Is Onkyo Out of Business?

I thought Onkyo , Marantz and Pioneer were owned by Denon in some complicated Ownership pattern typical of Japanese.
 
I thought Onkyo , Marantz and Pioneer were owned by Denon in some complicated Ownership pattern typical of Japanese.

Sound United was planning to take over Onkyo & Pioneer last year but the deal did not happen. The latest acquisition by Sound United is B&W. The brands owned by Sound united are Denon, Marantz, Boston Acoustics, Polk Audio, Definitive Technology & Bowers & Wilkins.

 
Onkyo has been running in a loss for 5 years, and has not been able to get funding to stay afloat. They are cutting costs as much as possible so that they can focus on product design and manufacturing. Most probably all sales will be through dealers and distributors.
 
Onkyo is a bit of an odd ball out there in the AV space. Forget present times, this was a brand I had never even heard of till the late 90's. I first heard of the brand only when they came to India. Brands like Denon, Pioneer, Technics, JVC, Sony, Akai, Aiwa, Sanyo, Kenwood were the more sought after or known names in the consumer audio space. As we all know, as far as mainstream Japanese audio goes, only one is really left and that is Denon. The rest are probably just surviving and are nowhere like they used to be back in the 80' or 90's.

Onkyo did make the first step into India as far as setting up local presence and it did give them a first mover advantage but it was also at a time when most folks did not have the knowledge or dough for stereo or home theater. Heck nobody even knew who Onkyo were. I remember visiting their Cunnigham Road showroom in Bangalore and was in awe with their stereo equipment, especially the Scepter speaker. Had never seen anything like it. After getting used to all the plastic mini component Hi fi from Sony, etc, it was a relief to see something serious in the market. Solid metal frames and solid wood speaker. Their Liverpool series was their high end take on mini component Hi Fi. Nobody had anything like what Onkyo were selling in India back then. Before the advent of Pro Fx, Onkyo was THE brand if you wanted home theater. The only other alternative was BPL with their DSP-2000 Pro Logic system.

Onkyo have made some great Hi Fi but they've also made some really krapp Hi Fi. The lack of marketing does not help either. Their current situation comes as no surprise to me. That said, their current line up do have some stand out products that rival if not better some of the best out their and thats their RZ series of AV Receivers and current gen Stereo integrated amplifiers and stereo receivers. They are really good and if you find them going for a bargain, go for it. I missed an opportunity to buy a RZ800 receiver a couple of weeks ago. I heard it and to me it was right up their with the best from Denon and Marantz. I did own a TX-SR674 briefly and it was superb.

Will be sad if Onkyo does go away . I doubt if anyone will miss them. Say Home Theater or anything Hi Fi and its not the first name that comes to your mind.
 
Onkyo service is another sore point. They do not service AVR's that are imported even after it is out of warranty. Also they do not service if bought online.
 
next to follow.. denon, marantz, svs ... all these junks torture people with dummy robotic sound with mundane user interface in 2021!

Time for Bose , Sony , JBL to step up and introduce their new lineup wireless 5.1.2 in india.
Going through your previous posts, you sound like a troll, somehow keen on promoting Sony.
Or maybe you have a high level of sarcasm that is lost on me.
 
next to follow.. denon, marantz, svs ... all these junks torture people with dummy robotic sound with mundane user interface in 2021!

Time for Bose , Sony , JBL to step up and introduce their new lineup wireless 5.1.2 in india.
If you are a Sony salesman please keep your silly comments in your mind. There are enough knowledgeable people here to know a scam post when they see one, I am definitely one.
We are talking about Onkyo's survival here and don't expect nonsensical comments from anyone.
 
Will be sad if Onkyo does go away . I doubt if anyone will miss them. Say Home Theater or anything Hi Fi and its not the first name that comes to your mind.
My first home theater system was
HTS-580. I picked it over demon HTIB due to better SW effect. That time Demon had smaller 6.5 SW and Onkyo passive 8 in.Demon mids were more clear. Overall Onkyo was VFM.
 
I owned the 1st 606 avr when it released here. Still I find the power amp qlty of my old Onkyo better than the Denon 3400 am using now. Onkyo is made for movies,esp the older gen models...
 
With the advent of really good soundbars paired with a subwoofer, the AVR era is effectively over. I first heard the Yamaha multi amped soundbar 10 years ago and was deeply impressed at the refinement and tonal balance. After this I stopped thinking of soundbars as a compromise. People eventually get tired of all the wiring and complexity. You have to be especially passionate and be able to dedicate a room to consider an AVR these days.
 
With the advent of really good soundbars paired with a subwoofer, the AVR era is effectively over. I first heard the Yamaha multi amped soundbar 10 years ago and was deeply impressed at the refinement and tonal balance. After this I stopped thinking of soundbars as a compromise. People eventually get tired of all the wiring and complexity. You have to be especially passionate and be able to dedicate a room to consider an AVR these days.
They are two different markets. The HTiB customer may shift to soundbars, but there is a whole lot of dedicated HT users to keep AVRs in business.
Onkyo may be out of business, but the last 10 years have seen the HT market growth bigger and you can find models more easily than 10 years ago. The present pandemic dictated market condition excluded. Arrival of OTT platforms and cheaper large screen TVs further helps the market.
 
In my opinion, sound bars are just a convenience substitute. It reduces the hassles of wires and connectors. but sound wise, sound bars are not yet replacement for HT systems. My brother purchased a JBL sound bar with a huge sub, he paid something around 42k. The sound bar has detachable pieces which can be used as surround. They are very loud, but just that. SQ wise I don't think it is in par with even HTiBs . At least I would prefer it any day over sound bars
You should try listening to a good one, JBL is not exactly a premium brand. Low end soundbars are replacement for HTiB no doubt. Try listening to something like a high end Yamaha or a Martin Logan. For the average living room where the TV usually is, AVR is overkill.
 
I worked for an Only dealer some years ago I have even met some of the actual Japanese Engineers when we had a dealer / technical meet in Chennai. I know a sincere company when I see one. Some of their older receivers like 898/5000/5500/TX NR 1000 were AVRs to die for. Their 1000 series DVD player was one held on awe by me. Nowadays due to market demands and customer stupidity and ignorance there is a demand for use and throw like hence puny sound bars bluetooth devices mobiles etc. Poor sound through anemic systems!
 
next to follow.. denon, marantz, svs ... all these junks torture people with dummy robotic sound with mundane user interface in 2021!

Time for Bose , Sony , JBL to step up and introduce their new lineup wireless 5.1.2 in india.

Well as for me I am not TORTURED with so called JUNK made by Denon or Marantz or SVS etc. Most of us have started our Audiophile journey from the Ages of Cassettes (20-30 yrs+) using Norge / Arphi / Sony Systems / Yamaha etc etc. Compact Systems to Separates etc.

We are all entitled to an opinion about a device / electronic as long as we put across the facts and our experience across.

I don't think I have invested a good amount of money in systems all these years for fun. Most of us make calculative decisions based on experience, reviews etc and then invest in the system and enjoy its playback performance.

As far as the brands you mentioned, most of us have used them at some point in the past (or even present). I do still love the Sony FHB 190 or 900 compact Hifi System or the LBT separate series etc. I do have Bose 301s V as part of my AVR system as Main Fronts. Used JBLs years back!

Fact is after the late 1990s, there is a huge difference in built quality and performance of certain brands and their respective models. Very few brands have retained their original signature in terms of built quality and performance.

Besides having a keen sense of hearing or interest in music/movie detailing, most of us would also look at the technical aspect of amplification, quality of components used and performance delivery along with features.....budget sometimes plays the biggest dampener for some of us! Very few make it to complete their audiophile dream of the ultimate system.
 
The Game is not yet Over!
Nice to know that the game is not over yet.
Though I never owned any Onkyo, I always have a soft spot. This was the first real hifi product that I had seen up close.
Way back in 1999 I had just passed my post graduation and taken up residency in AIIMS, New Delhi. Me and my friend went to visit the Onkyo experience center (CR Park/ Kalkaji? Don't remember) called Temple of Sound. We couldn't afford them, but they staff gave us elaborate demo. This was my first brush with the shiny handsome black boxes that belted out beautiful music. Later they were assembling speakers in Chennai IIRC.
About 10 years ago another friend of mine was building his own HT room and I blindly recommended him Onkyo.
When I started building my systems, other brands were already available in India and I got different stuff. But many times Onkyo came up for consideration. Be it their DD turntable or Liverpool system for my bedroom.
I hope they live to fight another day and keep the market for hifi products vibrant and alive.
 
I owned their TX-SR444 AVR, was very impressive for both stereo listening and music alike. Unfortunately most of their AVR's had the HDMI unit issues where they used to go dead after a year or so , i had the same issue where 2 out of 4 hdmi ports stopped working year 2 but luckily the remaining 2 worked fine for the remaining time.
 
We couldn't afford them, but they staff gave us elaborate demo. This was my first brush with the shiny handsome black boxes that belted out beautiful music.
If I go down memory lane, I fell in love with World Space Radio during the last year of my graduation. I desperately wanted to have one of those but my pocket money didn't allow me. Finally, when I was able to buy one, they shut the shop. :(
 
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