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Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

asia.nikkei.com

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Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#51

Post by convolvatron »

pbronez wrote: post #44
codefreeordie wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The middle of the market is actually all messy generally these days. The very high end wants systems that feel like current systems, but if you want something in the middle, you don't actually really want the awkwardness associated with having an audio system today. A system of passive speakers, an amplifier or two, and the complexities of the user interface (I can't hear the TV, which of these three remotes do I nee…

There are products there… plenty of good powered monitors available. Some of them have integrated DAC with an optical, line and USB inputs. Those are pretty easy to connect to a TV or whatever. I’m actually hacking on a project to make it easier to sift through all this stuff. The work that Audio Science Review and a (very) few others are pumping out some great objective data on audio equipment performance. My goal i…

yeah. i mean i understand the value of being able to replace components, but for the not-super-concerning the integrated amp silicon is just fine. digital in means a lot less opportunity for noise injection, and the manufacturer gets to tune it all as a unit.

i got some prosumer roland monitors a few years ago and they've had excellent clarity, flat frequency response, plenty of power at 60w on each of the drivers.

why aren't there more products here between the crappy little usb speakers and the $5k/channel real gear?

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#52

Post by lynguist »

boulos wrote: post #6

It's too bad Denon (DENki ONkyo) didn't buy this Onkyo to make the merger complete :). I'm guessing it wasn't worth it to go downmarket via Onkyo, and it sounds like Onkyo had been accumulating debt for years.

https://jisho.org/search/onkyo

Onkyo means sound. Also: Often when there’s To (actually Tō) in a company’s name, it refers to Tokyo’s To such as in Toshiba.

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#53

Post by Hamuko »

lynguist wrote: post #52
boulos wrote: post #6

It's too bad Denon (DENki ONkyo) didn't buy this Onkyo to make the merger complete :). I'm guessing it wasn't worth it to go downmarket via Onkyo, and it sounds like Onkyo had been accumulating debt for years.

https://jisho.org/search/onkyo Onkyo means sound. Also: Often when there’s To (actually Tō) in a company’s name, it refers to Tokyo’s To such as in Toshiba.

>it refers to Tokyo’s To such as in Toshiba.

You mean it refers to "east"?

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#54

Post by vladvasiliu »

codefreeordie wrote: post #39
boulos wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many modern receivers support both Chromecast and Airplay, as well as some level of HomeKit / Google Home / Alexa integration. I think for Onkyo, they just fell in an awkward middle. Not as high end as Denon/Marantz/etc. and not as cheap as . Combined with the drastic decrease in people "needing" receivers and speakers (many people now just get a sound bar, or Bluetooth speakers) and the market squeezed them.

The middle of the market is actually all messy generally these days. The very high end wants systems that feel like current systems, but if you want something in the middle, you don't actually really want the awkwardness associated with having an audio system today. A system of passive speakers, an amplifier or two, and the complexities of the user interface (I can't hear the TV, which of these three remotes do I nee…

> I can't hear the TV, which of these three remotes do I need to push the "source" button on?

I have a fairly dumb amplifier (it does BT, and the DAC can be fed through optical and coax, too). It can also be controlled over RS-232 and Ethernet. It doesn't have any kind of HDMI or other "home theater" related functions.

But the remote of my Fire TV can be configured to control the input and the volume of this amp. So if all I want is to watch a movie or something, I only need to reach for the amp's remote to turn it off when I'm done. If I'm too lazy, it can go to standby on its own if it doesn't get any input for a while.

I do agree, though, that a "normal person" would probably not want it. It's quite big and not particularly pretty. Plus it's useless on its own, you need some kind of source to feed it. A soundbar or some active speakers would be best for them, and it's what they usually choose.

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#55

Post by lynguist »

Hamuko wrote: post #53
lynguist wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://jisho.org/search/onkyo Onkyo means sound. Also: Often when there’s To (actually Tō) in a company’s name, it refers to Tokyo’s To such as in Toshiba.

> it refers to Tokyo’s To such as in Toshiba. You mean it refers to "east"?

No, it’s an abbreviation of Tokyo.

Even if To means East - in a compound To often stands for Tokyo.

Same concept in these words:

来日 - Nichi means day, here it stands for Japan.

Here’s an article about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_abbreviated_and_contr...

More examples: Todai (To for Tokyo), Nissan (Ni for Nippon)

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#56

Post by [deleted] »

convolvatron wrote: post #51
pbronez wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are products there… plenty of good powered monitors available. Some of them have integrated DAC with an optical, line and USB inputs. Those are pretty easy to connect to a TV or whatever. I’m actually hacking on a project to make it easier to sift through all this stuff. The work that Audio Science Review and a (very) few others are pumping out some great objective data on audio equipment performance. My goal i…

yeah. i mean i understand the value of being able to replace components, but for the not-super-concerning the integrated amp silicon is just fine. digital in means a lot less opportunity for noise injection, and the manufacturer gets to tune it all as a unit. i got some prosumer roland monitors a few years ago and they've had excellent clarity, flat frequency response, plenty of power at 60w on each of the drivers. w…

[deleted]

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#57

Post by criddell »

codetrotter wrote: post #3
countvonbalzac wrote: post #2

How hard would it be for them to just take their existing stereo and hook it up to alexa or sonos or some other existing streaming service. If the audio quality is good then quality + decent interface seems straightforward?

There were Onkyo receivers with support for Spotify Connect for example.

I have one. It’s a mini system (CS-N575) and it has both Spotify and Chromecast support but no AirPlay support.

I bought it because I wanted a small system for my office that I could stream to or play CDs. It works, but I wouldn’t really recommend it. It doesn’t sound great. I thought about buying better speakers but then then I looked up the amp specs and saw 10% THD. I think it’s just a mediocre system.

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#59

Post by rixrax »

I feel that the AV-receiver market has gone the way of the DSLR market. Compact speaker systems like Sonos (that don't need a separate AVR) simply got good enough. Thus the need for buying a separate AVR to drive your Dolby / DTS / etc. setup has all but vanished except maybe for the most determined audiophiles (and even most of these would do well to simply get a compact wireless speaker setup instead of some monstrosity that they can hardly ever enjoy...because too small of a listening room, and neighbours).

I'm not saying market for Onkyo, Denon, Sony, Yamaha, etc. AVRs is a goner, but I am suggesting it may have peaked and that going forward there will be less and less demand for AVRs, especially in the low/mid range of things.

Re: Japanese audio brand Onkyo files for bankruptcy

#60

Post by ananonymoususer »

codefreeordie wrote: post #42
midislack wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When we started our quest to double, triple, even quadruple the money supply.

The US has been talking about the "Japan [central bank] Model" as a model of success for much longer than two years. This meme first got really big in central-banking circles after the 2008 crash. Japan has been following this model for 35-40 years of managed-decline. The US has been toying with the same model for more like 10-15 years than 2-3 suggested above. The US so far has managed its decline better, but not fo…

Managing decline is not a plan for survival. No matter what you think of Trump, this was one of his primary policy issues, and is the basis for the "Make America Great Again" slogan.
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