In 2020 many of us speculated that Onkyo may be dead after the disastrous deal with Sound United fell through in late 2019.
Onkyo was so sure that the deal would be finalized that they ramped down production and cut orders with suppliers. When the deal fell through it left Onkyo scrambling to renew orders with suppliers and continue development of new products.
So it was quite shocking when Onkyo announced the new TX-RZ50 and Pioneer Elite VSX-LX505 and a host of mid-range AVRs in January 2021.
A year later its now January 2022 and the new AVRs hold their own quite well against Denon and Yamaha.
Onkyo also has new ownership, Voxx International, who finalized the purchase of Onkyo/Integra and licensing for Pioneer in July 2021; transferring much of the debt that was weighing Onkyo down.
Are we looking at Onkyo/Integra/Pioneer returning to form or is this the last hurrah before the brand becomes a zombie like RCA and Kenwood?