Hi guys I am considering rz50, I am an AVE newb.
I do like the Dirac in theory but am held back by Amir’s review of RZ50
Can someone please tell if anything has changed since the date of review (firmware updates etc.)?
Also which Dirac version does RZ50 have?
I am considering X3800h as well and it seems one can buy from $250 to $650 worth of Dirac features for it. Which level does Rz50 have?
Would x3800 be a better buy overall?
There is actually nothing "wrong" with it at all. I'm not reading the whole thread, but I'm sure some have sussed out by now that the review was largely unfair and arguably misleading so far is it concerns real world use. People don't understand that what happens on a bench will not happen in real life. You can read a better description of the same of similar behavior at Audioholics in their review of the Integra DRX, which is the predecessor model: "The Integra DRX-4.3 had very touchy nanny circuits to protect it from overheating. I knew when I saw the big fan and smallish heatsink, this would be the case. Although I was able to measure some impressive 4-ohm power figures, the DRX-4.3 was unable to sustain those figures for more than a few seconds without current limiting kicking in along with the very quiet fan. This would limit output voltage to 13Vrms or 40 watts/ch (4-ohms) and the only way to restore nominal operation was to unplug and power-cycle the receiver, after you let it cool down for a bit."
All that "nanny" really does is prohibit you from running the unit heavily into clipping for very long. Given that most content has
dynamic range in it, if you save 10dB of headroom, your average power usage would be ONE TENTH of peak. So, if the unit can put out 200 watts maximum into 4 ohms, it can in fact play cleanly under any reasonable usage scenario using normal speakers, since only 20 watts are being used continuously. I wouldn't use it to run speakers with a 1 ohm load, but normal speakers on normal program material won't be an issue. Now, if you plan to use it to play dubstep with 4dB of dynamic range at volumes just below clipping, or a wall of PA speakers, you might want to look elsewhere. You'll trip it. Also, if you trip the circuit in real use, I suspect it's going to be
obvious since the volume will just about cut in half. You'll go, "Hey, what happened?! All the crazy overblown clipping sounds stopped and the music got all quiet and clean sounding!!" Well, that was Onkyo and their circuit just saving your speakers, your receiver, and probably your ears from damage.
Could have they implemented it to restore power once the overload conditions were removed? Sure, but there was no reason to do that with something you're wildly unlikely to trigger. If you do find yourself triggering it, you need to upgrade to a new amplifier, because this one is not designed to run at those sorts of output levels for a sustained period of time--and it lets you know. Apparently, it will also show that a fault was triggered in the app.
Now, in all fairness, I don't actually have one of these things (yet). But I'm considering buying one. Why? RZ50 has full Dirac live. At the new pricing often available of $800, or $1000 pretty much always, it's a huge value. Audyssey XT32 on the Denon is great, too. Either of these is a fine receiver. For most people, I'm guessing they can save a few hundred bucks with the Onkyo. Or get the Pioneer LX505 as a refurb for $700. Try finding a Denon close to that. You can't. I'm considering buying one just for the processing to use as an all-in-one preamp. It's a freaking bargain. Streaming services, Dirac Live built in, subwoofer outputs, 2V preouts, phono input, analog and digital inputs, and ... apparently some bonus stuff that it apparently can do with videos and surround sound, whatever that is..
The only small "but" here is probably this: If it's all about the room EQ and multiple subwoofer integration, some of the Denon products might offer more if you pay lots of money for Dirac plus DLBC. DLBC apparently can achieve good results with less headache and tweaking than it will take with Audyssey. Plus, if and when Denon get Dirac ART (and assuming Onkyo doesn't), then that's likely to be a whole new ballgame. I might pay more for that. But I would never pay more for standard old Dirac vs XT32 or vice-versa. It's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich versus a jelly and peanut butter sandwich. And Audyssey is also plenty tweakable with the $20 phone app and some of the free tools out there. Or if you want to go 7.2.4. Then Denon wins again because of better internal amp rerouting flexibility (fronts can powered by external amp and then internal front amp re-routed to surrounds, which Onkyo does not do, instead forcing to amplify the extra surround channel for which there is no internal amp).
EDIT: ... and one more huge "but" ... Only Audyssey provides an easy way to apply a Fletcher-Munson curve (i.e. loudness compensation) to whatever you're listening to. Dirac does not. This is not a fault of the Onkyo. It's a fault of almost every unit that uses Dirac, and utterly disqualifies it for me. Hypothetically, some THX or Dolby feature might be able to provide it, but it seems complicated, and appears only to work with the Dolby Surround upmixer. I'm using it for two channel, so it won't work for me. For home theater, probably not an issue. If you would never use such a sonically polluting thing as loudness compensation, or are find with it just working when Dolby is enabled, then just get the Onkyo with Dirac. Shame on Dirac for still not providing a loudness control overlay onto their REQ.
