The "Official" Pioneer VSX-1020-K Owner's Thread - Page 132

Are you on your local network with the ipad? Meaning not 3g. Last time I tried it, it worked.

IcontrolAV is working perfectly with my iPad 2. I don't recall having to configure any settings.

I have no issues with IcontrolAV2 working on both my IPad2 and my android G2 phone.

Well, my refurbished model's HDMI Circuit board just died. PCPCB whatever problem, etc. Being that it only cost me $240 for it in late Aug and they want like $700 to fix it well, I think it's time to junk it.

5mos. Shortest time I ever owned a receiver. Refurbished or otherwise.

Well at least it will still work with component!

D'oh!

Yeah...Component...That's why I bought a 2010 receiver.

Hi DaveFi,

You did not have any Warranty with the refurbished VSX 1020?
I thought the deal with most Refurbished units carry the same as NEW Warranty.
That would be a Year!

Not to mention that the repair is $700.00 are you kidding?
What is the Part Number for the HDMI PCB? (Printed Circuit Board)
You could buy it and put it in yourself.
Swapping a PCB out is very easy as long as it is Plug n Play and a follow up adjustment is not needed.

More info and why not take off the cover and take some pictures of the insides.
Especially the rear plate where the HDMI Connectors plug in.
I'd be interested because I have a VSX 1020 out of Warranty.

Thanks,
Bud B

I bought the unit from Amazon and I'm pretty sure it only came with a limited 30day or 90day warranty. It might have a 1yr warranty, but if it does I'm not aware of it- anyone else who purchased a refurbed unit off Amazon who knows about this I'd be glad for more info.

As for replacing the circuit board myself, well, I'd be happy to do that, but I have no idea what's involved. I build my own PCs, so I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. But if I'm unsure of what exactly I need to do it wouldn't be worth the investment for me to even try.

Hi


I wholeheartedly agree with that but you would need to do some investigating on your part to see if it IS a viable solution!
I repair X-Ray Equipment to Component level and I would need to get my hands on a Schematic and hopefully a Service Manual if available.
Scope out the PCB and replace the actual component(s) as needed, provided that it is not a Dual Layer PCB.
Ifr there is a HDMI Failure history then there should be a Component / PCB failure known.

If you have a relatively new unit and you are dead in the water via Warranty and Support, what do you have to lose.
I'd play with it a bit, but that's me.
Just a thought.
You would not be the only one in here that this happened to, I remember one other post about a bad HDMI PCB but his unit was "Under Warranty"
Check back through this Owners thread and you may find the post, IM the poster and find out exactly what was done to fix it.

Check out your Warranty and Amazon.

Good Luck,

Bud B
PS. If it's a Dead unit with no Warranty, I would like pictures of the Innards.
I won't open mine up because it is still under Warranty.

It's definitely out of warranty.

Anyone in the Boston area want to buy a 1020 in brand new shape with a broken HDMI circuit board? What a shame. Other than that, well... I guess I'll just dump it.

Hey all,

Quick, likely dumb question if you don't mind humoring me:

My setup is 5.1 channel with Zone 2. My inputs are HDMI. What's baffling me is that the only setting that plays through my surrounds (SL and SR) is EXT. STEREO. Even when the source is multichannel.

For example: I'm watching a TV show and AUTO SURROUND tells me it's Dolby Digital. The L, C, R, SL and SR lights are active on my display. The fronts and center sound great, but nothing plays through SL and SR the entire show. Shouldn't those speakers be active in this scenario? If so, any guesses why that's not happening?

I know the wiring is right because SL and SR fire on when I switch to EXT. STEREO. (I'm using the Surround Back terminals for Zone 2, and that's working perfectly.)

Appreciate any help. Just seems like a waste of the reciever's capabilities to have to always choose EXT. STEREO to get the surround sound efffect.

Cheers!

The source may be multichannel, but that doesn't guarantee there's much content on the surround channels. In many TV shows, audio is encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1 but there's only audio in the fronts or fronts + center. This is especially frustrating because the receiver cannot then extend the stereo feed to the surround speakers since it's told that there are surround channel present, and they must play silence.

If your 1020 plays tones through sur surround speakers during calibration and you're using Auto Surround mode, then there's likely no source/receiver problem. You should try a source for which you're absolutely sure there's surround content. In TV shows, it's hard to know beforehand, but most HD ads now contain whirling surround audio.

Speaking of Dolby Digital surround. Tonight I was watching a show (American Country Music Awards) that I recorded last fall, OTA in HD on my HTPC. It is connected to the 1020 by optical SPDIF. It was on Fox and was in Dolby 5.1. The 1020 was showing it as DDigital EX which I understood was an enhanced surround. Instead, the surround speakers were silent. I switched it to DDigital and the rear speakers came on. Any explanations?

DD EX is an extension to Dolby Digital which has the same 5.1 channels but include a center back or two surround backs channels matrix-encoded in the surround side channels.

Maybe most of the surround content was diluted or meant to surround back channels. If you have a 5.1 system that should have gone to the surround side channels though. Not sure why they were silent on DD EX.

I may be wrong on that but maybe DD EX is also used to provide front wide channels. If you don't have those, they would be simply played by the fronts. If you decode such a stream in DD, then the content would go to the surrounds instead. Just an hypothesis.

Makes sense. I'll watch in the future and see if the DD EX comes up on any other networks. I should have mentioned that I have a 6.1 setup. The rear center just enhances the 5.1 rear speakers so I don't know it that had anything to do with it. This was more noticeable since it was music and Fox usually has very good DD (the NFL sound is better than the awards show was, though).

Thanks, everyone. Really appreciate the feedback.

Running through the calibration again is a good idea. Even summer blockbuster action flicks in HD are giving me the silent treatment on SL and SR, so revisiting the setup will be my next step. Thanks again!

Also make sure that your surrounds (SL and SR) are not plugged in the surround back posts (SBL and SBR). I think that upon calibration if the receiver doesn't detect speakers connected to SL and SR, it will not even try the SBL and SBR channels.

Are you using Zone 2 with the pre out and another amp? If not, the Zone 2 speakers are supposed to be connected to the SBL and SBR posts.

You can also go into the manual speaker setup to make sure that your setup is properly configured (as 5.1 + Zone 2), with the right speakers assigned.

All of a sudden, my remote won't work unless it is a max of 6 inches away. Same with my universal remote, hence the problem must be with the infra red receiver. Any thoughts if this is repairable or maybe even just a setting? Thanks!

Make sure the unit isn't getting blasted by some other ir source. I've had keyboards go crazy sending stuff (yesterday) and other sources that confuse the unit you are trying to control. If you have something like a usb ir keyboard it usually has a led indicator, you can see the ir hitting it.

Thanks Gregoryperkins for your help/thought. Luckily, my receiver has seemed to magically fix itself after bugging out for about 24hrs. I don't actually have much else that would be interfering with the ir, but anyways, it's all good now! Phew!

IR interference is a good hypothesis, wouldn't have thought of that. But also put freshly recharged batteries in the remote, and wipe the IR led and IR receiver, just in case.

Not sure what the context is at your home, but a 16-mo old with a mouthful of yogurt trying to lick the remote may cause similar symptoms.

I'm looking into purchasing a Bose speaker set. a custom set essentially. the wife doesn't like the "large" speakers that I current have (PSB alpha1 w/ two image towers... absolutely beautiful sound) anyhow. my question is, how are these set up? or is it even possible to set up the Bose system as the Bose manufacturer suggests it?

ie. passing through the 5 channels through the "sub-woofer" and distributing to the 5.0 setup (obviously the 0.1 portion stays with the "sub")

I have read a few posts that this setup isn't possible and the 5 speakers need to get their respective signals directly from the receiver and not through the "sub", mainly because the receiver doesn't know how to output the information needed.

any insight would definitely be helpful here!

Don't buy Bose. You can get much better built speakers for the money. Polk Audio, Definitive Technology, Paradigm, etc all offer better alternatives. And they will hook up to the 1020 just fine.

+1 to that. You should really try to convince your wife to keep the Images

Else, I'd spend the money on good small satellites and a nice sub to extend the low-end. I'm not familiar with a lot of brands, but for example, a pair of Energy V-Mini will cost you 150.00, and another 150.00 for a V-Mini center. 450.00 for the speakers, and spend the rest of your budget on a sub that has a good high-end performance to reach the satellite response.

Unfortunately the options are quite minimal in satellite speakers I find...

limitations are both size/color.
I havent seen any speaker smaller than the Jewel Cubes that are as decent as Bose. Now, I know I have seen a lot of Bose bashing on this forum, but the question isnt about the speakers, more so about the receiver being able to support the throughput capability that Bose works off of.
ie. Rears/Fronts/Center being channeled through the sub

but if you guys have any other suggestions of speakers that are white and around 4.5" tall. feel free to post, but if its Bose bashing... unfortunately that wont really help the situation here.

Abe

oh, and PS. trust me! I am not getting rid of the speakers I have now. They are going into my basement theatre system! very happy with PSB

Sorry about the apparent bashing -- I don't have listened to Bose speakers so I can't even compare. It's just that going through de sub seems to defeat the purpose of the receiver in the first place. That being said, I'm sorry I can't help more -- I really don't know about those Bose systems. Does the Acoustimass accept six speaker-level inputs? What is the rated impendance for the system? If it only accepts line-level inputs (assuming the Acoustimass module drives the satellites), then you'll have to equip yourself with a receiver that has pre outs. Or maybe the Acoustimass module accepts digital inputs? Then you'd bypass the receiver completely.


Yeah white is a major limitation For what it's worth, I think most Monitor Audio speakers are available in high gloss white lacquer or white metallic finish. Can't really comment on the sound vs Bose though.


That is most reassuring

I downloaded the icontrolAV2 app to give it a try but when I try running it it gives me a.network error. Any recommendations?

Wow, they want $3,299.95 for one of their systems. I could do an entire theater including projector for that price!

I don't even see white speakers there.

iControlAV2 won't work with the 1020; you have to use iControlAV.

(That being said you're not missing *that* much. BTW if anyone is interested in writing their own control apps, the 1020 uses the same network protocol as other Pioneer receivers with "automation integration" features. The network protocol specs are openly available -- PM me if anybody wants them. The only problem with the 1020 is that it cannot wake-on-LAN / aka network standby.)


Are you speaking about Monitor Audios? Yeah they're kind of upscale I don't even know how they sound; a colleague got a set of those, that's all. When you select one of their speakers, you can click on the "specification and finishes" tab. Most of them are available in many finishes and some series are available in white.

That being said the Bose Acoustimass 10 series IV 5.1 set is $1000 at BestBuy. That's not particularly cheap either. If you go with their Lifestyle V35 5.1 system, that's 3300$. Oh hey, that's what you were talking about isn't it :P. (Those include the receiver/player though).

The color requirement is hard to fulfill. The 1020 will stay black though

I'm a big believer in moving air, and that happens with big speakers. I even got my wife to believe. We have a 12" Velodyne and large center on top of it, granted it is below a massive projector screen. The other speakers are 6" skinny Polk 50f and a couple of smaller height. You really feel a difference when a tank rolls over you...

I asked her what she thought was the best upgrade to the av system over the last year and she said the surround system, really meaning the speakers. I was shocked that picked it, because I picked it too.

Opinions can be changed by demoing the right movie. I use the opening battle of "Master and Commander" to show the effectiveness of large surrounds. Someday I will go bigger and I'm sure I will be happier, but I paid ~$700 for the speakers, bought one or two at a time and getting really good deals from newegg and a defunct retailer (cc).

As long as she is happy, you will be somewhat happy.

Greg