The "Official" Pioneer VSX-1020-K Owner's Thread - Page 125

Hey bud thanks for the info i guess im gonna take a chance with a temporary hookup i guess im gonna end up with energy classic speakers any suggestions . I did call pioneer they dont recommend 4 ohms of course...

when I run MCACC, all the speakers show up as "small" and subwoofer to "yes" but this is always in a shade lighter than others and I cannot modify this to "plus" or anything else?

How can I change my sub from "yes" to something else. The reason I ask is some one recommended me to change it from "yes" to "plus" or something like that to make sub too part of the speakers.

Thanks in advance

Well I guess you checked in the manual (I haven't) and the Pioneer can't remember volume settings per input. That leaves only one solution: setting the volume each time the input is changed. However this can be automated.

One way would be to use a programmable universal remote. I guess you could do this with a Harmony but I'm not sure. Is there a way to send a specific volume level with the 1020 remote?

You really don't want to, but you can. Change the front speakers to "large" and you can then change the sub to "plus."

Hi Guys:

Just ordered online 1020 do you think it would sufficient for polk audio RTi a7 and Csi A6 speakers? Thanks for your response.

Hi all -- I got a 1020 a few weeks ago. Seeing the page count on this thread, I'm a little late to the party. One topic that interests me a lot is controling the receiver via ethernet. The iControlAV app works, but let's face it, it's not that impressive and it's limited to iOS devices. I dug up this post from snayte which is really interesting:


This works really well. You can send *any* (with one exception) of the commands listed in the document above to the 1020 and it works, so that in effect you can have a complete IP remote. And in fact a more complete one, since some commands are more flexible than with the IR remote. For example, you can set the receiver to a determined volume in one step (I don't think you can do that with the remote).

The only exception is the power-on command. It seems that the 1020 doesn't have the wake-on-LAN (aka network standby) feature; I understand that the 1021 has it now. So this is my first question: does anybody know if network standby can be enabled on the 1020? Or is it really a hardware limitation?

My goal would be to write some kind of software allowing me to control the 1020 from any networked device in my home -- that would be especially useful in the 2nd zone -- with more options than those offered in the iControlAV app. In particular, chaining commands programmatically would be easy, so that changing net radio stations would be trivial. Funny thing also, when listening to net radio, the station names and song titles scrolling on the display are also scrolling (ASCII-encoded) in the telnet window, so that it can be captured and displayed by the app.

I think I'd go with some sort of web app hosted on my home computer which can present a mobile interface to any smartphone or tablet, and maybe an alternate interface to laptops and desktops. From there, the web app host could contact and control the receiver. Auto-discovery of the receiver is probably easy (it uses UPnP/SSDP) and I think the control port is listed at http://ip/BasicDevice.xml. So I guess the app would be able to control any IP-control enabled Pioneer receiver.

This is only a project for now, but I'm wondering if there are any 1020 owners out there who have already made progress in that direction.

Something has been bothering me for awhile. ALthough I have my receiver set to Auto Surround, the receiver often chooses Stereo for stations that say they are broadcast in 5.1. For example, this sometimes happens to shows on my HBO HD station. I know I have everything connected properly because the receiver chooses Digital for most 5.1 stations. I understand that my cable provider (Comcast) may be showing the broadcast as 5.1 but it really isn't broadcast that way. I am wondering if this happens to others and if there is some setting I am missing. If the station really isn't 5.1, then I would prefer that the receiver choose one of the simulated surround modes instead of stereo. ANyway to make this happen? Thanks.

The 1020 has a nice feature in the upper left corner of the display. The square boxes light up according to the input, so you know if the *input* is in stereo, 5.1, 7.1, etc. The LFE box also radiates like this (( )) when the LFE channel is in use.

So if you have any doubt about wheter the source is stereo or surround, check this up first. Even if a channel or station says it broadcasts in 5.1, some content may be in stereo. If you see only the front left and right boxes lit up, but with the box below LFE also ("XC"), it is probably matrix-encoded (e.g. Dolby Pro-Logic) 4-channel surround, i.e. the rear channels are encoded in the front channels.

If the source is really stereo, then you can use one of the special modes to expand that into surround sound (e.g. TV SURROUND, EXT. SURROUND). However, there is a catch to that. Some stations broadcast both 5.1 and stereo content, and in order to simplify their setup, decide to encode the stereo stream in 5.1, with silence in the center, surround and LFE channels. When this happens, you can't do much: the receiver gets a 5.1 input but is specifically instructed to send silence to most of the speakers.

Hope this helped...

another question

How do I sort the songs on my ipod in a alphabetical order, through the receiver just like how the songs menu shows up on the ipod.

On the receiver, I do see "songs" but they display songs in the same order corrosponding to "albums" but not a complete list of songs present in the ipod.

Is there any way I can get the receiver to display all songs in alphabetical order?

Thanks

I haven't used the iPod input extensively, but the 1020 probably builds its own content database (since it also works with any USB FAT storage) and the way it presents the results may be more limited than what the iPod can offer.

However there is an "iPod Control" command (not sure where it is on the remote) which gives entire playback control to the iPod. You can then use the iPod's interface to navigate through your songs while having the sound output by your receiver. This is especially useful to send streams from Pandora, Slacker, Rdio and similar services to the 1020.

If the source is really stereo, then you can use one of the special modes to expand that into surround sound (e.g. TV SURROUND, EXT. SURROUND). However, there is a catch to that. Some stations broadcast both 5.1 and stereo content, and in order to simplify their setup, decide to encode the stereo stream in 5.1, with silence in the center, surround and LFE channels. When this happens, you can't do much: the receiver gets a 5.1 input but is specifically instructed to send silence to most of the speakers.

Hope this helped...[/quote]

Thanks, this is helpful. As a follow-up, if I have the receiver set to Auto Surround, should the receiver ever show the broadcast as Stereo? I thought nothing should ever show as Stereo if the receiver is set for Auto Surround. That is my frustration -I don't want to have to manually use a special mode to change a stereo source into surround. I want the receiver to automatically take a stereo source and make it into a surround broadcast. Thanks.

The diagram in the upper left corner of the display will show the number of channels in the source, no matter what processing takes place afterwards. So if the source broadcasts in stereo, you'll see only the two upper left and right boxes lit up.

From the manual, it's not clear what AUTO SURROUND does when the input is 2-channel stereo. I would have guessed that it choses one of the modes that can be selected using the STANDARD button, probably Pro Logic IIx MOVIE, re-creating surround channels. I'm really not sure about this but it should be easy to check with a stereo station. After pressing the AUTO SURROUND button, you should see "AUTO SURROUND" on the display (confirming that mode) and then the processing mode. If you see "Dolby Pro-Logic IIx MOVIE" after "AUTO SURROUND", the extra channels should be created or repeated. In fact you should get stereo sound only if the receiver displays "Stereo" after selecting a mode.

If you see something like DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 but only get sounds through the front speakers, then you're probably in the case where the station broadcasts in DD5.1 but puts silence in the back and center channels. If the mode is not Stereo and not DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 and you're not hearing anything from the back channels, it may be that the back channels are just really quiet (put your ears close to them -- maybe you're getting sound but at low volume). Try ALC mode: it normalizes the volume in somewhat mysterious ways, often times boosting the back channels volume close to the front channels volume.

Also check if the "XC" box in the display (below the ((LFE)) box) is lit up on your "stereo" station. If it's the case, as said before, this genreally means that there are 4 channels that are matrix-encoded in the 2 stereo channels. In that case, the two extra channels are a front center channel and a (mono) back channel repeated in both back surrounds. Sometimes only the front center channel is used, so almost nothing comes out of the back channels.

The receiver remembers the listening mode per input source. So if you decide to keep ALC mode for TV listening, it will be selected when you return from another input. However I don't think it's possible, for example, to automatically switch to ADVANCED SURROUND -> TV SURROUND when detecting stereo sources, but returning to AUTO SURROUND for surround sources. Anyway, AUTO SURROUND should always give you surround sound, except in the cases outlined above.

After verification I was wrong, on two counts. First, if the source is stereo and you're on Auto Surround, the receiver will be in Stereo mode and only use the front left and right speakers.

I understand your frustration -- indeed you can't use "auto surround" if you want to absolutely make sure to always have surround sound. And since it's not clear what advanced modes such as TV SURROUND do when the input is actually surround, it seems that there are no good way to do that.

Then again, if the source is stereo, I guess that the safest way to use it without jarring the user is to use stereo mode. Well that's up for debate; in the mean time I see what you want to do and it doesn't seem possible with the 1020.

The second count where I was wrong is that the (( LFE )) box is actually under the XC box

I think I figured out what I need to do. Instead of using Auto Surround (which will broadcast Stereo broadcasts in Stereo), I have my receiver set to Standard. From what I can tell so far, the Standard mode will take Stereo broadcasts and broadcast them in one of the surround modes (and will still play dolby sources in dolby). Therefore, I think I will never have to worry about the receiver playing something in Stereo if I keep the receiver set to Standard. Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.

Well I'm kind of surprised the solution was so simple The manual is sometimes cryptic, but I missed a few important sentences I guess. From the description of the Auto Playback mode, it says "the receiver automatically detects what kind of source you're playing and selects multichannel or stereo playback as necessary"; whereas the Standard surround sound description says "you can listen to any source in surround sound (...) provides basic surround sound for stereo and multichannel sources".

However Standard is not the listening mode per se. The Standard button is used to set one of the modes listed on chapter 6 of the manual (p.57), and the available modes are different for stereo sources and multi-channel sources.

The availables mode overlap quite a bit. For stereo sources they are:

Dolby ProLogic IIx MOVIE
Dolby ProLogic IIx MUSIC
Dolby ProLogic IIx GAME
Dolby ProLogic
WIDE SURROUND MOVIE
WIDE SURROUND MUSIC
Neo:6 CINEMA
Neo:6 MUSIC
NEURAL SURROUND
Dolby ProLogic IIz HEIGHT

For multi-channel sources, the Standard modes available are:

Dolby ProLogic IIx MOVIE
Dolby ProLogic IIx MUSIC
Dolby Digital EX
DTS-ES
DTS Neo:6
Dolby ProLogic IIz HEIGHT
WIDE SURROUND MOVIE
WIDE SURROUND MUSIC
Straight Decode

Note that the HEIGTH and WIDE modes are only available if you have front height or front wide speakers connected, respectiveley.

So what happens exactly if you are in Standard mode and alternate between listening to stereo and multi-channel sources probably depend on the mode, and I'm not sure what happens exactly.

Say you select Dolby Digital EX for a Dolby Digital 5.1 channel. If you switch to a stereo channel, this mode won't be available. What will be the fallback mode? Probably Dolby ProLogic IIx MOVIE. The manual says that if the source is Dolby Digital, DTS, or Dolby Surround encoded, "the proper decoding format will automatically be selected and shows in the display", so I guess it would return to Dolby Digital if you switch back to the DD5.1 station.

Hello Everyone,

I am using Bose speakers with the 1020-K receiver. I am not satisfied with the sound at all. I am getting sound, but the only decent stereo sound when I use "Ext. Stereo" setting on the receiver. I dont believe I am getting any surround effects. Any other sound effects used I get a hollow echoing sound only coming from the front speakers - no sound from Rear speakers

The speakers were hand-me-downs from a friend, and I cannot afford to buy new speakers right now...

Till that time, can anyone please help me with the setup to get a decent sound? I have the following equipment and set up:

Equipment:
Dish Network DVR
Pioneer 1020-K Receiver
Samsung UN46C800 - 3D TV
Samsung BD-6900 Blueray player

Speakers:
1) Bose acoustimass 5 (non powered) Subwoofer and Satellite Speakers (2 cubes used for Rear Surround)
2) Front - Bose 161 Book Shelf Speakers
3) Center: Bose VCS-10 Center Speaker

Connection:
HDMI from Dish cable box to Receiver
HDMI from Blueray to Receiver
HDMI from Receiver to TV

Speaker connection:
1) From Receiver Front Left and Right to Bose subwoofer input Left & right
2) From Bose subwoofer output to Front left and right - 161 speakers
3) From Receiver center left right to center speaker VCS-10
4) From Receiver Surround left and right to Rear left and right speakers (Dual Cubes)

The sound I am getting is really ordinary. There are no surround effects. The sound basically is stereo.

Can you please help with with following:

1) Comment if my connections are correct
2) help with the receiver setup of the sound

I did the MCACC setup, there are some Reverb errors, but cannot understand how to fix it.

My knowledge to all this is limited and desparately need help to get a better sound.

Thank you all in advance for your help.

AV-Newbee.

I guess this is because the 161's must be connected on the Bose subwoofer and not directly to the receiver? i.e. the sub acts as a hub? Not sure if that can cause problems or if the signals pass through completely unaffected.

When you ran MCACC, did you notice anything wrong? E.g. speakers not playing when they flash on screen, or wrong speaker playing, or speakers playing at the same time when they should not?

If not, that is, if MCACC ran without a hitch, I'd say the problem is more a source or receiver mode problem. I really don't know about reverb errors but I'd guess this is a detail, unless the error message told you for example to check your speaker wiring.

With what source did you test your surround sound (apart from MCACC)? The source may be sending stereo to the receiver. Sometimes you have to setup the source so that it sends multi-channel audio through HDMI. One way to check that is the source channel diagram on the upper left of the Pio 1020's display. The boxes light up depending on the channels it gets from the source. If your source is supposed to be dolby digital 5.1 for example, you should see the front left, center, front right, rear left, rear right and LFE boxes lit up, and the receiver should display the double D's with DIGITAL. If it's not the case, the problem is not with your wiring, it's with the source.

Let us know if this helps. We should be able to debug this

If you're not getting any bass, change the front speakers to large and sub to no (since the signal goes from the receiver to the sub to the fronts).

Neutro, thank you for an encouraging response that "We should be able to de-bug this"

Answers to your query: "When you ran MCACC, did you notice anything wrong? E.g. speakers not playing when they flash on screen, or wrong speaker playing, or speakers playing at the same time when they should not?"

Answer: I am getting following error: Reverse Phase for front left and right. The note says "The seaker phase may be inverted"

When i run the MCACC - "Full Auto MCACC", what kind of speaker system should i use?
Normal (SB/FH) OR Normal SB/FW) OR Speaker B or Front Bi-AMP or Zone 2. On page 19 and 20 of the manual, which connectin should I use?

Your comment: "If your source is supposed to be dolby digital 5.1 for example, you should see the front left, center, front right, rear left, rear right and LFE boxes lit up, and the receiver should display the double D's with DIGITAL. If it's not the case, the problem is not with your wiring, it's with the source."

Answer: I do see front left, center, fron right rear left and rear right and LFE boxes lit up and the receiver displays double D's with DIGITAL.

But any other sound setting I use (other than EXT.STEREO), I get a hollow, echoing sound coming only from the front speakers,

And answer to LastButNotLeast's question, the fron is set to LARGE, Center is set to SMALL, Surr - SMALL, SW is set to NO

Please note, that there are no Optical Audio cables connected.

Forgot to mention one thing: to hear the bass only at really higher volumes.

AV-NewBee

Thank you buddy, I have replied to your question in Neutro's thread.

Hi AV-Newbie,

I was checking this thread and I came across your post.
I thought that I would throw in my 2c.
Let's try and take things one at a time.


If you know for sure that ALL of your speaker connections + to + and - to - are correct, then the OP Manual states that you can disregard this and continue with the MCACC Setup.
This is explained on page 25 second column from the left under "Reverse Phase" in the OP Manual.


The default setting for your speakers is SB/FH and that is the one that you should use. It is fine for your 5.1 Speaker setup. You can go in and deselect the Front High speakers which is the FH part.
This is explained on page 64 of the OP Manual.


Make sure that your Surround Speakers are connected to the Surround Left and the Surround Right speaker connections and NOT the Surround Back, Left and Right.
I refer people to the diagram on page 13 of the OP Manual.
In that diagram it clearly shows when the Surround Back and Front Height and Wide are used.
I made this mistake when I got my VSX 1020 and I was wondering why I was not hearing anything from my Surround Speakers.
Wired them to the Surround Left and Right and everything was fine.


I agree that your Front Left and Right Speakers should be set to Large because you are not using a dedicated Subwoofer.

Bose Acoustimas Overview:
http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/...ss_5/index.jsp
This is not a Powered Sub, just getting Lower Frequencies via a Crossover and localizing them in the Sub Box.
Bose Acoustimass OP Manual:
http://products.bose.com/pdf/custome.../og_am5iii.pdf

However, The Bose 161 Book Shelf Speakers, should be connected directly to the 1021's actual Front Left and Right Speaker terminals and not to the Acoustimass box!
The Bose 161 Speakers DID NOT come with the Acoustimass System, but you are trying to mix and match, and then complain about the result of that!
Bose 161 Overview:
http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/...index.jsp#faqs
Bose 161 OP Manual:
http://products.bose.com/pdf/custome...ers/og_161.pdf
The Bose 161's were designed to be wired directly to the receiver per the OP Manual, so why not use them as they were designed?
Unless you are a Bose System Designer, which as a AV-Newbie, I do not believe is the case!
The Acoustimass System was designed to have specific Crossover points specifically designed for use with it's "Cubes"!
Once you connected the 161's to the Acoustimass, you are now dictating those same frequencies and Response to be applied to the 161's,
which I can guarantee is not the same Frequency Response that the Bose Designers designed for these speakers.
You have instead thrown out all of their good work and in essence, you have seriously compromised the 161's Sound.
You are your own worst enemy!
No doubt why the 161's are not sounding good.

I understand that you want to use the "Cubes" for your Surrounds and then not with the Acoustimass Controller, but that was not the way that they were designed.
Bose is ALL about Specific Controlled Systems and not a Mix n Match Manufacturer!

In your case I really would connect the 161's directly to your receiver and if you want to play with your Acoustimas and Cubes you could try connecting the Cubes directly to the Surround Left and Right of your new 1021 or connect the Surround Left and Right wires into the Acoustimass and your Cubes to the Acoustimas, it is just being used for the Surround rather than the Main Left and Right!

So in Summary, I would wire your System with the 161's to the 1021 Mains Left and Right and your Acoustimass with Cubes to the Surround Left and Right and do the MCACC.
Listen to the System and Hear what you think!
Then wire the 1021 Surrounds straight to the Cubes without the Acoustimass box and run the MCACC saving the settings on Memory 3.
Again Hear the results and see which you like the best.
The Full Acoustimass System on your Surrounds may add some Bass to the Surround Crashes and Bombs to make them sound better for the Surrounds.

OR Flip it all around and use the 161's for the Surround Speakers and use your actual Acoustimass 5 System with the Cubes as the Main Left and Right speakers of your System.

Lastly, you can Manually go into the MCACC and adjust the EQ's lower Frequencies (around 60Hz) up a bit, to add more overall Bass to your System and Tweak it a bit.

If you want some Great Bass though, purchase a Powered Sub and connect it to the 1021's Sub Out!
There are many Threads here at AVS and elsewhere about some good sub Choices!

Good Luck, You'll get it sounding right!

Bud B
PS. FYI... Myself I use the Polk T15's both in my Bedroom and Living Room for my Surround Speakers. They sound pretty good to me from the most subtle of sounds, to the Biggest Crashes and Bomb's!
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/rtm/index.php?s=t15

Hi Bud B,

Thank you so much for your detailed response. These are lot of steps. I am implementing each and every suggestion and will report later today.

Again, thank you so much for your patience and help. talk to you soon...

Well Bud B's detailed answer is certainly a very good starting point. I didn't know what was the Bose Acoustimass exactly. If it's not a powered subwoofer, and it has some kind of sound processor in it, it may interfere with what the receiver is trying to do.

And if the 161 were not designed to be plugged in the Acoustimass -- as Bud says you really should plug them directly to the receiver. Not sure if the cubes can be connected directly to the receiver though. Some small speakers made for home theaters in a box (HTIBs) have low impedance (e.g. 3 ohms) and should only be driven by the receiver they came with (in this case, they probably *have* to be plugged to the Acoustimass).

Hi Neutro,

Good point about the possibility that the Cubes may be very low ohms.
In the OP Manual it states:
But this is the complete Acoustimass 5 System and not just the Cubes.

Reading the description on the Acoustimass page (link above) it states...


The first setup that I recommended to AV-Newbie was to put the 161's on the Main Left and Right receiver connections
and then run the Surround Left and Right wires into the Acoustimass 5 System with the Cubes..
Then run the MCACC and see what he gets.
So hopefully he has done that!

Later,

Bud B

Sorry if this has already been discussed... I searched this massive thread and couldn't find anything.

I've had my VSX1020K for over a year and it's been great. One day I came home and it seemed to be dead. After some troubleshooting I realized everything worked except the HDMI out. But it wasn't just the output not working... whenever the TV is plugged into HDMI out the audio completely shuts down (even the FM radio tuner) and it loses HDMI signal. If I disconnect the HDMI out cable or turn off the TV the audio returns and the HDMI light turns back on (when it is hooked into an HDMI input). Of note, if I hook the input source directly to the TV it works just fine.

My current setup is Samsung BluRay C6900->Amazon 1.4 HDMI cable->VSX1020->Amazon 1.4 HDMI cable-> Samsung Plasma PN63C8000. I've tried switching cables (including using different brands) and resetting the receiver with the Enter button-power button combination but nothing works. I don't have another TV to try hooking it up to or else I would.

Has anyone else encountered this? Any thoughts? Thanks!

Hi draiiinage,


I have seen this mentioned once from a poster who said that he took his VSX 1020 in for service after he noticed the same thing that you just did.
He reported to the Forum that there was a problem with the HDMI Printed Circuit Board "PCB."
At that time he also said that the PCB was back-ordered so he was going to have to wait a few weeks for the repair to take place.

Hopefully your VSX 1020 is still under Warranty and if so I would get it to a Local Authorized Repair Facility in your area ASAP!
The Pioneer website will tell you where the closest Repair Facility is.

Good Luck and let us know what you find out because I too have a VSX 1020.
Even though you are only the second person that I have seen with this problem, if it IS a Problem, I would like to know about it!
I wish that I knew where that post was but I remember reading it, if you can find it you could PM the Poster and ask him some follow up questions.....

Good Luck!
Have a Great Day..

Bud B

Hey Bud and Neutro,

I did exactly what Bud suggested and everything is working sweet. I have never experienced all these effects on my system before.


I have also borrowed a subwoofer for testing and wow what a huge difference!

I have done following wiring changes:

1) Hooked up 161 directly to front left and right
2) Hooked up surround left right from receiver to the cubes
3) added the subwoofer

The only thing I have not done is do a MCACC test without the Subwoofer to test if the Bose's Acousticmass gives out the bass. The Sub that I have borrowed is 200 watt sony sub (12").

Thank you once again guys for your time and patience in guiding me and debugging this for me.

Have a great week!

I hope your friend's not in any hurry to get that sub back.

Hi AV-Newbie,

I'm glad to read that things are going better for you.

You said that you connected the Cubes for your Surround, is that just the cubes or the complete Acoustimass 5 system and you connected the Surround Left and Right wires directly into the Acoustimass Control / Quasi Sub assy.?

Just remember that when you run the MCACC and your borrowed Sony Sub is connected to the Pio Sub Out, you then need to set your speakers to Small,
so that the Sub will get it's needed Frequency's.

Once again, Glad to read that you are on the right track!
That's what this Forum is all about, people helping people get the most out of their Systems and Equipment!

Bud B

Yes I have connected the complete Acoustimass 5 system to Surround Left and Right wires

I ran the MCACC and set my speakers to Small


Many many thanks to guys like you. I am hearing quality sound because you helped me debug this.

One more thing, I am thinking of purchasing the same Sony Sub. It is $129 on Amazon. Sony SA-W3000 12" Subwoofer

What is your opinion about this. I called Vanns (place where I had bought my receiver) and they guy adviced me NOT to buy the Sony or PolK. He said these subs are at the bottom, just throws out a loud Boom and no clarity. He suggested this one: Velodyne VX-11

Can you throw some light and guide me for this purchase? Should I purchase one of the two or any other that you can suggest?

Thank you once again
AV-NewBee