The "Official" Pioneer VSX-1019AH Owner's Thread - Page 3

The Onkyo 606/607/7xx etc all do that.

1. You probably want to leave it to multizone and just make sure zone 2 is set to off. This ensures the max power sent to your 5 speakers. You could also set it to speaker B and make sure on the speaker A option is on and you will get the same result.

2 -3. I can't tell entirely but I think you are using the remote to tune stations and get the OSD? If so, make sure you press the 'Receiver' button before you press any of the other buttons. This is a maddening aspect of this remote. Don't get confused by the receiver power button at the top. You need to press the receiver button at the bottom of the unit and then the key. For example, to get the OSD, press RECEIVER and then press HOME MENU.

4. For a regular DVD player the way you have it set up is fine. If you upgrade to a blu ray player you'll want to connect via HDMI so you get all of the latest codecs. The one advantage of your current setup is that you can calibrate your display to each input source. Once it all comes through the same source that becomes a little trickier.

5. I set my power on volume to -40dB. Loud enough that my wife knows it's on but quiet enough not to startle anyone. If i set it too low I get calls while I am at work from my wife who thinks she broke the TV.

6. Can't help you with uverse but comcast was very easy and I doubt you'll have uverse specific issues.

Thats good to hear. I'll probably have to find a replacement for my old 1014TX in the not too distant future as it has been very tempermental. I'm wondering how it compares to the VSX-01TXH since the Elite can be found for about a $100 premium shipped over the 1019 prices now at Amazon/J&R/6ave.

I just got this receiver and am a bit confused as to what surround setting most people use when watching HD movies off cable or DirecTV? So far I have not found anything that has made me impressed with the sound. I have tried "Auto" but it just shows Stereo in the display and I know DirecTV broadcasts their HD movies in some surround format.

Any ideas?

I like the local play by play as well but seriously, with the delay you know what's going to happen about 5 seconds or so in advance on the radio. I believe there is a way to do it but why?

Make sure you tune to a station that is broadcasting something other than stereo sound. I find on Comcast that sometimes even HD channels get a stereo broadcast. If you click the Auto/ALC button a few times you can get to Direct or Pure Direct. Tune to either of these and you'll hear the native signal and channels being broadcast.

The 1018's supposedly has the elite's amplifier without the THX certification from what I understand. Does the 1019's have the new Elite SC series amp circuitry without THX ceritfication? The older Elites are heavier in weight compared to the new Elites from what I read because of the new amps in the Sc series. Can someone verify the 1019 and Elite Sc's amplifier section as the same or completely different?

I highly doubt it. The 1018 might have been equivalent to the more entry level Elites 01/03 but the SC series is a whole different animal.

Off topic, but it looks as though the Denon 1910 will have that as well.

With 1019 in Standby and KURO LINK set to "ON" and the HDMI Audio set to "THROUGH" (Page 62 in the Operating Instructions)

ON - Enables the KURO LINK function.
When this unit's power is turned off and
you have a supported source begin
playback while using the KURO LINK
function, the audio and video output from
the HDMI connection are output from the
flat panel TV.

Good catch. I did not try it with the Kuro Link on. So it looks like you can set this up if you want. I won't because I don't use the TV speakers but nice to know it is supported. Sorry for the confusion.

The Onkyos have a similar setting that puts them in semi-standby. Off topic, I know, but the OP brought up the Onkyo.

6 - Anything I should know about setting up Uverse during the install and connecting to the receiver?

I found out that the Uverse boxes only output stereo through HDMI which is incredibly lame so don't expect incredible sound while using Uverse.

That is correct, use optical to receiver. Also Uverse box may experience audio drop out.

I have to say I am probably going to need a lot of help with the 1019 and setting up correctly (please bear with me lol) I have my father flying out from NY this week, so not too sure how much time I will get to fiddle with it.

What my main issue so far is this... (besides not fully understanding the MCACC and all its setups) A great sound piece I always loved to hear was the THX intro to MLB09 for the PS3. The lightning and thunder effects were awesome and the bass so deep, esp from rear speakers, on our older and less sophisticated receiver.

With the 1019 everything has no punch so far. No deep thunder clap, and reverb of the sound going in the rear speakers.
In addition, the second time I turned it on to play the PS3 it said HDCP error on the front of the receiver.
Also, is it normal to not really hear any volume till you are at -50? (I noticed someone else also asked about this) My speaker sensitivity rating is 89db. They were dang loud with the older receiver.

My setup is-
Samsung 52" HDTV
Pioneer 1019
Sony PS3
Polk TSi 200 in the front
Polk TSi 100 in the rear
Polk TSi Center
Polk PSW110 Sub

The way I have it connected is -
Uverse Box > Component > HDTV
Uverse Box > Optical > Receiver
PS3 >HDMI > Receiver
Receiver > HDMI > HDTV

^^^
Hope that is correct. I used component b/c att said people have has issues with HDMI and their boxes.
I also use the optical so I can listen to sound from either the TV or through the system.

I got the same error when I tried hooking my DirecTV HD receiver to the 1019 via HDMI. Not sure why.

Sounds like you are missing the bass. If you've run MCACC it may have set this too low for your tastes. You can either pump up the subwoofer channel or turn up the sub on the sub itself. You might also want to make sure your speakers are set to 'small'. If they are set to large it means the bass is going there instead of the sub and is likely not getting reproduced with the umpf you are used to. I turned up my sub a bit after running mcacc.

One other note: if you really like the 'boomy' sound you can also turn off 'standing wave' correction. MCACC tries to adjust for room reverb and uses standing wave correction to eliminate the 'messy' boom.

Hi all,

I bought the 919 pioneer with polkaudio 6880 and I want to know at what level do you start hearing sound I have to put it up to 50 db before hearing something?

According to the email I received back from Pioneer CS, the 1019 can not pass through a HDMI signal when off or in standby. I guess it is just not that big a deal to most, so thanks to everyone for their help. Think I am just going to wait for the Denon 1910 or 890.

Thanks for the reply.
Actually the bass as I recall it was coming also from my rear speakers (the reverb of the thunder from the THX intro) I did not feel it was coming only from the Sub.
So I seem to think it somehow is killing the bass to the rear (and even possibly all) of the main speakers.

I am quite sure this receiver is a huge step up from our last one, yet there is no denying the difference in sound. The whole family has noticed a lack of... hmm... fullness, solid boom-ness. It really wasn't a messy bass before. I felt it was fairly tight for our listening taste.

there is also a plus setting when speakers are set to large.the plus setting sends bass to both main speakers and sub.when i first setup my 1019 the mcacc set the front speakers to large even though they only have 5 inch woofers.when i set the speaker setting to small it brought the bass back.also check the crossover setting in speaker settings,mine sounds good at 100 hz.also check what the sub level is.don`t give up on your 1019 once you get the bass sorted out you will really like it.as far as the volumne level goes -50 db seems about right thats what mine takes before you can hear anything.

On the volume level (not hearing sound until you get to -50), I don't think you need get too hung up on it. AFAIK, each manufacturer has a different standard for volume. So -20dB on one might be equal to -34dB on another. They are all just relative to other sound levels on the AVR itself. As long as you still have enough power to get the volume you want and need then don't worry about what the number on the dial says.

But I have to put it at -31 to get good sound but the house doesn't shake, I'm still saying it's still missing the big bang. I should have bought something better.(never buy anything over the internet before trying it out) error on me.

Wife say's oh your just missing a setting, but man i tried everything or maybe i don't have the right combination.

I run music in the -2x and movies in the -1x range, I wouldn't get hung up on a number.

Diane

Wow this is a weak system, you know that at +3 or maybe a little higher the system shuts down.

How do you know that? Why does sound in -20s or -10s make you scared? I'm usually not playing the unit that loud (typically -34 or so for music, -27 or so for movies) but even when I pump up the volume considerably (say -10 or less) I hear no hint of clipping.

Picked 1 up yesterday, still trying to figure everything out. Not getting a lot of bass, but I am not running a sub yet - looking at a set from Energy.

The 1019 is replacing my ancient Sony STR-D515, so it's nice to finally go digital.
I would love it if you could play the iPod with out the TV on, and it would be nice to be able to listen to it when playing Texas Hold 'em on XBLA, but whatever. It was nice to get the connectivity of the iPod without paying an extra $100 for a dock.

I thought it would play my videos from the iPod also, since the cable has the video plug too, but they don't. Which iPod will play videos through the unit? Just iPhones and Touch?

Played a dvd last night that had Dolby Digital, but receiver switched to stereo and could not change that. Not sure why that happened.

Shouldn't I manually set the speaker setting to "small" before I run the MCACC setup? Then it can set it up for the type of speaker you request, or should I let it just auto-detect them, in which case it chooses large.

According the the official MCACC thread on AVS, you should do the following (I am summarizing greatly here so recommend you check that thread for more details):

1) Run full auto MCACC. This will set the speaker distances, levels, do an initial read on the room, set up equalizers, etc.
2) Go in an check your speaker settings. For whatever reason it almost always sets the speakers to 'large'. Change it to small, adjust sub crossover, etc.
3) Go back and run MCACC again. Do not run Full Auto MCACC though. Instead just run 'Auto MCACC' (yeah, great names?) and select 'Keep Speaker Settings'. This will re-run the equalizer programs but now with the speakers set up properly.
4) There will be a 3 different versions stored in your presets - Symmetry, All Channel Adjust, and Front Align. Each will produce a slightly different sound based upon which speakers are used to calibrate to. Just pick the one that sounds best to you. Personally, I don't hear much difference but prefer All CH adjust.
5) If you still aren't getting the bass you are looking for, adjust the SW Channel on the AVR up 1-2dB.
6) If you are still not getting the bass you want check through the following:

a. is your sub turned on? is the volume knob turned up high enough?
b. is your low pass filter setting right on the sub? You want this to be at max so the AVR is the one doing parsing of signals.
c. check the phase selector on the sub. Pio suggests setting it at 0 but switch it to 180 to see if that corrects the sub.
d. turn on/off phase control on the AVR itself
e. Toggle the standing wave control on the AVR (under audio parameter menu) and see if on/off produces more of the boom you want. Standing wave control is designed to reduce too much boom but it might be overkill for you.
f. try moving the sub to a new location. This may be the most important part of producing the right bass.
g. you can also go into Advanced MCACC and change the reverb settings for the room. MCACC tries to equalize the sound and sometimes in a room with a lot of bare walls, windows, etc., it can overcorrect. You can adjust this by reducing the time delay settings (check that MCACC thread for more details) which will then apply the equalizers before correcting for the reverb adjustments.
h. If you are happy with the sub performance but not the bass from individual speakers then you can also go in and adjust the equalizer by speaker. For example, if my surround L sounds like it doesn't produce enough bass I could go in and increase the dB at the 63hz level and other low levels to produce more bass. NOTE: doing too much of this is going to throw off the room balance but if it sounds better to you then do it.

Bottom line is that this AVR should produce plenty of bass for you.

agreed, I think your assessment of it being a "weak system" is a bit presumptive, I'm not driving a standard setup, and as others have pointed out, you need to punch up BR a lot to get it up into listenable since they seem to be mixing quiet.

I know that yes, I could hit the gain for the sources, but I'm choosing not to, it does the job. I could also choose to replace my 4 ohm speakers with something else, but I won't.

Unless the system fails me, and my past 4 have not, I think it does just fine for what I need. I'm also pretty clear that it's not exactly a premium audiophile system, and for about 4.5 bills I'm happy, folks have spent a lot more on Elite systems and griped more. Heck, I have an older Pioneer VSX-D1S in the basement gathering dust.

Diane