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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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#78 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jjscheid /forum/post/18566845


at the risk of being in the wrong thread, what alternative AVRs CAN send digital source to zone 2 or B? this is disappointing to me also!

For Zone 2, not many...especially at this price range. However, I would think a lot of receivers could send a digital source to B. My Yamaha RX-V1400 did and I bought it 6 years ago!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin57 /forum/post/18566753


Anyone get the IPhone app working? IControlAV..

I have used it a little and while it's nice, I can't think of many situations where it would be very useful. The one advantage would be when I'm sitting outside on my deck with ANALOG
music playing through my outdoor speakers, I can control the volume.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pelly_NV /forum/post/18565995


Excited to see others hooking up AVRs!


Two questions I'm hoping people can help with:


1) Do you have any control over the iPod playback screen? (ie: size of cover art, etc.)


2) Has anyone found the MCACC software to use the calibration output files? I only find versions for older receivers on Pioneer's website.

1) No. The size of the cover art is way too small and the screen looks like something someone produced on a commodore 64. I'm not sure why either. I wouldn't think that would be difficult to make look nice.


2) I haven't looked into it yet.



I think the sound quality is excellent and the MCACC does a very thorough calibration. I prefer a little more Sub so I upped its level a bit.


The thing that irritates me the most about the Zone 2/Speaker B limitations is that the main source I would be using is an Airport Express playing 24/96 FLACs. The DAC in the Airport is nowhere near the quality of the one in the receiver so I would really like to use a digital signal. I can run an additional analog connection on everything else that I would listen to in Zone 2.


Edit:

Here's a shot of the iPod GUI.
 
#79 ·
I'm really getting into this reciever. The IPod control is a nice toy. The internet radio is working fine. You can configure the web channels from a web browser on your computer by going to the IP address of the receiver. The Ipod GUI is kind of rough but functional. I prefer the Pandora interface of my Samsung Bluray player. Also since I have an XBox 360 I prefer the GUI of that for music played from my main computer.


The sound is fantastic. My main speakers are older Polk Monitor 5 Series II's that this receiver brought back to life compared to my 10 year old Sony 5.1 system. I'm not sure if investing in new speakers at this point will make a drastic difference or not??


I don't care for the front panel access for the IPod. I would have liked a plug from the rear of the receiver so the wires don't show. A dock sitting on top or to the side would be a nice option.


My original budget was $400 but glad I purchased this over the VSX-1019 which I will be returning today. I had two ethernet jack wired behind my TV but now have to use a switch since I have four devices that are wired. I would have never thought that back 10 years ago when I wired them.


So far I'm very happy with this receiver. Almost went with a Onkyo.
 
#80 ·
are you guys sure that digital sources won't go to "speaker b"?


i believe that 2-channel digital sources should go there... multi-channel won't...
 
#81 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pelly_NV /forum/post/18543526


So I've just connected everything and ran a quick calibration. Compared to the Audyssey calibration on my previous Denon unit, this new Pioneer was incredible. Rather than one pass of "blips" through each channel, the Pioneer has several different patterns and steps.


You can also output the results to USB which I found to be pretty slick.


I'll take some pics shortly.

Pelly_NV,


Does this Pioneer or any Pioneer AVR have anything similar to Audyssey Dynamic Volume?



Respectfully,

Willie
 
#82 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by zervinb /forum/post/18545256


^ ^ ^ ^

The GUI looks similar to last year's models. And Pioneer does employ a global crossover. There are no individual crossovers for different sets of speakers.


EDIT: 2 things I noticed in the first photo and did not like, 245W power input and the "Made in China" tag. My last year's model, the VSX-919 is 350W and "Made in Malaysia". Pioneer cost-cutting? Although, if the unit sounds great, then those two factors bear no weight.

zervinb,


I wouldn't worry about where the machine was made whether it be China or Malaysia. If the quality control is not there it could be made in Japan and you will still get crap.
Again, it's all about quality control. The guy in Japan or Malaysia doesn't handle his screw driver any better than the guy in China. (lol)



Respectfully,

Willie
 
#83 ·
At the risk of exposing myself as a complete noob...
I'm wondering if I need to quickly cancel my amazon pre-order before i get to the top of the line...


I had hoped to play (at a minimum)

1. AM/FM

2. iPod and

3. internet radio sources to zone 2 (garage) and speaker b (patio)


Will I be able to or not? if not, what would be the alternative input wiring if i keep the pre-order and get the 1020?

I'm assuming 1 & 3 = yes, but 2 not sure after reading the thread.


Thank you!
 
#85 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by bakerwi /forum/post/18567819


Pelly_NV,


Does this Pioneer or any Pioneer AVR have anything similar to Audyssey Dynamic Volume?



Respectfully,

Willie

(updated) Turns out there is a feature similar to Audyssey's Dynamic Volume. Pioneer calls it Auto-Level Control (ALC). This feature is mentioned on pg. 56 of the manual.
 
#87 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DSmith /forum/post/18567027


Yep, as stated it looks like only the analog signals and the iPod can be sent to zone 2. A little disappointing but once you add the additional wiring (and figure out which buttons to press) it works pretty well.


I'm liking the iPod option. It would be nicer if there was a cradle that plugged into the back of the receiver but the functionality is pretty good using the remote.


Zone 2 & MP3



Still working with the receiver but I can tell you that I can listen to MP3s on Zone 2 (hmmmm that's digital right
).....so what they mean by only analog...I still can not understand....
 
#88 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by tmiddleton /forum/post/18564637


I'm having the same issues with the zone 2 setup. I just got off the phone with Pioneer support and they confirmed that only analog sources can be sent to zone 2. They did say that the iPod should work which is confusing because the manual describes it as a digital input.


Edit:

I just switched to Speaker B setup and digital sources are NOT sent to the B speakers. This is probably a deal breaker for me. It looks like I will be returning this one. Boy am I glad I bought it at Best Buy rather than somewhere online!


I was skeptical about buying a Pioneer product and I have to say that I am sorely disappointed.

Hangups so far:

No on-screen display for volume and sound field. (Not huge but disappointing)

No ability to listen and watch two different inputs. (My five year old Yamaha did this just fine)

Digital source cannot be sent to Zone 2 or B Speakers. (Deal breaker)

2 questions for the group:


(1) Anyone know if the above 3 problems are solved by getting the new pioneer 1120?


(2) on the "can only play analog input music in zone 2, does this mean that a blu ray player connected to the avr with hdmi wouldnt play a cd in zone 2?!?! If this is the case (seems wierd to me!), would an upgrade to the 1120 fix problem?
 
#89 ·
If it's like my 919, no device that is hooked up with a digital connection will play through Zone 2 (except iPod through the USB). I believe the circuits are just not physically there to make the conversion. I must use any available set of stereo analog inputs for Zone 2.


Does the 1020, 1120 have a cooling fan inside?


Pioneer must have done a whiz bang job with the efficiency of these new AVR's, especially the 1020.......
 
#90 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ccotenj /forum/post/18567771


are you guys sure that digital sources won't go to "speaker b"?


i believe that 2-channel digital sources should go there... multi-channel won't...

I set it to my Airport input which is connected with digital optical and got no sound from Speaker B. I switched it to iPod and got sound.


I might have missed a setup step somewhere but I don't think so. Its behavior does seem odd though.
 
#91 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jjscheid /forum/post/18567868


At the risk of exposing myself as a complete noob...
I'm wondering if I need to quickly cancel my amazon pre-order before i get to the top of the line...


I had hoped to play (at a minimum)

1. AM/FM

2. iPod and

3. internet radio sources to zone 2 (garage) and speaker b (patio)


Will I be able to or not? if not, what would be the alternative input wiring if i keep the pre-order and get the 1020?

I'm assuming 1 & 3 = yes, but 2 not sure after reading the thread.


Thank you!

All of those sources can be played in Zone 2 or Speaker B but not both. The first thing you set is your speaker setup and you have to choose between five or six options, two of which are Zone 2 and Speaker B.
 
#92 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by MoviesLover /forum/post/18568686


2 questions for the group:


(1) Anyone know if the above 3 problems are solved by getting the new pioneer 1120?


(2) on the "can only play analog input music in zone 2, does this mean that a blu ray player connected to the avr with hdmi wouldnt play a cd in zone 2?!?! If this is the case (seems wierd to me!), would an upgrade to the 1120 fix problem?

1) I would like to know this as well. From what I've read, we can forget about playing digital sources in a Zone 2 setup. The 1120 might send the digital source to Speaker B if that setup is used though.


2) That is indeed the case unless your bd player has a seperate analog out (red & white rca plugs) and will output through HDMI and analog at the same time. I use a PS3 so I don't have that option. To my understanding, if you want to convert two digital sources at the same time you would need the unit to have two Digital/Analog Converter chips. It seems that only very high-end units will handle that feature.
 
#93 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by bakerwi /forum/post/18567819


Pelly_NV,


Does this Pioneer or any Pioneer AVR have anything similar to Audyssey Dynamic Volume?



Respectfully,

Willie

(updated) Turns out there is a feature similar to Audyssey's Dynamic Volume. Pioneer calls it Auto-Level Control (ALC). This feature is mentioned on pg. 56 of the manual.
 
#94 ·
The only problem I'm having is when I'm watching a bluray and select another source the bluray player locks up. The only way to recover is to shut down the player and turn back on. I'm using HDMI cables. Other than that everything else is working great. Any ideas or is this normal?
 
#95 ·

Quote:
Digital source cannot be sent to Zone 2 or B Speakers. (Deal breaker)

I don't understand why this is such a deal breaker for people? Its already confirmed the iPod works in Zone 2. How difficult is it to run analog RCA cables from your sources to the receiver? Pretty much all A/V receivers need analog connections for Zone2.


It would take me less than 5 minutes to connect all my devices via analog.


Your DVD player has red and white stereo outputs, so does your blu ray player (unless its a PS3), a CD player has them. Even a cable or sat box has them. The tuner already works in Zone2.


You don't need to disconnect your existing HDMI and optical/digital coax connections.


I've been doing this for 6 years with my HK receiver. Its not that big a deal.


Most people probably have the cables laying around the house. Stereo cables usually come in the box with new DVD, CD and BD players.


If you don't have any the cheap cables are less than $1 and the fancy ones cost just over $2.50.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2
 
#96 ·
So is this thing warm feces or what? I think I'm gonna get one soon. Might wait til Wii Black comes out, and do the damage all at once. Any major draw backs on this thing? Also I can't find it in Energy Star website to see how much power it uses, and can't find it in owners manual. It is more for curiosity sake, than a potential deal breaker.
 
#99 ·
Well I'm loving this receiver. I'm coming from an HK AVR-247 which was very good, but this thing is just awesome. Configuring the optical cable from my computer was a pain to figure out. For some reason the auto signal detection didn't seem to work very well, but once I set it to digital only it worked fine.


I've use Audyssey on my Onkyo 605 which works great, but I didn't like the calibration the Harman used at all. It just never produced good results so I ended up doing it all manually. In contrast my first experience here with MCACC produced extremely good results. The only things I changed was the speaker setting from Large to Small, and I boosted the sub a bit since it wasn't quite enough for my liking.


From a sound quality standpoint I couldn't be happier. I've had lower end Pioneer receivers in the past which sounded great so of course I knew this would be even better, but I'm really impressed at how much better this sounds over my Harman which I really loved. The sound is so much more detailed. Its almost strange that I'm hearing so many things in songs that I've been listening to regularly that I never really noticed before.


I've cranked this receiver up and it doesn't begin to break a sweat. Its handling everything I throw at it with ease with no strain whatsoever. I've blasted music for hours and it stays nearly as cool as it is when its off. I've never had a receiver run anywhere near this cool. I am a very happy camper right now!
 
#101 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by aeitingon /forum/post/18570739


anybody found a good list of internet radio stations that work with this stereo?

Have not found a list but it's very easy to add them from your PC directly onto the Pioneer. You can even make it change to the channel you just added from your PC to make sure it works.



I love this stereo. It's the most complicated piece of gear I have ever owned....lots of configuration that needs to be done compared to the old stuff you just connected speakers to. It's a great AVR and I am still learning and playing with it. I don't read the manual (RTFM!) until I have to and boy...I needed it yesterday.....and today. If not configured correctly many things do not work correctly!
 
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