Onkyo tx-4500 vs tx-5000 or tx-6500 vs tx-7000

Firby13

Well-Known Member
Hi,
Does anyone here know the differences between these Recievers?
Are the x500's older? Do they pretty much sound the same?
Are they of the same quality?

Thanks, Steve
 
I have the TX8500 and a TX3000. The 8500 is an older model. I was impressed with the 3000. It is a very nice receiver. But I love my 8500.
 
The TX-7000 is a very fine, great sounding 90wpc receiver. I have one that was damaged in shipment when I got it. Cleaned the glass up and played it for a while and that made the cosmetic damage seem even worse to have happened.
 
The Onkyo Tx-4500 (60 WPC) was made in 1977 and had a blacked out glass dial face when turned off, much like the older Marantz models. It was replaced by the more powerfull Tx-4500MkII (65 WPC) and Tx-6500 MkII (105wpc) , both made in 1978-1980. These models have a see through smoked glass face where you can see the silver metal behind the glass (far more attractive in my opinion). Both the early and late models are great -Onkyo used huge filter caps, big transformers, and hearty heat sinks. The Tx-5000 and Tx-7000 came along later(1981 ?) and I believe were some of the last of Onkyo's silver faced recievers. They had more of a brushed aluminum finish than silver, and were slightly less powerful than the MkII models, but they made up for it with a pretty blue digital tuner readout along with the analog dial (much like the monstrous 160 WPC Tx-8500 MKII). I think any of these models are great, it just depends upon your taste and power requirements. I have a 2500MKII in the garage, a 4500MKII in my sons bedroom, and a 6500MKII in my office. I like all of them, but the 6500MKII wins hands down.
 
Here is an interesting article written on a discussion forum by one of the designers of the TX2500 and TX4500. I have the TX4500 and have also purchased the M505 power amp and P303 pre amp (in transit) as per this article. I hope it sheds more light on the early Onkyo's.

Hi guys,

Maybe I can answer some of the questions regarding Onkyo. I started working for Onkyo in 1975 right out of college with a degree in electrical engineering. Originally when I started there, their product line up was the TX220, TX330, TX440, TX560, TX670, and TS500 and a bunch of speakers that were AR wanna be's. To be blunt, the TX220, TX330, and the TX440 used power modules with limited slew rate and frequency response and were dull and sounded pretty awful. I don't know if you know the history of Onkyo but in Japan, they were known as Osaka Onkyo and started as a speaker manufacturer. They originally came to USA as a joint venture between themselves and Mitsubishi and failed miserably at selling Onkyo speakers. Mitsubishi and Onkyo parted ways after about 6 months after I was hired and Onkyo started concentrating on achieving better sounding receivers and tuners. The first attempt was the Onkyo T-4055 tuner which had an awesome review in Absolute Sound. After the review came out I remember that we never could keep the tuners in stock. When we were ready to start conceiving the new receiver line, we came up with a different look than the last product line as it became known as the TX2500 and TX4500 (We didn't have enough budget to develop a complete line then). It's hard to imagine but this was Onkyo's last ditch effort to survive in the audio world and they put all their marbles into these 2 receivers. Onkyo was definitely ahead of its time because they realized the importance of a good phono preamplifier even when their older separates were made (A-7022 and A-7055). If you compare the transient response of the phono preamps in those units to their peers, it was immediately obvious. In our earlier test, we would inject a pulse followed by a since wave and check the dilation of the pulse into the sine wave and the phono preamps were outstanding! The TX2500 and TX4500 incorporated these design parameters so their phono section sounded remarkably good (This is preHolman's white paper of phono preamp TIM). We also upgraded the analog tuners. The TX2500 had the servo lock tuning and the TX4500 had the quartz lock tuning. The quartz lock tuning worked remarkably well and the tuning accuracy was only limited to the quartz time base in each unit. Keep in mind that this is predigital tuner days for receivers. Then we concentrated on the power amplifiers. The power amplifier section of the receivers rivaled Harman Kardon's receivers by achieving low tilt figures for the low frequency and high slew rate for the upper frequency response without sacrificing hum and noise like HK did. If there's any negative comment regarding their product line was that the tone control/line preamp amp lacked the same type of clarity and transient response. The success of TX2500 and TX4500 catapulted Onkyo into the audio world and then the development of the TX1500 and TX8500 began to create a full line of receivers. A few years later, the Mark II series of the original line was introduced but it was a variation on a theme of the original product line. Another interesting product line that you might be able see on ebay is their original Integra line. If you ever have a chance, check out the P303 preamp and M505 power amp. They both have unique circuitry and cosmetics that might interest the collectors. The is literally a straight line preamp with a MC stage with gain. The front panel is sparse but the sonic characteristic is phenom. The M505 (105 wpc) is a bit underpowered but the transient response is awesome. As years progressed, Onkyo because less interested in the sonics and more in profits and I left the company (I think in 1978) to pursue product development in separates with Nikko to revamp the Beta, Gamma, and Alpha separates. As of now, I still have a TS-500 Quad Receiver, T-4055 tuner, TX4500 MkII, and a broken TX4500. I'm looking for a new glass front panel for the TX4500 because the shipper that sent the TX4500 packed it so poorly that it damaged the glass. I still have sentimental attachments to alot of their product because it brings back great memories of the earlier stages of my career in the audio industry. Someday when I actually can find time, I'd like to restore the TX4500 and redesign the tone control circuitry to match the rest of the receiver.

Wtih warmest regards,

Tom Ishimoto
Northridge Electronics
 
Cramers sold the TX-XXX line including the 333, 666 and 999 as well as the 4055 tuner and matching amp. They were of the Mc, Sony school of sound. Not quite as detailed as the Sonys and a might more compression in their staging. For the price differene, though they were winners and When the TX-xxxx line replaced them there was rush by the employees to buy the then remaining stock of the XXX series as they liked them more feeling the new series though very good was too thin by comparison.

For me, I liked the looks and feel of the older series as it seemed less cost compromised.
 
tx-4500 turns on but no audio

I have a TX-4500 that I dug up out of the attic that turns on but no audio. I can't remember exactly how it happened (if it was from loud music etc) because it was eons ago but remember the amp shutting off abruptly. I don't believe it smoked or not. So at the time I checked the fuse and it was fried! so i replaced it. After i replaced it It fired right back up but with no audio. Ive tried speaker a,b,c and all inputs. I took a look at the inside and it doesn't smell like anything burned and nothing looks burned in fact it's pretty clean! I've herd the transistors could have blown is their a way to check them with a multi reader and can you still get these parts? The one thing i did notice is I left the amp on for about 20 minutes @ a high volume and the hot sinks weren't hot? Anyone?
 
I have a TX-6500 MKII, this thing is a back breaker. too bad so a hole spilled his beer on it and now I have to replace tons of stuff to make it work again. the sound i can get from the one side is amazing BTW.
 
I stumbled across this thread just now when looking for some information to put in a model railroad forum and just wanted to say that my "daily driver" is a TX-4500MK2 and has been for about five years. It bumped several different units off of the shelf: Pioneer SX-650, Kenwood KR-6600, Outlaw Audio RR2150, and another that do not remember.

Dave
 
hello I have a tx 4500 onkyo and it sounds great, especially the part of phono, the only detail is that the seller I sent him what I package wrong and came with the panel of broken glass, anyone who has one for disarmament advise to buy the glass or some where I can get it, what else is super good
 
All I know is I got rid of my digital setup went back in time to all analog and I got the Onkyo TX-6000 off my studio guy he was the only owner and I've been happy. This amplifier is seriously powerful.
 
My 4500 MKII's quality is so over it's wattage/price point it isn't funny. Really enjoy swapping it in and settling for "less"....not.
 
I used to own a TX-8500 which has a nice power tranny. I currently own a TX-4500 MkII which is excellent and I would recommend any of the MkII series to anyone looking for a terrific receiver for the money. I hope to own a TX-8500 MkII some day.
 
I used to own a TX-8500 which has a nice power tranny. I currently own a TX-4500 MkII which is excellent and I would recommend any of the MkII series to anyone looking for a terrific receiver for the money. I hope to own a TX-8500 MkII some day.

I've got an :ntwrthy: 8500mkII and love it.
 
The TX-5000 was my first ever receiver with balls about 17 years ago i just won the bid on Ebay for one in great shape i own a bunch of high powered stuff but will bring back a ton of memories seeing this old WIDE monster again! has anyone ever bench tested the TX-5000 to see if the RMS rating is higher then advertised? Because i remember this thing banging 4 15" Woofers HARD great memories cant wait to see it again! :)
 
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