The "Official" Pioneer VSX-1020-K Owner's Thread - Page 142

Different speakers, different rooms produce different results... It wasn't that loud, but we do run them high. That's what gives you the theater feel, but I am using a projector with a 106" screen too!

You can't listen at -20 with a 106" screen, it just doesn't work

On the topic of the 1020 again though... I'm considering various upgrade paths because I may soon have the occasion to sell my 1020 to a friend.

I was wondering where to go from there, and especially if I should stay within the Pioneer brand or not. I've heard so many great things with Audyssey-enabled products that I feel very much like jumping boat to a Denon or an Onkyo receiver. Do you guys know if there's a Pio product with something more evolved than the fixed-bands EQ found in Advanced MCACC? Any Pio product that EQ the sub channel? At first sight it doesn't seem like Pioneer offers anything more advanced EQ/Calibration-wise than what is found in the 1020... or maybe some products have a 9-band EQ instead of a 6-band EQ but that's it.

I don't want to bash the 1020 or Pioneer products at all here (on the contrary, I'm very happy with the 1020 for the price paid) but I welcome any opinion especially from people who already moved away from the 1020.

Howdy,
Pioneer is a good bang for the buck.
If you were going to up the budget then I would say, "look at the Elite's"
I replaced my 1020 with an Elite VSX 60 and so far I really like it a lot, though it is more money.
Starting with the Elite VSX 60's you get a 2 Year Warranty, the Elites below that are only 1 year!
The Elite VSX 60 at an Authorized seller goes for $650.00 with a 2 year Pioneer Warranty but $499.00 on Amazon and then you would have to pay for a Warranty.
Amazon / Online and non Pioneer Authorized sellers voids all Pioneer Warranty and leaves you on your own, thusly you would have to purchase a warranty from a 3rd party.
I also have the Elite VSX 53, which is in my living room and I really like it.

When my 1020 went down and I contemplated looking outside of Pioneer, I liked what I saw and read about the Yamaha RX-V673, on Amazon it's in the $600.00 range.
Myself I am not crazy about Onkyo but I have heard good things about Denon.
I would advise that you head to a Best Buy "Magnolia" store because they will have Pioneer's, Denon's, Onkyo's and I think Yamaha's setup, so you can See, Hear and Feel each unit.
Then when you narrow down what you like go to google and type in something like Pioneer Elite VSX 60,reviews and read what comes up.
Download an "Operators Manual" for the receivers that you are considering and read and compare to each other and to the 1020 that you now have.
If you cross your T's and dot your I's this way, that's about the best that you can do!
Also do not forget to check out AVS Forums for the "Owners Thread" and see what people say about the receivers, exactly as you are doing here!

Lastly, when you are ready to purchase, buy an Extended Warranty for the most years possible!
Two, three or even four years down the road that $$$ spent on an Extended Warranty will be long gone, but if something happens, trust me,
you will thank yourself over and over again that you did something right and took it!
Plus for the time that you do not need it, you will just feel better that if anything does go wrong, your covered and not out looking for another receiver or
without a receiver all together for months while going through what I did with Pioneer to get a VSX 60!!!!
"Fool me Once, Shame on You, Fool me Twice, Shame on ME!
I don't care who the Manufacturer is, Receivers / Electronics of today, is not built with the Quality and Durability of Yester-Year!

Good Luck and keep us posted as to how it goes!

Bud B
Edited by Bud B - 1/15/13 at 4:56pm

I voted Yamaha, mostly because the video out on the Pioneer was so weak compared to the (non net enabled) Yamaha it replaced. I used to split they hdmi signal into a monoprice a/b switch between my tv and projector and when the Pioneer came along, it no longer worked. I had to keep the cable plugged into the projector. I ended up with another Yamaha (867) which was a much more capable system, but more expensive msrp and 1 gen newer. I still have the pioneer in the bedroom, but it's almost never used.

I was under the impression that the Elite line was mostly equivalent to the non-Elite line, albeit with slightly different aesthetics and the beefier warranty. I didn't see any feature in the Elite line that was not already present in the non-Elite units. Elite units are supposedly "installer-ready" and I found the ethernet coms protocol somewhere and all commands actually work with the 1020.

I'm far from being decided to upgrade as the 1020 does its job and I have no problem per se with the unit. What I'd like most is a wake-on-LAN / network standby, perhaps more flexibility in network streaming capabilities, and improved calibration. For that I'm pretty sure now that I'd have to go to either Denon/Marantz and Onkyo/Integra as they are about the only brands offering Audissey. Then again MultEQ XT32 and SubEQ HT equipped AVRs cost a fortune and I'm not ready to go there yet.

Maybe I'll just wait for now

I have a new problem with mine, from day one I have had it plugged into one of those "eco" power strips, so that the power is completely cut when not in use, as the my does not completely power off when the 1020 does. Now suddenly it will not remember the HDMI inout that the TV/Sat is plugged into, or the HDMI input that the DVD is plugged into. It basically has stopped remembering what was assigned to the assignable inputs. Has anyone else had this issue? I am going to plug the 1020, into a different outlet on the strip that is not controlled by the master outlet. I just don't understand what could have happened to it that would cause it to do this all of a sudden. No power surges that I am aware of, and it has been plugged into a reasonable surge protector. I really do not want to replace it, as I don't really have the coins right now, and resetting the assignable inputs on power up all the time is unacceptable...

Maybe an HDMI control problem? Try turning HDMI control off if is on...

It was not on, and does not seem to do anything anyhow, other than change the format of the OSD. I did reconnect the 1020 to an always on receptacle on the surge strip, and that seems to have fixed it, but it is a strange issue.

All I can say is... "indeed"

Has anyone found a way to speed up the amount of time it takes to switch between various HDMI inputs. When I switch (among devices plugged into the 1020k) , I start to hear the new input after a few seconds, then I see it on my Samsung D8000 a few seconds after that. I understand there's a handshake going on, but it seems slow.

I don't think you'll find a way to change switching and handshaking delay. Switching is takes about 1 sec and could be faster. The HDCP handshake is a PITA and you can thank the content industry for that.

I think you're right. I thought I'd pose the question again just in case anyone has found a tip or a trick.

my pioneer vsx1020k has been in the shop twice already, when the ir control went out right before xmas, i bought a harman kardon avr 1700 for $199 at best buy, msrp $499. 5.1 surround sound is a lot better on the avr 1700 than i could ever get with my 1020. hk has a 2 yr warranty plus i bought the geek squad 4 year extended waranty after dealing with the 1 year pioneer warranty, a 2 year warranty from pioneer would have fixed all problems. i used zone 2 function for my porch speakers, i was able to buy 2 avr 1700 receivers for a lot less than any of the zone 2 capable receivers out there.

funny thing is, i sold the 1020 on ebay with full disclosure for $125 and the second remote i had for $49. i got so excited that i went thru my old remote box and sold a couple more remotes

best buy still has the hk avr 1700 for $199 in store stock only, so call around if you decide to buy one.
Edited by kohlgren - 1/18/13 at 11:45am

I'm glad you got that good of a deal. Here in Canada the HK AVR1700 is $500 after rebate at BestBuy Canada
Anyway... how good is calibration on HK receivers? Can the 1700 EQ the sub channel? At this price, I guess it doesn't have pre outs?

I have some questions also. How do the 2 AVRs compare in speed, when you switch HDMI devices. And are you saying that you had to buy a 2nd HK to handle you zone 2/porch?

the hk avr 1700 has ezset/eq for setting up the speakers, yes it eq's the sub. there is an hk avr1700 thread
the avr1700 has record out pre outs that converts all hdmi audio to analog pre out, this is how i use the 2nd receiver for zone 2
record out on receiver 1 to analog in on receiver 2 so that my speakers in the office and on the porch play the same source. usually vtuner net radio.
hk can't set up different receiver remotes like the vsx1020k can, i get around this by a piece of tape over the ir spot on the receiver

when switching hdmi inputs i get sound before video similar to the vsx1020k, it's a handshake thing with my lg tv i assume

Looking for some advice. my father-in-law gave me his 1020 that just stopped working last week and he went out and bought a new receiver. When I plug it in and press the power button "Power On" briefly flashes on the display as you hear the click of it turning on. Then nothing. Nothing happens unless I unplug it then I hear the click of it shutting off/losing power. I have no speakers or anything connected to it. Is it junk and I should just pitch it or does it sound like something that could be fixed for a reasonable amount?

^^ does it have the blue light of death on the front too?
that would be the amp overload light, $170 to fix it when mine came on.

No, it has no light on at all after the "Power On" flashes by.

No Display or anything?
If so you may need to have it looked at.
You should call Pioneer first at:

PIONEER ELECTRONICS
SERVICE SUPPORT DIVISION
1925 E. DOMINGUEZ ST.
POST OFFICE BOX 1760
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA 90810-1720
PHONE: 800-421-1404
FAX: CUSTOMER SERVICE (310) 952-2821
PARTS DEPARTMENT(310) 952-2247

If you take it to your local Authorized Service Repair Facility, it will cost you $50.00 to find out what is wrong with it.
Usually if you decide to repair it the first $50.00 will be applied to the repair.
If it is the main control PCB the cost of the Part is over $500.00 but you may get lucky.
That is why you should call Pioneer first to see what they think it is.
They may have seen your problem before and can instruct you as to the best course of action.

Good Luck

Bud B

I have just spent two evenings trying to get internet radio with no success. I stumbled onto this forum for some help and found your post which I could have written, without the success part. Could you tell me where I can find the posts that helped you so I won't spend another night of frustration trying to find the IP Address and hopefully try to enter some stations.

Any help would be appreciated.

What is the problem exactly fredrick? is it only finding the IP address of the AVR? Simply do this, assuming the AVR is connected to your router with ethernet:

Home menu -> 4. System Setup -> d. Network Setup -> 1. IP Adress & Proxy

Then when you go to http://your.avr.ip.address on a browser on the same LAN you'll access the Internet Radio Setting page, barring any foulplay from firewall, router, etc. From there you can change all 20 stations. After changing one, click on the update button to both activate the change and test it (the receiver will tune to that station). Note that nowadays many radio station don't provide the exact URL to the stream, alas, so it may be hit or miss. If you can tell us which station you're interested in, we can help trying to find the URL you have to enter.

(EDIT: Stunningly the iControlAV application cannot be used to change the programmed stations, but your smartphone or tablet browser probably can load the AVR's Internet Radio Settings page).

No it's not hooked up by Ethernet is that going to be a problem. Can I hook my laptop up to it until I get my internet radio setup?

As far as I know the 1020 doesn't have a WiFi adapter so the only way for it to connect to your network and the internet is through the Ethernet port.

the 1020 has to be hardwired into your router to get internet radio. pioneer has a $199 wireless dongle but i'd buy a $32 wireless extender and hook it up if you need wireless ethernet.

Good idea. I thought the Pioneer dongle was for Bluetooth only though...

I'm using a powerline ethernet adapter, you can use that to feed a switch if you need more ports.

Mine came with the Pioneer adapter - it only does bluetooth and could be stronger, it hooks on the back and you access it by going to "adapter port"

my bad, yes the pioneer dongle is bluetooth

You're forgiven.

So it's confirmed, the ethernet cable has to go in the port in the back