Official Onkyo TX RZ920 review & discussion thread

[Hayes M]

Sorry, I selected yes to allow AccuEQ to apply EQ to the mains as well.

My mains sound more rich and the highs are much more forward than before almost as if someone took a thin blanket off of them (maybe thats because the range between 2 and 5k is less restrained). The imaging also seems to be better.

I am so glad I found this thread. I am looking at replacing my 805 (which I love), but have been hesitant due to concerns about AccuEQ and what appears to be a less beefy amp/power supply in the new models. To be clear, I am probably looking at the RZ820 more than the 920, as I do not foresee me going to overhead channels. It appears you are happy with the sound quality and have no regrets with the change. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Todd Anderson]

@Hayes M

Welcome to AV NIRVANA. Curious to know your concerns on AccuEQ?

The very best thing you can do is treat your room and optimize speaker/primary seating (to the best of your ability) within your space... EQ is something that comes secondary. What you won't get from AccuEQ is amazing bass management. And no solution on the market really tackles that well outside of Auddyssey. But, your best bet for optimization is trying to control whats in your room first.

All that being said, EQ can radically help (across the board)in some situations.

I'll let @Tony v jump in and talk other qualities on the unit

 

[Hayes M]

Thanks for the response. The room is a semi-dedicated home theater. It is roughly 17 x 25 with the main seating position approximately 14 feet from the screen and center channel. The left and right mains are spaced pretty far apart in the corners. The surrounds are about even with the seating and placed about four feet from the floor. The room has knee walls, preventing them from being mounted any higher. The rear surrounds are centered on the back wall about six feet apart. Unfortunately, the room also has two dormers, one on each side wall. Acoustical treatment is probably not a great option due to cost and the fact the room is used as a general family room when not in use as a theater. I don't expect miracles, and have been pretty content with the improvement that Audyssey has made with my TX-SR805. Truthfully, there are not a lot of glowing reviews, at least that I have found, regarding AccuEQ. I called Onkyo ealier today with basic questions regarding AccuEQ (specifically - the difference between AccuEQ and AccuEQ Advanced). The rep had no information and thought that the Advanced version offered support for 9+ channels. My hope is that Tony can give me his opinion on the differences/similarities between the amps on the 805 vs the 920, and his thoughts on AccuEQ vs Audyssey. Again, thanks.

 

[Daren]

If Atmos tracks play fine I am confused as to what you are having issues with? Are you saying sounds from Atmos tracks are playing out of your mains also?

Correction from above. My Height Channels are ONLY connected to the Height channel terminals. My two surrounds are connected to the surround channels.

To answer your question did you see my posted picture? It doesn't show on the display in front that the rear height channels are connected despite confirming they are connected and can hear sound.

My initial post was that this model had a couple quirks. I am wondering if this is one of them. Seems really confusing to see the rear height channels recognized in the configuration menus correctly, for the test sounds to come out correctly, from what I can tell work correctly during ATMOS sound tracks yet the display is wrong.

 

[Daren]

I have reached out to Onkyo support as well. I was just hoping someone with this unit had 4 ATMOS speaker setup and could confirm for me that it either shows up correctly on the front display or doesn't.

 

[Tony V.]

Let us know what they say, something is not right. just out of curiosity did you update the firmware and if you did did you do it befor or after the calibration of the speakers.

As I also had the 805 prior to upgrading to the 920 all I can say is that the sound improved in my theater after setting this 920 up and comparing it to the 805. Although the amps in the 805 were rated much higher than the 920 I have not heard any distortion due to lack of power. I am pleased with what AcueEQ did and don't think the chatter on line about it being lousy is fair although I do think that in a difficult room something like the "better" auto room Systems would likely do a better job. My room is not a difficult room to EQ

 

[squish72]

[QUOTE="My hope is that Tony can give me his opinion on the differences/similarities between the amps on the 805 vs the 920, and his thoughts on AccuEQ vs Audyssey. Again, thanks. [/QUOTE]

I'm not Tony but I'll give my 2 cents. The 920 replaced my 818. My setup was a 7.1 with front wide speakers, now I'm forced to use 5.1 until I decide where the best placement would be for those two. I have one large sub (18",400L ported) in the front left corner with a minidsp. I have 4 acoustic pannels, 2 in the front corners and 2 behind the couch. After doing the calibration I felt the high end sounded more crisp and clear but the rest of the sound signature was very thin. Luckily the eq allowed me to fix it with rew and my mic. I used jbl/andy w. house curve as my base line. The result is amazing!

I liked how my old system sounded, but I really like being able to create the sound signature I want and not be forced to audyssy's only.

That being said they both sounded great and each has their pros and cons but the 920 can be tuned to fit like a glove and that's important to some.

 

[Daren]

Let us know what they say, something is not right. just out of curiosity did you update the firmware and if you did did you do it befor or after the calibration of the speakers.

Hi Tony. I made sure I had the latest firmware. However, I have been given an answer by someone in another forum. They said it's a design quirk. The actual display only has the following icons:

HL--------HR
FL---C---FR
SL-SW-SR
SBL-----SBR

That's it. They pointed out that the display says "HL" and "HR" not "HFL" and "HFR" which means there logically wouldn't be any for the rear like that either. Evidently, Onkyo decided that regardless of how many ATMOS speakers you have setup they are represented by "HL" and "HR" icons only. This person said they went through the same thing I did and was able to confirm all the available display options and recommended that I configure my settings to 7.1 to see what they were saying.

So, I took the advice and sure enough all the speaker icons lit up as the person indicated above. Those were the only display options no matter how many speakers I connected or switched around.

They chalked it up to a dumb and confusing design choice by Onkyo. Honestly, this is the first receiver I have owned that didn't have individual icons for every single speaker which is why it confused me so much. As I stated it performs just fine and I guess it's just a poor design choice.

I am still waiting on ONKYO support to respond to me and I will confirm the information above but it appears that is the answer based on another user and my own experimentation the past couple days.

At the end of the day it's only a minor, annoying design quirk because the receiver in every other aspect performs great! If I could give Onkyo some design feedback I would. Coming from an older Onkyo model this is a huge upgrade sound performance wise and I am still happy with the purchase.

 

[Tony V.]

Interesting to know...I'm still using 7.1 as I have not installed Atmos speakers yet although I've played around with just suspending a couple speakers from the ceiling just to see how it sounds. I've got some plans this winter to do some work on the ceiling in my theater and I will add them at that time.

 

[Hayes M]

I ordered my 920 today. It is supposed to be here on the 13th. It's going to be a long five days.

 

[rlajud]

Hi! Does anyone knows if it is possible to install Dirac Live on the Onkyo TX-RZ920? Or if there is an app of software to modify the EQ curves of the installed Audyssey?

 

[Todd Anderson]

No, you can’t install Dirac… and while there’s an app for Audyssey… and an advanced version you can pay extra for, the TX-RZ920 only has Accu EQ which doesn’t allow you EQ curves.

You’d need to buy an Onkyo made within the last 2 years to gain access to Dirac and/or Audyssey

 

[rlajud]

Thank you Todd

No, you can’t install Dirac… and while there’s an app for Audyssey… and an advanced version you can pay extra for, the TX-RZ920 only has Accu EQ which doesn’t allow you EQ curves.

You’d need to buy an Onkyo made within the last 2 years to gain access to Dirac and/or Audyssey

Thank you Todd! I will try adjusting with the AVS included equalizer because the automatic Accu EQ does gives me a very "deaf" curve with no bright tones and no bass...

 

[Todd Anderson]

Roger. Let us know how it works out!