Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

[Rdmetz]

When DVD's and Dolby 5.1 first entered the market I was torn between Onkyo and Denon for the equipment to buy. It was a close call but I eventually decided to go with Denon. If something like this were to happen to Denon It would be a very sad day for me.

At the end of the day these companies are just brand names on what is "effectively" the same product.

With some (onkyo/pioneer/Integra) it LITERALLY is the same product.

But ultimately you should never tie yourself down to a single brand and instead when it's time to upgrade get the option on the market that meets your needs the best and at the best value.

I've mainly been using onkyo for better part of 20 years but I've also at times had denon and even Yamaha and Sony.

The idea I hear so many say is "I'd buy onkyo but their reliability..."

Fact is ALL companies can put out a janky product one year doesn't mean that their stuff is tarnished forever. (See the hdmi signal board issue with onkyo a while back or the more recent hdmi 2.1 issues with... Well everyone BUT onkyo)

 

[Uncle Al]

As these stereo receivers seem to slip away I can't help but wonder if they will do a turn around like vinyl platters have. There is a company in Nashville that has grown from one press to several dozen and everything sells immediately as they are pressed. Apparently it's become more than a passing fad and welcome too!

 

[GoldenGoat]

Onkyo makes too many different models, which makes it hard to support them all well. The low and mid tier AV went to soundbars, but I think there will always be a market for high-end AV receivers. There are always going to be people who can afford it who really want high end sound. They should have focused on high-end products, made fewer models, supported them better, and focused on dealing with high-end shops rather than places like best buy. Or they should have followed the market and made soundbars.

 

[Rdmetz]

Real shame all these iconic Japanese brands going to the wall .
Maybe people just happy with sound bars - and dumbing down multiroom sound .
The upmarket can buy an expensive machine and get installers to do the hard work of installing in ceiling Atmos speakers , wiring surrounds etc - and make the room still wife friendly - plus if serious upmarket - have a dedicated theatre room - where the chairs would cost more than a cheap Onkyo receiver .
Some Chinese company will buy the name - to pump out stuff like Akai , I think Hitachi as well
Keep up the fight Yamaha - I imagine it's a well liked company for it's quality entry level guitars, speakers and other musical stuff .
I hope Panasonic does not leave the TV market .
It's some Japanese , some European , some old style British/USA companies not bought out my takeovers that keep the general consumer faire honest .
You may get the big brand cheaper - but what is the attention to detail - the balancing of components , the reliability .

I had a Nad 3020 amp as a youngster - a super piece of kit - so hopefully they crack on
Still have Onkyo 5.1 receiver stored somewhere - probably even hard to gift now

Bro I guess the article didn't do its job and explain but the onkyo a/v business (effectively EVERYTHING that made Onkyo... Onkyo) was sold a WHILE back and has been effectively a sister brand to Klipsch Pioneer and a number of other brands.

They've continue on making great products and are the only brand in receivers this past year that didn't screw up hdmi 2.1 on their units.

For years many of the big brands have all been owned by a few mega combined companies and onkyo is just now following in line.

Once they sold the business "the company" onkyo (whatever you Can call a company that sold ALL of what makes it popular including name and all products and patents) was left with nothing to do but file bankruptcy.

It's sad that things had to go this way yes and them remaining independent would have been ideal but it's also true that the leadership of corpo onkyo just didn't know how to do business in 2020s.

They did the right thing by letting the company live on and they'll just join all the other big giant home a/v companies that have become "one" in the past decade or so.

The market for this stuff just isn't big enough for things to remain as they were.

 

[Rdmetz]

That's a shame. I thought they were doing well. I'm currently still the Onkyo receiver for my current home theater setup.

It offers decent quality, features and great value for the price. Sad to see Onkyo go...

They still do and (hopefully) they'll continue to people don't seem to get the business lives on as a whole package was sold to another company that's ALREADY been managing several other a/v brands including Klipsch.

The hottest receiver most want (and is constantly sold out) is an onkyo (the rz-50) incredible performance/features for its cost and on the other end they have the market for feature rich entry level stuff (<$800) pretty much cornered.

Only at costco can you find another set of receivers that compete in the low end but there the Yamaha has 24gbps limits on its hdmi ports and the Denon has less wattage (90 vs 75)

The $499 onkyo receiver at Costco (TX-NR6050) offers 97% of everything you get with their $800 model (TX-NR6100).

Outside a name change (the companies usually requires something like this to prevent price matching issues) they change the specs ever so slightly (100 vs 90w and they leave out thx certification) it's all EXACTLY the same.

 

[Biostud]

I've owned a 5.1 setup, but have reverted to stereo.

I very seldom watch movies, but listen to lots of lossless music, so for me a quality stereo setup is better than surround.

 

[wiyosaya]

I never owned an Onkyo. Since I got to the point where I could afford relatively decent audio equipment, I've bought Yamaha receivers/processors either used or new. For me, Yamaha just cannot be beat.

Also, I would not leave video processing to my display/TV. The processor in my Yamaha is far better than anything found in a TV.

Also, I don't have a cheap soundbar, I have full-sized Paradigm speakers for front, center, and surround. IMO, a sound bar cannot compare to the speakers I have.

The industry has changed and it now tries to fit to people with the lowest budget, however, if you can afford more, there are plenty of great options still available.

 

[texasrattler]

Yeah didn't read to end - Sharp is now mostly owned by Foxconn & Voxx is American

Seems a lot of the receivers were incestuous - sharing lots of components - made in Malaysia

Marantz and Denon really same brand .
Use to see Pioneer speakers here in NZ long ago
Sharp calculators and adding machines , TVs and classic carousel microwave
Checked Casio - they are still going - had to have a Casio FX80 for school - got a FX82 in my drawer - rich kids had a Texas Instruments calculator

I read just fine. No Chinese company is taking them or the name was the point. As the article states, Japanese companies own them.

 

[p51d007]

Good receiver, good amp, good 3 head cassette, awesome turntable, klipsch, speakers
along with my sennheiser headphones. Still have my LP's stored away from the 70's through
the 90's. One, the original Boston album, half speed master LP, thick as a brick, ONLY been
played one time to record it onto a cassette.
Ah, the good ole days. Shoot, now, I'm lucky to hear most of my music through streaming onto
a BT speaker box or my car stereo.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

I never owned an Onkyo. Since I got to the point where I could afford relatively decent audio equipment, I've bought Yamaha receivers/processors either used or new. For me, Yamaha just cannot be beat.

Also, I would not leave video processing to my display/TV. The processor in my Yamaha is far better than anything found in a TV.

Also, I don't have a cheap soundbar, I have full-sized Paradigm speakers for front, center, and surround. IMO, a sound bar cannot compare to the speakers I have.

The industry has changed and it now tries to fit to people with the lowest budget, however, if you can afford more, there are plenty of great options still available.

That's funny; on my main TV, I also have a Yamaha receiver and using Paradigm Monitor 11s as my mains, Monitor 3s as surrounds and a Paradigm C300 center. Good choices!

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Ok after some digging it seems this headline is not painting an accurate picture of what has happened. In fact it's actually wrong.

The actual “Onkyo” brand that consumers know will carry on, the Bankruptcy is the remains of the company that had already sold off the hardware divisions.

“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 2021. A joint venture between Sharp and Voxx is expected to continue using the Onkyo brand”.

Nothing will change as far as home audio equipment is concerned. The mods should have done some more research.

Here is the press release and I quote:

"
May 16, 2022


Dear PAC Partners,

Late last week, we learned that Onkyo Home Entertainment Corporation (OHE) filed for bankruptcy protection in Osaka, Japan for two of its subsidiaries as we anticipated. As a result, some false and misleading statements have surfaced in various media outlets that I’d like to address.

In a nutshell, this filing does not include the assets that were previously purchased last year by Premium Audio Company and Sharp. OHE essentially acted as a licensing company, similar to our relationship with Pioneer. This filing has no impact on our operations as we are not reliant on them for any function in developing or distributing Onkyo or Integra branded audio/video solutions. Additionally, consumer demand for these brands has never been stronger and we are positioned to expand production to meet demand.

In September 2021, Premium Audio Company (PAC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of VOXX International (NASDAQ: VOXX), announced that we along with Sharp Corporation created a joint venture and acquired Onkyo’s home audio/video business, which includes the long-standing and innovative Onkyo and Integra brands. PAC owns approximately 75% of the joint venture and manages all product development, the world-class engineering team and their prowess at Onkyo, sales, marketing, distribution, and all intellectual property of Onkyo’s home entertainment business. Sharp continues to manufacture Onkyo and Integra audio/video solutions products and spare parts in their state-of-the-art Malaysian plant, as they have in the past. The process for service and warranty will continue as it does today.

Demand for Onkyo and Integra products is very high, and we expect this to intensify in the coming years. We have been working very closely with Sharp to ramp up production and have grown our business significantly in the eight months since the acquisition was completed. We have big plans for these brands and are working diligently to expand production and reach to meet growing consumer demand. Rumors to the contrary are simply unfounded and misleading.

The PAC portfolio is comprised of some of the most legendary and revered brands such as: Klipsch, Jamo, Onkyo, Pioneer, Pioneer Elite, Integra, Magnat, Heco, Teac, and Esoteric.

Combining the number one speaker brand in the world with the most technically sophisticated Japanese electronics brands ushered in a new era of design, innovation, and performance. We look forward to another 75+ years of creating industry-leading products, profitability for our partners, and connecting people to their passion for entertainment.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Paul Jacobs

President & CEO
"

 

[wiyosaya]

That's funny; on my main TV, I also have a Yamaha receiver and using Paradigm Monitor 11s as my mains, Monitor 3s as surrounds and a Paradigm C300 center. Good choices!

Cool stuff. Paradigm, IMO, really understands speakers, and Yamaha has been at the top of the Audiophile world since they introduced their sound field processors many years ago.

I had Monitor 11se MKIIIs for a long time until upgraded to Prestige 95Fs and 55C center. In case you are interested, here's a link to my experience with setting up the new speakers - https://www.avsforum.com/threads/paradigm-owners-thread.559431/page-1671#post-42081281

 

[WaltC3]

Hate to see this...especially because it sinks the Pioneer brand. Admittedly, Pioneer had been going downhill steadily for years, and it now appears that Onkyo simply had no idea what to do with it. Now I know what happened, as I wasn't aware that Pioneer had been purchased. Years ago, Pioneer had some nice potential, and some decent products, but that hasn't been true for years--the products with the brand were simply inferior in my estimation. Sometimes companies simply cannot adjust to a market that is changing, but that always indicates to me that management is completely lacking in the areas that count. When changes are demanded by market shifts, some companies simply cannot ford the stream, so to speak.

 

[Vanderlinde]

Soundbars took over. Got to adapt.

And still to my knowledge they dont sound that fantastic compared to a real 5.1 or 7.1 setup for that matter.

I have a soundbar, the sub stopped working. It is a sony device, that does play "hard" but the quality of sound is very static, no dynamic stuff, as if it was made to comply to a certain output in a waveform and that was it. The bass is just very low as well.

But my appartment has a terrible living room in regards of placing your TV or even thinking about installing a hifi set. So better then a soundbar it woud'nt be. These things today are sold for relatively high end stuff in the past. Huge profits are made.

They are not that fantastic, soundbars.

 

[elementalSG]

Okay, this one really hurts. I've exclusively bought only Onkyo receivers spanning 4 different models in the last 17 years because they are just quality for the price. From my first in 2005 having just Dolby Digital 5.1 to now Dolby Atmos today. All of them still working too.

 

[Skjorn]

And still to my knowledge they dont sound that fantastic compared to a real 5.1 or 7.1 setup for that matter.

I have a soundbar, the sub stopped working. It is a sony device, that does play "hard" but the quality of sound is very static, no dynamic stuff, as if it was made to comply to a certain output in a waveform and that was it. The bass is just very low as well.

But my appartment has a terrible living room in regards of placing your TV or even thinking about installing a hifi set. So better then a soundbar it woud'nt be. These things today are sold for relatively high end stuff in the past. Huge profits are made.

They are not that fantastic, soundbars.

No they aren't. They're just OK. Which your average person is fine with. It's less clutter in the room and cheaper than a 5.1. I think the clutter is the main reason people like them. Simple to setup for the average person.