Sidebar 1: How Onkyo Became an American Company—Sort Of
Takeshi Godai founded Osaka Denki Onkyo ("Osaka Electric Sound Harmony") in 1946. Its name was shortened to Onkyo in 1971. Godai had worked for Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which was founded in 1918 by Konosuke Matsushita. Matsushita had worked for Godai's father in the older man's bicycle shop in Osaka, Japan. Today the company is a global giant, home of Panasonic, Technics, and other brands.
Onkyo's first products were loudspeakers. It expanded to manufacturing audio-related electronics and was able to ride the wave of the Japanese hi-fi boom in the late 1960s through the 1980s. The Integra amplifier line was launched in 1969. As the home theater market took off in the 1990s, Onkyo became a well-regarded player. Onkyo still makes multichannel receivers and processors. At the 2026 CES, Onkyo introduced a new flagship AV processor, the PR-RZ91 and the PA-RZ11 and PA-RZ04 power amplifiers, which have 11 and four channels, respectively.
By the 2010s, Onkyo was an OEM supplier of speaker components for automotive and home-appliance manufacturers. Its branded hi-fi and home theater components accounted for only a third of its revenue. It had launched a music download and streaming business in Japan (footnote 1). In 2015, Onkyo purchased Pioneer's consumer audio business and Pioneer (which continued to operate as an OEM supplier of car audio and other electronics-technology products) took a stake in Onkyo. At the time, the owner of Gibson guitars was also a minority owner; Gibson filed for bankruptcy in 2018 and is now privately owned. Onkyo consolidated product design for its own brand, Integra, Pioneer, and Pioneer Elite in its Osaka engineering center. Manufacturing was in Malaysia.
Voxx To The Rescue (Sort Of): The company didn't grow fast enough to keep its debt load at bay. It shuttered its OEM car-speaker business, closing a US plant in Indiana. By 2019, Onkyo was on shaky ground and agreed to be acquired by Sound United, which ran into its own troubles. That deal fell apart, and in February 2022, the remains of Onkyo—everything except the audio-equipment business—filed for bankruptcy in Japan.
In 2011, American automotive and industrial supplier Audiovox had acquired Klipsch. In 2012, the parent company was rechristened Voxx. In 2020, Voxx created Premium Audio Company (PAC), folding in Klipsch and other audio-related divisions, including German speaker makers Magnat and Heco, to form an entity called 11 Trading Co., which acquired distribution rights for Onkyo, Integra, Pioneer, and Pioneer Elite throughout the Americas. In mid-2022, PAC partnered 75%/25% with Sharp to acquire the audio business of Onkyo including Onkyo, Integra, and licenses for the Pioneer and Pioneer Elite brands.
PAC-owned Onkyo relaunched its hi-fi brand in the US market in late 2024 (footnote 2). The Icon Series, of which the A-50 integrated amp is a part, was announced in early 2025 (footnote 3).
Voxx's stock price languished, and in April 2025, Voxx was acquired by Michigan-based automotive supplier Gentex Corporation. In September, the licensing agreement for Pioneer and Pioneer Elite home-audio brands was terminated.
At the time of this writing, Onkyo and Integra products are designed by a 60-person engineering staff in Osaka. Manufacturing remains at the Sharp-owned plant in Malaysia.—Tom Fine
Footnote 1: See tinyurl.com/bdz2uush. Footnote 2: See tinyurl.com/y93xn963. Footnote 3: See tinyurl.com/zz5uhjxr.
Takeshi Godai founded Osaka Denki Onkyo ("Osaka Electric Sound Harmony") in 1946. Its name was shortened to Onkyo in 1971. Godai had worked for Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which was founded in 1918 by Konosuke Matsushita. Matsushita had worked for Godai's father in the older man's bicycle shop in Osaka, Japan. Today the company is a global giant, home of Panasonic, Technics, and other brands.
Onkyo's first products were loudspeakers. It expanded to manufacturing audio-related electronics and was able to ride the wave of the Japanese hi-fi boom in the late 1960s through the 1980s. The Integra amplifier line was launched in 1969. As the home theater market took off in the 1990s, Onkyo became a well-regarded player. Onkyo still makes multichannel receivers and processors. At the 2026 CES, Onkyo introduced a new flagship AV processor, the PR-RZ91 and the PA-RZ11 and PA-RZ04 power amplifiers, which have 11 and four channels, respectively.
By the 2010s, Onkyo was an OEM supplier of speaker components for automotive and home-appliance manufacturers. Its branded hi-fi and home theater components accounted for only a third of its revenue. It had launched a music download and streaming business in Japan (footnote 1). In 2015, Onkyo purchased Pioneer's consumer audio business and Pioneer (which continued to operate as an OEM supplier of car audio and other electronics-technology products) took a stake in Onkyo. At the time, the owner of Gibson guitars was also a minority owner; Gibson filed for bankruptcy in 2018 and is now privately owned. Onkyo consolidated product design for its own brand, Integra, Pioneer, and Pioneer Elite in its Osaka engineering center. Manufacturing was in Malaysia.
Footnote 1: See tinyurl.com/bdz2uush. Footnote 2: See tinyurl.com/y93xn963. Footnote 3: See tinyurl.com/zz5uhjxr.
