Based on these specs, its not the best amplifier out there but its also far from the worst. I wish I could see how Onkyo rates it into 4 ohms. How much are you thinking of paying for this?
That pretty much sums up how I feel about the quality of the amplifier, he could do far worse. As too how much he's paying for the amplifier... zilch, it was given to him. All that said I'm not sure if he knows if it works or not so spending money on equipment to get it working may prove fruitless if the amplifier turns out to be a dud.
Thank you for that detailed explanation. I honestly know little of audio so for the time being I am just kinda exploring this wonderful new world. My intent would be to build something that low cost b/c frankly I do not even know if I am at the point that I could appreciate something very high end. I'm just 1 working stiff trying to support 2x kids and a wife that is taking care of them. On top of this my children are very young and destructive.
Young and destructive you say? That makes things a little difficult. Personally I'd recommend some Pioneer SP-FS51 floor standing speakers. They're short, and have a base plate to keep them stable. This way if they fall they won't fall as hard. They also have metal grills that are very difficult to remove, thus protecting the speakers from "destruction". They are well regarded and relatively low cost in the used market. Unfortunately the only pair I see on eBay right now are local pickup in Bakersfield, California. They do pop up regularly on there there. Recommend searching with "Pioneer FS51". They did produce a model after that with a cloth grill that looks nicer and holds on pretty snugly called the SP-FS52 that you might search for as an alternative.
Far as use it would be for vinyl. I could maybe conceive of using it for some home theater in the far flung future but for now.. vinyl.
There's a plethora of options, and it may just be better to have a separate amplifier and preamplifier. The reason being is it would be slightly more complicated to operate, meaning it would be more child proof. I'll get more into that later.
For the room size its just my living room. Rather small.. it might be 12 feet by 20-25 feet.
Would be just fine with the Pioneer speakers I suggested. It's not definitive that they would be your best option, but it's the best I can come up with right now that fills your requirements.
Overall I'm not looking for mind shattering volume or bass. What I would like is a clear rich sound (of course I reckon this requires money)
I think you'd be surprised what your money can buy these days.
Far as the M-5300 I have no real attachment to it. Sure its kinda neat to look at and damn is it heavy. 
Parts wise I've always been the type of person that likes to keep options open. I'm all for used equipment.
I'm also a big fan of used equipment, I haven't bought any new electronics in years.
So it look like I might need a preamplifier correct?
Could you suggest any speakers and or particular models of preamps?
This is not a plug for me, I would seriously consider taking a wack at this preamplifier here. It appears to be of the same era as your amplifier and with only 10 hours left and no bids it looks like it might slip under the radar and go for chump change.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Onkyo-P-3150V-Preamplifier-/131612114619?hash=item1ea4b17ebb
If you don't nab that one there's a few others on eBay to look at as well. I just did a search from eBay's home page for "Onkyo P" because there's a few models listed under different categories and it's sort of a catch all since Onkyo's preamplifiers generally start with the letter "P" followed by some numbers.
I apologize in advance for my utter and complete lack of knowledge in this subject.
No need to apologize, you came here to ask a question you weren't sure of an answer for, we want to help.
Far as budget I honestly do not know what even decent used stuff costs. Lets say 250 for the speakers and i have no idea what an ok preamp costs.
Between the preamp and speakers you could easily come in under that.
