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The "Official" Pioneer VSX-1020-K Owner's Thread

786K views 5K replies 872 participants last post by  gregoryperkins 
#1 ·
Just received my new Pioneer VSX-1020 receiver (pre-ordered direct from Pioneer)


Here are a few pics of the exterior:






After spending an hour or so with the unit, I've noticed the following:

Positives
  • Gorgeous GUI for main menu (After Denon AVR1909, this is appreciated!)
  • Very detailed auto-calibration using multiple patterns
  • Very granular adjustments (overall)

Negatives
  • Awful remote
  • Input switching takes longer than Denon it replaced
  • (So far) Don't see any way to control crossover for individual channels


Although it isn't fair to compare the sound of the Denon AVR-1909 and this unit yet as I spent a TON of time calibrating and adjusting the Denon and have only played with this unit an hour, I did notice a few things after the initial auto calibration:
  • MCACC has odd distances for my wall-mounted rear surrounds. They're about 2ft away, but MCACC sees as ~6ft
  • MCACC dials the sub level much lower than Denon's Audyssey
  • A filter of some sort is being applied to LFE channel as the Rythmik F12 sounds very different (lacking detail) than when I used the Denon. This is 110% a setting someplace I just haven't seen.


After going through the manual, I now see there's an Advanced MCACC (Manual) mode that has a TON of adjustments. More importantly, there seem to be some incredible tools at your disposal. I'll be playing with this soon and will post some images/results.
 
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#553 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by brad126 /forum/post/18666070


The 1020 says DolbyDigital on it, but I'm not getting surround out of my surround speakers.

Try pressing the "standard" key on the bottom row of your remote and put your ear to one of the surround speakers. Keep pressing it and listening, and perhaps you'll get to a receiver mode in which you'll get some surround sound.


The deal is: a Dolby Digital signal can have varying channels, possibly including surround channels, but not necessarily. Look at the icons which appear on the left of the 1020 display -- those tell you what channels are present in a Dolby Digital input signal. If the LS and RS icons light up, there are Left Surround and Right Surround channels in the signal, and you should be able to hear them. But even if they don't light up, because there are no LS and RS channels present, the receiver can usually simulate them to give you some sort of surround, and that's what you're asking it to do by pressing the "standard" key. Pressing that key until the display shows Dolby PLIIx gives you a good all purpose surround mode (assuming you're using the back surround speakers).
 
#554 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by GregLee /forum/post/18666315


Try pressing the "standard" key on the bottom row of your remote and put your ear to one of the surround speakers. Keep pressing it and listening, and perhaps you'll get to a receiver mode in which you'll get some surround sound.


The deal is: a Dolby Digital signal can have varying channels, possibly including surround channels, but not necessarily. Look at the icons which appear on the left of the 1020 display -- those tell you what channels are present in a Dolby Digital input signal. If the LS and RS icons light up, there are Left Surround and Right Surround channels in the signal, and you should be able to hear them. But even if they don't light up, because there are no LS and RS channels present, the receiver can usually simulate them to give you some sort of surround, and that's what you're asking it to do by pressing the "standard" key. Pressing that key until the display shows Dolby PLIIx gives you a good all purpose surround mode (assuming you're using the back surround speakers).

Great info. The LS and RS do light up, and I have in fact got some sound out of them with VERY few HD channels. I'm starting to wonder if my provider, Comcast, just sucks, or the box is flakey, etc. It seems when I tested some shows that I've recorded in HD, I'm not getting much surround out of the speakers.


I am not using back surround speakers, as these inouts are being used to Bi-Amp my fronts......
 
#555 ·
^^^


it's not unusual for most tv sources to not have much information in the surrounds...


got a dvd/bluray player? hook it up and try it with an action movie (or something else that is surround heavy) and see what you get...
 
#556 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by gene_sf /forum/post/18652878


I just logged in to the harmony remote website and there is an updated definition for the 1020. I accepted the update and it looks like HDMI1-4 are back. I'm not at home, so I haven't tested it yet, but it looks like it should work.


Gene

Good news, I'll d/l it tonight and see if it works better. If not, I'll try what portishead recommended.


Thanks!
 
#558 ·
^^^


well, that's a start then... that would eliminate the avr from the "issue" list...



to be honest, i've found that for the most part sports are really the only thing that makes extensive use of the surround channels... i'm not much of a "other than sports" watcher though, so ymmv on that...
 
#559 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ccotenj /forum/post/18668641


^^^


well, that's a start then... that would eliminate the avr from the "issue" list...



to be honest, i've found that for the most part sports are really the only thing that makes extensive use of the surround channels... i'm not much of a "other than sports" watcher though, so ymmv on that...

Silly man, there aren't any good sports being played in New Jersey
 
#560 ·
^^^


lol... that's why i have to watch them on tv...
 
#561 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by winston9332 /forum/post/18664001


having some image/format issues with a broweser, but the text of my shoot-out amongst pioneer 1020, denon 791 and onkyo 608 is up:

www.winstonsreviews.com

Thank you for the review. Would you please check something for me regarding the listening modes? I was listening to the Pioneer 1020 at BB and it had sound coming from the Back Surround and the Heights speakers. Was I mistaken? From what I have read, this is not possible. The mode was Dolby PII2 z. The movie was Pearl Harbor and the flyovers from back to front were great.



Thank you.


Henry
 
#562 ·
Edit: The Logitech/Harmony database entry for this unit is funked up. Using the vsx-1019 profile I verified that "power on" "power off" HDMI1 HDMI2 HDMI3 all have discrete working IR commands


Old unnecessary workaround using the vsx-1020 profile detailed below -


"HDMI 0" aka BD has the right IR command. There are discrete codes for DVD TV and DVR which also happen to be assignable to an HDMI input. First make sure you turn off HDMI control under "system setup/other setup/HDMI setup." Connect your other three HDMI devices to HDMI2-4* and under "system setup/input setup" select either DVD, TV or DVR. The fifth option down in each of these devices is "HDMI Input" which is where you select the right connection. Make sure to write down this tangled mess of input names and then configure your remote to use inputs of these names rather than "hdmi2" and you will get functional switching.

*(HDMI1 is the only HDMI input with the option of optical/coax audio so you may want to save it just in case)


There are some major issues if you do this. You reduce the total number of inputs on the receiver for sound and video. Only DVD/BD/TV/DVR/Video/HDMI1 have the ability to assign optical/coax for audio. If you want a component video source with digital audio and you have four HDMI devices setup with my discrete work around you are left with only one component video input with digital audio, and it lacks a discrete IR code. You might as well just run that component directly to the display and use the CD input for audio since it has a discrete remote code. The other problem is seeing a goofy input name on the LCD and trying to remember what is connected where when not using the harmony remote. What I did was rename these reassigned inputs to the device name.


So my Xbox360 plugged into HDMI2 has been reassigned to the TV input that has been renamed "Xbox" which doesn't match the button name on the remote haha


____________

BTW If any of you are using a PS3 other than the slim model make sure to use LPCM over HDMI in order to get full DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD. The HDMI chipset in all non slim PS3 are unable to send the compressed DTS-MA/TrueHD so the data must be uncompressed locally and sent to the receiver in its raw state (which btw sounds amazing!)
 
#564 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by InfamousG /forum/post/18675100


After getting everything wired up, I go to turn it on but I get no video... Hdmi is plugged in the out.

Is the Tv set to the correct HDMI Input?


Could be HDCP handshake issue, try turning on your equipment in a certain order. First turn on the Tv, then receiver and last your source.
 
#565 ·
Is it possible to have an HDMI video source with analog two channel audio input?

This receiver does have discrete Power On and Power Off IR commands and discrete HDMI1-4 commands. They were buried deep within the vsx-1019 soft buttons which show on the LCD portion of my Harmony.


How can I notify Logitech to fix this? All of my BS work arounds above were a waste of time lol

There is a thread on the Harmony forums about the vsx1020 http://forums.logitech.com/t5/Harmon...020/m-p/448584


edit: I was able to add the "Power On" and "Power Off" commands to my Harmony using the 1020 profile. From what I have read this may automatically add it to the database?

I configured my Harmony to control a vsx-1019. I then put an old Denon remote into learning mode and programmed a couple random buttons with the "power on" and "power off" commands sent from the Harmony. I then restarted the Harmony setup with a vsx-1020 and told it I had the original remote with discrete power buttons. I played back the commands that my Denon remote had learned



If you want to use the vsx-1020 profile and have correctly functioning input switching without synchronization problems then increase your power on delay to 4000ms and modify your remote to look exactly like this -


You'll notice that CDR/TAPE, HDMI5 and VIDEO are missing. You can use the workaround mentioned in my previous post to get HDMI5 working under a different input name.
 
#566 ·
Can someone who owns this model please post a photo of what the GUI looks like on a TV with the iTunes album art being displayed? I am really interested in getting this receiver, but I understand that the album art is displayed in a very small size.


Also, anyone have any ideas if there is another receiver that displays album art off an iPod/iPhone at a good healthy size? Thanks.
 
#567 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Upgrade /forum/post/18676064


Can someone who owns this model please post a photo of what the GUI looks like on a TV with the iTunes album art being displayed? I am really interested in getting this receiver, but I understand that the album art is displayed in a very small size.


Also, anyone have any ideas if there is another receiver that displays album art off an iPod/iPhone at a good healthy size? Thanks.

Theres an image on the pioneer web site.
 
#568 ·
Hooked up my 1020 this week to MartinLogan Motion 10 fronts plus 8s, 4s and Dynamo 1000 sub. In stereo mode, I was dissapointed with the sound level. Need to go -10 to get it loud, and -30 to -40 its barely audible. But in stereo f.s. focus and stereo f.s. wide, the sound is much louder. -25 fills up the room with great sound. Very weird, I wonder what the difference is, in terms of amp power.
 
#569 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ciper /forum/post/18675594


edit: I was able to add the "Power On" and "Power Off" commands to my Harmony using the 1020 profile. From what I have read this may automatically add it to the database?

I configured my Harmony to control a vsx-1019. I then put an old Denon remote into learning mode and programmed a couple random buttons with the "power on" and "power off" commands sent from the Harmony. I then restarted the Harmony setup with a vsx-1020 and told it I had the original remote with discrete power buttons. I played back the commands that my Denon remote had learned



If you want to use the vsx-1020 profile and have correctly functioning input switching without synchronization problems then increase your power on delay to 4000ms and modify your remote to look exactly like this

Thanks - very helpful.
 
#571 ·
^^^


i'm going to "guess" that when you use a mp3 player like the sandisk through the usb port, the avr "thinks" it's a "plain jane usb flash drive"...


assuming that "guess" is correct...


the disk format has to be fat32 in order for it to read it... it will not read a ntfs formatted drive...
 
#572 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by hayek /forum/post/18676450


Hooked up my 1020 this week to MartinLogan Motion 10 fronts plus 8s, 4s and Dynamo 1000 sub. In stereo mode, I was dissapointed with the sound level. Need to go -10 to get it loud, and -30 to -40 its barely audible. But in stereo f.s. focus and stereo f.s. wide, the sound is much louder. -25 fills up the room with great sound. Very weird, I wonder what the difference is, in terms of amp power.

I had the same problem initially after running the auto calibration. Did you do any tweaking afterwards? I went into the setup and changed my speakers from Large to Small and that fixed the problem. I also adjusted the levels of the front channels and the sub a bit.
 
#573 ·
I also did the auto calibration, placed all speakers at "small" and set crossover to 80hz. I didn't change anything mannually other than those two adjustments. The volume difference between the standard stereo mode and the f.s. stereo wide/focus modes is very apparent. Weird that standard stereo would be so quiet. I also noticed that the power varies quite a bit depending on the input being used. For example, I need to place the cable box at -10db to get it loud but the CD/DVD produces a loud/rich sound at -25db.
 
#574 ·
^^^


1) read this post about proper microphone positioning and re-run.


2) check your cable box settings and make sure that you don't have some type of volume compression going on.


3) levels are highly source dependent, but you shouldn't have to be getting anywhere near -10 off of reference for cable (which makes me think that something in the cable box is at work). different stations will also broadcast at different levels (drives me crazy during football season switching back and forth between fox and cbs).


4) as far as cd's go... again, this is source/recording dependent... i will listen to a "good" classical recording anywhere between -10 and -5, however, most "pop" music has so little dynamic range, anything much over -25 is too loud....


ymmv...
 
#575 ·
^^^^^^


I too am noticing that I have to turn the volume up to -8 / -10db to have a decent sound. I have Klipsh Reference floor standing and center channel, along with 2 B&W CCM80's for the surrounds. No subwoofer yet.


I noticed that MCACC set all of my speakers to large, and the frequency to 150hz.


I set only the floor speakers to large and the frequency to 100hz.


Does anyone have an idea of how to correct this, recommended settings, etc?


I also noticed I cannot adjust the treble, bass , etc in the audio menu... I just don't see those options......
 
#576 ·
The link that ccotenj posted is absolutely correct as far as mic placement but there is another important piece of information to follow -


"In most rooms regardless of the actual speaker size a setting of small and 80 or 60 Hz will be the correct setting if you have a capable subwoofer."


This was the case even though my front left/right speakers have internal powered subwoofers. I fudged with the vsx1120 settings for two days before achieving what I feel is the best sound - I let the internal subwoofers of the mains run off the line level input and set all speakers to small and the crossover to 80hz so that the seperate subwoofer hidden in the corner could do its job properly.


I did find that the Auto MCACC puts the subwoofer slightly too low. I grabbed my trusty SPL meter and verified that the sub needed to be bumped up aprox 1.5-2db after every auto calibration.
 
#577 ·
I currently own a sr608 and have noticed that even with all the video settings set to passthrough, that the receiver is still running processing on the video signal (and in my opinion degrading it). I was wondering if the Pioneer had a literal untouched passthrough option so that I could get the literal same video feed I would get if the receiver were literally not involved? Thanks for the info, and its too bad regarding the onkyo, as the sound is truly fantastic.


Here are some pictures of the monitor to confirm the sr608 fails to simply passthrough the video signal: http://img22.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=close608.gif . Despite that the images are only gifs for upload, you can still quite clearly see the banding and noise created by the 608 even while set to passthrough. Thanks for any info regarding the pioneer on this issue!
 
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