The "Official" Pioneer VSX-1019AH Owner's Thread - Page 168

I forgot to ask if you put the Digital Safety feature on along with turning the DRC to OFF? I would just as soon leave the Digital Safety feature off, for I'm a bit concerned when they say, "some features will be unavailable."

Normal works for me..

Okay, I played the pod emergence scene from War of the Worlds with the DRC set to off and the volume was at -14 and IT DIDN'T SHUT OFF!! I was elated...until about 5 minutes later when the pod was wreaking havoc in the streets (buildings were exploding, cars were flying, people were getting zapped, etc.) and IT DID SHUT OFF. So, I'm confused. I should mention that I did turn off the Digital Safety feature so perhaps I should leave that on (1 or 2). Any thoughts....from anyone?

I would resort to testing each and every speaker connection through those same scenes. Its likely to be one of those connections. I know what you are going through...I did everything you are doing...even shutting off DRC (which is now back on because I found my issue to be with one bad connection/banana plug splice. Once I corrected that..it was fixed...even with DRC back on.

Good luck. Let us all know how it goes.

I guess that's the route to go. Thanks for wishing me luck and I'll chime in when I'm through (it might not be until later this week).

I just recently sold my 1019 and purchased the 1022. Think I made a mistake. If anyone has some 5.1 flac or ogg files can you see if the 1019 plays them correctly (dolby digital indicator lights up). I thought I remember it playing them this way. The 1022 deocdes as ProLogic in auto mode and in stereo in direct or pure direct modes. The new line of Pioneers is a huge step down. Speaker indicators are completely gone. Volume level is measured by 1-75. No -dB.

Has anyone hooked up a Phono to this receiver or the 919? I have the 919 and found this in the manual:
• If your turntable has line-level outputs (i.e.,
it has a built-in phono pre-amp), connect it
to the CD inputs instead.

Is that all I need to do is plug into the CD Input and I am all set?


I am going to be hooking up this phono soon Audio Technica AT-LP60 and will be setting its output as PHONO, rather than LINE.

NOTE: I have never owned a phonograph.....I am imagining I want to use PHONO to get this most realistic phonograph experience, right?

I plan on buying the same turntable which does have a built in pre-amp. I should imagine it doesnt matter which input the phono is connected to if it has a built in pre amp. BTW, there is no phono input.
Edited by JZ1276 - 12/21/12 at 11:55pm

Okay, I just got done testing each speaker and at one point, with the Center Speaker disconnected, I thought I had found my problem. But later in the pod emergence scene (when people were being disentegrated and buildings were exploding), the receiver shut down. During the testing of the Center Speaker I was still able to play *most* of the pod emergence scene, including the time when the pavement starts going up and down (historically that's when my receiver would shut down), at -10, where my limit before was -17. But again, eventually it turned off so I'm still back to square one. My gut is telling me that this receiver, at least in some setups, doesn't cut it at really loud levels during scenes with tons of bass and/or high surges of high frequencies on top of that. What seems to confirm this is Pioneer's own words in their troubleshooting section where they tell you to try the Digital Safety feature and "if the power switches off even with 2 switched on, turn down the volume." This tells me that Pioneer is actually anticipating such occurrences.

So, is my 919 (in my setup) underpowered, or is it a combination of the Pioneer and my Cambridge Soundworks speakers? I know the Cambridge speakers are rated up to 150 watts per channel, but perhaps they're not efficient enough at times.

Let me just say that with most material I can play the Pioneer really loud (there were scenes in Finding Nemo, such as the scene where Darla is tapping the glass or when the whale is ejecting Marlin and Dora, where the Pioneer sailed through them). I'm talking -5 in some cases. At those times though there isn't such surges of higher frequences, so maybe that is a big contributing factor. Anyway, I think I'm done *investigating* and now I'm ready to start searching, possibly, for more efficient speakers or a more powerful receiver/amp or both.

PS I should mention that *most* people that watch Blu-rays with me (and by the way, this ONLY happens during Blu-ray playback) think it's plenty loud at -17, so they would think I'm crazy for wanting to watch scenes like the one in War of the Worlds at -10 or louder.
Edited by djoberg - 12/22/12 at 3:14pm

Okay, I *think* I may be on to something. Out of curiosity, I Googled one of Pioneer's more powerful Elite receivers and then I downloaded the manual for it to see if they had anything in their troubleshooting section like we do in the 1019/919 about shut downs. Sure enough, they describe the same scenario, only with a marked difference. Here's what it says:

During loud playback the power suddenly switches off.......and before going into possible solutions they state, The protection circuit has been activated because the lowest actual impedance of the speakers (as opposed to the speakers' rated impedance) is dangerously low.

So according to that model (and manual) it is NOT the receiver's problem, but the speakers. I actually called a CS rep at Cambridge Soundworks last week to tell them of my problem and she said, "Our speakers are 8 Ohms and rated up to 150 watts per channel so if you have a receiver rated under 150 watts and at 8 Ohms the speakers aren't the problem." But according to Pioneer's manual what a speaker is rated at (in this case 8 Ohms) isn't necessarily the "lowest actual impedance" of that speaker. I must say I'm not happy with this discovery, for it would have cost me less to replace my receiver than 7 speakers.

^^^ may be worth a shot, but try again but with only 1 speaker (like the Left front) on while going through that sequence. Perhaps its not just one speaker connection but a couple.

Also, are you unplugging from the speaker or from the receiver...make sure you are unplugging from the receiver during your tests.

Have you considered recutting your speaker wires and redoing them all?

What are the odds that there would be two speakers causing the problem? I raise this question because when I bought my new Cambridge Speakers last year I also bought new banana plugs and rewired them methodically. I am somewhat of a perfectionist in these areas so I highly doubt there's two badly wired speakers. I may take your suggestion and try it, but right now I'm going to watch a Blu and just enjoy my system (but not at reference levels ).

Oh, BTW, I most certainly DID unplug the speakers from the RECEIVER during the testing.

Again, it seems that Pioneer anticipates this problem with some speakers otherwise they would not have included that info in the troubleshooting section. I'm a bit miffed that they didn't include the info on "low impedance" in the 919/1019 manuals.

I didn't look back all the way to where you first posted about this problem so excuse me if this has already been asked, but you do have your speakers set to "small", xover at 80 (likely should be 150 with your speakers) and sub set to "on" (i.e., not "plus").

I really think those speakers are being overloaded during those particular scenes, but then I don't know why they just wouldn't clip instead of the receiver cutting out (scratch head).

And you didn't have any problems going through the calibration sequence with MCACC?

When you play a BD, how do you have your avr set up. Do you have the BD send the signal via bitstream as opposed to pcm. What surround sound mode do you use (i.e., auto, pure, pure direct, etc.). What MCACC preset do you use (assuming you've run MCACC Auto Cal).

If your using eq, have you tried shaving off a few db's off of the two lower frequency bands?

I have been searching and reading for the past week trying to find someone with the same experience without luck.

Here is my problem:

My 1019 does not stay on and/or off. Last time I used it, everything was fine, the next day I tried to power it on, but it kept shutting down.
I see no error at the screen, not that it stays on long enough, (like 7 seconds), where it says "power on", and then it sets to the last known
setting like Tuner and then it shuts down. From there it repeats the same process over and over and over..... until I disconnect it from the wall.

I tried the tune - and "zone 2 on/off" for 2 seconds but it does not seem to be doing absolutely anything.

The only thing flashing is the hdmi, but that should flash until it gets a signal from hdmi.
I open the receiver, and notice the fan does not spin on those 7 seconds, maybe it should not spin since it's cold.

Sad sad times....

Comments / suggestions are welcome...

i'm no expert but try disconnecting everything from the back. maybe it's an external device that's causing the shutdown..
or maybe the fan not firing up tells the unit to shutdown.

I disconnected everything b4 opening it to look inside.

the Pioneer as the center of my modest digital universe...includes Panasonic dvd ,bluray players and Skype camera,vintage Sony tower speakers and acoustic research sub. also included in the system(not pictured) Sony center channel speaker and surround tower speakers along with a Roku media player...enjoy.. IMG_0030.JPG 1575k .JPG file IMG_0044.JPG 2234k .JPG file

..oops..sorry for the upside down photos.....but ,you get the idea

Hi all. I have had the 1019 just a few weeks. Was wondering if anyone came up with a way to get the ARC function of a tv work with the 1019( I have an LG that uses Simplink). The kurolink does recognise the tv, b ray etc and they do sort of gel together (turn on and off together and I can control the volume to the receiver from my tv remote).But.When I am wanting to hear the tv through the reciever it wont work.I turn the tv on and the receiver turns itself on and goes to TV/sat and i think its working but get no sound????? Any ideas????

Anyone have any speaker recommendations for a home Theater with this receiver? Price not that critical

check this out http://www.hometheater.com/content/pioneer-vsx-1019ah-av-receiver....hope it helps;)

Energy speakers sound great and are excellent value.

I wanted to report a recent success with my 1019 - I was having trouble getting DD+ off my roku device when using Netflix or VUDU. The 1019 wouldn't decode the DD+ so I got no sound unless I set everything to stereo. Channels encoded in normal DD5.1 worked fine (e.g. Amazon).

Everything now works as it should, my guess is that it was a combination of the firmware upgrade posted in this thread, upgrading to a high speed HDMI cable, and a full system reboot (must remove all power from every connection) that did it.

I currently have 2 front and a center channel speaker. I want to replace these with a soundbar. A couple questions.

1. Do I need a passive (if connected directly to 1019) or powered (if connected to TV)
2. Do you recommend this being connected to the TV or go through the TV
3. Through the 1019, is there way to to "normalize" the sound? It is very loud when music, thunder, gun fights, etc. are happening, but is normal sound when people are talking.

Sorry for the newbie question. Any guidance/suggestions will be well appreciated.

From my understanding of a typical soundbar, you will have +/- terminal for L/C/R channels to connect the speaker wire to from the back of the 1019. I guess my recommendation would be to connect it to the 1019. If your somehow able to connect to the tv audio out, your likely going to lose your center channel as most all tv's only output stereo (i.e., 2 channel).

As far as normalizing you can try playing with the dynamic range control feature (defaults to "auto"). Try it on max and see if that is more to your liking.

UPDATE - I finally had to do a complete factory reset and channel re-install on the Roku to get it to work correctly. So I guess it took four things - updating the 1019 firmware, installing HDMI 1.4 cables, factory reset on the Roku, and proper settings on both the AVR and the Roku. You may have to reboot the 1019 as well - this requires removing all power, include at the HDMI and ethernet jacks, from the unit and letting it sit for a minute or two then reinstall the cables and turn the unit back on.

I'm now lovin' full surround sound from FIOS and the Roku, including DD+ from Netfilx and VUDU.
Edited by Robert Gold - 1/26/13 at 5:57am

Pardon my ignorance, but how do you update the firmware on the 1019 and what additional functionality did that give you?
Glad you got your problem solved

Go here once the server's be resets - www.pioneerfaq.info

There are a bunch of posts about 1/2 through this thread (around 138 IIRC) about doing the update and what it gets you. The two big things are DD+ improvements and something about the remote and turning the unit on/off.
Edited by Robert Gold - 1/26/13 at 5:55am

This is my first post though I've read through the entire thread and have leaned so much. I've had the Pioneer vsx-1019ah-k for about two years and this thread has helped me set the thing up as well as trouble shoot.

Now I'm hoping for some advice. I'm currently running only three speaks, two mains and a center, with a subwoofer. My main speakers are B&W DM601 S2s. They're great bookshelf speakers but I'd like to upgrade my mains and move the 601s to the back and use them as surround sound speakers.

So, I'm wondering what folks would suggest would be good speakers to upgrade to? I'd like to buy floor standing speakers, and obviously something better than the B&Ws I have now. I've been doing some research and so far most the floor standing speakers I've looked at need more power than the Pioneer 1019 can generate. I guess I didn't realize when I bought the Pioneer receiver that you can't add an amp to it.

So, what would you all recommend for a nice set of main speakers that will match well with the Pioneer 1019?

Thanks so much in advance.