As I’ve mentioned several times over the past year, when I strike up conversations with music fans at my local record store and quiz them about their sound systems at home, a significant percentage of them report just plugging their turntables into powered or active speakers—in most cases, something from Edifier. And that’s it. That’s their entire audio setup, aside from their solitary saucer-spinning source device. Which means, like it or not, offerings along the lines of Onkyo’s new GX-30ARC active speaker system ($299 when I started my review, $349 by the time it goes to press, all prices USD) are an important way of keeping hi-fi relevant for modern music listeners.
The GX-30ARC is the pricier of the two models in Onkyo’s Creator Series—the other being the $249 GX-10DB, which sold for $199 as of early April 2025. Note that the GX-10DB is a powered speaker system, whereas the GX-30ARC is an active speaker system. In other words, one of the most meaningful differences between the two—aside from disparities in cabinet and driver size—is that the more affordable GX-10DB contains a stereo amplifier in one chassis that feeds into passive crossovers in each speaker, whereas the GX-30ARC’s crossovers operate at line level, and band-limited signals are fed to discrete amps for each driver in the system, with 17W of power headed to each 4″ woofer and 8W feeding each 0.75″ tweeter.
The GX-30ARC is also quite generous with the inputs, sporting an HDMI ARC port with support for stereo PCM of unspecified sample rate and bit depth, a USB-C DAC input (ditto), an optical digital input with support for PCM sample rates up to 48kHz, stereo RCA with a toggle switch to select between line-level and phono, and a 3.5mm stereo aux in. There’s also a Bluetooth 5.3 antenna. Sadly, the GX-30ARC only supports the SBC codec—no AAC or aptX or LDAC or anything of the sort.
Setting up and dialing in the Onkyo GX-30ARC
As I mentioned in my unboxing blog post, one of the consequences of this being an active speaker system, not merely a powered one, is that the connection between cabinets is not a standard speaker cable. The included four-pin DIN cable that connects the two speakers features a screw-on end and measures in at right around 80″ (just north of 200cm). That’s not long enough to make the GX-30ARC a good sound system for an 85″ or larger TV, but for smaller systems in smaller rooms of the sort best suited to a 25Wpc speaker system. And for the desktop environment where many will install the GX-30ARC system, since the system is aimed at content creators, a cable of that length should be enough. It’s simply something to consider.
The remote is pretty much the bog standard for speakers of this sort. I assume the same OEM customizes these things for most powered speaker designs, with slight tweaks to button layout and labeling, depending on the model. One example of that is that the RC-993S remote for the GX-30ARC system has a custom button for what the company calls Flat Sound mode, which tames some of the system’s default smiley-faced sound profile.
Another thing to consider is that there are no front-panel controls for the GX-30ARC system at all. The volume-control / source-select knob is around back, which makes the complete opposite of sense from an ergonomic standpoint, but it does give the speakers a clean look.
Speaking of clean looks, the 10° tilt stands that ship with the speakers definitely complete the aesthetic, assuming you need them. They can be turned one direction to provide a 10° tilt up—perfect for a desktop setup—or flipped around to provide a 10° tilt down, which might be handy if you’re installing the speakers above ear level. As I also said in my unboxing, the stands are basically squared-off horseshoes with hollow centers, so you’ll need to line up the rubber feet affixed to the bottom of each speaker precisely with the thin lip of the stands, which in my case necessitated getting my eye down to the level of the bottom of the speakers. But given the grippiness of the feet, they stay in place once lined up correctly.
How does the GX-30ARC system perform?
I should admit right up front that I didn’t discover the GX-30ARC’s Flat Sound mode until a day or so into my full evaluation. I’m not the manual-reading type, and the Flat Sound button on the remote is labeled with a sort of waveform graphic that I didn’t recognize and as such ignored. Without Flat Sound engaged, I must also admit, the GX-30ARC and I were never going to get along.
I started my listening by placing the speakers on my Monoprice 42838 speaker stands, placed where I would normally position my reference Paradigm towers. I connected the speakers to my Maingear Vybe media and gaming PC using a length of Monoprice USB-A to USB-C cable and cued up King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s Butterfly 3000 (24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC, KGLW / Qobuz).
Much as I love to listen to this album from beginning to end, this session was for science, not art, so I skipped straight to one of the two tracks I use as a reference: “Catching Smoke.” I was immediately impressed by the sheer SPL output of the GX-30ARC system, which I hadn’t expected, given its size. This open-air stereo setup was more intended as a way of seeing how far I could push the speakers before they cracked. Turns out, I had to dial the volume down a little.
Granted, part of that is because the speakers were screeching at me. By default, the system is simultaneously way too bright and too thumpy. It was, in short, harsh, unpleasant, brittle, and exhausting. Once I discovered that Flat Sound mode button, though, almost all of that unpleasantness disappeared, and although it cost me some SPLs, the more balanced tonality was well worth it.
Mind you, Onkyo is being a little generous with what it calls “Flat Sound,” as the GX-30ARC system still has a few little deviations from neutrality that give it some distinctive personality, including what sounds to me like a bit of a scoop-out somewhere between 1kHz and 5kHz or thereabouts.
There are also some higher-frequency peaks that I mostly heard in the form of a substantial overemphasis in Joey Walker’s fingers sliding across his acoustic guitar strings during the second verse of “Catching Smoke” (just after the two-minute mark, for example). Those peaks would add some texture to the mix on a well-balanced system, but through the Onkyo speakers, they stood out a bit too much.
That aside, I really enjoyed what the speakers did with this track, especially the vocals and sequenced synths. So much so that I decided to plug my U-Turn Orbit Theory turntable into the back of the primary GX-30ARC speaker, flip the Line/Phono switch to the latter, and give the entire second side of my vinyl copy of the record a spin.
This, too, resulted in some surprises—namely the fact that the GX-30ARC’s phono stage actually seems to have a rumble filter. I almost used an exclamation point there. As I mentioned in a recent editorial about all the things I’m learning that I didn’t know about phono preamps, my vinyl pressing of Butterfly 3000 (technically 나비 3000, but that’s neither here nor there) is pretty warped, and as such, “Catching Smoke” is marred by some wicked periodic ultra-low-frequency rumble when played through the built-in phono stage on my NAD C 3050 integrated amp, although not when I use the phono preamp built into my U-Turn. It’s also missing through the GX-30ARC’s phono stage. So good on Onkyo there.
The phono stage isn’t perfect, though. It doesn’t play nearly as loudly as the other inputs, and it’s pretty noisy, to boot. So you’re still better off using an external phono stage. But the fact that the thing has a rumble filter at all is impressive.
I then switched over to the GX-30ARC’s Bluetooth input, mated with my iPhone 16 Pro Max, for what I considered to be more typical use-case testing. Again, the system’s BT receiver only supports the SBC codec, but that didn’t seem to be of much consequence in my testing. Cueing up “To Be Loved (feat. AURORA)” from Askjell’s To Be Loved EP (16/44.1 ALAC, Universal-Island Records / Apple Music), I found myself getting lost in the rich sonic tapestries woven by the synths, pianos, and drum machines and interwoven with Aurora’s delicate but passionate vocals.
Overall tonality was quite good, although I couldn’t help noticing that imaging wasn’t as precise as I’m used to with this track, and the soundstage overall was a little precarious. Rocking my head back and forth, Ronnie Milsap–style, I was struck by a bit of wavering tonality in Aurora’s voice.
That said, there’s just no way any speaker system this size has a right to deliver this much satisfying bass without the aid of a sub. The flipside of that, though, is that it does deliver a little too much bass between 100-ish and 200-ish Hz, and plugging in a subwoofer doesn’t help tame that bass bump the way it can with some powered speakers, because the sub output of the GX-30ARC is merely a summed-mono preamp out, with no bass management at all.
Moving the speakers over to my desktop, I found a sub even less necessary, though, and was smitten with how well the speakers handled the soundtrack for my current ongoing gaming obsession: No Man’s Sky. The dynamic punch was exactly what I need from speakers when playing this game, and it handled the ambient, procedural score music by 65daysofstatic with aplomb.
On the other hand, when I switched over to Marvel Rivals to play a few rounds with my goddaughter and her fella, I found myself at a slight disadvantage. I normally play this game through my SVS Prime Wireless speakers, which, granted, cost $600 back in the day. That’s almost twice the price of the Onkyo system. Still, when playing through the SVS speakers, I have a pretty good aural sense of the playing field and where my opponents are. I’ve avoided many a defeat simply by hearing where the next attack was coming from. With the Onkyo system, the less-specific imaging and more tenuous soundstage made that more difficult, and as such, I switched over to my AKG headphones for the rest of that gaming session.
What other similar powered speakers should you consider?
Honestly, right now I don’t know how to answer this question, and I apologize for that. Blame it on the fact that I’m American and generally use the American electronics market to gauge value.
I’m writing this in late April 2025, and my first impulse was to suggest comparing the Onkyo system to Edifier’s S1000MKII, which not long ago sold for $300. It now retails for $499.99.
I might also recommend auditioning something from Kanto, but looking at a comparable speaker such as the YU4, I’ve seen it fluctuate in price from as low as $250, but its price is now $429.
As I mentioned in the intro, when I started reviewing the GX-30ARC system, it was priced at $299, and now, as of May 8, 2025, it’s $349. So who knows, really? Most of these speakers are manufactured in China, so prices of them are largely going to depend on where you live and whether the manufacturer/distributor keeps a decent stock or relies more on just-in-time inventory management.
I wish I could say that pricing should be a bit more predictable for those of you in more civilized parts of the world, but it seems that the disruption to supply chains is causing economic uncertainty around the world. That said, the models referenced above should be a good place to start your comparisons.
TL;DR: Should you buy the Onkyo Creator Series GX-30ARC?
If you’re looking for a lifestyle-oriented desktop or midfield active speaker system that supports a subwoofer but doesn’t need one, has oodles of inputs, sports a striking form factor, and plays louder than you’d think it would ever be capable of playing, the GX-30ARC system is a good’n. Ignore the standard sound profile and skip straight to Flat Sound mode, and you’ll likely be very happy with the tonality of the system.
Granted, the imaging and soundstage could be better, and there’s something a little quirky about the system’s dispersion overall. While that makes the system less-than-ideal for games that demand situational awareness, and while it can make vocals a little unstable if you move your head around a lot, it’s minor overall and doesn’t affect every genre of music equally, nor is it as prominent in a nearfield setup.
As for the value proposition, though, I haven’t recalibrated my value meter yet to compensate for the Trump regime’s trade war, which is sending the entire global economy into fits. At $299, I thought the GX-30ARC system was a good value. When it climbed to $399, I was a lot more hesitant. At $349, I’m somewhere in between. Given that all of its meaningful competition is experiencing similar price hikes, though, value has become a slippery scale. So I’m not sure, really. But then again, I’m not sure about much of anything anymore.
. . . Dennis Burger
dennisb@soundstagenetwork.com
Associated Equipment
- Sources: Maingear Vybe PC; U-Turn Orbit Theory; iPhone 16 Pro Max
- Subwoofer: SVS PB-1000 Pro
- Power conditioner: SurgeX XR115.
Onkyo Creator Series GX-30ARC active speaker system
Price: $349
Warranty: One year, parts and labor
11 Trading Company, LLC
3502 Woodview Trace #200
Indianapolis, IN 46268
Phone: 1-800-229-1687
Website: onkyo.com
