Onkyo TX-RZ30 AV Receiver Review

[Gypsy]

I am fascinated that this entire thread seems to have been dedicated to comparing the Onkyo RZ30 that streets (with DIRAC Live) for $800 and the Denon 3800 that streets (with DIRAC Live) for $2,150. The reality is that these are different products for different people. And yes one of them can do DIRAC ART... but just that license cost the same as the Onkyo RZ30 at $799.



My situation is probably not too far from standard. I have an older 5.2 speaker setup and want to upgrade to a receiver that will handle .4 Atmos, has independent sub-outs and I might also want to play with DIRAC Live. My system, in this house, in this room will never be more than 5.2.4. and the speakers are 8 Ohm with +99 dB Sensitivity.

For someone like me with a 5.2.4 what does the $1,350 extra for the Denon 3800 buy me?

On the other side of the equation that same $1,350 would buy a Buckeye Hypex NCx252MP 6-Channel Amp to run all the bed layer speakers

 

[Power Pop 23]

I am fascinated that this entire thread seems to have been dedicated to comparing the Onkyo RZ30 that streets (with DIRAC Live) for $800 and the Denon 3800 that streets (with DIRAC Live) for $2,150. The reality is that these are different products for different people. And yes one of them can do DIRAC ART... but just that license cost the same as the Onkyo RZ30 at $799.

View attachment 547943

My situation is probably not too far from standard. I have an older 5.2 speaker setup and want to upgrade to a receiver that will handle .4 Atmos, has independent sub-outs and I might also want to play with DIRAC Live. My system, in this house, in this room will never be more than 5.2.4. and the speakers are 8 Ohm with +99 dB Sensitivity.

For someone like me with a 5.2.4 what does the $1,350 extra for the Denon 3800 buy me?

On the other side of the equation that same $1,350 would buy a Buckeye Hypex NCx252MP 6-Channel Amp to run all the bed layer speakers
View attachment 547944

True,

There a fewer AVR's to compare today compared to 20 years ago.

Nice to still have some choices.

 

[Gypsy]

True,

There a fewer AVR's to compare today compared to 20 years ago.

Nice to still have some choices.

There are plenty of AVRs that are more comparable in price. Here are just the Denons.


The 2900 is the least expensive Denon with DIRAC Live available, but at $1,600 street it is still 2x the cost of the RZ30.
The 3800/3900 are the least expensive Denon with DIRAC Live + DLBC available (also ART compatible)

 

[EWL5]

There are plenty of AVRs that are more comparable in price. Here are just the Denons.
View attachment 547946

The 2800/2900 are the least expensive Denon with DIRAC Live available, but at $1,600 street it is still 2x the cost of the RZ30.
The 3800/3900 are the least expensive Denon with DIRAC Live + DLBC available (also ART compatible)

The 2800 can't do Dirac. The 2900 is the first 2xxx series to have that capability.

 

[Gypsy]

The 2800 can't do Dirac. The 2900 is the first 2xxx series to have that capability.

Good catch, will edit.

 

[ballchinian]

I ordered an rz30 before seeing this thread. I am moving from an apt to a house, so I'm upgrading from 3.0 with elac db63s to a 5.2 setup with r3 metas, r6 meta and elacs as surrounds. I also ordered a buckeye 4 channel to run the LCR. The room is 16'9 by 11' open on one side and my seating will be 7 ft from the mounted tv. Since I'll be in a house I plan on listening loud especially for movies.

My understanding is the KEFs are power hungry so I got the amp. I ordered the rz30 bc of the features like dirac live and independent subs for a great price. Since I have an amp, I'm not worried about the power issue, but what if I upgrade to 5.2.4 with small speakers?

I was looking at the 3800h, but its not really available refurbed and the price is quite high if you include the dirac liscensing fees.

 

[peng]

I ordered an rz30 before seeing this thread. I am moving from an apt to a house, so I'm upgrading from 3.0 with elac db63s to a 5.2 setup with r3 metas, r6 meta and elacs as surrounds. I also ordered a buckeye 4 channel to run the LCR. The room is 16'9 by 11' open on one side and my seating will be 7 ft from the mounted tv. Since I'll be in a house I plan on listening loud especially for movies.

My understanding is the KEFs are power hungry so I got the amp. I ordered the rz30 bc of the features like dirac live and independent subs for a great price. Since I have an amp, I'm not worried about the power issue, but what if I upgrade to 5.2.4 with small speakers?

I was looking at the 3800h, but its not really available refurbed and the price is quite high if you include the dirac liscensing fees.

Power hungry is relative, it depends a lot on your seating distance and how loud you listen to. The fact is, your 7 ft seating distance is on your side, if 10 dB or even 6 dB below reference is loud enough for you, and it very loud for a lot of people, you don't even need the buckeye amp. Back to the power hungry thing that people tend to use on forums freely, yet if one thinks about this, KEF recommend 15-180 W for the R3 meta that is rated 4 ohm nominal, so no matter how hungry one might call it, one should be fine with power amps rated 200 W, that are not really a "powerful" amp as such anyway, many flag ship class AVRs can do it too.

Adding the buckeye amp is still a good idea, though to really make a meaningful difference, you would need 2X the output to get just 3 dB louder (I am sure you know that already though) so something like the popular NC252MP won't make much difference other than taking the load off the AVR's build in power amps. The 3800 indeed would cost a lot more if you add all the license cost for DLBC and ART but it is up to you to justify any anticipated audible improvements that would be quite a subjective matter. I think the RZ30 is capable of DLBC, but I am going by memory, if it is, it maybe worth getting the license for it if you are going to keep it for a long time.

 

[Mugwart]

I needed a new pre-processor (use external amps to match the speakers) and was using a 15-plus year old Integra dtr-70.3 HDMI specs are out of date. I picked up one the these RZ30's because I only use it for switching, volume control, and as a processor. I do not use the internal amp at all on the RZ30. It was also the cheapest I could find for what I needed at 999.99. The only problem Ive really had is I can tell the DAC's do not sound as good, but it was a trade off for the HDMI I needed for my Samsung S90C (before I was running toslink from the TV and using the TV for switching from my 4k disc player, apple tv, etc..) Trade-offs to save a few bucks

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

I needed a new pre-processor (use external amps to match the speakers) and was using a 15-plus year old Integra dtr-70.3 HDMI specs are out of date. I picked up one the these RZ30's because I only use it for switching, volume control, and as a processor. I do not use the internal amp at all on the RZ30. It was also the cheapest I could find for what I needed at 999.99. The only problem Ive really had is I can tell the DAC's do not sound as good, but it was a trade off for the HDMI I needed for my Samsung S90C (before I was running toslink from the TV and using the TV for switching from my 4k disc player, apple tv, etc..) Trade-offs to save a few bucks

I doubt you can audibly notice difference in dac.

 

[Mugwart]

I doubt you can audibly notice difference in dac.

sorry should of said also the path to analog pre-out rails was much better on my old Integra

 

[peng]

sorry should of said also the path to analog pre-out rails was much better on my old Integra

The DAC IC used in your older Onkyo itself is a near flagship TI one that has much better SINAD and DR specs than the lower end TI chip, the PCM1690 used in the RZ30. That's 106 dB for the DTR70.3 vs the 94 dB for the RZ30. Whether you can hear the difference is hard to say, though the relatively low 94 dB SINAD for the PCM1690 would likely make it the bottleneck in the pre out signal path.

 

[Mugwart]

The DAC IC used in your older Onkyo itself is a near flagship TI one that has much better SINAD and DR specs than the lower end TI chip, the PCM1690 used in the RZ30. That's 106 dB for the DTR70.3 vs the 94 dB for the RZ30. Whether you can hear the difference is hard to say, though the relatively low 94 dB SINAD for the PCM1690 would likely make it the bottleneck in the pre out signal path.

My JBL L7's in that room now are detailed and are getting their full recommended wattage of 450W (more so than than my other speakers thru out my house, PSB Imagine series speakers I have are kinda close?). I have hardware everywhere now over the years to switch to taste.

 

[Heatransfer]

Lots of talk about Limp Mode. There's a separate thread discussing Onkyo Limp mode, though I thought I would repost it here. Apologies if experiences similar to mine have already been discussed in this thread.

Here's my anecdote.

To be clear, I currently own a RZ30, but I don't feel an emotional attachment to it (other than wanting continued survival of the company), or D&M, Yamaha, Anthem etc etc etc.

I recently accidentally triggered what I believe is limp mode and my experience was as follows.

Firmware Version:R145-1119-1284-0034

Summary for the "unintended 4 ohm mode":

• will activate for the first time on challenging impedance loads (nominally 4 ohms)
• audio will play normally at reduced quality (detection of reduced quality entirely on the owner)
• there is no indication of this mode on the AVR
• there is no indication in the web user interface (not even "protect")
• AVR can only reset by pulling the plug and re-plugging

1. there is now an indication on the web UI
2. AVR can be reset by using the web UI

I accidentally triggered the protection circuit by shorting out an amplifier output (NOT from playing program material). When I did this, there was a quiet pop and the AVR immediately shut off. When I fixed the amp short and restarted the AVR, it showed a message on the display something like "Check SP". Memory is a bit fuzzy but I think I power cycled the AVR again and went into the WebUI.

There is a protection indication on the web UI. On the web UI, click on the clipboard on the upper right to bring up the Status menu.

Scroll down to the "Amplifier" section (shows Protect, Temperature, Fanspeed etc).
During normal operation the "Protect" field shows as "Not Protected".

I saw something like like "protected" or "protect on", and a button I could click to reset the amp back to normal operation ("Not Protected").

Power cycling through the front panel that one time did NOT clear the amp protect. I did not try the plug/replug to reset, but I did successfully reset the protection circuit using the WebUI.

So not great that you need to be a bit of a AV geek to know to look here, but at least a bit easier than forcing an unplug to reset.

 

[EWL5]

Lots of talk about Limp Mode. There's a separate thread discussing Onkyo Limp mode, though I thought I would repost it here. Apologies if experiences similar to mine have already been discussed in this thread.

Here's my anecdote.

To be clear, I currently own a RZ30, but I don't feel an emotional attachment to it (other than wanting continued survival of the company), or D&M, Yamaha, Anthem etc etc etc.

I recently accidentally triggered what I believe is limp mode and my experience was as follows.

Firmware Version:R145-1119-1284-0034

Summary for the "unintended 4 ohm mode":

• will activate for the first time on challenging impedance loads (nominally 4 ohms)
• audio will play normally at reduced quality (detection of reduced quality entirely on the owner)
• there is no indication of this mode on the AVR
• there is no indication in the web user interface (not even "protect")
• AVR can only reset by pulling the plug and re-plugging

1. there is now an indication on the web UI
2. AVR can be reset by using the web UI

I accidentally triggered the protection circuit by shorting out an amplifier output (NOT from playing program material). When I did this, there was a quiet pop and the AVR immediately shut off. When I fixed the amp short and restarted the AVR, it showed a message on the display something like "Check SP". Memory is a bit fuzzy but I think I power cycled the AVR again and went into the WebUI.

There is a protection indication on the web UI. On the web UI, click on the clipboard on the upper right to bring up the Status menu.

Scroll down to the "Amplifier" section (shows Protect, Temperature, Fanspeed etc).
During normal operation the "Protect" field shows as "Not Protected".

I saw something like like "protected" or "protect on", and a button I could click to reset the amp back to normal operation ("Not Protected").

Power cycling through the front panel that one time did NOT clear the amp protect. I did not try the plug/replug to reset, but I did successfully reset the protection circuit using the WebUI.

So not great that you need to be a bit of a AV geek to know to look here, but at least a bit easier than forcing an unplug to reset.

That’s not limp mode.

 

[StefMug]

Just a suggestion.

I know it from Smartphone oneplus, this has the fast-charging mode "super-vooc"
In USA this mode charges not as fast as in Europe, due to the 110 volt vs. 230volt in Eurppe.

Maybe the poor watt performance is due to the 110 volt power grid and in Europe it could perform better?

"Apparently the US OnePlus 12's 80W SUPERVOOC charger CAN charge at 100W if you live somewhere with 220V"​

 

[Power Pop 23]

Just a suggestion.

I know it from Smartphone oneplus, this has the fast-charging mode "super-vooc"
In USA this mode charges not as fast as in Europe, due to the 110 volt vs. 230volt in Eurppe.

Maybe the poor watt performance is due to the 110 volt power grid and in Europe it could perform better?

"Apparently the US OnePlus 12's 80W SUPERVOOC charger CAN charge at 100W if you live somewhere with 220V"​

I am skeptical that the amplifier section of the Onkyo TX-RZ30 will perform better in Europe than other areas of the globe.

 

[valerianf]

Since 1 year I have a RZ30 and I am not satisfied with the high frequencies sound that is very distorted.
As I got a new Hisense Tv with eARC I made some more tests with my system and found something that puzzled me: distortion is only present when using Hdmi sources from the AVR. If I use a eARC passing through source (Hdmi from Tv) or the internal AVR "net" sources (i.e. Amazon Music HD) there is no audible distortion.
Did somebody noticed this issue with the RZ30 Hdmi?

 

[valerianf]

The distorsion in the treble could be due to the audio trans-coding between the Hdmi source and the selected audio mode of the AVR.
When using the internal Amazon Music app of the Avr there is no way to select an audio source (i.e. Pcm, DD...).

 

[vivid]

...

Probably another setting, which is not set in streaming mode.
Eg "music optimizer," enabled equalizer, etc.
Try "direct mode / pure audio" to test it carefully, because this make no sense.

 

[valerianf]

"because this make no sense"
It may be also one of my HDMI devices that is bringing some electrical noise and a buggy behavior.
I will start by changing the Amazon Fire stick that I am using with Amazon Music.