Onkyo TX-RZ70 11.2CH AV Receiver Review

Onkyo TX-RZ Introduction

When I look at swapping out any piece of equipment in my set-up, I am often “checking boxes”. Anyone deep in his hobby is undoubtedly familiar with this process. We all have a list of “must have” or “wanted” features, but as I’ve upgraded equipment, I have trouble recalling any gear  that has checked every box. That is, until the current generation of Onkyo / Pioneer / Integra receivers & pre-amps.

Dirac, along with Dirac Live Bass Calibration? Check. AirPlay2? Check. Works with Sonos? Check. At least 9 channels to handle my system without adding an external amp? Check. Not a long list, but one that couldn’t be fulfilled until the Onkyo TX-RZ70, Pioneer Elite VSX-LX805 and Integra DRX-8.4. I was therefore exceptionally excited to take a look at the base offering of this group: the Onkyo TX-RZ70.

The Onkyo TX-RZ70 ($2,800) is a THX certified flagship 11.2CH AV receiver boasting 140 watts/ch x 11, 7 8K HDMI inputs, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Auro 3D, IMAX Enhanced and Dirac live (standard) with upgrade path to Dirac Live Bass Control. The Onkyo shares a similar platform to the Integra DRX-8.4 ($3,200) and Pioneer VSX-LX805 ($2,999) with differentiating features between the 3 brands that may appeal to different buyers and installation applications. All three AVRs share virtually identical power amp sections and utilize 2x ESS9026Pro 8CH DACs. The Pioneer and Integra models feature one pair of XLR inputs, while the Integra has XLR outputs for the front LCRs and subs, and the Pioneer has XLR outputs for the front LR outputs only. All three models feature dual independent subwoofer outputs. Additionally, the Integra and Pioneer models have two sets of paralleled sub outs to connect up to four subwoofers. The Integra and Onkyo AVRs support THX Select while the Pioneer does not.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Design Overview

Jacob Green’s preview of the DRX-8.4 gave a full rundown of features and key attributes that are essentially the same amongst the Pioneer, Onkyo and Integra, so here I’ll focus on some hands-on observations rather than recap everything, and cite differences between the units.

Out of the box, the Onkyo RZ70 is one of the burlier receivers I’ve ever handled, measuring 18.4 long and coming in at a beefy 49.6 lbs. The RZ70 is a tight fit into the standard equipment rack that houses all of my gear.

The heft of the unit is owed to what Onkyo says is a “all-new reference symmetric class AB amplifier design that maximizes audio performance as the sound is powered up and sent to your speakers.” With an advertised 140 watts per channel, this unit should be capable of powering a decently demanding system which Gene confirms in the bench test portion of this review.

From the front the Onkyo is decent, if fairly standard, to look at. While it lacks some of the polish of the Pioneer Elite, I’d have no issues with the Onkyo sitting facing a listener in an equipment rack in any room. There is a door covering many of the controls, with only a handful of buttons on the front of the unit for things like input, power and volume.

The Onkyo is the base model offered on this chassis and is essentially the same as the Pioneer and Integra, save for the lack of any balanced inputs or outputs. The Pioneer VSX-LX805 has inputs and outputs for Front Left and Front Right speakers, and the Integra has outputs for Front Right, Front Left, Center as well as balanced outputs for each sub. If balanced inputs are important for your set-up, it is worth considering one of the other units - for me these weren’t critical.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Hardware: Inputs and Outputs

Moving to the back of the Onkyo RZ70, we see a full complement of inputs & outputs. On the HDMI front, the rear spots six HDMI 2.1 (HDCP 2.3) HDMI inputs. There is also an HDMI input on the front of the unit. On the outbound side, we have three HDCP 2.3 HDMI outs; two 8K and one 4K; one of the 8K inputs can accept audio from a display via eARC. Other digital inputs include four SPDIF inputs consisting of two optical and two coaxial. There is also an USB audio input for computer connections.

The RZ70 supports bi-directional wireless Bluetooth streaming. Inputs can utilize SBC or AAC codecs, and outbound streaming, to a pair of headphones for example, can use SBC, aptX, or aptX HD codecs including 24-bit audio over aptX HD.

On the analog side, we have five pairs of RCA inputs (including phono). There are legacy component video (1X) and two RCA video inputs. We also have a traditional cable TV input. The Onkyo will transcode these to HDMI - so if you’re using older equipment like a Nintendo Wii, you’ll be able to pass these sources to a modern display without issue.

On the outbound side, there are unbalanced RCA pre-outs for attaching an external amplifier, covering 11 channels (Front L/R, Center, Surround, Surround Back, and two Height Channels). There are also two subwoofer outputs. With these, the RZ70 can effectively act as a pre-amp should you want to offload the driving of some of the speakers in your set-up. I personally find this to be a very cost effective way to upgrade the audio in core areas, without having to rely on multiple amps to power things like height speakers. We also have analog outputs for two additional zones.

There are 11 amplified channels on the RZ70; two of those channels can be repurposed for a Zone 2 if your application calls for this.

Elsewhere on the back of the RZ70 we have one assignable 12v trigger, RS232 for control system integration, an IR input, and inputs for both FM and AM antennas. And while the unit is wifi capable, there is an ethernet port for hardwiring into a network.

On the front of the unit we find an auxiliary HDMI input, also 2.3 in addition to a headphone output and jack for the calibration mic.

Under the hood, the Onkyo boasts high end DACS (Sabre ESS ES9026PRO). HDMI supports standard video signals (HDR10+, Dolby Vision, HDR10, VRR, ALLM, and HDCP 2.3), and a full complement of streaming platforms (AirPlay, Chromecast, Roon) along with de novo support Amazon Music, Spotify, Deezer and Tune-In.

Thus far I’m not sounding all that enthusiastic, so let me dive into what made ME excited about the Onkyo.

1.  Dirac Live Bass Correction in a receiver chassis that has enough channels to match my set-up:

I love Dirac and think it is the best room correction suite available to home users at a reasonable price. I feel it's more flexible than Anthem's ARC and Audyssey prior to their PC upgrade path. I love that the Dirac team is constantly making updates to the software and that these updates are deployed free of charge to users through their software. It's great that Dirac is thinking about truly next generation solutions like Active Room Treatment (ART) which we hope Onkyo will be able to support in a future update someday.

And as a user of multiple subwoofers, I’ve pined for the ability to do proper bass management in one place at an accessible price point. Yes, the same feature set can be cobbled together alongside Dirac by using built in features of a good subwoofer, or externally with a unit from MiniDSP, but these solutions add complexity and complications. Prior to the Integra, only a handful of receivers offered the option of Dirac Bass Correction, along with enough channels to power my 9-channel system without external amplification.

Editorial Note about Dirac Licensing: An additional license purchase is needed to add DLBC to the Integra: $199 for one sub, and $495 for multiple subs - a luxury for sure, but one I was willing to take to get a streamlined solution.

2.  AirPlay2

My family members are heavy AirPlay 2 users. It works. It’s convenient. We are an iPhone family. Surprisingly, as you look at higher end offerings, AirPlay2 becomes less common.

Some may push back and say that solutions from Crestron or Savant could add this…but why in 2024 should we need to rely on an external programmer to add such a powerful and easy to use feature?

3.  Works With Sonos

Maybe the least important feature in my list, but as my whole home audio is anchored on Sonos, this feature is certainly a nice to have. For those not familiar, “Works With Sonos” allows a user to use Sonos Port to control the Onkyo natively. It’s a great feature, and one that allows navigation in the Sonos app to be seamless.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Set-Up

The set-up procedure on the Onkyo is easy to follow through a connected display. Users are walked step-by-step through speaker layout and configuration, and if all you are doing is using the included mic to run Dirac, you’ll be able to get up and running relatively pain free. The set-up encourages you to use Google Home for internet connectivity and I had no issues using this to complete the set-up of the receiver. You can also manually connect the unit to your wifi if needed.

To take full advantage of Dirac on the RZ70, you’ll leverage an external computer and microphone. This will allow you to run a full Dirac calibration. A non-Onkyo quibble here: Dirac documentation remains an area sorely in need of improvement. While there are plenty of third party resources to help you learn the Dirac calibration process, Dirac’s own documentation is confusing and annoyingly incomplete. Even having performed multiple Dirac calibrations over the years, I still needed to spend time brushing up on the process before I start any Dirac calibration process.

As discussed above, Dirac Live Bass Correction is an available upgrade for the RZ70, which I did purchase for this unit. Outside of volume calibration for each sub, all other aspects of bass management and room correction are handled by Dirac. While this premium feature isn’t a requirement to use the RZ70 or properly set-up multiple subs, having everything under one roof should simplify the process of full room equalization, alleviating the need for multiple softwares, test runs, and potentially other external equipment if your subs don’t have EQ.

For this calibration I followed recommendations from Storm Audio who do a great job of filling in some of the gaps left from Diracs own documentation. Storm Audio recommends 9 listening measurements at various locations and heights around the room. I also used Storm Audio’s target curves- which can be downloaded on their website.

Unfortunately as of the time of this review, Dirac Live, and particularly Dirac Live Bass Control has a plethora of issues, all of which I experienced while trying to calibrate the Onkyo. Most notable are problems with Dirac Live Bass Control: The results implementing Dirac Live Bass Control are, for lack of a better word, incorrect. Bass is way too heavy. Even without firing up Room EQ Wizard, I can tell that the results as implemented - either with Dirac’s own target curve’s or Storm Audios are, well, wrong. Again, Dirac is aware of these issues and is working on a fix in future software iterations.

I was able to bypass these issues by using the built in volume and phase control in my SVS SB-4000 subwoofers and turning off DLBC entirely. This yielded a presentation that sounded “correct” for my ears, but did circumvent a key driver of my desire to evaluate this unit. We are publishing this review with this caveat and will update as soon as these kinks are worked out with some before / after sweeps of my room using Dirac w/ bass control.

Worth calling out as particularly helpful, is Onkyo’s Custom Install User Interface, which is accessible via any web browser. Gene highlighted this in a YouTube video and I also was able to effectively leverage this page and used it to confirm various configurations. While by no means a novel attribute in 2024. To access this page, type the ip address into your browser. The default username & password is: ciuser.

The Onkyo RZ70 supports integration on a wide array of platforms, including Crestron, Control4 and Savant among others. I use Savant in my home, and had no issues integrating IP control of the RZ70 - it worked flawlessly in my system.

Once locked and loaded, I was ready to dive into some listening.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Listening Tests

For this review I connected all of my speakers directly to the Onkyo TX-RZ70, bypassing my NAD M28 amplifier. The set-up is 5.2.4 with the Onkyo directly driving KEF Reference 1, 2C, R100, Ci130QR Atmos speakers, alongside two SVS SB4000 subs. High res files were locally streamed over my network directly to the Onkyo. I also tested streaming using lossless music from Apple Music via my Apple TV over HDMI. I also tested AirPlay & Spotify Connect. For movies, I used my Panasonic UB9000 UHD player. All of my listening was done with Dirac without Bass Control. My subwoofers were individually leveled, and a phase correction was placed on one sub (as determined using RoomEQ Wizard), for time alignment.

With this set-up, I was thoroughly excited by what I heard from the Onkyo, which as a stand alone receiver easily met my expectations on both music and movies. The unit is capable of delivering impressive clarity & dynamics, and I never perceived any lack of power in my system. Coupled with Dirac (again, without bass control), the RZ70 sounds fantastic. And this makes sense as you can see from Gene’s bench test results below.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Music Listening

I have been listening to high res files of the 2023/24 Phish New Years Eve run on in preparation for the upcoming shows this winter (FLAC-HD 24bit / 48 kHz). Phish does an amazing job mixing these shows, and here they sounded amazing. From old school tunes like Rift (12/28/23) to the newer Feugo (12/30/23), the Onkyo didn’t struggle to deliver a lively rendering of these shows. While my NAD M23 sounds incrementally better than the Onkyo, the RZ70 is fully capable of a musical, and pleasing presentation.

Keeping on the Phish bandwagon, I queued up Apple Music via my Apple TV, to stream Phish’s new studio album Evolve to the Onkyo. This album was produced by Grammy winning producer Vance Powell and Bryce Goggin. It is a beautifully produced album that moves from heavier rock tracks (“Hey Stranger”) and the super subtle (“Lonely Trip”). I was exceptionally pleased with how the Onkyo rendered these - effortlessly keeping up with Anastasio’s guitar and Fishman’s drums. I smiled as I listened to this album in its entirety.

AirPlay2 and Spotify Connect work as expected with the Onkyo natively, with minimal delay to get music up and running. We don’t use Chromecast much - but asking for music via Google Home also worked as expected.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Movie Listening

My current reference disc is Top Gun Maverick. Queuing up the final attack run to the base, I was thrilled with how the RZ70 was able to envelop our entire living room in sound. This track makes use of all 9 speakers flawlessly, and I was happy with the dynamics that this receiver was able to achieve. The RZ70 was certainly capable of rattling the room and generating glances from my better half to be sensitive to our neighbors.

A/B comparisons in my set-up are hard, so I was left to rely on memory for comparisons to my stand alone NAD M23 amp. Based on that reference, the M23 is capable of outperforming the RZ70 - eeking out a bit more of a dynamic presentation compared to the RZ70, but the difference isn't glaring and given the cost difference, we are nowhere near sounding 2x better.

 

To see how the RZ70 handled a more nuanced track, I used Part 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Like many, watching the entire Harry Potter series is a holiday tradition in our family. There are several very quiet scenes in this film between the three main characters as they search for Voldemort’s remaining Horcrux’s, or the final sequence when we bury Dobby the House Elf. Again, I was very pleased with how the RZ70 handled these more delicate tracks. Particularly in that burial scene, where we get a great mix of Atmos with music and ambiance. Here the difference between the M23 and the RZ70 is far far tougher to discern.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Preamplifier Measurements

By. Gene DellaSala on 07/12/24

Note: All measurements were conducted using our Audio Precision APx585 8 Channel HDMI Audio Analyzer.  The Onkyo TX-RZ70 was defaulted to high-impedance (High Z) mode (6-ohms or more) and ECO Off unless otherwise stated.

For more information about how we measure power amplifiers, please see:  Basic Amplifier Measurement Techniques

Onkyo TX-RZ70 11.2CH AV Receiver Bench Test Results!

The TX-RZ70 preouts are able to deliver  about 4Vrms unclipped from the multi-ch preamp outputs which is more than 2X voltage drive needed to make most external amplifiers reach full unclipped power.  The main channels had the lowest distortion as can be seen in the graph below. Preamp mode made a slight improvement in THD+N for the surround channels.

The Onkyo TX-RZ70 measured ruler flat from 10Hz to 50Khz (-1.7dB @ 85kHz).

 

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Frequency Response Analog Pure Direct

 

Onkyo TX-RZ70 SINAD vs Vrms Analog Preamp

The TX-RZ70 produced very low distortion of 99dB SINAD (.001% THD+N) for the main channels and 86dB SINAD (.005% THD+N) for the surround channels via the multi-ch preouts.

Note: While this distortion difference is measurable between channel groups, it’s unlikely to be audible.

As shown with the SINAD vs Vrms graph prior, the preouts of the TX-RZ70 have plenty of clean drive (3-4Vrms).

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Vsweep vs Distortion (HDMI In, Preout)

Note: The preamp disconnect mode can be selected for the main channels or all channels. It should be used if you are using external amplification on those channels since it disconnects the preamp signal to the power amp section, which is designed to drive the internal amplifiers into clipping around 1.6 Vrms. I personally prefer not driving an amplifier into clipping, even if there is no load attached to it.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 FFT Preout (2Vrms out, 0dbFS input)

With a digital full-scale input (0dBFS) and the volume adjusted to 2Vrms from the preamp outputs, the FFT looks very good with the 3rd order harmonic being 94dB below the 1kHz fundamental.  There was no appreciable hum or power supply noise present.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 SNR Analog Preout

Note: Ignore CH 4 which is the subwoofer channel in this case.

The Signal to Noise Ratio from the analog preouts of the Onkyo TX-RZ70 is excellent. With a 0dBFs input and 2Vrms output, I measured about 112 dB for ALL the channels regardless if I engaged preamp mode, pure direct or regular multi-ch. Anything above 100dB at 2Vrms is considered “quiet” in my book. The Onkyo is dead silent and will make for an excellent preamp/processor if you decide to power up in the future with a multi-channel amplifier.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Bass Management

With all channels set small, the HPF is correct 12dB/oct and LPF is correct 24dB/oct. This is what you would get from a THX certified product and is textbook good performance.

Note: The bass management calculator in the DSP has a 48kHz limitation and downsamples high resolution sources when engaged. Some AVRs from Yamaha and Denon don’t have this limitation but some high end processors like the $24k Storm Audio ISP processor also has a similar limitation. It’s not something to be too concerned about in my opinion.

 

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Bass Management (fc = 80Hz)

Onkyo’s Standing Wave manual EQ function is a bit disappointing. The TX-RZ70 only provides preadjusted set points that you can select. The Q of their prescribed filters is too low to serve as an effective calibration tool in most cases. To make matters worse, it applies the filter to ALL channels as there is no way to select channel groups or just the subwoofers.

PEQ filters are supposed to have adjustable frequency (Hz), Q (width) and amplitude settings (+-dB). Having the adjustability allows a calibrator to dial in the exact frequencies of the problematic room modes to customize filters to reduce or eliminate them. As you can see below, I selected 60Hz and applied a cut of 10dB. 

The Q appears to be around 2 based on: Q = fc / (f2-f1) or 60 / (80-50) = 2.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 PEQ Manual Filter Engaged

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Filter DAC Settings

Buried in the menus is a section where you can select the filter response type for the DAC. The effects of the various settings are most pronounced with Fs = 44.1kHz (CD sampling rate) and diminish as you increase sampling rate. Based on my measurements, I concluded that Filter: Auto = Sharp = Short while   Slow starts to roll off below 20kHz. I would recommend leaving this on “auto” for most cases.

 

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Frequency Response of Various Filter Settings (Fs= 44.1kHz)

 

Onkyo TX-RZ70 FFT Noise Spectrum (fs = 44.1kHz)

 

Onkyo TX-RZ70 FFT Noise Spectrum - fs = 96kHz (red) & 192kHz (brown)

With a 44.1kHz digital input, I checked the stopband rolloff and found it to have a smooth rolloff below ½ Nyquist. The noise spectra showed a little weirdness above 45kHz but it’s down in the weeds at -110dB and inconsequential. With the sampling rate increased to 96kHz, out of band noise was excellent at -130dB.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Power Measurements

Using our Audio Precision APx585 8-channel HDMI analyzer, we conducted a full barrage of multi-channel amplifier tests on Onkyo TX-RZ70 per our Amplifier Measurement Protocol. We tested power using three methods all of which were taken at < 0.1% THD + N:

• Continuous Full Power Bandwidth (CFP-BW) from 20Hz to 20kHz into 8 and 4-ohm loads (up to two-channels)

• 1kHz Power Sweep vs. Distortion (1kHz PSweep) - popularized by the print magazines, this is an instantaneous power vs. distortion test at 1kHz. The problem with this test is it often masks slew-related and/or frequency response problems some amplifiers exhibit at the frequency extremes, and thus inflates the measured power results. It does provide an instant gratification number for consumers to argue over on the forums, so we are now incorporating this test to please the masses.

• Dynamic PWR - 1kHz CEA-2006 Burst Method testing. This is a dynamic power measurement adopted from the car industry similar to IHF method only a bit more difficult for an amplifier and more representative of real musical content.

Keep in mind most review publications don't do continuous power measurements and they usually publish power measurements into clipping at 1% THD + N. Our measurements are very conservative as we use a dedicated 20A line with no Variac to regulate line voltage.  We constantly monitor the line to ensure it never drops more than 2Vrms from nominal, which in our case was 120Vrms.  

For more info on amplifier measurements, see:  The All Channels Driven (ACD) Test

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Frequency Response @ Speaker Output

 

Onkyo TX-RZ70 CFP-BW – (2CH) – 4 ohms

The TX-RZ70 exhibited ruler flat frequency response from the power amp all the way out to 48kHz with a -3dB pt of 78kHz. With two-channels driven, the 140 watt/ch rated TX-RZ70 delivered almost 170 watts/ch for full bandwidth 20Hz to 20kHz at under 1% THD+N into 8 ohm load. Under similar test conditions for 4 ohms, the TX-RZ70 delivered 265 watts/ch 2CH driven at 0.05% THD+N. I couldn’t test it at a higher level without tripping the protection circuits.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 SINAD vs Power (2CH) – 8 ohms

Distortion is low for the amp section of the TX-RZ70 measuring 85dB SINAD (.005% THD+N) up to at 50 watts/ch. That’s excellent!

For 1kHz sweep testing, the TX-RZ70 delivered 161 watts/ch at 0.1% THD+N and 178 watts/ch at 1% THD+N into 8-ohms two channels driven.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 1kHz PSweep (7CH) - 8 ohms

The TX-RZ70 was able to muster 118 watts/ch at 0.1% THD+N and 133 watts/ch at 1% THD+N into 8-ohms with seven channels driven. By comparison, the costlier Marantz SR8015 tested 92 watts/ch @ .01% THD+N and 101 watts/ch at 1% with seven channels driven under similar test conditions.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 1kHz PSweep (2CH) – 4 ohms

The TX-RZ70 was able to belt out 266 watts/ch at 0.1% THD+N and 299 watts/ch at 1% THD+N into 4-ohms with both channels driven. This beats the Marantz SR8015 which tested at 229 watts/ch @ .01% THD+N and 251 watts/ch at 1% under similar test conditions.

Hold the Nannies Please

The Onkyo TX-RZ70 put out some impressive power numbers IF you disable the dreaded nannies (ie. Eco mode and Low Impedance switch). If you leave the receiver set to Eco Auto or Off and the default “6ohm or more” setting on the impedance switch, this will NOT affect the performance of your unit.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Impedance Switch Psweep Comparison

In the 4-ohm setting, the Onkyo TX-RZ70 was only able to deliver 29 watts/ch at 0.1% THD+N and 32 watts/ch at 1% THD+N for 2CH driven at 8 ohms. When testing at 4 ohms, the power modestly increased to 47 watts/ch at 0.1% THD+N and 54 watts/ch at 1% THD+N for 2CH driven.

Editorial Note: Impedance Selector Switch – No matter how tempted you may be to do so, we DO NOT recommend changing the default "6 ohm min" impedance setting of ANY AV receiver, especially this unit. All this does is starve your speakers of power, simply so the manufacturer can get 4-ohm certification (at a reduced power level) without making the receiver get too hot during their power tests. We have tested this 'feature' on virtually every receiver that has offered it in the past, and the results were always the same: the low impedance setting significantly robs your speakers of power.

For more information, see:  Setting the AV Receiver Impedance Switch

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Dynamic (2CH) Power Test - 4 ohms

The Onkyo TX-RZ70 wins a bass ass award for its impressive CEA 2006 short dynamic burst tests results by delivering about 213 watts/ch for 8 ohms and 370 watts/ch with 2CH driven at 4 ohms and over 180 watts/ch with 7CH driven at 8 ohms. If you compare the 140 watts/ch rating to dynamic power, we see about 1.8dB of dynamic headroom. That's impressive! What is NOT impressive is if the impedance switch is set to 4-ohms, this power dropped to 59 watts/ch for 2CH driven into a 4-ohm load. Do NOT mess with the impedance switch under ANY circumstance!

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Power Measurement Table

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Power Measurement Table

Onkyo TX-RZ70 CH-CH Crosstalk (1CH, Undriven) @ 1 watt

The channel-channel crosstalk was excellent for a multi-ch receiver, especially one packing 11 channels of amplification. On the preamp side, CH-CH isolation was about -85dB at 20kHz which is excellent.

On the amplifier side, with ACD except for the one under test, the TX-RZ70 provided > -50dB of CH-CH isolation out to 20kHz. This is a decent figure but not as good as we’ve seen on competitor AVRs.

Note: I wasn’t able to sweep all 7 channels on this particular test due to EDID compatibility issues with my test gear.  

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Power Consumption

Aside from the sheer mass of this unit, the back panel of the Onkyo TX-RZ70 gives you some indication that it is indeed a very powerful AV receiver. You can see this with the rating of 1095 watts, though let me remind you of the article and YouTube video we did on the topic of AV receiver power consumption that unless the unit states “Max Power Consumption,” you can safely bet it is NOT. If you recall how I explained this before, this power consumption estimate is usually based on ALL channels driven at 1/8th power, which is where a linear amp is least efficient (20% typical). So if we take 1/8 * (140) * 11 and then account for efficiency, you’re looking at about 963 watts. Add on another 100 watts or so for HDMI and DSP processing, and you get the 1095 power consumption figure stamped on the back of the unit. Despite the 1095-watt back panel power rating, my power measurements show that driving 7 channels at 130 watts per channel (130 watts x 7 / 0.6) equals 1516 watts. Adding processing power, the maximum power consumption is closer to 1600 watts!

On the topic of power consumption, it is interesting to note that the 150 watts/ch-rated Integra DRX-8.4 and Pioneer VSX-LX805 counterparts all have the same 1095-watt power consumption stamped on the back panel as the Onkyo TX-RZ70.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Improved Power Fault Condition

The Onkyo TX-RZ70 proved to be a true powerhouse of an AV receiver and certainly the top dog in its price class and slightly beyond. I tested the amp section of this AVR rigorously, and it rewarded me with great sustained power delivery that exceeded its power ratings. During high-power sweeps, variable speed fans activated but were almost imperceptible just a couple of feet away in a quiet room. I’m pleased to see Onkyo addressed the issue we discovered in prior models tested (including Integra) that would go into a low power mode after fault protection occurred, which could only be reset by unplugging the unit from the wall rather than a simple power toggle. Instead, if a fault condition occurs with the TX-RZ70, the unit checks the amplifier channels one by one when turned back on. It takes a couple of minutes, but it is probably a good measure to help troubleshoot fault conditions beyond overdriving in a bench test scenario.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Downside & Bugs

I’ve already discussed issues with Dirac above. In addition to the complexity of the process and awful documentation, Dirac Live Bass Control is not working for me or other Audioholics reviewers. With regards to documentation, I’d love to see this get better, but know this isn’t a knock on the Onkyo specifically. I did have a handful of quibbles though that are worth mentioning.

The Onkyo only has 2 subwoofer outputs. While not an issue for me, other units at this price point, like the Marantz Cinema 40, have four independent subwoofer outputs, and when working DLBC can control up to four subs. Given the upcharge for the bass control feature, it would be nice to see the full capabilities of the software accessible in this unit.

Perhaps not surprising: the Onkyo app is functional, and even useful in some circumstances, but as a streaming outlet it is clunky. I do enjoy having easy access to the type of content that the Onkyo is receiving - HDR, Atmos, etc. It is useful to “know” that you are getting what you want. The app also allows for easy selection of different Dirac profiles - useful if you want to tinker with different Dirac settings, or in my case play with profiles with and without bass control.

What isn’t great? Streaming service control. As stated earlier, the RZ70 natively supports a wide range of streaming services, which is great. However, accessing these services via the app feel archaic from a UI standpoint. I don’t think this will impact many users, but it is worth noting that I found the native streaming capabilities of the unit tough to navigate via the IOS app. As AirPlay2, Chromecast & Spotify connect are onboard, the app isn’t necessary, but it is frustrating how far these interfaces still have to go.

This is also the second unit I’ve had in house. The first unit sent to me for review was actually an Integra 8.4. However, as discussed above, this unit is nearly identical to the RZ70 with Integra being a premium brand under Onkyo and therefore sharing many internal similarities. That unit had experienced multiple perplexing crashes where the unit would fail to pass video or audio over HDMI. Nothing but a full power cycle of the unit (unplugging) brought it back. I was never able to discern any specific cause or pattern that led to this. This behavior was specific to the Ingegra. - I was never able to pinpoint what is causing the issue: resets and new firmwares didn’t alleviate this issue. I also experienced what I believe were EDID issues. A handful of times, the Integra appeared to be improperly passing back HDR EDID info back to players. When this happens, I could not get HDR content from either my Panasonic UB9000 or my AppleTV. Again, a power cycle of the unit fixed this issue.

My experience with the Onkyo RZ70 replacement has been solid - with none of the issues I saw from the Integra after about 8 weeks of testing. That said 1 out 2 is not a great hit rate.

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Vs The Competition

At a similar price point, I see four main competitors to the Onkyo: the Denon AVR-X6800H, Integra DRX-8.4, Pioneer VSX-LX805, and the Yamaha RX-A8A. All are premium units from well established brands and will serve different consumers well.

The gap is perhaps smallest, and the decision toughest, between the Denon X6800H and the Onkyo - especially since Denon now supports full Dirac calibration including DLBC.

With the Denon you’ll gain two additional channels of processing and four sub outputs - important distinctions for sure if your system needs that kind of connectivity. Denon also gets the nod from every custom installer I know on the reliability front - the brand has a well established track record, where Onkyo and Integra remain “show-me” stories (and given my 1/2 hit rate with this chassis, the jury is still out for me).

Why would you give the nod to the Onkyo over the Denon? Natively the Denon only supports Audyssey MultiEQ XT32, which while capable, you need to pay an additional $199 licensing fee to unlock it's true potential via the PC software app. To access Dirac Live, you’ll have to spend an additional $350 to get the Denon to where the Onkyo is out of the box (you’ll have to spend another $250 to get multi-sub bass control, similar to the Onkyo). Denon also continues to live within its proprietary HEOS ecosystem and therefore doesn’t support “Works With Sonos”. The Onkyo TX-RZ70 has a beefier amp section than the Denon AVR-X6800H as evident by the 15lbs weight difference in Onkyo's favor.

Moving to the Yamaha RX-A8A; you’ll get slightly more power on paper than the TX-RZ70 with 2CH driven, but the Onkyo outperforms the Yamaha with multiple channels driven per Gene's testing. Sticking with the Yamaha, you’ll be limited to Yamaha’s proprietary YPAO for room correction which is the least powerful room correction system of the three. As I discussed above, with a PC and calibrated mic, Dirac isn’t just a fantastic platform, it is one that is always getting better via updates. In the Yamaha ecosystem you’ll be limited to what Yamaha wants to engineer and implement - maybe not a bad thing, but not nearly what Dirac has been pushing out over the last several years. For me it was never in consideration for that reason alone.

The Onkyo TX-RZ70 provides flagship-level performance in almost all measurement scenarios and has the most powerful amplifier section in its price class. This is the type of performance I’ve come to revere from the brand decades ago, and I’m glad to see Onkyo returning to its heritage, making it a true contender in a very competitive marketplace. You can expect similar performance from the Integra DRX-8.4 ($3,200) and Pioneer VSX-LX805 ($2,999), as these receivers all share a common platform with a few differentiating features. Though, it’s odd that Onkyo rates the TX-RZ70 at 140 watts per channel x 11, while its Integra and Pioneer counterparts are rated at 150 watts per channel x 11 despite using identical power sections and exact same power consumption figures on their respective backpanels. Perhaps it’s a specmanship error or deliberate differentiation of the brands? In either case, I’m happy to see that Onkyo, Integra, and Pioneer have put serious attention into the amplifier sections of these AVRs and have dropped the subpar Class D ICE modules that previous models used, which simply could not drive 4-ohm loads at high power very well, as I found with the Pioneer SC-07. If I was on the market for an 11.2CH AV receiver for around $3k, the Onkyo TX-RZ70 would be my top choice especially if you have power hungry speakers or an insatiable appetite for achieving reference levels in your home theater system. The fact that Onkyo often has the TX-RZ70 on sale for $1,999 makes it a no brainer and the best AVR in that price class hands down!

Onkyo TX-RZ70 Conclusion

For years I’ve been looking for a receiver that could do everything I wanted - no compromise - just check the boxes. For me the Onkyo TX-RZ70 meets those needs in a way no other receiver can. It performs well across any material I asked it to render, and did so largely in the background - exactly as you want a receiver to do.

The Onkyo promises to only get more exciting. The addition of next generation Dirac ART, will further up the game on the Onkyo and make it competitive with units costing multiples more.

I am hopeful the current Dirac woes are worked out soon and look forward to updating this review with detailed measurements of  before / after.