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Onkyo TX-RZ50 Review (Home Theater AVR)

Rate this product:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 96 31.6%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 114 37.5%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 63 20.7%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 31 10.2%

  • Total voters
    304

Rottmannash

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Just joined the forums, mostly read thru the 28 pages for this thread. Just wanted to key in with my personal experience of the RZ-50.
I got it soon after it came out, it was the only AVR that really had everything I wanted/needed (except Auro 3d) I have a smaller room but with an open floor plan so the livingroom is open to the kitchen and hallway, and then that's open to other parts of the house.

I decided to pair the RZ-50 with 4x Monoprice THX-365T and a THX-365C, and 4x SVS Prime Elevation speakers.
The speakers are rated as 4ohm for all 5 of my base layer. So I am powering 9 channels all from the AVR.

I AM offloading the AVR quite a bit by not running full range speakers, I have them set to small crossed at 70hz.
Bass duty going to a MiniDSP 2x4HD and 4x15" Monolith subs.

I have taken a DB meter and cranked it up to reference with more room to go before I maxed out my volume, and I listen rather "enthusiastically" sometimes. So far with months of operation I have not had any sort of protection mode kick in, or noticed any issues at all.

So while one persons experience cant be definitive, I wanted to at-least share that in the case of how I have things configured, even with 4ohm speakers this AVR has been solid, and preformed up to and beyond my expectations.

I do have some amps laying around that I thought about trying out "just for fun" but I am not expecting to really get any gains from doing this, it's more "for science".
Welcome to ASR. I believe I've read many of your very informative posts on AVS re: the RZ50.
 

dlaloum

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Thanks to all the posts and responses on this forum which have guided me in deciding to move to buy the RZ 50. I got my Rz 50 set up finally ...I have a 5.1.4 setup in a 20 x 18 room with LCR channels powered by an Acurus 3x200 Amp and Rz running the bottom surrounds and the 4 top height speakers. I loaded two dirac curves in slot one and two. I like the sound compared to the Denon 6200w it replaced...Over all there is more treble in all the channels and the surrounds and height channels have more heft and are more distinct compared to the Denon (which sounded like higher treble frequencies got rolled off. ) ....Listening in stereo 2.1 mode the Rz does sound musically less colored and less warm specially in the mid range( voices, saxophone, flutes). Coming from 15 years of listening to the two denon units 3808ci and 6200w it took me about 10 days to adjust to the new sound...The RZ sounds much tighter and focused with a big soundstage after the Dirac treatment. So far the RZ has not given me any problems what so ever. Am going to keep the Denon 6200 as a back up just in case.
If you prefer the voicing of the Denon's you can adjust the Dirac Target curve to give you back that warmth...
 

JBH129

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I have been using the RZ50 for a few months and just recently ran into an issue. It shut down on me twice during the new Batman movie when loud explosions occurred. I don’t see why this happened since my LR are powered with NC400s, all speakers are set to small and crossed at 80hz, I don’t listen very loudly, and my other speakers RC263 and R252s aren’t exotic. After th second shutdown, I yanked out the RZ50 and connected my old Denon x3400h and finished the movie without any issues. Onkyo support asked me to replay the movie without the center speaker. If this thing can’t power a decent center then I might just junk it.
 

Rottmannash

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I have been using the RZ50 for a few months and just recently ran into an issue. It shut down on me twice during the new Batman movie when loud explosions occurred. I don’t see why this happened since my LR are powered with NC400s, all speakers are set to small and crossed at 80hz, I don’t listen very loudly, and my other speakers RC263 and R252s aren’t exotic. After th second shutdown, I yanked out the RZ50 and connected my old Denon x3400h and finished the movie without any issues. Onkyo support asked me to replay the movie without the center speaker. If this thing can’t power a decent center then I might just junk it.
Mine is powering the center (RC263) and 2 heights but all other channels are externally powered. I watched that movie at a very high volume level and nothing untoward occurred. Windows were rattling but no shut downs.
 

dlaloum

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My Lower powered Integra 3.4 handled center just fine along with surrounds.... and that's driving a center speaker that drop down to circa 2 ohm...

Something suspect there... (you could also keep an eye on the web status screen, while driving it hard, to monitor temperature and fan status....)
 

ViciousXUSMC

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I have been using the RZ50 for a few months and just recently ran into an issue. It shut down on me twice during the new Batman movie when loud explosions occurred. I don’t see why this happened since my LR are powered with NC400s, all speakers are set to small and crossed at 80hz, I don’t listen very loudly, and my other speakers RC263 and R252s aren’t exotic. After th second shutdown, I yanked out the RZ50 and connected my old Denon x3400h and finished the movie without any issues. Onkyo support asked me to replay the movie without the center speaker. If this thing can’t power a decent center then I might just junk it.
I can only imagine the frustration, being enough to swap AVR mid movie! lol
I saw that one last week and had no issues while powering all 9 speakers.

Being that we see such different results, I wonder if there is a bug or defect causing the problem for those that have it.

I did have some strange things happen from time to time that I would call "bugs" like DIRAC not showing my waveforms, or wifi going down until I power cycled the unit. It would not be completely out of question that some kind of software bug could cause a hardware problem.

I yesterday purposely tried to kill the AVR, I was playing music and movies like John Wick as loud as I could stand to see if I could make it act up, and I was unable. Trying to see if I had any reason to add some external amplification, even just listening for dynamics and other potential lackluster moments of sound, not just a failure, and it did great.

My GF comming home from work said she could hear the movie from her car outside, thats how loud I had it.

Just for piece of mind I did ensure I had about 3" of clearance above the AVR and I have two of the larger 120mm AC Infinity fans ontop of the two spots I saw heat sinks to help pull air out. I never have even felt my AVR get warm. The USB port on the back can be set to power only when the unit is on making this kind of setup really ideal.

 
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hlevinson

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In February I bought a Pioneer VSX-LX505 as I was not able to locate an in stock Onkyo TX-RZ50. Last month I was able to get a TX-RZ50 and am very impressed with it so far.

About 20 years ago I was a big Denon fan. Very beefy and rock sold amps / AVRs. but I was disappointed with all of the more recent denon models i evaluated. so i moved to an Onkyo TX-NR1007 which I liked a lot. When I upgraded to Atmos I tried Denon again (X6500H) but came away disappointed. i spent months of tweaking audyssey settings and it just lacked punch. sold it and ended up with some Yamaha units (AVR at first, then went with a pre/processor (CXA5100) and downsized last year to an AVR (RXA2080) which I also liked.

Now with the TX-RZ50 I am very happy with both the sound quality as well as the great imaging dirac provides. i am using more as a processor and using a Parasound Halo to power my front sound stage (KEF Reference 1 and 202c). I let the Onkyo power the surround and atmos channels.
 

Tanquen

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Don't you guys worry about your hearing, playing it so loud? I can't get anywhere near reference without it being uncomfortable. But inquired are part so increase the volume just to see. And there are definitely other ambient sounds that I don't get to hear playing it at lower volumes. I'm not sure I trust the built-in volume status. Do you ever use a decimal meter to see how loud it is when you're watching a movie?
 

dlaloum

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Don't you guys worry about your hearing, playing it so loud? I can't get anywhere near reference without it being uncomfortable. But inquired are part so increase the volume just to see. And there are definitely other ambient sounds that I don't get to hear playing it at lower volumes. I'm not sure I trust the built-in volume status. Do you ever use a decimal meter to see how loud it is when you're watching a movie?
I have an old Radio Shack SPL meter - I used it for the initial level setting before running Dirac...

I like to listen at around 70db - others in my household prefer 65db.... :(
 

usersky

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Omg. Please stop gaslighting me. It's pretty straightforward to tell when the bass is rattling the upstairs with one AVR and it's not with the othe at the same measured spl. Are you suggesting somehow that my family and I a sharing a delusion together? I can measure SPL. You can also choose to ignore me.
Dishes rattling upstairs may be just bad room correction.
 

Dougey_Jones

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Rottmannash

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I believe that's only the Japanese portion of the company.
 

TallDan

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As the article says, and as has already been discussed here:

“The company sold its core home audiovisual business to Sharp and U.S.-based Voxx International and its earphones and headphones business to an investment fund, both in September. A joint venture between Sharp and Voxx is expected to continue using the Onkyo brand.”
 

dlaloum

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Looks like Onkyo is kaput.


Buyer beware.

Had no bearing on the Premium Audio Co products - PAC was set up by a partnership of Voxx and Sharp (70/30) - that partnership licenced the brands Onkyo, Pioneer and Integra from Onkyo co of Japan.

So the trio of brands are backed and supported by PAC not by Onkyo Japan.

The only thing that might change, is who PAC pays the annual licencing fees to.
 

serpeant

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I’m having trouble getting 4K 120Hz and HDR10 with the RZ50.

I can get 4K 120Hz and HDR10 when I connect my Xbox directly to the Samsung Q80T.

However, when I connect the Xbox to the RZ50 (HDMI 2 in) -> Onyko RZ50 (main HDMI out) -> Samsung TV (HDMI 4), Xbox reports that my Samsung TV can't support 4k 120Hz or HDR10. This is reported by the Xbox in: Xbox -> settings -> TV and display options -> 4K TV details -> 4k 120Hz and HDR10 gaming not supported.

My cables are 4k 120Hz compliant and I checked this by connecting the Xbox directly to the TV with these cables and can get 4K 120Hz and HDR10.

Problem Solved. HDMI 4K/8K video format needed to be set to 8K to get 4K 120 / HDR 10.
 
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Ata

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I can get 4K 120Hz when I connect my Xbox directly to the Samsung Q80T.
Are you connecting the XBox to HDMI2 In, or a different input, via the same cable? Some brands, e.g. Sony, have settings where you need to enable higher HDMI bandwidth specifically, presumably to conserve power and reduce heat on the HDMI board. If you are connecting to a different HDMI input when connecting the Xbox directly, that could be higher bandwidth. Check your TV settings just in case.

I also had to set my AVR to pass through higher bandwidth HDMI (Denon X2500H, so fairly recent), presumably for the same reason. Check your RZ50 settings just in case.
 

Tanquen

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Are you connecting the XBox to HDMI2 In, or a different input, via the same cable? Some brands, e.g. Sony, have settings where you need to enable higher HDMI bandwidth specifically, presumably to conserve power and reduce heat on the HDMI board. If you are connecting to a different HDMI input when connecting the Xbox directly, that could be higher bandwidth. Check your TV settings just in case.

I also had to set my AVR to pass through higher bandwidth HDMI (Denon X2500H, so fairly recent), presumably for the same reason. Check your RZ50 settings just in case.
My Denon X6500H has that HDMI Enhanced setting even though it's HDMI 2.0 only. Had to turn it on to get 4k. They said something about backward compatibility. ???

There always seems to be some kind of issue with these big and expensive HDMI switches not dealing with HDMI too well. I just went direct from my PC with the RTX 3080 and HDMI 2.1 to the TV. I get 4k, 120Hz, 4:4:4 chroma and 10-bit color and its rock solid, then I use eARC for the TV audio back to the AVR. It will even let me set it to 12-bit color, but current displays are barely 10-bit and I can't imagine seeing a difference even if/when they have true 12-bit displays.
 

techsamurai

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What is wrong with this AV receiver? I'm not sure I follow. What's the main difference between the Marantz SR-8015 and the Marantz TX-RZ50?

One gets a recommendation, the other doesn't.
 

starfly

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Have any of the issues uncovered by Amir in his review been resolved through firmware updates?

And how well does HDMI 2.1 work on this AVR? Is it the full 48gbps bandwidth on all input ports? I'm in the market for a HDMI 2.1 compatible receiver. Currently have a Yamaha A2070.

Is it overall a solid and reliable AVR? My Yamaha has been trouble-free for the past 3 years that I've owned it, and if it weren't for HDMI 2.1 (and me now owning a PS5), I wouldn't be considering replacing it yet.
 
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