I was frankly perplexed when Onkyo announced its new Muse Series integrated amplifiers earlier this year, including the Y‑40 (US$999.99, CA$1499, £849, €899). After all, the ink was barely dry on the company’s recently released Icon Series products, including the A‑50 (US$1599.99, CA$2599.99, £1199, €1299), itself a network integrated amplifier. One can’t help wondering if Onkyo is getting out over its skis a little with its big comeback in the stereo domain.
Had I not received both the Y‑40 and A‑50 for review on exactly the same day, I might still be scratching my head today. Because, yes, there are technological differences between the series—the Muse Series relies on Axign class-D amplifier modules while the Icon Series proudly points back to Onkyo’s hi‑fi heritage with its reliance on three-stage inverted Darlington circuitry in its output stage—but at the core, the most meaningful differences between these two lines seem to boil down to vibes, best I can tell.
But after looking at both components in person, I think the vibes approach to differentiating them was exactly the right one.
If we’re going to hook a new generation of audio enthusiasts—not a guarantee, mind you, but a windmill I’ll keep tilting at to my dying day—it’s not going to be with boring me-too black boxes. Nor is it going to be with super-expensive boutiquey stuff. Nor fiddly narcissism-of-small-differences tech specs.
Instead, it’s going to be with affordable, well-behaved gear backed by sensible tech, but with the courage to have some actual personality. And both the Muse Series and Icon Series have personality to spare. Interestingly, if you simply described the vibe of each without showing images, they would sound remarkably similar: a fresh modern look that leans heavily into nostalgia for hi‑fi’s bygone golden age. And yet, they somehow manage to approach that ideal from radically different directions.
The Y‑40 leans more toward modernity, what with its 5.46″ display screen, which features two different varieties of virtual VU meters to select from—hence the nostalgia—but also a more 21st-century cover-art-and-metadata option, as well as a default home screen that features one of the loveliest rotary input selection readouts I’ve seen in ages, along with a volume graphic that can be read from all the way across the room. Even the source-select knob and volume control somehow manage to strike a balance between throwback and forward-looking, while erring on the side of the latter aesthetically.
Connectivity follows suit, with more analog inputs than I typically expect from modern gear at this price point, but a focus nonetheless on digital ins and outs, both physical and wireless. There are three pairs of line-level stereo inputs (RCA), a phono in (MM) with a ground terminal, and preamp outs (also RCA), along with coaxial and optical digital ins, HDMI ARC, ethernet (10/100), Wi‑Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), and Bluetooth 5.1 with support for SBC and AAC codecs. On the bottom left of the front panel is a ¼″ headphone output, and on the bottom right a USB port (Type‑A) that supports FAT16 and FAT32 drives and file formats including MP3, WMA, WAV, AIFF, AAC, FLAC, and M4A/MP4 Apple Lossless. The headphone output has plenty of juice and no noise. I tested it with my AKG K361 and Audeze LCD‑2 headphones. I didn’t expect the Y‑40 to do great with the big Audeze planars, but it drove them just fine.
Output is specified as 75Wpc (FTC, 8 ohms, 20Hz to 20kHz, THD 0.08%, two channels driven) / 150Wpc (4 ohms, 1kHz, THD 0.7%, two channels driven).
Setting up and dialing in the Onkyo Y‑40
If there’s one thing I don’t love about the Y‑40 (and spoiler warning: there’s really only sorta one thing I don’t love about the Y‑40), it’s the half-baked Onkyo Controller app, which seriously needs some work. But the thing about apps is, they’re a lot easier to fix than hardware. And for the most part, you can ignore the app. I say that because, while it does give you access to some network setup features such as firmware updates and configuration of Google Cast and Spotify, and it also allows you to switch the amp’s inputs, it’s sort of lackluster in terms of streaming capabilities and media management.
Onkyo says that the Y‑40 supports Qobuz Connect, but I couldn’t get it to work on the Qobuz mobile or desktop app, and had to rely on either Google Cast or AirPlay 2—or in most cases my reference iFi Zen One Signature DAC connected to the Analog 1 input—for Qobuz streaming. Other sources for this evaluation included my U‑Turn Orbit Theory turntable, the connection of which I’ll discuss below; my iPhone 16 Pro Max connected via Bluetooth; and my Oppo BDP‑93, connected via a Monoprice 1419 TosLink cable as well as a Monoprice HDMI cable whose model number I’ve long forgotten.
The Y‑40 doesn’t have a subwoofer output or any sort of bass management so I didn’t bother with a 2.1-channel speaker setup, relying instead on my Paradigm Studio 100 v.5 tower speakers, connected via a pair of SVS SoundPath Ultra speaker cables for the duration of this review.
I should also point out that, while pretty straightforward in its operation, the included remote control is a nice bonus for a streaming integrated amplifier at this price. The volume control buttons are centrally located and fall right under the thumb, there’s direct access to all of the amp’s inputs, and there are handy dedicated tone and balance controls at the bottom. There are even four custom input buttons you can assign by a long press, which allow you to recall not only sources but settings such as master volume, tone adjustments, and even the network service with the touch of a single button. Again, it’s not going to win any points for design or materials, but otherwise this is everything you would hope a remote control would be in terms of day-to-day operation.
Actually, though, you know what? I lied about something above. There is one more setup function that I don’t particularly love, although it’s sort of a non-issue in practice. The front-panel USB port is so limited in its capabilities that I’m not sure why anyone would ever use it. But maybe you don’t have the same concerns. That’s up for you to decide.
My issue is, when you plug in a drive, it immediately starts playing the first track and keeps playing the contents of the drive in order, with no provision for switching albums or anything other than skipping forward and backward one track at a time. Again, though, an app update could easily rectify that by the time you read this, so I wouldn’t consider it a dealbreaker. And at least it displays album artwork and metadata from music played via the USB port. So there’s that.
How does the Onkyo Y‑40 perform?
I feel like I run the risk of repeating myself in this respect, but I think it’s worth walking you through my thought process yet again when it comes to evaluating the performance of a streaming integrated amp like the Onkyo Y‑40. It really all boils down to what can go wrong. If the things that can go wrong don’t go wrong, what you’re left with is good sound.
So the first thing I check for is whether or not the DAC reconstruction filters are doing anything stupid, such as some sort of super-slow-rolloff minimum-phase filter, which can attenuate the highest audible frequencies and rob you of your sense of space, while also adding a sense of warmth that some audiophiles dig. And a great test of that, as always, is Andrew Bird’s Echolocations project, although in this case, I relied on Echolocations: Canyon (16‑bit/44.1kHz FLAC, Wegawam Music Co. / Qobuz) instead of my go-to Echolocations: River, just to shake stuff up.
Both are great test albums for the same reasons: Bird recorded these Echolocations sessions live, responding to the natural ambience of the environment to inspire and guide his improvisational fiddle-playing. As such, you get a lot of ambient hash in the recording, as well as things like burbling water and even wind, the spaciousness of which can get diminished a bit if you start rolling off the upper end of the audible spectrum.
Full disclosure: I’m ancient, and as such, my high-frequency hearing is not as acute as it used to be. Once you get much higher than 12 or 13kHz, I’m not hearing a whole heck of a lot, at least not unless you feed me band-limited test tones and really crank the SPLs. And yet, that’s still sufficient to hear what a lot of these silly audiophile reconstruction filters are doing. And I’m not hearing any of the telltale signs when listening to, say, “Sweep the Field” via the Y‑40. Kudos to Onkyo for that. The unit passed its first test with flying colors, doing a perfectly boring job of accurately and beautifully recreating the analog waveform sampled for the digital releases of Echolocations: Canyon.
With that out of the way, the next big question I have to answer is whether or not the amps have sufficiently low output impedance and/or are backed by high-enough current to handle the impedance dips of a speaker like the Paradigm Studio 100 v.5, which can thin out a bit between 100 and 200Hz, especially if the output stage isn’t up to snuff.
Y’all know a lot of my go-to tracks for testing this already if you’re regular readers of my reviews, but one I’ve been gravitating toward a lot more lately is “Holy War” from the Dune Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (24/48 FLAC, WaterTower Music / Qobuz). Until somewhere around the 56-second mark, the deep bass buried in the mix of this one is almost subliminal, and frankly not necessary to the composition, but its subtle (strong, but subtle) presence lets you know that an amp is firing on all cylinders. And, indeed, played through the Y‑40, I felt the bass from my Paradigms almost as much as I heard it, in precisely the same proportions as I’d expect with an amp benefiting from way more headroom.
Past that point in the track, the bass starts to ramp up in intensity and relative placement in the mix, such that if by around the 1:06 mark you’re not starting to feel a little queasy, your system isn’t performing linearly at the lower end, which in my system would mean the amps were struggling to keep up. There’s another great test spot at around 2:12, where the rest of the mix retreats from the bass, and if your amps aren’t delivering the goods in terms of current, or if the damping factor is too low, the bass that remains can sound out of proportion, sucking the impact out of that moment.
I’m not trying to be a reductionist here, but when everything comes together and a streaming integrated amp like the Y‑40 is performing competently, this track can be goosebump-inducing. It can sound magical. It doesn’t feel in the moment as if all this emotional engagement can be reduced to technical specifications—and indeed, I think that’s why a lot of subjectivists think we objectivists are a bunch of heartless number-crunchers—but the truth is, this magic is an emergent property of technical competency. And the Y‑40 is way competent, both in the digital domain and via its line-level inputs.
Unfortunately, I’m not in a position to give such in-depth technical analysis of its competency with vinyl because the Y‑40 didn’t play well with my U‑Turn Orbit Theory turntable and its Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge.
I can say this: the phono stage has a pretty good rumble filter, which I’ve learned not to assume at this price point. It also seems tonally neutral, pointing toward good RIAA compensation. I can say this because, to the best of my ability to level match them and compare, my vinyl copy of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s Omnium Gatherum (KGLW‑013‑2LP) and the digital version thereof (24/48 FLAC, KGLW / Qobuz), which is simply a needle-drop of the test pressing of the LP, sounded tonally identical to my ears.
The problem came in trying to level-match them, though. For all of my listening via AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, and my iFi DAC plugged into one of the Y‑40’s analog RCA inputs, the volume level sat pretty consistently at around 65 to 72 (out of 99 max). I had to turn the volume up above 90 to get my turntable up to anything resembling a satisfying listening level, though, and at that point the whole affair was plagued by hiss.
When I switched on the Pluto 2 preamp built into my Theory and reconnected its output to a line-level input, I could achieve very satisfying output with a listening level of around 74.
None of that did anything to dampen my enthusiasm for the Y‑40. Nor did the half-assed Onkyo Controller app. These shortcomings are more than outweighed by the excellent performance with digital and line-level sources, the great user experience aside from the app, the stunning looks of the Y‑40, and the overall vibes.
Anyway, back to the triage. I said, “excellent performance with digital and line-level sources.” What does that mean, exactly? Again, the DAC reconstruction filter and the amp output stage are the big ones. And it’s generally safe to assume that if those are handled competently, everything else will be, too. But I don’t like to assume, safely or generally. So I also listen for problems that might be caused by the volume control—controversial, I know, but that’s just my two cents.
Those problems can manifest, in my experience, in the form of slight, almost imperceptible channel imbalances that can affect things such as soundstage and imaging. I probably would have heard those issues, if there were any, with the Andrew Bird recording, and I didn’t. But it’s always worth a deeper dive.
So I turned to the track “Nod‑Krai” by Aurora and HOYO‑MiX from the Genshin Impact: Outside It Is Growing Dark soundtrack (24/48 ALAC, miHoYo / Apple Music Classical). There’s a lot going on in this mix, which starts with very delicate vocals locked in the center of the front soundstage with very sparse string accompaniment, before expanding outward with floaty strings and a denser mix that wafts out into the room and perceptually around the listening position not long after the 45-second mark.
It’s a neat blend of the ambient and the specific. There’s a wash of sound that bathes the listening area, but also very specific instrument placement within the soundstage, and if it’s not rendered with utter precision . . . Oh, who am I kidding? It still sounds amazing. But when everything falls into place, it adds to the immersiveness of the listening experience.
I probably wouldn’t knock the Y‑40 too hard if it couldn’t pull this off. But it did. Here, yet again, is a perfect example of “magic” as an emergent property of science and engineering.
What other integrated amps should you consider in this price range?
If you’re digging the vibes of the Y‑40 but thinking to yourself, “Self, I wish this thing had like 66 percent more power and an HDMI input, as well as the HDMI ARC connection, optional MC support via its phono stage, a legit subwoofer output with bass-management capabilities, and support for Dirac Live room correction, and I’d totes drop an additional $500 for all that,” have I got good news for you: the company’s Muse Series Y‑50 (US$1499.99, CA$2199.99, £1399, €1499) is exactly that. I’m not here to tell you whether or not it’s worth the extra coin, but it totally would be for me.
There’s also the NAD C 3030 (US$1199, CA$1299, £899, €999) I reviewed last month, which doesn’t have as much power on paper, but has way the heck more than I would ever need. It also features a subwoofer output with rudimentary but effective bass management (via a dipswitch that engages an 80Hz high-pass), but it has only one line-level in, one phono in, and only HDMI eARC and TosLink for its digital inputs. It also has only Bluetooth for a wireless connection, with no support for any sort of network connectivity.
You might also want to consider the WiiM Amp Ultra (US$529, CA$739, £499, €599), which doesn’t have a phono input at all, and only one RCA input at that, but it does have Wi‑Fi 6 (upgradable to 6E) and Bluetooth 5.3, with support for SBC, AAC, and LC3 codecs. It also supports Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and Qobuz Connect, along with DLNA, LMS, and Linkplay multiroom streaming via the WiiM Home app, and it’s Roon Ready to boot. Plus, I really dig its remote. To me, though, it’s just not as fun to look at as either the Y‑40 or the C 3030, although you’re well within your rights to call me a nutter for even caring about aesthetic concerns.
TL;DR: Is the Onkyo Muse Y‑40 worth the money?
I cannot express in words alone just how much I typically loathe the sort of cautious half-answer I’m about to give with regard to the question of the Y‑40’s value, but in this case, I hope you’ll forgive me. The truth is, it depends on what you need from a streaming integrated amp, as well as where your system might evolve over the coming years.
Do you know for sure you won’t be adding a subwoofer to your system and that you’ll never want to use room correction? Are the Onkyo Controller app’s limitations a non-issue for you? Are you bringing your own phono preamp to the party, assuming that’s a source you even care about? If yes to all of the above, then heck yeah, the Y‑40 is worth the coin.
If, on the other hand, you want to do 2.1 right at some point, you plan on using your phone as a major source of streaming content, and/or you’ve got a turntable with no preamp, your money might be better spent on upgrading to the Y‑50, despite the hefty upcharge. For me and my hi‑fi needs, the Y‑50 looks like the better bang for the buck, even if the buck is substantially higher.
But if you look over the connectivity and capabilities of the Y‑40 and think to yourself, “Self, that does everything I need,” then what you’re left asking is whether this thing has the performance chops and good ergonomics/UX.
It does. It so does.
. . . Dennis Burger
dennisb@soundstagenetwork.com
Associated Equipment
- Speakers: Paradigm Studio 100 v.5
- Headphones: AKG K361, Audeze LCD‑2
- Sources: iPhone 16 Pro Max; Oppo BDP‑93; U‑Turn Orbit Theory turntable; custom-built PC running Pop!_OS with Cosmic Desktop 1.0.11
- Speaker cables: SVS SoundPath Ultra
- Power conditioner: SurgeX XR115
Onkyo Muse Y‑40 streaming integrated amplifier
Price: US$999.99, CA$1499, £849, €899
Warranty: Two years, parts and labor
11 Trading Company, LLC
3502 Woodview Trace #200
Indianapolis, IN 46268
Phone: 1-800-229-1687
Website: www.onkyo.com
