Better link; points out that the consumer home audio equipment division is now run by Sharp.
Probably wonât be the last.
After all, who needs CD and Blu-Ray players anymore?
Even AVRâs are on the wane, with sound-bar sales on the up.
Iâm predicting Denon, Marantz and Pioneer will all see problems soon 
I am sure there will be matching âCD revivalâ in oh say 2035 or so!
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Shame they made some good kit for the money, my entry into AV was via one of their amps. Canât say Iâm overly impressed with any sound bar yet. The Arc is ok but gives no impression of surround cinematic sound.
I guess this will happen to all traditional big brand stereo makers. Smart speakers seem all people want, I guess they take up less space, more portable and support all the modern trends. Iâm happy I managed to get my daughter to not listen on her phone with an Alexa itâs a start at least.
Onkyoâs sweet spot was receivers, and receivers are basically dead. What do people move to? Either a multibox digital system, maybe with a phono input, or to a smart speaker of some sort. Onkyo really wasnât playing in those areas.
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Yet the article doesnât mention AV only stereo. They must have had more of market for that stuff outside of the west. AV receivers have always been a bit niche so not surprising as they where at the more consumer friendly price range of that niche with little wriggle room.
I completely agree. The only reason I went with a Pioneer Elite AVR was to use itsâ home theater sound processing. At $1999 last October it was the only affordable sound processor for me. It had preamp-out capability so I hooked it up to an Emotiva power amp. Nowadays smart speakers with built-in amps and sound processors are the apparent future of home audio.
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Itâs actually shocking to myself having been brought up and bred on separates just how good a modern sound bar is.
I added a Klipsch one to our bedroom TV as I really didnât want to clutter up the area with amps, speakers, cables etc.
I quite often find myself listening to Roon through it tbh.
CCA puck optical out direct into the sound bar works a treat.
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Totally agree. I have the Goldenear 3D Array XL soundbar paired with 2 Rogers SoundLabs 10" subs and really like the sound. It needs an amp not having one built-in. I know touting soundbars is heresy to some but they fill a need and indeed can sound great.
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The home audio portion of Pioneer is owned by Onkyo, so thatâs already happened. Pretty much everyone else is owned by https://www.soundunited.com ⌠so the impending AVR crash should be spectacular to watch.
I am wrestling with the AVR question now: I have a TV setup in one room with a Sonos Playbase and 2 Sonos:1 âsurroundâ speakers - no AVR and no speaker wires. Does it sound super great? No, but it sounds pretty good with convincing surround effects.
We are re-doing our guest room into a dedicated home theater and the thought of dealing with a new AVR and running a bunch of speaker wire in the walls, et al., just sounds exhausting.
Even Netflix gives you 5.1, to enjoy it with a surround speaker setup you do need an AVR.
I see practically all AVR sales will have to go to Denon/Marantz or Yamaha.
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Some years back Samsung set up a Sound Lab in California in league with Harmon Kardon (who is part of Samsung) , the aim to produce Hi Fi Sound Bars
I bought the result the HW950 , it OK but as you say not the real thing. It works well as a TV / Video sound source but on music content it sounds passable if a little dull. Its now my only speakers. WAF Decluttering
It was their top of range at the time , 7 speaker Atmos the full monty.
Soundbars are why I Listen on headphones .
Ironically it was bought to replace an Onkyo AV amp !!
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I agree about music on them, the Arc isnât very good at all. I use it occasionally when in the room for bg music but would never purposely sit and listen to it. It works ok for movies and TV but lacks the immersive experience you get from even a basic AV system.
I went and checked for an update on my Onkyo AV last night after reading all this and there was an update there, and it may be the last one I get. I have mostly owned Onkyo AV kit for the last 20 years.
I will probably end up moving to a sound bar for convenience, but it is not the same. But generally for film and TV it is good enough, but for music not at all.
And I would imagine the vast majority of Netflix subscribers use a sound-bar, rather than an AVR.
Installing a true Atmos setup takes time and money. Maybe most people arenât bothered with the hassle?
Would agree. Only a few will go the extra mile as they are really into surround sound. The majority is perfectly happy with soundbars plus virtual effects and stay away from often awkward setup procedures. And one has to admit this stuff is getting better by the month.
Certainly soundbar outsells AVR by I donât know how many orders of magnitude. The latter of which is indeed niche in this sense. However, Iâm sure AVR outsells our products by some orders of magnitude. 
We have audiophiles buying higher priced audio products, and in the same way Iâd say videophiles buy AVR.
Hereâs my Netflix 4.1 setup:
Netflix TV SPDIF â Pioneer AVR pre-out â Lumin AMP â front speakers and REL subwoofer. I also have surround speakers driven by the AVR. (I used a Denon AVR for more than ten years before it broke down.)
My HW-Q90R Samsung / Harman Kardon soundbar does surround very effectively.
Bear in mind that I came to this soundbar from a full Meridian Digital Theatre and I donât miss it one bit. Little wonder that Meridian itself is now concentrating on the custom install market; it wouldnât have survived if it had remained primarily in the retail space.
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Thatâs a few generations on from mine , sounds like they kept working on it