Onkyo M-282 2-Channel Power Amplifier

For this price it can't be beat. I have installed two of them as additions into friends home setups over the last couple of years and both are working great. One is paired with a Yamaha receiver and operates off the 12 volt trigger. I haven't had the same issue with it taking a long time to turn on after being in standby.
Only gave it 4 stars because of the lack of tone controls. But then thats what the pre-amp is for!

Onkyo M-282 2-Channel Power Amplifier
The reviews by others of this product helped me decide to try it out, and I'm glad I did.

I've had a Carver 0.5t "Magnetic Field" High Current 2-channel Power Amp since 1988; serious power (220 RMSw/ch into 4 ohms....140RMSw/8 ohms)..driving my MAIN LEFT and RIGHT Front HT loudspeakers. And this was power back-in-the-day, when audio manufacturers followed "the rules"; disclosing continuous power into all channels driven, into a nominal impedance, over the entire audible frequency range, and specifying the THD applicable to all this as well.

The Carver was great.....that is, until it gave up the ghost a few weeks back! I was highly upset, but I did REALIZE I got 20 years outta the thing; you can't say that about a LOT of the consumer electronics being sold nowadays! Carver's been long gone...& even when they were STILL AROUND and owned by someone besides Bob Carver, the quality went down the hill...so I figured a worthy replacement would be some high-end esoteric amp...way beyond my budget.

I started searching and found good reviews on the Onkyo M-282, and I know Onkyo makes some high-quality Home Theater Receivers...but being a separates man..a HT Receiver was out of the question. So I ordered the product, it arrived a day earlier than expected, and I must say, it performs extremely well....considering the price.

Admittedly, I've gotten used to the "warmer" sound of the old Carver amp, but the M-282 does bring out a few details (with the same loudspeakers), and it essentially pumps out the same quality and quantity of power as the Carver...because the Onkyo follows the old FTC "Power Ratiing" disclosure that MOST amplifier/receiver manufacturers today (making HT gear) have abandoned.

I'm impressed enough, that I'm gonna pick up 2 more M-282s...one for the Center Channel and 1 for my Rear Channels. And they only cost approx. $200. Not bad at all! The auto-signal-sensing-turn-on/shut-off feature is really nice, and outside of the POWER LED being "orange" when the amp is ON, I have no complaints.

For those still liking the flexibility & performance of separates, Onkyo gets high marks. I highly reccommend this product.

Unit looks fine, fit and finish is good, but...I installed this unit onto a small home studio, powered it up, all was well. I was initially pleased with this purchse. Now the BUT. I didn't power it back on for over six months, and you guessed it, when I went to power it up, I was met with the blinking red pilot light of death. The owners manual says to "contact service center..."

The nearest service center is over 200 miles away, in New York. The shipping charges (round trip) alone will be 30% of what I paid for it (195+ at an online super-store) then the repairs will be a significant part of the original purchase price.

So, I am left with likely a $200 paperweight. I should have spent the extra $100, and bought a Crown D150 studio amp on ebay. Being an electronics technician, I will have no fear in diving into this thing, and trying to figure it out. Then there's the never availabe tech documentation...sigh.

My first, and last Onkyo purchase.

...a few months later...found documentation online, ($15), took the thing apart, and found a nice crack on a small circuit board soldered onto the power transformer secondary side. Obviously a manufacturing defect, likely exascerbated by those nice folks at UPS flinging boxes around for fun. I repaired the broken etch, fired it up, and it is working. Still, this should have not happened. Glad I could fix it ,myself, otherwise, it would be in the dump.

Hello, For the price a great value. My Onkyo 504 sound exactly the same only at 3x the power. The hummmmmmmm when the main is off should not be taken lightly. Turn the units off manually or use an external switcher. The hummmmm when the unit is something shared by all Onkyo amps in my experience. The Rca inputs are well served with high power inputs if you can bear to cut rca cords.I tryed to give 4 stars but I'm unable due to the web site but there is 2 of the 4.

I mean sound is good but there is no volume control on the front, and when it closes itself down to save power, it is forever unless you turn it off and on again.

I'd say it's OK if you are looking for a simple amplifier for home use.