New 2023 Onkyo, Integra, and Pioneer Elite Flagship Receivers Announced

Onkyo, Integra, and Pioneer Elite all have new 11-channel flagship receiver models. We are covering them all together as they are all owned by the same company. As is common in these situations, these three different receivers are all based on the same underlying platform. They do have some unique features to each of the respective brands. Let’s break it down.

Onkyo TX-RZ70

The Onkyo TX-RZ70 is the baseline for all three flagship receivers from Onkyo, Integra, and Pioneer Elite. It has 11 amplifiers built-in. and processing for 11.2 channels. It also has independent dual subwoofer outputs. The amplifiers are Class AB and rated at 140 Watts per channel into 8 ohms, 2 channels driven.

Six of the HDMI inputs on the back are HDMI 2.1 with 40 Gbps bandwidth. A pair of HDMI outputs are also HDMI 2.1. Then there’s a 7th HDMI input on the front, but that’s only 18 Gbps. And there’s a Zone 2 HDMI output, which is also 18 Gbps.

There’s no more mention of AccuEQ at all. It’s all Dirac now. Dirac Live Full is included out of the box. You can optionally pay to add Dirac Live Bass Management. But with only two subwoofer outputs, it’s a bit questionable how useful that really is in this case. They’re also promising to add Auro-3D decoding in June via a firmware update, which is also supposed to add Roon support at that time.

Pioneer Elite VSX-LX805

Pioneer Elite’s sister model is the VSX-LX805. Most of the features are all the same, but it bumps the wattage spec up to 150 Watts per channel into 8 ohms, 2 channels driven. It adds some XLR inputs and outputs for the Front Left & Right channels only. It also has four RCA pre-outs for the subwoofers, but it’s still only 2 independent subwoofer channels for the purposes of calibration. You just have two internal Y-splitters.

Again, there’s no more mention of MCACC room correction. It’s Dirac only. And for those XLR inputs and tiny Wattage spec bump, the price goes up a bit to $3,000. Very interestingly, this is also a Class AB amplifier design. No Class-D here, like we’re used to from Pioneer.

Integra DRX-8.4

Finally, there’s the Integra DRX-8.4 version. Same specs as the Pioneer Elite, but it adds a pair of XLR outputs for the subwoofers, and more 12 Volt trigger ports. It also has the option to reassign the Height 2 binding posts to power a pair of passive subwoofers, if you want to. For those extra features, the price goes up to $3,200.

Take Away

The baseline Onkyo TX-RZ70 is priced at $2,700. So compared to the $1,600 TX-RZ50, it’s only adding an extra 2 channels of amplification built-in (the RZ50 has 9 amps built-in, but can process 11.2 channels), and Auro-3D support. That’s $1100 for a couple of extra amp channels and support for a dead surround format. That seems overpriced to us. The jumps in prices from the Onkyo to the Pioneer Elite to the Integra flagship receivers seem more reasonable. You’d expect some audiophile touches (like the XLR ports) on the Pioneer. As Integra is more aimed at the custom installer market, those features (and prices) also make more sense. The real question for you is if you think these are comparable to the Denon and Marantz offerings. Let us know in the comments below!