Pioneer VSX-1021 Owners' Thread - Page 60

kewl thanks for the help i think i just never turned the vol. up being it was on ..on zone 1 i just didnt turn it up lol....reciever sounds so much better then my old pioneer...only thing i cant get figured out is what was just being talked about...playing threw my ps3 i cant get it to say dts it just says pcm..went threw the settings on ps3 but still no go

Check the PS3 thread to verify, but the PS3 can't bitstream DTS HD Master, decodes and sends PCM only.

I picked this up on Newegg Friday, it's on the truck! I haven't had decent sound in about two years since I had to stage my house for sale for a job transfer. Staging person said I needed to get rid of my speakers so I gave them to a buddy and the old Onkyo was on its last leg so I gave it to goodwill. Ive been limping along with some Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakers plugged in via headphone jack. Fast forward 2 years and I found this receiver for $299 and the Martin Logan MT-2 speakers for $299 so I ordered. I've read every post and it looks like I'll have a monumental task on Tuesday or Wednesday. Luckily I have my cable modem next to the TV so no bridging and or wireless issues as I'll be hard wired in with a gigabit switch. My setup will be:

46" Samsung LCD
HTPC with HDMI
PS3 Slim
Time Warner DVR
Road Runner DSL
Laptop
iPad
iPhone
HTC Droid Inc
Airfoil

I bought an extra HDMI cable, 14 awg speaker wire, banana plugs and sub woofer cable for LFE. I think I have everything. I'm going to be running 3.1 for the moment until we move out of this apartment. We really dont have a good setup for 6.1 yet. Eventually I hope to have more zones with the use of airfoil. Hopefully this will go smooth and I didn't forget anything for the setup.

True of the "fat" PS3. Not true of the Slim.

Thanks bro - I just bought one to replace my defective Onkyo. That's a great deal!

FIXED my sub and surround issues!! http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post21373840 had my answer right there!

I am having some issues with subwoofer output while listening to and CD's, airplay, mp3's via optical. I have torn through the manual and I am at a complete loss of what to do next. When watching movies my system sounds great, just stereo audio sounds awful. I have attempted every EQ setting Pioneer offers and have re-run MCACC two maybe three times will all the same results. I have 4 energy CB-5s and a take 1 center chan with a Chrysalis Photon sub. Any ideas?

Is that not confusing to you? In the first sentence are they talking about direct or pure direct?

"With direct, the only modifications added to pure direct..." wtf?

So just to confirm "direct" is unmodified sound but does include the settings from mcacc. Pure direct is just unmodified sound.

^^^ is that a correct statement?

I so don't get this receiver. Why do I have to crank it up more than half way just to hear anything? And tonight for the Super Bowl I had to crank it to -8.0db so everyone could hear it over the background party noise. That's almost all the way up!!

My old entry level Onkyo seemed to have more power, but I know on paper that's not true at all. I worry about keeping it cranked up so high for an extended time, just cuz I'm sure it's got to be getting pretty hot with a that power running through it right??

-8 is not "almost all the way up." It's 8db below reference level (assuming you have calibrated the AVR). And the level control goes up to +12.

Hmm I didn't realize that. Visually on the icontrol app the volume meter is reaching near max. I mean I can eventually get it to the desired volume level, I'm just worried about long term component life with it jacked so high all the time.

You think that's something to worry about at all?

Yep.
Another limitation that tripped me up, when watching a 3D movie, the slim can only decode/stream DTS Master.
DolbyTrueHD won't decode or bitstream, you just get the core lossy.

I currently have a THX Select Onkyo HT-RC180 that's only about 2 years old, I've been very happy with it.

I have however just upgraded to a new 3D projector and want to get something with a 3D capable switcher.

I saw the current deal on newegg and am very tempted to pull the trigger on the VSX-1021.

Anyone have any thoughts as to whether or not I'd have equivalent sound quality? Would I be better keeping my current receiver and using some sort of an HDMI switcher?

I don't care about airplay, I just want 3D switching and good sound quality.

Bumping my question. Any suggestions on making Airplay more reliable? Any chance this can be fixed with a future firmware version?

Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Sincerely.

Just checking to see if the VSX-1021 has on-screen volume display while watching a movie? (i.e. if I bump the volume up, I get an indicator on the TV?)

I need this as the receiver itself is not visible while watching a movie (it is in an equipment closet)

I just got mine in from the newegg deal today and hooked it up to some tiny speakers to make sure it worked as I won't be able to get it totally installed until later this week. I turned the volume up...kept turning...turned some more. Finally I was at like -32 before I could get it to a decent volume. My current yamaha is at like -65 and it's pretty loud.
What gives?

^^^

nope, that's normal... the volume scale isn't linear... you have a LONG way to go past -32db...

what your old avr's display showed isn't relevant....

After I run MCACC I notice that subwoofer crossover frequencies are limited to ...80, 100, and 150Hz.

Is there any way to manually fine tune this? (120 would likely be ideal for me)

Also, is there definitive evidence that shows that the receiver does not degrade picture quality (video conv off)

Thanks for the help!

Definitive evidence? Probably not. I have run movies back to back, through the receiver (v.conv off), and directly to the tv. Haven't noticed a difference.

This may have been mentioned already, but for some reason I am not getting much out of the sub whenever I am watching or listening to anything in stereo. For music I generally have to go into advanced surround sound and switch it to ext. stereo, then the sub comes to life. Anyone run into something similar and figure out a better solution, if there is one?

Thanks for the response. When I notice (what i believe to be) the degradation the most is when I am watching sporting events. Fios + Samsung LED equals shimmering basketball courts and glistening helmets, but I feel like some of that effect has been lost somehow with video going through the receiver.

If I were to run cable through my TV (via HDMI) and optical sound out to my receiver, what kind of compromises would I effectively be making?

Another question: Am I able to attach any kind of amplifier to this receiver? With my superzero 2.0s it is not an issue, but when I upgrade in the future, I anticipate I will get some power hungry speakers.

Thanks!

Just pulled the trigger on the 1021 with the newegg deal! I was waiting for the Denon 2112ci to go on sale..............Should suffice for a non-audiofile. Also just purchased polk monitor 40's for Front L & R with a CS2 center. I hope I can get thru the menu and set it up because the way you guys make it sound......................

I am looking to hook this up via ethernet to an NAS and use it to play flacs and use the ipad application as a gui. does anyone have any experience doing this?

Same problem here even when connected to a Mac via latest Airport router. If it is going to work properly with anything it should with that. When this problem happens it even names the song playing, shows it on the TV, but no sound. Then it just randomly decides to start working again. Also when this happens, the apps on the iPhone and iPad can't find the receiver. This is the whole reason I bought this receiver, and it simply doesn't work properly. Also sometimes when I press HMG on the remote, it starts HMG, then switches to Internet Radio for no reason.

Airplay is working at the moment. An hour ago it wasn't. Nothing changed. Sometimes it will just stop working mid-song, still show the song as playing, but not output sound. I've read elsewhere that one can have your router give the AVR a static IP address. No idea how to do this, and not sure if it would solve the problem. I'm guessing a firmware update would solve this problem.

So far I am loving this receiver.

Question about my sub though. I have a Cerwin Vega HT sub connected to it. I have the crossover to the highest number (as suggested here), but there is also a phase slider on the back too. On one side of the switch it says 180, on the other is a 0 with a line through it. What does that do? What should I have it set to?

I do see what you are saying. It does seem a bit contradicting. The manual sucks.

I personally keep my receiver on auto decode.

Mines set to zero per the advice of people in this thread and a few others in the subwoofer section.

Manual for my sub says if you are not getting proper sound from the sub you can try to switch the phase to 180deg and see if it improves. If no difference then just leave it 0 deg.

Just to be sure all your speakers set to SMALL?
Also make sure your crossover is low like 80 or 100hz.

Everything came in but the banana plugs and speaker wire. Amazon is sending me a $10 gift card for my trouble. I guess prime does pay after all. I have a bit of an issue with my entertainment center. My middle bay is the largest bay and that's where my HTPC and Pioneer will have to live.

Here's a pic:



I cut out the back side of the entertainment center in the middle, do you think i'm going to add a fan or anything? I don't run the HTPC 24/7 mainly on the weekends only for a short time.

I am running my 1021 with a DTV HR25 and a Panasonic plasma. When I set this up, using the DTV remote my wife could turn the equipment on/off, change channels and control the receivers volume. Now when we hit the volume up and down it changes the volume on the TV, not the receiver.

What happened?