Onkyo TX-NR7100 AVR Review

[andrewskaterrr]

That is such a small audience. It offers no functionality for 99% of users. Rather see them scrap it and offer upgrade cards to put in there like seen on more high-end equipment. Besides, your RetroTink will give you MUCH better image quality than this AVR will ever give you.

But like I said, its more likely just that it costs more to remove it and to redesign the rest. These AVRs probably have just been endless revisions of a model they designed 10+ years ago.

I know the RetroTink is better, hence why I bought it over a $20 Chinese converter, but the fact is I’ve heard so many other people complain about not having analog inputs on their new TVs over the years. Also not everyone wants to be forced to go buy another device, take up room on the shelf, and use another HDMI slot. It’s easier all around to just have it built in. Personally I’ve been bothered by it for years now. I think it should be included on all AVRs, even though they’ll be low quality. My Marantz SR5010’s ADC was good enough for me to play my retro consoles on until I upgraded to a Pre/Pro.

 

[Spkrdctr]

What really upsets me about this test is it gives surround sound multi channel a bad name. When you sell junk like this and try to pawn it off as good equipment, you destroy the entire concept. As another poster mentioned, if you pay $800 you can get a real low end AVR. It most likely does not have the idiotic rip off of massive power limiting and false claims of power that turns off and never comes back on for the average user. Amir did an amazing job. Junk like this should be hounded out of existence. It is appalling the junk supposedly reputable companies put out for the general public. A pox on their house!

 

[dtaylo1066]

1K for crap. You could buy a few separates for 1/2 to 2/3 the price and blow this thing away.

 

[popej]

Anyone else still waiting for evidence that 75dB SINAD and only 40W/ch is an audible issue in a typical living room/bedroom use case? I know I am.

Don't hold your breath
This is what I use, actually Pioneer LX305.

 

[SynthesisCinema]

Disappointing as TX-RZ70 did so much better in all tests at Audioholics! It`s currently on sale for 2000$ or 1800$ open box so all hope is not lost with Onkyo as it even beats the 4500$ costing Marantz Cinema 30 in power output tests @amirm .

- The TX-RZ70 produced very low distortion of 99dB SINAD (.001% THD+N) for the main channels and 86dB SINAD (.005% THD+N) for the surround channels via the multi-ch preouts.

- As shown with the SINAD vs Vrms graph prior, the pre-outs of the TX-RZ70 have plenty of clean drive (3-4Vrms).

- The TX-RZ70 was able to belt out 266 watts/ch at 0.1% THD+N and 299 watts/ch at 1% THD+N into 4-ohms with both channels driven. This beats the Marantz SR8015 which tested at 229 watts/ch @ .01% THD+N and 251 watts/ch at 1% under similar test conditions.

- The TX-RZ70 was able to muster 118 watts/ch at 0.1% THD+N and 133 watts/ch at 1% THD+N into 8-ohms with seven channels driven. By comparison, the costlier Marantz SR8015 tested 92 watts/ch @ .01% THD+N and 101 watts/ch at 1% with seven channels driven under similar test conditions.

- The Onkyo TX-RZ70 wins a bass ass award for its impressive CEA 2006 short dynamic burst tests results by delivering about 213 watts/ch for 8 ohms and 370 watts/ch with 2CH driven at 4 ohms and over 180 watts/ch with 7CH driven at 8 ohms.

- Distortion is low for the amp section of the TX-RZ70 measuring 85dB SINAD (.005% THD+N) up to at 50 watts/ch. That’s excellent!

 

[MusicLover2112]

i kind of feel like these boxes of rapid obsolescence have kind of had their day

like do people out there care too much about 7.2 home theater any more? in a streaming world?

Why would I stop caring about 7.2 home theater in a streaming world? Even though I own many 4K discs I still stream and my 5.1.4 system sounds great.

 

[welwynnick]

Disappointing as TX-RZ70 did so much better in all tests at Audioholics! It`s currently on sale for 2000$ or 1800$ open box so all hope is not lost with Onkyo as it even beats the 4500$ costing Marantz Cinema 30 in power output tests @amirm .

- Distortion is low for the amp section of the TX-RZ70 measuring 85dB SINAD (.005% THD+N) up to at 50 watts/ch. That’s excellent!

I think Gene was perhaps being a just a little generous with his adjectives, but yes, the TX-RZ70 is where it should be, more so than the NR7100.

 

[andrewskaterrr]

One of the typical examples why I won't buy an AVR any time soon.

So one bad apple out of plenty of good ones, and you call it quits? I guess I shouldn’t buy a Camry because the new Tacomas are blowing engines.

 

[andrewskaterrr]

Does anyone know if it would be possible to find exposed line level traces that go to the amps, and tap into them for DIY Preouts? Might be a fun project for the future.

 

[popej]

but yes, the TX-RZ70 is where it should be, more so than the NR7100.

Except that I can buy 3 NR7100 for a price of RZ70

 

[SynthesisCinema]

I think Gene was perhaps being a just a little generous with his adjectives, but yes, the TX-RZ70 is where it should be, more so than the NR7100.

If you were refering to SINAD then is that 85dB really something to complain for 2k$ unit? Well below the audible threshold if 70dB is that for most people already. On top of that you get more power over the 4500$ Cinema 30 plus extra cost for Dirac, not with Onkyo.

 

[welwynnick]

I just don't think that Gene sets his bar very high, and some of the new Anthem AVRs perform better.

 

[amirm]

Could you please explain the notice "In (-18.3dB)"? Is it dBFS of test signal? I would expect, that full capability of DAC are shown at nearly 0 dBFS input.

This is a test of DAC+Power Amplifier and target was 5 watt output, not line level for DACs. Naturally I had to reduce levels to back out amplifier gain. I could do that with either volume control or source level. In prior tests, they produce the same performance.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

This unit is why I want Atmos decoding at the PC level with 10-16 channel external USB DACs accepting multichannel LPCM feeds. In addition its poor noise and distortion performance, you can add in amp shut downs and power throttling under realistic operating conditions, as well as planned obsolescence.
This thing is just a box of crap.

Amir, as always, thanks for the excellent review.

 

[kyuu]

Anyone else still waiting for evidence that 75dB SINAD and only 40W/ch is an audible issue in a typical living room/bedroom use case? I know I am.

But why settle for that when you can do better?

Note, I'm not talking about doing separates, which is silly to bring up when talking about an AVR. You can't just get a standalone DAC and some amps and have an equivalent to an AVR, nevermind the mess of wiring all those separates require. If people like and want that, that's great, I have nothing against it. But my quest is to find an AVR that provides good performance because AVRs do what I want in a reasonable, convenient package.

But we can expect better than undisclosed power limiting way under what is listed in the specifications, and SINAD that's worse than what can be found in $100 standalone DACs when we're talking about $1000+ devices. Customers don't need to carry water for companies doing substandard engineering and manufacturing.

 

[amirm]

In terms of the "protection mode" - it can be identified easily from the web interface -where the status screen shows whether protection mode is on or not, and the speed setting of the fan (among a plethora of other stuff).

As I have explained in previous videos, this is NOT protection mode. Protection shuts the unit down. This limp mode silently limits power but the machine keeps going.

 

[welwynnick]

This unit is why I want Atmos decoding at the PC level with 10-16 channel external USB DACs accepting multichannel LPCM feeds.

Absolutely that.

 

[beagleman]

But why settle for that when you can do better?

Note, I'm not talking about doing separates, which is silly to bring up when talking about an AVR. You can't just get a standalone DAC and some amps and have an equivalent to an AVR, nevermind the mess of wiring all those separates require. If people like and want that, that's great, I have nothing against it. But my quest is to find an AVR that provides good performance because AVRs do what I want in a reasonable, convenient package.

But we can expect better than undisclosed power limiting way under what is listed in the specifications, and SINAD that's worse than what can be found in $100 standalone DACs when we're talking about $1000+ devices. Customers don't need to carry water for companies doing substandard engineering and manufacturing.

I would prefer do find one that does all that one does, BUT....and the big but, limit it to maybe 3.1 channels.

The plethora of surround and height channels etc..seem to me to limit the performance overall.

I run mine with a sub crossed at 120hz, and only the L,C,R channels. Surround is fine to me, but just not "Into" it anymore like I was in the 90s.

 

[Hart]

I think receiver purveyors are just lazy, they sell a lot of units, they assume the clients are not really audiophiles, and the competition is just other fair or less products. I have a 5.1 system for stereo and movies. I would love for someone to make a really good receiver with great class D amps, good preamp section etc. Maybe there just isn't as much demand as I think there should be. Also, I wonder if Denon, Pioneer, Onkyo, Marantz etc. just concentrated on three levels of receivers instead of the near insane amount they put out they would have more money for engineering a better product. I think they create markets by adding little upgrades every year, making people feel like what they have is obsolete. Some of the advances are good, most are technical minutiae. Three should be plenty. It was fine for Goldilocks anyway.

 

[Oso Polar]

If I want multi channel there are plenty of high performing DACs such as the 8 channel Topping DM7 or a minidsp flex 8 (or HT with HDMI), combined with say Buckeye assembled Hypex modules that will do the job very well at much less cost.

This Topping doesn't even have HDMI and miniDSP Flex HT/HTx are not able to decode digital audio (only PCM is supported), don't have multiple HDMI inputs and cheapest version with room correction and calibration mic will be ~$1000 for the DSP alone (add cost of the amplifiers). So, no, not cheaper and can't replace AVR, not even close.