I picked up a copy of a Japanese drum track from a fellow Audioholic who told me years ago Mark Levinson claimed he could count on one hand how many “full range” speakers were capable of reproducing it and still have fingers left. I’m happy to report that the Status 8T speakers are among them. This is a 10 minute torture track for bass drivers and amplifiers attempting to reproduce it with lifelike dynamics. I was very concerned about using the Model 5000 for this test given its modest power output compared to my 2kwatt
Emotiva XPR-1 Monoblocks. Still, I pressed on as I wanted to test the limits of this amplifier. If I were to blow a fuse or a transistor, then so be it. It’s all in the name of science. The sound of massive Taiko drums if played back on a capable system will rattle your core. From the first moment of listening, I knew the Model 5000 would not disappoint. The depth and weight of the drums was epic. As I cranked up the volume, the Model 5000 happily obliged me. It wasn’t until I saw the lights in my room dimming on each drum strike that I realized I accidentally plugged the Model 5000 into a shared outlet. I paused the recording and connected the amp to my dedicated 120V/20 amp line to remedy that problem.
I continued on with excitement and amazement that this sub $600 five-channel amp was able to muster so much raw power with such excellent composure. Towards the end of the track there is a sort of drum finale which reminded me of the live performances at the Disney Epcot Japanese village.
Overall the sound was well composed but perhaps not quite as punchy as I recalled. It was only when I switched over to my much more powerful reference amps that I noticed a difference in low end dynamics and body of sound. Considering the Model 5000 rated power is literally 1/10th of my reference amps, this was no surprise to me. I was more surprised at how incredibly composed the Model 5000 remained even when driven to ungodly levels by a very difficult speaker load in a very large room. This speaks volumes (no pun intended) for just how good of an amp Outlaw has on their hands.