Official Pioneer VSX-521k owners thread - Page 20

Np, the website you were on didn't have much info on speakers, also that set u wanted are discontinued, so I looked around a little and found this similar Yamaha setup, it's pretty nice I would get it as a first 5.1 system, decent sized full range satellites and a powered sub,

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio...ck/?mode=model

Amazon has these on sale for 129 us. I don't know if it's the same for uk though,

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001AV...553266-6061265

Speakers are the most important element in a sound system, whether it's a home theater system or a simple stereo. I looked at the specs of the Yamaha NSP40 and while they look decent on paper, I would have to guess that they don't sound as good as other small speakers mainly because they seem to have a single full range driver. There is no way for a full range driver to sound great on the upper frequencies while also having decent bass. Imagine the speaker cone trying to vibrate slowly to produce the bass notes while at the same time trying to vibrate quickly for the upper octaves. It's physically impossible to do both well at the same time so the sound quality will be mediocre. My advice would be to go listen to them for yourself, if you haven't already done so, and go from there. If they sound acceptable to your ears, then go for it. But first make sure that you listen to other speakers so you have experienced what really good sound actually sounds like, as a point of reference. I currently have a pair of Definitive Technology ProMonitor 800's and a ProCenter 1000 center channel, and will be adding a Definitive Tech powered sub and surround speakers when extra funds are available. These speakers are amazing in their sound quality, especially considering their small size. Even without a sub at the moment, the bass coming out of these little guys is very impressive. If you have a Def tech dealer in your area, be sure to try these out too.

^^
I agree, the best thing you could do is listen to the difference between full range, and 2 or 3 way speakers etc. that way you can see how important having a speaker that can produce lows mids and highs vs relying on the subwoofer with low end full range speakers like in most of the packages in your price range.

Csylvester87, unfortunately they don't seem to sell those units in the UK. but thanks for looking into it for me.

five28, cheers for the info. I have listened to the pioneer s-hs100, wasn't really impressed, couldn't find any shop with the yamaha speaker setup to listen to them. But by your info I believe having tweeter on the centre and side speakers help alot.

I had my eyes on these speakers, If you guys give the thumbs up for these I would be happy to purchase them as I have heard good reviews of them too. They are the Tannoy SFX 5.1. Specs on them can be found on Tannoy.com. I have tried looking for a demo instore for these for a couple of months with fail, therefore will have to go with others opinions.

cheers for the help

Hey, I checked them out and I think they would go well with this amp which had a clean sound, how much are they though?

These are definitely geared towards high frequency clarity there range is 140hz-78khz, so the speakers wont have much low end, but seem like they would have good highs especially with the small tweeter, and it's important to know that the human ear can only hear up to about 20-25 kHz so anything above that is just marketing dribble, I think, But it seems to have a decent active sub from 45hz to the 140hz cutoff where the satellites pick up,

If you do get these you will want to set all your speakers to the small setting, and the cross over frequency to 150, this way the subwoofer will produce all the the bass that the speakers can't make ( the 140-45 hz)

These would be a good starter system though, and what I would do is after you've had them awhile and want to upgrade, I'd buy a pair of nice floor standing speakers or bookshelf's, from the same maker, use them as your L/R's, and use your old ones as surround backs to make a 7.1, also either get a better sub or another of the same and have 2.

Good to see this board relatively active!

I'm STILL not crystal clear on the whole PCM vs. Bitstream debate (add in the AUTO modes for more confusion). What settings should I choose on the PS3 and on the receiver to get the best DTS-MA and Dolby HD sounds?

I know this is a silly question, but sometimes it's the simpler things in life that evade us.

This might help.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=842477

@cyrollan. Just use bitstream if you can, PCM might not always be uncompressed if the main codec for ex. (DTS-HDMA) is, which is only available through bitstream I believe

Does anyone know if there is a difference between using "auto surround" while watching a blu ray with either (DTS-HD/DDTrueHd) or using the "ALC" button to select the specific codec, for example pressing it and selecting (DTS HD) as the codec, and leaving it on that, it seems to sound exactly the same as if you pressed "auto surround" and watched that way, all the same options are available if you use auto, or select the codec through that button,

So I was wondering if anyone knew if there was any difference between them, to me they seem exactly the same, I am curious if this is the case or not,

]I just got my new VSX-521-k and I've managed to get audio working if I run my htpc and xbox into the TV (LG Plasma) then the tv into the receiver by optical but I REALLY want to run the Xbox into the receiver via HDMI then the receiver into the TV but whenever I try the TV just doesn't get a signal. can't figure it out, I've tried running it into different inputs on the receiver but it just seems like the receiver doesn't wanna sync with the TV... Any ideas?
Cheers,
Mitchilled

Hi Mitchilled, in the Xbox 360 menu try disabling Display Discovery.

Worked perfectly thanks heaps man!

^^^ Glad to help, enjoy.

Hi there,

i don't know how to connect my subwoofer.... the back of the subwoofer has AUX input, COAXIAL INPUT and OPTICAL INPUT...

I've tried running the coax input to the sub pre out on the 521 but nothing, however when i hook up the AUX input red/white rca's into my set top cable tv box, it works. Would anyone give me some direction?

Would it work if I go a coax Y cable and plugged that into subwoofer pre out on the 521 and link it into the coax input on the sub?

I'm so lost!! Any help would be much appreciated

Have you run the MCACC after you connected the sub? You need to do that so that the receiver knows that there is a subwoofer connected. You can also do it manually, but setting it up with the MCACC using the included microphone may help it sound the best. What sub are you using?

I don't think te sub even has a brand to be honest, it's getting no response when i hook the woofer to the amp but it does work when i hook it up to the set top box? So wouldn't that suggest that the woofer isn't correctly hooked up to the amp at all? :S

Maybe it's time for a new subwoofer? lol

I'm thinking that the receiver is not "seeing" the sub at all. The cable box will output audio all the time, but the receiver has to be set up properly and told how many speakers are connected, and which ones, so that it knows to output to them. Have you tried going to the on-screen system setup menu and then "manual SP setup"? That is where you would specify what speakers you have connected and once you select that you have a sub, it should start working. This is a powered sub with it's own internal amp, correct?

I have found the problems I have had - handshaking HDMI Isuspect - have pretty much gone as long as I remember to turn the receiver on last. Annoying but weird.

Hi all,

A beginner in sounds systems here ..

I just bought this receiver along with 5 speakers (2 front big, 1 center, 2 small rear) and hooked up everything and works fine. Now the problem i have is that the rear two speakers dont work the way i thought they would. I connected them into Surr L and R slots of the receiver next to center, by twisting the wire. I understand that for back L & R there is a pre-out connection which needs an additional amplifier. Since I dont have an additional amplifier so I would want them to work with the current receiver.

In the system setup, first I tried with manual system by listing the SURR L & R as small speakers but no chance. Then did the Auto MCCAC, while testing there was sounds from rear speakers and I think the receiver categorized them as 'Surround L & R' speaker. (this makes it clear that there is no cabling or connection issue) Now in my opinion i was thinking that they would sound when i play a 5.1 or 7.1 sound (via PC, over HDMI) like this ;-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TdLTe_yckY

But on the rear one's nor surroond L or R make a sound for this video nor any other similar video on youtube...

The sound mode is Dolby PL II selected on the receiver.

Is there some setting wrong in the receiver or my expectation about rear speakers is wrong that they wont work like this? When try to selected RECEIVER --> SB CH ,, it shows NO SB SP .

Any help appreciated !

Thanks a million!

Not sure I understand what your asking. You mentioned that you have your surround speakers connected as "surround left and right". Then you mentioned that you're not getting sounds from the back surround channels. It sounds like you understand that the back surround channels require a separate amplifier, as this is a 5.1 receiver, not a 7.1. Are you asking if you can get your back surround channels to work without a separate amplifier? If so, then the answer is no.

Correct, I have connected L & R surround channels. The only thing I have learned now is that 5.1 channels do not include back channels, instead they include surround channels.

The Pioneer VSX 521K does have a PRE out for back speakers but for that it needs a separate amplifier.

Since IMO getting sound from back channels is more important than surround channels, I think I should either return this receiver and get a 7.1 receiver Or get a separate amplifier.

BTW: Can anybody recommends that extra amplifier ?

The cheapest 7.1 from pioneer, Pioneer VSX-826-K 7.1 , costs 337 Euros. So I am wondering if it would be better to buy an extra amplifier or simply change to a 7.1 receiver.

thanks!
Edited by Ruhetag - 7/15/12 at 3:58pm

Here you go. A 50 watt per channel, 2 channel amp for $89 with free shipping from Amazon. Also, instead of buying an outboard amplifier, have you played around with your surround speaker placement? Instead of having them on the left and right, why not move them behind your listening position so they will become "back" speakers?

http://www.amazon.com/AudioSource-AMP-100-Stereo-Power-Amplifier/dp/B00026BQJ6

Actually I do have tried almost everything I could think of to find any workaround for the rear speakers. But since the reciever has fixed slots for each speakers, the receiver always sends the 'Surround L & R' sounds (in a HD movie for example) to the slot marked with 'Surround L & R', i.e. not take any 'real' rear sounds. The sounds of back are sent to the front speakers. It is kind of funny sometime when watching a movie when I expect the sound of 'back' in a movie scene should be from rear speakers, it comes out of front speakers. I do have the rear speakers (placed at back of sitting position) but they dont really make any distingueshed sounds in a movie most of the time.

Just checked the return policy of a 3rd party seller on Amazon.de, he has returns no money back when returning a receiver that I have programmed. So I think now I will have to buy a small amplifier for the receiver for the back channels.

I cannot find AudioSource AMP-100 from amazon.de as I am in Germany. Instead I found a few other:-

http://www.amazon.de/Dynavox-CS-PA1-Mini-Verst%C3%A4rker-50Watt-schwarz/dp/B000G8NQ6Q/ref=pd_cp_ce_0

http://www.amazon.de/Dynavox-CS-PA1-Mini-Verst-auml-rker/dp/B0016KO9V4/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header

http://www.amazon.de/Hifi-Verst%C3%A4rker-McVoice-AV-130bl-12Watt-SlimLine/dp/B001AW4GT8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

http://www.amazon.de/Kompakt-Verst%C3%A4rker-Amplifier-Karaoke-Funktion-Line-In/dp/B002HR0D42/ref=sr_1_5?s=ce-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1342432198&sr=1-5



Any recommendation from these (as I have to buy from Germany so it would be German version of Amazon).

Also, I dont know what should I look in these stereo receivers specifically anything for rear speakers like how much watts would be enough for rear speakers... ?

Apart from this, realizing my limited knowledge, I am just now wondering if most of movies on mkv format do actually have a 7.1 format ? i.e. would it be worth activating the rear channels so that they give own unique sounds?


thanks again!
Edited by Ruhetag - 7/16/12 at 6:58am

I did a quick Google search on 7.1 Blu-Ray movies and at this time, there doesn't seem to be all that many. However, as with any new technology there will be a steady increase in availability over time. As far as your choice of amps, I would recommend at least 50 watts per channel. The rear channel will probably not get all that much use but will be mainly used for spacial cues and depth. Fifty watts should be sufficient. As I don't speak German I wasn't able to gather too much from the links. I lived in Frankfurt, Germany back in the 70's when I was in the military. Beautiful country, and I have been meaning to go back again one day.

Thanks,

ohh yes, Germany is a nice country. I live in Munich but have been to Frankfurt too. There is a large US base nearby and still many soldiers are stationed there. I am sure you will have good memories of that place.

In the meantime I was able to more explore this receiver. I must say that this receiver is not very user friendly. There are a lot of options that one dont know (atleast the beginners). The receiver's manual was in its CD so reading that was a pain, now i printed and read everything.

So after some tests and trials i have set the speaker size of all speakers in the setup as large so now the rear speakers also sound loud as wished. Also, I realized even after adding that extra amplifier the receiver wont give all the result the way i want automatically. It is more of a sounds settings issue to get each channels sound from the corresponding speaker. So for now at least I am not buying a new amplifier.

While struggling with the sound settings, I realized that in AUTO SURR mode I never get the Dolby Pro Logic or Dolby PL II or DTS or TrueHD or Dolby Digital sympols turned ON when playing a mkv rip which obviously contains DTS sometime or AAC.

I play movies in any of these two ways,

1. PC-> HDMI > Receiver -> HDMI-> Samsung UE55ES6300 TV
2. OR PC-> DLNA (serviio)-> Samsung TV-> HDMI ARC -> Receiver

I tried all settings like setting upmix to off or on, Sound mode Auto/direct, etc but those symbols only display if I manually set them .... . But still DTS never shows up. So the question is, while playing mkv rips in any of above two ways, the receiver doesn't indicates the sound type when in auto mode, so is it really just playing stereo distributed on the speakers OR is distributing the 5.1 sound to the speakers in 'original 5.1 format' ? i.e. does the receiver correctly distributes the 5.1 signal to the speakers as originally allocated?
Edited by Ruhetag - 7/23/12 at 1:48pm

for example, here is a audio track info of such a rip

Update: I have found the answer.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1354374/no-dts-signal-through-hdmi-on-pioneer-vsx-920#post_22246006

Just bought one of these and am having a weird issue.

I have a UK Panasonic TV with a Freeview decoder hooked up to the receiver with HDMI (HDMI Out from the receiver).

Now, I bought an optical cable and have hooked that up to the TV/Sat optical input. However when I have the TV in TV mode I get no sound from the receiver. Take the optical cord out of the TV and still no sound.

The only way to get sound is to pull the HDMI cable and turn the TV off an on. Clearly not ideal. Now, I know I am missing something obvious but could someone please give me a clue ?

I assume this Freeview decoder is simply an HD receiver, such as a satellite or cable box. If that is the case, you may want to try connecting it a different way. Try connecting the decoder to the TV via HDMI, and also connect the decoder to the receiver with the optical cable. Then you can connect the receiver to the TV using HDMI which would allow you to connect other components such as a Blu-Ray disc player or a streaming device. I have my system connected this way and have no issues.

Thanks for the reply but this doesn't really help. As I already said the freeview decoder is built into the TV

Hi Lusiphur, to pass audio back to the receive from the Tv over the HDMI cable ... both receiver and the Tv has to support ARC (Audio Return Channel). Most Tv that support ARC will normally have the letters "ARC" printed next the the HDMI input and is not always HDMI-1 but HDMI-2 (check your OM). In order to enable ARC on the TV, set Viera Link to "On" and set Tv audio speakers to "Home Theater" and also enable ARC on the receiver as well.

If the the Tv doesn't support ARC then connect an optical cable, set Tv audio speakers to "Home Theater" and select the correct input on the receiver..