I've had this amp for abut 8 months at time of review. The Tone winner 5300 is a true gem for the money. Instead of trying to explain to everyone what this amp sounds like I thought I'd explain what this amp is truly capable of. Some say, a truly great sounding system is a sum of all it's parts. And only when all of the parts are of the same high caliber and quality will you ever know what your system sounds like. It's been explained to me as this "when you listen to a hi fi system, it sounds one of two ways. This first way is you feeling like your listening to a recording. The second is what what most every audiophile tries to achieve. Instead of listening to a recording of any given song, you're trying to reproduce the music that was created on that recording within your room. It creates an experience of perfecly mixed live music. That is what hi fi is all about. Once you obtain that, your outlook toward music will be forever be completely new.
The following are things that someone who's interested in achieving a higher standard of listening experience will find interesting. I use this amp as my sole amplifier. It's used for 2channel and surround sound playback.
This is a fully resounding amplifier. ( further information on youtube)
You willl easily achieve holographic imaging (what many consider highest goal) if you have a halfway decent set of speakers. I Have svs prime
pinnacle towers. You can easily achieve this by following the set up guidelines found at cardasdotcom.
If you upgrade your power cord you willl hear a small difference in reduction of floor noise and you will gain clarity.
If you upgrade your rca interconnects you will hear a massive difference in reduction of floor nois and gain clarity that you didn't know was possible.
If you plug this amp into a power conditioner/ regenerator you will notice a massive difference in imaging. So much so that this was what brought the live music experience into my living room.
If you decide to upgrade your speaker cable to something with low inductance and great sheilding, you can expect to hear your soundstage grow by
leaps and bounds. You can expect to obtain a more immersive experience. Your speakers will perform for efficiently.
Summary:
I would definatley recommend this amp for what ever you needs might be. It works well as an inexpensive, super powerful amp in a simple system. Or can fit right in to your super slick hifi rack and make it apart of an incredible resounding and immersive audio system. Either way, this amp holds your dance ticket at the party.