
 

Benedict_Arnold

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Onkyo stuff always seems to surprise the opposition in its category (the hifi equivalent, I guess, of the "UJM" - ubiquitous Japanese motorcycle) with its price / performance ratio. The A9070 MSRP here in the US is 1200 bucks, and I can probably get one for a lot less through a sales club we belong to, so for me the question would be whether to go for the A9070 @110 WPC into 8 ohms or the P-3000R pre-amp (1700 bucks retail) plus dual M-5000R power amps (which, by the way, have nice old-fashioned dancing level meters on their fronts for added entertainment value) at 2500 bucks apiece giving a total of 220 WPC into 8 ohms.

On the "what would you do with 5000 quid thread, 1700+2500+2500 = 6700 bucks, or about 4200 quid. Assuming I could get a 20% discount and I use the Onkyo CDP and surround sound receivers I've already got, that sould leave me enough for a half-decent pair of Klipsch speakers. Hmmm....

One thing that's always struck me is how similar Onkyo stuff looks to the last of the Technics stuff (cue Inspector Morse soundtrack)....
 

DanielTura

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IMO get the speakers first then decide if u need the extra power..as far as i know Klipsch spearkers are fairly easy to drive(aka the can produce a high SPL with a relatively small amount of power).If u can buy the speakers then audition amps at home(Myself and many others dont have that luxury..i have to buy the amp first and then carry it with me to showrooms to find a matching pair of speakers to my personal tastes).

Good luck.
 

Benedict_Arnold

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DanielTura said:
IMO get the speakers first then decide if u need the extra power..as far as i know Klipsch spearkers are fairly easy to drive(aka the can produce a high SPL with a relatively small amount of power).If u can buy the speakers then audition amps at home(Myself and many others dont have that luxury..i have to buy the amp first and then carry it with me to showrooms to find a matching pair of speakers to my personal tastes).

Good luck.

My Klipsch speakers were a Chrimbo pressie from 'er indoors and the largest she'll put up with in the living room (I actually wanted a half decent pair of stand-mounters I could put inside especially designed for the purpose cabinets in our enterntainment centre). Later on I'm gong to get myself another Cyrus system, probably with ProAc Studio 140 Mark 2 speakers, but I can get a pair of the Klipsch RF-7 II speakers for about half the price of the PRoAcs over here (I can get about half off through a buying club we belong to, basically buying direct from Klipsch and not through a retailer). If I don't like them I figure I can sell them on EBay for what I personally paid for them and buy the ProAcs instead.
 

Benedict_Arnold

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DanielTura said:
IMO get the speakers first then decide if u need the extra power..as far as i know Klipsch spearkers are fairly easy to drive(aka the can produce a high SPL with a relatively small amount of power).If u can buy the speakers then audition amps at home(Myself and many others dont have that luxury..i have to buy the amp first and then carry it with me to showrooms to find a matching pair of speakers to my personal tastes).

Good luck.

My Klipsch speakers were a Chrimbo pressie from 'er indoors and the largest she'll put up with in the living room (I actually wanted a half decent pair of stand-mounters I could put inside especially designed for the purpose cabinets in our enterntainment centre). Later on I'm gong to get myself another Cyrus system, probably with ProAc Studio 140 Mark 2 speakers, but I can get a pair of the Klipsch RF-7 II speakers for about half the price of the PRoAcs over here (I can get about half off through a buying club we belong to, basically buying direct from Klipsch and not through a retailer). If I don't like them I figure I can sell them on EBay for what I personally paid for them and buy the ProAcs instead.
 

csq2

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The A-9000R uses four 18000 microfarad capacitors vs four 15000 microfarad capacitors found on the A-9070, has sturdier feet (same feet found on the M-5000R), a 24/192 USB input, and has quad push-pull amplification design vs. parallel push-pull amplification design. Other than that they are the same amp. I suggest you same the money and get the A-9070 and a high quality USB to spdif converter. The A-9070 was extremely hard for me to order. It was sold out everywhere and I had to special order one. I was very lucky to get one after waiting 3 months. It was the only brand new unit across all the electronic stores in the country. In terms of sound: highly dynamic sounding, detailed highs, and neutral balance. This is my second integrated amp that I have ever bought. I upgraded from a Rega Brio 3, which I sold a couple months ago. The Brio 3 was an awesome amp, but I had to walk up to it each time to adjust the volume. The biggest improvement is tighter and deeper bass and overall increase in background detail. However, the Rega's midrange is much more sweeter and delicate sounding than the Onkyo. The Onkyo is not engaging to listen as the Brio 3, which was warmer sounding, but the transparency and ability to render any genre of music won me over. The Brio's lack of power and lumpier bass was not very good for complex music such as dance, electronic, and pop music. I also prefer the Onkyo to my more expensive 170Wx9 Pioneer Elite receiver. The dual Wolfson WM8742 onboard dac is excellent and I prefer it to the Hegel HD2. My favourite feature on the Onkyo A-9070 is the ability to use it as a pre-amp, power-amp, or an integrated amp. The Onkyo is highly revealing and transparent sounding amp, so it is very picky with different types of cables. There is a huge difference in sound when I swap between different mains cables, speaker cables, and USB cables.
 

DanielTura

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csq2 said:
The A-9000R uses four 18000 microfarad capacitors vs four 15000 microfarad capacitors found on the A-9070, has sturdier feet (same feet found on the M-5000R), a 24/192 USB input, and has quad push-pull amplification design vs. parallel push-pull amplification design

That alone means that it has a different poweramp alltogether..u cant just add transistors whithout creating a suitable circutry for them.Bigger caps are added to better suit the new desing.In terms of sound that means that the 9000 has better grip and a more powerfull low end.In fact i woulndt be at all surprised if it uses the same boards as the M-5000R but without the huge PSU found on the 5000.The main reason i would opt for the 9000 would be the Poweramp witch would be more suited for the RX6s(my main cadidate for speakers as ive read and spoke with many ppl who say are harder to drive efficiently by other inexpensive amps..they requiere good grip on the low freq range in order to sound theyr best).

As for USB-S/Dif converters id get one anyway(i stated in a previous post that id be getting an Audio GD DI-V3 with clock upgedes and PSU).

DanielTura said:
from what ive heard a good transport will almost always give a small boost to soundquality..add other smaller improvements like quality digital cables and the overall improvement should be greater.Not shure if the Asyc USB on the Onkyo is on par with the Audio GDs...but i highly doubt it and even if it is , its a small investment..i can allways sell it if doesnt improve sq(still have to buy it to try it)I have time to think since i wont be buying any audio equipment until i move to my own place in a few months(cant fit more stuff where i live now..allready prety crowded).
 

hughesfleming

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I agree with csq2' s assesment of the sound. Partnering needs to be done with some care. I have a cd-player with tubes and that was the pefect match for the types of music I like to listen too when I want to really relax. For anything more upbeat, I prefer to run apple lossless straight to the DAC on the 9000. Speakers where the biggest problem, not because of the amp but because of placement, room acoustics and overall aesthetics.

.
 

ID.

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Not that I'm looking to buy, but this thread has made me want to listen to these amps next time I'm in my local audio retailer.

I've heard the Onkyo pre/power combination, and I liked it very much.
 

csq2

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DanielTura said:
The main reason i would opt for the 9000 would be the Poweramp witch would be more suited for the RX6s(my main cadidate for speakers as ive read and spoke with many ppl who say are harder to drive efficiently by other inexpensive amps..they requiere good grip on the low freq range in order to sound theyr best).

The Onkyo A-9070 is a lot more powerful than the rated 75W/ch suggests. Don't believe in written specs. My new 170W/ch Pioneer Elite receiver could not match the sheer power and clarity of the Onkyo, especially in the deep bass area. Klipsch are consider bright and harsh sounding speakers, but I find it quite musical and smooth sounding with a wide soundstage using the Onkyo. The RX6 should be a better match with Onkyo because it should be warmer sounding than Klipsch. Also, take a look at the Stello U3 and M2tech hiFace Evo, which are on my list of excellent spdif to USB converters. And make sure to use high quality, low impedence cables because they make a big difference on the Onkyo.
 

csq2

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ID. said:
Not that I'm looking to buy, but this thread has made me want to listen to these amps next time I'm in my local audio retailer.

I've heard the Onkyo pre/power combination, and I liked it very much.

Are you talking about the Onkyo P-3000R and M-5000R combo? When a Kef sales representative came to my local electronics store to give customers a demo of the new Kef Blades, I was surprised to see Kef using the Onkyo P-3000R and M-5000R to drive the $30,000 Kef Blades. I was amazed how powerful it sounded with its 80W/ch rating. My next purchase are probably going to be these! It's been 20 years since Onkyo left the hi-fi market, but their new products are well worth their respected prices.
 

ID.

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csq2 said:
Are you talking about the Onkyo P-3000R and M-5000R combo?

Yep. A little puzzled by the fact that the power amp looks like it can take an xlr (when using one as a monoblock), but the preamp doesn't have xlr output.

I also like the DAC 1000, which strangely enough does have balanced outputs.
 

DanielTura

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csq2 said:
The Onkyo A-9070 is a lot more powerful than the rated 75W/ch suggests. Don't believe in written specs. My new 170W/ch Pioneer Elite receiver could not match the sheer power and clarity of the Onkyo, especially in the deep bass area. Klipsch are consider bright and harsh sounding speakers, but I find it quite musical and smooth sounding with a wide soundstage using the Onkyo. The RX6 should be a better match with Onkyo because it should be warmer sounding than Klipsch. Also, take a look at the Stello U3 and M2tech hiFace Evo, which are on my list of excellent spdif to USB converters. And make sure to use high quality, low impedence cables because they make a big difference on the Onkyo.

I never said that the 9070 isnt powerfull enough i only said the 9000 is better :) how much better i cant tell till i compare the 2(witch may be a posibilty since the only dealer that sells them has both of them available(or at least they had them a moth ago the pic witch had them displayed isnt on the website anymore but im prety sure theyr still there).As for the converter ive made my choice on the Audio GD theres a huge thread about it on headfi and i even saw a comparison vs other D/D converters including the Stello the guy that tested it gave it a higher score he allso suggested the the Audio GD is just a bit better than the Audiophilleo 1+PSU combo with is way more expensive.IMO something that gets so much positive feedback cant be bad.

ID. said:
Not that I'm looking to buy, but this thread has made me want to listen to these amps next time I'm in my local audio retailer.

I've heard the Onkyo pre/power combination, and I liked it very much.

Dont forget share your experince when u do ;) (might be faster than me since like i said i cant go shoping yet :( )

Allso someone posted something about room acoustics i wonder can i add something to the wall coating to make the room better suited/make the walls less reflexive?
 

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