I am seriously considering purchasing the Onkyo RZ50. Can be found NEW for $1300 and USED-LIKE NEW for sub $900. It’s got great reviews. Should I be looking elsewhere for a better AVR for the same price? If so, where? Thank you in advance!
Main competitor would be Denon X3800...
If you don't need all the channels - eg: if 5.1.4 is sufficient - then you could look at the NR7100, RZ30, Integra DRX3.4 (and Pioneer equivalents)
The only caution is to check what your speakers are like, if the speakers are hard to drive, (if their minimal impedance drops below 4ohm.... regardless of what their nominal impedance is) - then you may need an external amp to drive those speakers - in my case I use an external amp for front L/C/R, and use the AVR internal amps for surrounds and heights.
Another consideration would be if you want to in the future have Dirac ART - then you should limit your search to those devices that support DLBC (as Dirac stated that if a device supports DLBC it has the hardware ability to support ART, assuming the manufacturer enables it)
Right now it is likely that the RZ50, RZ30 will get ART (but not guaranteed)
The Denon X3800, has been confirmed as getting ART
The Integra DRX8.4 was informally confirmed as receiving ART eventually...
I'm very happy with my Integra DRX 3.4
