The "Official" Pioneer VSX-1020-K Owner's Thread - Page 3

Thanks for the advice ccotenj, this will be plan b. However, this probably won't work with the iPod.

Picked one up last night from a nearby Best Buy and canceled my Amazon "pre-order".
Haven't configured too much but have noticed how cool it runs after two hours of 5.1 usage. Much snappier iPod/iPhone controls than my returned 1019.
Not that enthralled by the Internet radio as of yet, but hopefully that's scalable.

Yea...something is being misunderstood....manual shows:

With these connections you can
simultaneously enjoy 5.1-channel surround
sound in the main zone with stereo playback
on another component in ZONE 2 (The
selection of input devices is limited.)

BUT

ZONE 2 inputs: DVD, TV/SAT, DVR/BDR, VIDEO,
INTERNET RADIO, iPod/USB, CD, CDR/
TAPE, TUNER, ADAPTER PORT,
SIRIUS.....I would say that some of these are digital inputs

I'm still holding to my thought that if the analog part is true that is ONYL when trying to listen to two differnet digital sources at one time in the two zone (ie digital source 1 in zone 1, digital source 2 in zone 2)

How is the sound quality when playing WAV or Apple Lossless music files from your iPhone?
It should be interesting to compare between the iPhone and the CDs from which the music was ripped.

I'm having the same issues with the zone 2 setup. I just got off the phone with Pioneer support and they confirmed that only analog sources can be sent to zone 2. They did say that the iPod should work which is confusing because the manual describes it as a digital input.

Edit:
I just switched to Speaker B setup and digital sources are NOT sent to the B speakers. This is probably a deal breaker for me. It looks like I will be returning this one. Boy am I glad I bought it at Best Buy rather than somewhere online!

I was skeptical about buying a Pioneer product and I have to say that I am sorely disappointed.
Hangups so far:
No on-screen display for volume and sound field. (Not huge but disappointing)
No ability to listen and watch two different inputs. (My five year old Yamaha did this just fine)
Digital source cannot be sent to Zone 2 or B Speakers. (Deal breaker)

Showing up as "In Stock" at Amazon now. It must be fully launched now.

And just as quickly "Temporarily out of stock". Must have gotten snatched up pretty quickly. Still waiting on my notification from Abt.

I canceled my pre-order with Amazon and picked one up at Best Buy. Getting ready to hook it up tonight.

I printed out a 10% off coupon today for Best Buy and took it to the store with my receipt. That plus a $5 off coupon. Ended up with better price than Amazon even with tax.. Thanks Best Buy!

Anyone get the IPhone app working? IControlAV..

at the risk of being in the wrong thread, what alternative AVRs CAN send digital source to zone 2 or B? this is disappointing to me also!

not many!

Excuse me while I butt in on the thread, however, finally made up my mind on an upgrade and have a VSX-1020-K on the way, as well as new HDMI cables for my rewire job.

I spent a lot of time making this choice, and it came down to

1) It's got about every bell and whistle you could pack into a less than $600 unit
2) Pioneer has been enjoying the status of consistently having professionally rated AVR's in this middle range price for some time.
3) Other than THX rating, and a few other features I would not use anyway, it's a hell of a buy.
4) My H/K AVR pre-dates HDMI and I'm hungry to have those new codecs.

I've not owned a Pioneer since 1980, so we'll see how it goes. I've stuck with H/K and Marantz.

So, Uncle Willie joins the thread.

BTW, some of you have had this unit long enough to post some kind of user review.. it's kinda traditional around here... what's up...?

I picked my 1020 up yesterday from best buy. It is replacing a dennon 1508 that went out after warrenty expired. I was wondering if any one noticed poor hdmi vidio quality like a slight picture grain and a strange tint. I know the signal is supposed to be untouched but I swear the 1020 doesnt look as good as the dennon did using the same cables. It could be just me, just wanted to know if some one else noticed the same thing. Dont get me wrong besides that I really like this receiver especialy all the features for the the money and I do think is sounds better than the dennon after i got every thing set up.

Yep, as stated it looks like only the analog signals and the iPod can be sent to zone 2. A little disappointing but once you add the additional wiring (and figure out which buttons to press) it works pretty well.

I'm liking the iPod option. It would be nicer if there was a cradle that plugged into the back of the receiver but the functionality is pretty good using the remote.

I second that. Can someone please post a review. Thanks in advance.

For Zone 2, not many...especially at this price range. However, I would think a lot of receivers could send a digital source to B. My Yamaha RX-V1400 did and I bought it 6 years ago!


I have used it a little and while it's nice, I can't think of many situations where it would be very useful. The one advantage would be when I'm sitting outside on my deck with ANALOG music playing through my outdoor speakers, I can control the volume.


1) No. The size of the cover art is way too small and the screen looks like something someone produced on a commodore 64. I'm not sure why either. I wouldn't think that would be difficult to make look nice.

2) I haven't looked into it yet.


I think the sound quality is excellent and the MCACC does a very thorough calibration. I prefer a little more Sub so I upped its level a bit.

The thing that irritates me the most about the Zone 2/Speaker B limitations is that the main source I would be using is an Airport Express playing 24/96 FLACs. The DAC in the Airport is nowhere near the quality of the one in the receiver so I would really like to use a digital signal. I can run an additional analog connection on everything else that I would listen to in Zone 2.

Edit:
Here's a shot of the iPod GUI.

I'm really getting into this reciever. The IPod control is a nice toy. The internet radio is working fine. You can configure the web channels from a web browser on your computer by going to the IP address of the receiver. The Ipod GUI is kind of rough but functional. I prefer the Pandora interface of my Samsung Bluray player. Also since I have an XBox 360 I prefer the GUI of that for music played from my main computer.

The sound is fantastic. My main speakers are older Polk Monitor 5 Series II's that this receiver brought back to life compared to my 10 year old Sony 5.1 system. I'm not sure if investing in new speakers at this point will make a drastic difference or not??

I don't care for the front panel access for the IPod. I would have liked a plug from the rear of the receiver so the wires don't show. A dock sitting on top or to the side would be a nice option.

My original budget was $400 but glad I purchased this over the VSX-1019 which I will be returning today. I had two ethernet jack wired behind my TV but now have to use a switch since I have four devices that are wired. I would have never thought that back 10 years ago when I wired them.

So far I'm very happy with this receiver. Almost went with a Onkyo.

are you guys sure that digital sources won't go to "speaker b"?

i believe that 2-channel digital sources should go there... multi-channel won't...

Pelly_NV,

Does this Pioneer or any Pioneer AVR have anything similar to Audyssey Dynamic Volume?


Respectfully,
Willie

zervinb,

I wouldn't worry about where the machine was made whether it be China or Malaysia. If the quality control is not there it could be made in Japan and you will still get crap. Again, it's all about quality control. The guy in Japan or Malaysia doesn't handle his screw driver any better than the guy in China. (lol)


Respectfully,
Willie

At the risk of exposing myself as a complete noob... I'm wondering if I need to quickly cancel my amazon pre-order before i get to the top of the line...

I had hoped to play (at a minimum)
1. AM/FM
2. iPod and
3. internet radio sources to zone 2 (garage) and speaker b (patio)

Will I be able to or not? if not, what would be the alternative input wiring if i keep the pre-order and get the 1020?
I'm assuming 1 & 3 = yes, but 2 not sure after reading the thread.

Thank you!

Does the AVR consider the Sirius Connect 8pin connector digital? What about Internet Radio? I would like to send these to zone 2 speakers.

Zone 2 & MP3

Still working with the receiver but I can tell you that I can listen to MP3s on Zone 2 (hmmmm that's digital right ).....so what they mean by only analog...I still can not understand....

2 questions for the group:

(1) Anyone know if the above 3 problems are solved by getting the new pioneer 1120?

(2) on the "can only play analog input music in zone 2, does this mean that a blu ray player connected to the avr with hdmi wouldnt play a cd in zone 2?!?! If this is the case (seems wierd to me!), would an upgrade to the 1120 fix problem?

If it's like my 919, no device that is hooked up with a digital connection will play through Zone 2 (except iPod through the USB). I believe the circuits are just not physically there to make the conversion. I must use any available set of stereo analog inputs for Zone 2.

Does the 1020, 1120 have a cooling fan inside?

Pioneer must have done a whiz bang job with the efficiency of these new AVR's, especially the 1020.......

I set it to my Airport input which is connected with digital optical and got no sound from Speaker B. I switched it to iPod and got sound.

I might have missed a setup step somewhere but I don't think so. Its behavior does seem odd though.