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Beneath the A-5VL’s slim and elegant exterior lies a surprising amount of amplification muscle. You might wonder how Onkyo managed to incorporate the functionality of a pre- and power amp into such a slender integrated package. The key is the A-5VL’s extremely energy-efficient design. Because it produces much less heat than a typical amplifier, the A-5VL requires only a small heat sink. This leaves ample space for a range of precision-crafted audiophile-grade parts, such as specially audio-tuned capacitors and thick, low-impedance copper bus plates. The A-5VL employs Onkyo’s exclusive VLSC™ technology to ensure a smooth, pulse noise-free signal during conversion from digital to analog. You’ll enjoy precise and faithful reproduction of any audio source, whether it’s a CD, a tuner, or a turntable. As the A-5VL is also compatible with Onkyo’s optional RI (remote interactive) Docks for the iPod, you also have the convenience of controlling playback of your iPod via the amplifier’s remote controller.
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Technical Details
- 40 W/Ch at 8 Ohms, 1 kHz, 2 Channels Driven, FTC- Burr-Brown (PCM1796) 192 kHz/24-Bit D/A Converters
- 2 Digital Inputs (Optical and Coaxial)
- Bi-Amping Capability
- Compatible with RI (Remote Interactive) Dock for the iPod
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By Julien (Bloomfield, NJ USA)
Before you judge this amp, you must let it break-in for at least one week. It sounds very hard in the begining. But with time, the sound really smoothes out and the presentation becomes very musical.
I love this little amp. I bought it as a backup for my main system when one of my UcD400 modules failed in my power amp right before Christmas 2009. It is replacing an Aikido tube pre (using NOS 12SN7) and a Hypex UcD400 based dual mono Class D power amp. Both built and well tweaked by yours truly.
The Onkyo sound is very detailed and smooth. Very musical. It doesn't have quite the transparency, refinement and slam as my main components, but it is very enjoyable. At moderate volume its sound is very cohesive and natural with great imaging. Things start to fall apart if I push it too hard (by that I mean very loud), but for most listening situations, it works perfectly. I haven't tweaked this circuit yet, and I don't really feel the need. But I will try some Black Gate nonpolar caps to replace a few signal coupling caps in the circuit. That should help in the refinement department. And possibly some FRED diodes if it's easy enough.
I haven't tried the phono stage yet, but it looks well designed and very competent. No op-amps!
The built-in DAC is excellent. Somehow better than my main DAC for movies. But not quite as good for music as my AKM based DIY DAC (still very good though). But I have to do more critical listening for a definite conclusion. Who knows, I might use this amp as a DAC when my UcD module gets repaired.
Overall built quality is high inside and out. Sound is definitly audiophile quality. Excellent for movies in 2.1. My only complain is that the volume and source selector are hard to read. But the amp does look slick so I wouldn't change it.
By Marek Materka (New York, NY, USA)
After years of getting mixed result from multi-function receivers, I have decided to try a dedicated stereo amp to see if the music really sounds better. And it sure does. There are many brands out there but the real choice (testing the equipment) is quite limited. Since my favorite mid price brand (Harman Kardon) does not offer much in the integrated amp area, the focus shifted to another popular and easily available name -Onkyo. The A-9555 got pretty good marks, but there was very little information on its A-5VL successor available in September 2009. Thanks to generous return policy I got both models and tested them with two sets of headphones - Denon AHD 2000 and Sennheiser HD 800.
Staring with the newer A-5VL model, the moment I turned up the volume knob there was the "WOW" factor. I have never before experienced that excellent sound quality from a mid priced amp and instantly felt this is something to hold on to. However, after a while I have noticed that that the sound does have that sharp digital quality different from the "tube-like" softness and warmth I was looking for and found in its predecessor.
Thus, the A-9555 is a real winner here - sonically more realistic, with a wider sound stage and twice the (Watt) power coming at a lower price tag. I can honestly recommend this amp to anyone looking to boost the CD sound without spending thousands of your hard earned dollars.
Other observations:
1) Both receivers have very good headphone output, but they really lack quality phono input. An LP played with Technics 1200MK2 sounded more like a cd than vinyl record. Harman Kardon is I believe a better choice for analog media. It is clear that the Onkyo was primarily designed for digital media and that's were it really shines.
2) I did not test MP3's as I truly and absolutely despise any decrease in audio quality.
By E. LINDER (New York, NY USA)
I purchased this amplifier because I wanted something better than even a high-end iPod dock (such as the Bowers & Wilkins Zepplin.) I wanted to use my iPod (actually iPhone 3GS) as the source for a small and mid-priced, but high-end audio system and I didn't want to sacrifice music quality or convenience. I also wanted something smaller than a full receiver that wouldn't stick out in my den/library that could accept a digital audio signal, which is almost impossible to find in a mini system, but this has it.
So here's what I did: I purchased the Wadia 170i Transport ($399) which is the only product on the market which can bypass the iPod/iPhone's internal digital audio converter and output a true digital audio output via a digital coaxial cable (it officially only support iPods, but my iPhone works fine). I plugged this digital coax cable output (included with the Wadia) into the Onkyo A-5VL ($599) and added a high quality pair of bookshelf speakers (Boston Acoustics for $600 a pair). So, it is a total of $1,600 for the whole system, but it is more flexible and MUCH, MUCH higher quality and better sounding than a B&W Zepplin or mini system and even cooler in its low profile, audiophile system approach.
When I play a recording from my iPhone (Apple lossless format is best) on this system, the sound is AMAZING and rivals even much higher priced and much larger systems. The sound is effortless and pure (especially with direct bypass of tone controls) and can be played very loudly without losing quality or becoming harsh. I listened to some songs I had listened to many, many times, on my existing mini system (and high end car system) and I heard many instruments in the background that I never noticed before, which is another true testament to high quality amplification. It is more expensive than mass market iPod capable systems, but is actually fairly cheap by audiophile standards and a very good value.
I love the simplicity, lack of flash and very high quality of this product. It's kind of a throwback to old stereo audio days of high quality separate components but easily it handles digital content. It really has only two functions: i) convert from digital to audio and ii) amplify the signal to drive speakers, but these are the only two functions I needed for my high end system it does these two things EXTREMELY well. It has a very high quality Burr-Brown DAC and a higher quality amplifier than found in the already very good Onkyo receivers. This amplifier is solid and weighs a lot for its small size due to its high quality components and thick copper plate. I feel like I spent my money on higher quality rather than features like surround sound, a tuner, etc that I did not need.
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