Onkyo A-8017 vs A-RV401 vs Sansui AU-X501 vs Nikko NA-790 etc

nik9

nik9

New Member
Hey there audio enthusiasts,
glad to be a part of this community.

Sold my high end gear for all kinds of horrible reasons and looking at getting some tunes back in my ears with whatever is on offer on the ebay slaughterhouse floor - currently the above having caught my eye in the under $100 (incl. shipping) range. (Have instinctively steered away from anything with dinky spring clip speaker wire connectors on the back and little graphic equalizer sliders on the front, etc - but I may be wrong about that?) - which leaves the above at the moment. (There's an Audiolab 8000s and a Cambridge Audio P-55 coming up too, but I reckon they're gonna go over $150 (+shipping) by the time the hammer falls)

Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated

Picking up a pair of Sound Dynamics R-515 speakers tomorrow hopefully for another $100 (about all I can find in this neck of the woods and they may be descent (won't hold a candle to the KEF107/2's I just let go, but that's another story)
*Freq response 34 Hz-22 KHz (means not a very low low end right?)
*Crossover 2.2 kHz (never quite figured out what that's about)
*Sensitivity 87 dB
*Impedance 8 ohms

I know it's academic without pairing this stuff up and listening to it, but this is how we roll around here I guess...

looking forward to any comments
Cheers
 
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just added a kenwood ka-70 to my list
apparently rated at 65 watts RMS at .05 THD
How would that translate given my specified probable speakers with sensitivity of 87dB?
 
Think I posted in the right place, right? Pretty sure we're talking vintage solid state - anyway - an Onkyo A-8087 just showed up - hard to tell what these different numbers represent though, namely
Onkyo:
A-8087 vs
A-8017 vs
A-RV401 and whether any of those have a stronger reputation than the kenwood KA-70 or the Sansui
AU-X501 or whatever - or maybe I'm jus whistlin in the wind and just gotta take a chance on the next one that comes up ... phew
 
well, just so you don't feel lonely I'll toss out an opinion... I have never owned any of those specific models but have had some related to a few of them...

AU-X501 would be my choice given limited information. I do have an AU-X701 and it is very nice (understatement) . I do not know what those two models share.
 
I've got an A-8015 a competent integrated amp. I would recommend you spring the $25 bucks to subscribe to AK and gain access to Barter Town-buy, sell, swap forums you can't see as a non-subscriber. This will allow you to connect with all kinds of gear and some maybe local enough to avoid having the package delivery companies try folding it in half.
 
Oh really - subscribe to the inner sanctum, hey. My 1st day on the audio block, but maybe I'll take that advice for good audio karma...

And thank you for the nods to those two amps Roger2 and Blue Shadow - makes me feel like I'm barking up the right tree at least.
 
Ditto what the others have said about the Onkyo Integra amps. They really do a good job, and are reasonably priced. Unlike other brands... I would stay away from the Nikko, Kenwood KA-70 and the Onkyo receiver. The Sansui AU-X501 is pretty rare, and a good amp as well. Just make sure it is set up for US line voltage, not Japan's 100V.

And, welcome aboard!
 
I can totally relate to selling things I loved for horrible reasons.

But it's really funny, today I bought an Onkyo A-RV401 Integrated Amp off of Ebay! No Joke!

I've changed ALL my audio gear and the journey started here.

I posted here a while ago about getting a Turntable and I did. I bought a Technics 1710 from a member here and while looking forward to getting back into music vs home theater, I began looking at everything else I have. So I sold everything (5.1 speakers and soon my AVR ) and now I have a new turntable, a new Onkyo integrated amp and a new to me pair of Ascend Acoustics Sierra 1's on the way. (I have NONE of the above yet; all on the way.)

One of my concerns with the Seirra's is their sensitivity of 87 db. They are slightly power hungry. I had a nice long talk with the seller and afterwards I concluded that the 401 was powerful enough and had enough headroom to drive them.

Also, one of the selling points of the Onkyo 401 is that it is remote capable. That is very important for my wife who needs to monitor (and control :D) the volume of various sounds sources. Most integrated amps do not have remote controls. The 401 does and I found that the remote for the 401 is available on line. In fact I just bought a new old stock remote on ebay for an extra $23.00. A quick Google search will turn up more too.

Good luck with your audio purchases!
 
Thanks "humble young windbag" - that was the specific indications I was hoping for on my short list.
rifmon - let me know how that RV-401 sounds. I have garnered mixed opinions on anything as relatively recent as that one in the onkyo line, though it still appears potentially pretty descent (especially as I'm starting out from scratch at the mid end)

Just picked up a pair of Sound Dynamics R-515 - solid and good looking speakers - sounded tight on seller's system. Just need to pull in that right amp...
prob 8017 or x501 at this point - both about 80wpc
For speakers, sensitivity 87 dB means what in terms of power requirement then?
 
nik9 said:
Thanks "humble young windbag" - that was the specific indications I was hoping for on my short list.
rifmon - let me know how that RV-401 sounds. I have garnered mixed opinions on anything as relatively recent as that one in the onkyo line, though it still appears potentially pretty descent (especially as I'm starting out from scratch at the mid end)

Just picked up a pair of Sound Dynamics R-515 - solid and good looking speakers - sounded tight on seller's system. Just need to pull in that right amp...
prob 8017 or x501 at this point - both about 80wpc
For speakers, sensitivity 87 dB means what in terms of power requirement then?
Click to expand...

I will let you know. Lucky for me, the speakers are arriving tomorrow and we all know speakers make up the most in sonic difference. But this will give me a chance to listen to them with my existing Onkyo AVRtx 602 at 85 watts per left rigthts for maybe a week. Then the 410 should arrive.

The seller did extensive cleaning and tests on the 410; scope tests, cleaned and lubed all the pots etc.. He mentioned it clocked in at 114 watts per channel.

I never could find actual reviews on this good or bad so I hope I made the right decision!:scratch2:

Good luck with the Sound Dynamics R-515 speakers and amp combo. Unless a person has big bucks to spend at a high end audio shop, we are left to buying used equipment which is difficult if not impossible, to audition and A/B.
 
Well, I missed the 8087 and the 8017, but no one bid on the 8017 so expect it'll pop back up. Ended up grabbing a 401 too - $70 with the shipping and with that higher power rating, hopefully won't be a bad choice for now... got the impression, though not of the Integra class, that it is still a descent amp. We'll see.
The Sansui is still up for grabs and tempted to grab that too and compare notes, but not sure I can justify the spending at this lean moment.
(There's also someone locally offering a Rotel / Harmon pre combo for $250 which might be worthy if that cash flow does pick up!) hmm
 
Looks like we are in the same boat. Let us know what you think and I'll do the same. We are both going to use the 401 to power our new 87 dB speakers with this amp

You got a good deal. I paid more for mine because the seller went throug it thoroughly and wrote his own review on it as well.

Have fun with your new gear! I know I will.
 
Well, set her up and seems competent enough to drive these speakers. Not what I would consider vintage - has an early 90's rather than late 80's look. I like the source direct bypass, but there's something missing - hard (for me) to say what creates that sweet spot between components, but there's something a little harsh to my ear at the high end - low end is full and rich - lots of clean bass - so not sure if the missing magic is the speakers or source, but would not think it to be the amp. Right now the source is either CD's being played through my DVD player or from my iphone - so no high expectations there obviously. Don't know what the next best step will be...
 
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