Osd amplifier 'XA5180 5CHANNEL'

[Michael lawrence]

Good morning guys,
Is the osd xa5180 5channel amp a good amplifier? It's class H, rated at 5x150 @8 ohms(Amazon). If anyone have information on it, I would greatly appreciate it.

Best,
Mike

 

[Swerd]

@Michael lawrence – welcome to Audioholics!

I've never heard of the OSD brand name before. It's certainly inexpensive.

What I did notice was how the power claims varied, depending on where on the Amazon page you read it. The text claimed 150 watt/channel (wpc) at 8 ohms and 200 wpc at 4 ohms. Two of the images claimed 120 wpc at 8 ohms and 180 wpc at 4.

There was only one "customer" review, and it could easily been written by an OSD person.

None of those power ratings included qualifying info such as the frequency range, level of measured harmonic distortion, and how many channels were operating when power was measured. For example, power of 120 watt (measured by the RMS/FTC method),when 2 channels were running, at 20 to 20,000 Hz, at 8 ohms, at 0.8% total harmonic distortion. Without that type of info, you cannot compare the power of the OSD amp to others. So I wonder how powerful that amp really is. Like I said, it's certainly inexpensive.

All this raises one question. Do you have an AVR? Many of them produce power in the same range (120 wpc or lower) as the OSD. Why not use the AVR and forget a $450 external amp of unknown quality?

 

[Michael lawrence]

@Michael lawrence – welcome to Audioholics!

I've never heard of the OSD brand name before. It's certainly inexpensive.

What I did notice was how the power claims varied, depending on where on the Amazon page you read it. The text claimed 150 watt/channel (wpc) at 8 ohms and 200 wpc at 4 ohms. Two of the images claimed 120 wpc at 8 ohms and 180 wpc at 4.

There was only one "customer" review, and it could easily been written by an OSD person.

None of those power ratings included qualifying info such as the frequency range, level of measured harmonic distortion, and how many channels were operating when power was measured. For example, power of 120 watt (measured by the RMS/FTC method),when 2 channels were running, at 20 to 20,000 Hz, at 8 ohms, at 0.8% total harmonic distortion. Without that type of info, you cannot compare the power of the OSD amp to others. So I wonder how powerful that amp really is. Like I said, it's certainly inexpensive.

All this raises one question. Do you have an AVR? Many of them produce power in the same range (120 wpc or lower) as the OSD. Why not use the AVR and forget a $450 external amp of unknown quality?

I agree with you.I have the denon x4400H...and was just looking for something to power my atmos speakers.
I also noticed that Carver is selling one that looks like the osd with surprisingly similar specs (Carver HTA5A) on Amazon. Actually, I think it's the same amplifier for a higher price $993

 

[Swerd]

I agree with you.I have the denon x4400H...and was just looking for something to power my atmos speakers.

I have a 5-channel system, no Atmos receiver nor speakers. But I think I wouldn't be far off if I guessed that Atmos channels need similar power levels to rear channel speakers – not much. The front three speakers can benefit from high power, but the other channels make ambiance, background sounds. They probably don't need high power. Because of that, maybe that OSD amp would be alright. If those power ratings are honest, it might even be over-kill .

I also noticed that Carver is selling one that looks like the osd with surprisingly similar specs (Carver HTA5A) on Amazon. Actually, I think it's the same amplifier for a higher price $993

$993 vs. $450 just for the Carver brand name. That kind of mark-up, more than 100%, is commonly seen in this business.

 

[lovinthehd]

Seems someone else posted about these amps before....but I can't find the thread. He I believe bought the OSD (Outdoor Speaker Depot) model (or someone else branding it similarly) and was sure it was the same amp as the Carver branded one (and this version of Carver has little to do with the old Bob Carver company except brand name). Indeed looks like they're made by the same factory. https://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/5-channel-amp-180w-osd-audio-xa5180.html

Personally I'd go for the Outlaw 5000 for a 5ch amp like this. https://outlawaudio.com/products/5000.html

 

[Michael lawrence]

I have a 5-channel system, no Atmos receiver nor speakers. But I think I wouldn't be far off if I guessed that Atmos channels need similar power levels to rear channel speakers – not much. The front three speakers can benefit from high power, but the other channels make ambiance, background sounds. They probably don't need high power. Because of that, maybe that OSD amp would be alright. If those power ratings are honest, it might even be over-kill .
$993 vs. $450 just for the Carver brand name. That kind of mark-up, more than 100%, is commonly seen in this business.

Seems someone else posted about these amps before....but I can't find the thread. He I believe bought the OSD (Outdoor Speaker Depot) model (or someone else branding it similarly) and was sure it was the same amp as the Carver branded one (and this version of Carver has little to do with the old Bob Carver company except brand name). Indeed looks like they're made by the same factory. https://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/5-channel-amp-180w-osd-audio-xa5180.html

Personally I'd go for the Outlaw 5000 for a 5ch amp like this. https://outlawaudio.com/products/5000.html

I was thinking about the outlaw. But I think I'm gonna go with the monoprice monolith 5x200 for my front stage, and use the denon to power my atmos