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.