Onkyo TX-RZ30 AV Receiver Review

[delta76]

Expectedly disappointing.
Only if we get a worthy competitor to x3800h, but when itself is a step down from previous generation (x3700h AKM), we don't have any other good alternative in the market segment.
LX305/505 was disappointing. RZ50 and now then RZ30 is, too.

 

[popej]

No indicator. You can only see it by measuring and trying power cycling vs AC cord cycling. This is now the 4th AVR with this problem so I know it quite well.

What about web interface? There should be info about protected mode.
Edit: below example screenshot from my Pioneer, not a protection mode of RZ30.

 

[MoStyles]

Dang, I just put in an order this morning and already canceled. I can put of with some subpar specs, but I do needs some decently clean power. Anyone have any AVR recomendation to run a decent Paradigm Premier 5.1 speakers system? Hopefully not over $1,500

 

[Power Pop 23]

Dang, I just put in an order this morning and already canceled. I can put of with some subpar specs, but I do needs some decently clean power. Anyone have any AVR recomendation to run a decent Paradigm Premier 5.1 speakers system? Hopefully not over $1,500

AC4L dot com is selling a refurbished Denon AVR-X3800H with a one year warranty for $1,399.

This Denon model is discontinued and may be available for less.

External amplification can be cheap and bring decently clean power to the Onkyo TX-RZ30 when used as an AVP

 

[Morphon]

This is my home theater receiver!

It was a huge upgrade from the one I had before (an entry-level Pioneer thing that switched into low power mode automatically after being on for 20 minutes). Sounds way better than the old one.

The main draw for me was the pre-outs. For someone like me with a relatively "value"-oriented setup, this is the cheapest way to get decent 4-ohm speaker rating AND pre-outs with full decoding and features from an AppleTV streaming box and the usual suspects of a blu-ray player, htpc, and turntable.

Basically, I can run my 4ohm speakers just "fine" now. And I can put a set of power amplifiers in there in the future and just let the receiver do the decoding and "user facing" work (HDMI ARC, and the rest).

Totally happy with it. Fit my needs and budget.

 

[Spkrdctr]

I can't say anything good about this unit at all. The number one sin is cutting power drastically without letting the owner/operator know. This puts it in my "junk" category. It is a blatant rip off. I know Gene at Audioholics has an in with the guys at Onkyo and he should be talking to them and telling them that they are going to fail miserably if they don't fix their clearly broken product. If they advertised it as a 30 watt per channel AVR then it would be ok but they don't. This is snake oil that has entered the main arena of the AVR business. The engineers must have gone nuts. Putting out 30 watts requires no fan at all, so they could get rid of the fan and save money. Since the unit will never be really pushed as the limiter will kick in the fan is for looks only. I say again snake oil is being sold here. Lying about its power rating. Appalling!

Not that I have an opinion or anything........

 

[Power Pop 23]

Per Amir,

As with other Onkyo and Pioneer AVRs, any attempt to push the amplifier will cause it to go into a lower power mode. This can not be fixed with a power button cycle. You must disconnect the AC cable or it will continue to do so until end of time

A 'wall-mount' option for conveniently disconnecting power to this and similar AVR's.....

Copper, slate and wood

 

[perceptionist]

Expectedly disappointing.
Only if we get a worthy competitor to x3800h, but when itself is a step down from previous generation (x3700h AKM), we don't have any other good alternative in the market segment.
LX305/505 was disappointing. RZ50 and now then RZ30 is, too.

X3900H is out.

 

[Pauli]

X3900H is out.

Even the fact that the Denon – although of smaller size – is about 1 kg heavier than the Onkyo could make you somewhat optimistic

 

[Hemi-Demon]

These are typically on sale for $800 and have basic DIRAC included. To turn off the amp section, you have to use the remote to access the miscellaneous section, and the click on preamp mode. Click on ALL to turn off the amp section.

There is still no excuse for the limp mode. I would also recommend checking for the firmware version, and consider keeping it updated.

 

[kemmler3D]

No indicator. You can only see it by measuring and trying power cycling vs AC cord cycling. This is now the 4th AVR with this problem so I know it quite well.

Oh, wow. Despite having a web interface to show it (apparently?) I think that's really bad. I mean, this is not a radical concept. Even cars from 40 years ago had check engine lights. And although they probably don't expect many people to overload the amp, if someone does, they likely need the power, so the low-power mode is probably going to sound bad, and the user will go crazy trying to figure out why.

This seems like a feature invented by lawyers without talking to customer support...

 

[sealman]

As a receiver I would say this is a failure based on the power issue alone.
Now when you consider it as just a pre/pro then the $800 price and feature set seems pretty good when compared to other pre/pros and even other receivers with full preouts.
At the $1100 price point there are other options that start to make more sense for a little more money imo.

 

[delta76]

X3900H is out.

Then?
We need competitions for x3800h. A successor is nice but not exactly what market sorely needs.
For the price range of around $1500 you don't have a good alternative for x3800h, that's a problem

 

[EWL5]

@amirm, did you ever try the power tests w/the impedance switch at 4 ohm to compare against the "limp mode"?

 

[EWL5]

I can't say anything good about this unit at all. The number one sin is cutting power drastically without letting the owner/operator know. This puts it in my "junk" category. It is a blatant rip off. I know Gene at Audioholics has an in with the guys at Onkyo and he should be talking to them and telling them that they are going to fail miserably if they don't fix their clearly broken product. If they advertised it as a 30 watt per channel AVR then it would be ok but they don't. This is snake oil that has entered the main arena of the AVR business. The engineers must have gone nuts. Putting out 30 watts requires no fan at all, so they could get rid of the fan and save money. Since the unit will never be really pushed as the limiter will kick in the fan is for looks only. I say again snake oil is being sold here. Lying about its power rating. Appalling!

Not that I have an opinion or anything........

30W is only under the low impedance load. In 8 ohms nominal, it performed and exceeded advertised power into 2CH.

There's a reason a 4-6 ohm load is not advertised on the box...

 

[EWL5]

Per Amir,

As with other Onkyo and Pioneer AVRs, any attempt to push the amplifier will cause it to go into a lower power mode. This can not be fixed with a power button cycle. You must disconnect the AC cable or it will continue to do so until end of time

A 'wall-mount' option for conveniently disconnecting power to this and similar AVR's.....

Copper, slate and wood

View attachment 535909

Frankenstein approved.

 

[EWL5]

Then?
We need competitions for x3800h. A successor is nice but not exactly what market sorely needs.
For the price range of around $1500 you don't have a good alternative for x3800h, that's a problem

The only competition for the RZ30 is from its other PAC brethren (even the dropped Pioneer units). Competition for the 3800 is...again its own group (Denon and Marantz). They are such different animals power-wise and I honestly think the street prices reflect this.

 

[EWL5]

As a receiver I would say this is a failure based on the power issue alone.
Now when you consider it as just a pre/pro then the $800 price and feature set seems pretty good when compared to other pre/pros and even other receivers with full preouts.
At the $1100 price point there are other options that start to make more sense for a little more money imo.

If you didn't need the discrete SW outs and/or DLBC, the Integra DRX 3.4 would have been a much cheaper alternative as recent as last year.

 

[see_no_evil]

I wonder where they are finding the silicon to decode and digitize component video.

I know Texas Instruments makes some of those components. For example, my RetroTink 4K (ADC/scaler for retro video analog sources) uses Texas Instruments TVP7002 that is still in production. Unfortunately I couldn't find good PCB close-up to identify which part they are using in RZ30.

 

[B-Flow]

Limp mode makes this (and all the others like it) worthless. My Denon 3800 may not measure great but at least it doesnt ghost me when faced with a challenge. Thank goodness for ASR else I might have assumed Onkyo was still the safe bet it was 20+ years ago.