CEDIA 2017

One result of the merger of the Pioneer receiver line into Onkyo's receiver line is the spread of the D3 digital amplification pioneered by Pioneer into a greater array of price points.

D3 amps are now found in three Onkyo models from $1600-3100 and four Pioneer models from $1,000-3,100. The one to keep an eye on might be the Onkyo TX-RZ920 ($1,599), which has nine (digital!) amp channels and therefore supports a full Dolby Atmos 5.1.4 speaker setup. The seven-channel Pioneer equivalent is the Elite SC-LX500 ($1,000) which would support Atmos 5.1.2 (in other words, two height channels instead of four).

Both use eARC (the new enhanced audio return channel) to send lossless audio signals from TV to receiver, which would help if you're want to access Netflix's new Atmos streaming. Other features include Alexa and Google Assistant voice control, Chromecast, and Play-Fi wireless connectivity.