d:^)
Posted on 05/15/2022 7:01:27 AM PDT by libh8er
Last year I wrote about how Sound United was planning to take over the business of Japanese audio brands Onkyo and Pioneer. The deal fell through for some reason and now news comes from Japan that might explain why the sale didn’t go through.
According to Nikkei Asia, Onkyo Home Entertainment filed for bankruptcy yesterday at Osaka District Court. Total liabilities have been stated as being around ¥3.1 billion which is around $24 million. The company is based in Osaka and was delisted back in August.
The company’s failure has been blamed on its inability to adapt to the fast-changing audio market which is increasingly software-based and revolves around streaming music rather than listening to it on physical formats like CDs. More of us are using our smartphones for listening to music and even watching films.
Onkyo’s two subsidiary companies that handled the manufacturing of speakers and other equipment for third parties had already filed for voluntary bankruptcy in March of this year.
Since then, Onkyo has ceased its functions. The company told Nikkei that it: “tried to maintain business on a smaller scale but could not stop its cash-flow problems from worsening.”
The much-revered Onkyo brand has a strong reputation with audiophiles and was founded in 1946. In its heyday, the company was well known for its range of amplifiers, CD players, tuners, AV receivers and all-in-one audio systems. However, with the shift towards consuming music on smartphones and the shift towards multi-room audio systems, the company witnessed a steady drop in revenues.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
There is a good reason why one might prefer streaming audio to the earlier formats. If I listen to any recording from Tidal on my FIiO M17 through Audeze LCDX headphones, the fidelity is so good that I hear things in the music I never heard before.
I have a Sansui receiver, (glass tubes)that my dad purchased when he was in Korea back in 60’s while serving in the military.
I was getting lots of bothersome noise/static when adjusting volume, etc., some burned out lights on the unit, etc. I took it to the local high end stereo shop in Des Moines, Iowa (Audio Lab?) back in the early 90s to see if they could fix it.
The guy was looking at it as I commented that it was old, but very powerful, suggesting that if they couldn’t fix it, I could just replace it.
The technician flipped the unit upside to expose an attached sleeve on the bottom that I had no idea existed, and proceeded to pull out the schematics. As he spread this document out and looked it over he said, “we can fix anything wrong with this unit. If you should ever wish to replace it with anything having similar output, quality and capability, you’ll be spending between $3-4 thousand dollars.”
I still have that receiver, albeit in storage, as daily listening has been moved to a smaller Bang & Olufsen unit that takes up a fraction of the space.
That said, I have been unable to bring myself to get rid of it despite more than a couple of offers.
There was a certain joy and excitement in experimenting with settings. Turning knobs, adjusting EQ sliders (that was my favorite), making sure all the inter connections between rack elements were correct…the music itself became secondary ! When the Bose Lifestyle and copycat systems came out and rack systems started going out of fashion, a lot of that joy was gone. A lot of the marketing apparently was aimed at women of the household who preferred simple plug and play systems at opposed to men who loved to tinker with gadgets.
I started out repairing audio gear in the ‘80s. Onkyo gear was built like a tank.
That’s a lovely piece of equipment.
And, if like my old Pioneer 4-channel...weighed a friggin’ ton.
Onkyo system was my first big purchase as a teenager, was worried at the time about spending that much money on one thing, but I guess it ended up a good buy. Sorry to see ONKYO go down.
d:^)
Receiver? Get outta here
A real system had a TUNER, a pre-amp, an amplifier.
Then a turntable, tape deck, speakers (of course), headphones.
A receiver was something of a shortcut.
Not all. Here's what I bought in the 1970s---USA made:
Fortunately, because it was a known issue, I was able to find an online guide that explained how to replace a series of capacitors on the HDMI board. I had never soldered before, but gave it a try and it worked. I gave that one away (and gave up on Onkyo) and bought a Yamaha which I am still using. RIP Onkyo.
The 901 ! One of the most polarizing speakers on the internet…and I don’t mean in an electrical sense !
Yeah sorry to see this. Good gear.
Onkyo for posting that!
My mom was an audiophile and always buying the latest and greatest components which was great for me because I got the hand-me-downs. Marantz, Pioneer, Teac tape decks (that I used as not only a tape deck but as an overdrive into my guitar amplifier).
Sadly, they're probably all in a landfill somewhere as I replaced them with the newer digital components (that were actually inferior).
It pains me when I run across this stuff on eBay going for hundreds or thousands of dollars.
SAD! Been an Onkyo guy for decades! Good equipment.
Back in the days when a sound system and extensive album collection took up an entire wall in the apartment/house. What do people do with all of that space today?
I bought a bunch of very high-end gear in 1977. I got rid of the Dahlquist DQ10 speakers, the Thorens turntable, and the Mark Levinson preamp (the first one he sold). But I still have my two Kenwood LO-7M power amps even though they are in storage. I had them rebuilt about 20 years ago because the capacitors go bad. But the power amp in my Anthem AV receiver is plenty good enough (especially for these old ears) and because I like low listening levels. Actually, I enjoy peace and quiet a lot more these days.
I had an amazing Teac reel-to-reel recorder/player in the early ‘80s — a real monster, but it did a great job. We’d tape hours of music for dancing at office parties.
Probably hang a widescreen TV
Onkyo was some fine gear. I was partial to Harmon Kardon myself.
L
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