The "Official" Pioneer Elite SC-61/-63 Owners Forum - Page 3

Now here ate my latest problems. I can't seem to get the software on my computer to complete step for on the install disc. Gets hung up at the step for mcaaac. I completed that from simply using on board on the receiver buttons. Does it matter I did not complete install from the computer?

Second question. The systems only plays sub if I have zone 2 on. In other words. Sees it as zone 2. I have the old Bose cubs 5.1. Right,center, left, right rear and left rear. and sub. What do you guys suggest. Thanks

Just bought the SC-61 yesterday. Finished setting it up per all the instruction etc today and everything seems to work fine.....except.....I am not getting pass through to the TV/monitor unless the AVR itself is turned on. I can't for the life of me figure out why. Maybe I am just missing something very obvious? Maybe I'm not even supposed to get a picture without the AVR on?......help!

Mine did the same thing with the installation disc. I went into computer, opened up the contents on the disc and selected "AVNV_GRP1_1131", clicked on that and it installed correctly. Not sure why but it worked. Hope that's what you were looking for

Doug

OK, gang....found the solution to my no pass through problem It's on page 59 of the PDF manual under "HDMI" setup. Somehow during setup it turned the HDMI pass through option to off. The manual has all the information somewhere, it's just not very intuitive. And during the automatic set up it did not ask if I wanted pass through turned on or off and for some reason it was turned off.

It's a great amplifier with outstanding sound. But the documentation and set up instructions are greatly lacking. I'm not a professional audio technician but I am not a noob either. I'd give myself more toward the advanced side of experience but this thing sure has me shaking my head at the lack of clarity in the set up instructions. If you can accept the steep learning curve in what this receiver can do I am sure you will be happy with the product once you have bonded with it. Just my 2 cents.

I'm now smiling at the sound and video being produced by my new SC-61!

Happy Holidays to all!

Same question here... sort of. The sound through my cable box is much lower than that for my Blu-Ray. Is there a way to calibrate an input to make the different sources play sound at equal levels?

...without having to selet a new MCACC each time i switch cources?

congratulations! you've taken a big step to becoming an informed Pioneer owner - you checked the manual I was almost ready to reply with which setting to change & saw your post first - you did good!

seriously, not kidding (too much ) but I'm glad you figured it out on your own. and nobody's manuals are intuitive, some better than others - each has its flaws and illogical way of explaining things. Pioneer is no different. Pioneer has used the same basic format & way of explaining things in its manuals for at least 10 years; once you get used to Pioneer-speak, you'll catch on Not much different with Denon-speak or Onkyo-speak. You can look at a Denon manual and at face value, it looks more organized and easier to read than Pioneer's but owners have complained about lack of details in Denon manuals as long as Pioneer owners have about finding things in theirs. Onkyo lays out info completely different, kind of like a Sony manual, reminds me of an outline form. Pioneer likes to use a style where the basics of a topic are summarized first, with more details in footnotes. it takes awhile to get used to it, but you will

and glad you like the receiver enjoy the holidays!
Edited by ss9001 - 12/16/12 at 3:28pm

not really

you can use Pioneer's ALC surround mode, which does some level control between channels, but that's not what you're after per se. other than that you are subject to the output voltage of the particular source device into your inputs. if the cable box puts out 1 volt and the BD player >2 volts @ max volume, then there's no way the receiver can automatically match them, except by increasing the volume knob

plus you have the complication of which type of connection each device is connected with - HDMI, opt/coax or analog. you can have different levels depending on which one.

I have a Motorola box from Comcast and I have it connected with optical digital, while BD players are connected with HDMI, I can turn the volume down on the cable to -14 to -12 & be happy while BD I tend to use anywhere from -10 to -4 or - 5.

that's the way it is.

and IMO, you will drive yourself nuts if you setup different MCACC presets and swap everytime. while you certainly can do it that way, it strikes me as a bit of a PITA rather than just turning up the volume

you will need to get it installed on the PC.

1. be sure you are using the correct sub output- the correct one is the one in the main preamp section (Sub 1 & Sub 2) NOT the one on the left side of the rear panel next to Zone 2. several have made the mistake of plugging it into Zone 2 sub out & wondered why they had no bass. since you get bass from zone 2, check where you connected the sub. possible you plugged it in the wrong jack. again - it should be connected to subwoofer out in the main preamp section...manual has rear panel & connection diagram.

2. other than the above, I can't help you with Bose speakers since I've only heard them but never owned them. If I remember, they use a bass module and I don't know if it gets the whole output and the cubes are connected to the bass module or if it's used as a conventional sub to be connected to the Sub output on the receiver & speakers are connected to speaker terminals.

without knowing where you connected it, how Bose bass modules are setup and how you configured your speakers in MCACC, the bass crossover point, whether your speakers are all Small or not, it's hard to say.

and no offense, I can say with 100% certainty that with the quality of receiver & audio you now own, you really owe it to yourself to upgrade speakers & also get a true subwoofer ASAP - that should be your #1 priority on the upgrade list. There are countless speaker brands to choose from for home theater that will seriously out-perform Bose in audio quality for what Bose costs. people here can help & you can ask for advice in the Speakers sub-forum. if you want a "lifestyle" type speaker, companies like Definitive Technology, Paradigm, Energy, B&W, Martin Logan & countless others have flat panel wall mounted speakers that will put those Bose to shame

maybe somebody with Bose experience can chime in but (again, please don't take offense) you may not find too many owners of Pioneer receivers at this price point & above with Bose speakers
Edited by ss9001 - 12/16/12 at 6:14pm

Hello SC-61 owners!

Planning on purchasing an SC-61 (or 63, or 65 maybe), and looking at the Panasonic TC-P65VT50 for my new tv. I want the Pro 60x5fd, obviously, as I have a 42" 2007 Pioneer Elite Plasma and have loved it for close to 5 years, but wary of the high price tag on the new Elite LEDs. I like Plasmas and my tv room is relatively dark. Plus I saw the 70" Pro at Best Buy and could really see pixelation on the edges of contrasting edges. Looked like a lot of super blocky text during the credits of Avatar. Wasn't really a fan.

Anyway, I digress. I'm still considering either tv, and I'm wondering if there's a benefit of matching an Eilte AVR to the Elite Pro? Anyone have any info?

consider your 2 purchases as completely separate unless you just want the Elite name on both

keep in mind that the Elite TV is not made by Pioneer, it's a flagship Sharp, arguably the best LCD based TV out there. Sharp licensed the name from Pioneer and used some of Pioneer's engineering & engineers in developing it. But if you like the look of plasma, by all means, keep the top line Panasonic & possibly Samsung plasmas on your list as candidates. the Elite TV will do blacks & contrast better but there are the usual LCD tradeoffs - motion, off angle viewing. Earlier this year, I was in our local Magnolia-BB store and for kicks took a look at LG's 80 incher LCD and compared how it looked with other models on the wall playing the same movie.

I wouldn't trade my 151 Kuro for anything I saw with the exception of the 70" Elite and the top model 65" Panasonic plasma - those were the only ones I found acceptable & comparable in look. the LG was big but the picture was terrible compared to the film look of a plasma - probably their motion interpolation but it looked cartoonish - the Elite OTOH, looked very much like my Kuro 151 playing the same movie; it was a no brainer comparison. IMHO, quality won over size

there is no "synergy" or unique features of the Pioneer SC models by mating them with an Elite TV. so you can consider whichever TV you like best and not miss anything from your SC receiver.

Both the Elite TV & the top Panasonic plasma models are considered the "best" of each display technology currently available so pick the one you like If you're coming from an older Kuro the Elite is tempting because it's black level essentially matched the last generation Kuro's which were better than anything else and still better than Panasonic's best.

the SC receivers you are considering & the TV you are considering are fine choices

A nice note to this is too that Pioneer tests it's Receivers with Sharp AND Panasonic displays
See: http://pioneer.jp/homeav/support/hdmi_cec/ for a list which devices are compatibal with the HDMI Control functions from a Pioneer receiver

Awesome! Thank you for the feedback. That being the case, the price of the 65" Panasonic VT justifies the purchase, IMO.

I just bought a new sc-61. Can someone please tell me the best way to set up older Xbox 360 without HDMI. Also what settings on the receiver to use. Thanks

Thank You!!!!!!!!!

What a horrible thing not to document. I switched to the android ap because of this. I have the sc-1222, non-elite SC-61

Really no setup. Hook up the component cables and optical (audio)cable. Associate the optical input with whatever component input you're using and start playing. After that I guess you can tweak your audio settings if you feel you need to.

I have a few year old HK AVR and just set it to auto format decode.

This was in reference to pushing the "net" button on the remote to get Media Server and Pandora selections to work

I've had this device for a while and I love it. As a lot of you, I am still finding out new things about it. I have one question.

Can you watch one source while listening to another source? (i.e. Can I watch a game while listening to pandora or the radio??

Thanks in Advance,
Mike

Has anyone had trouble updating the firmware via USB drive? This is necessary in order to access Pandora. It's not a huge deal to me as I listen to Pandora infrequently but I figure it's built in to the SC-61 so I might as well get it set up properly. I have followed the directions on the Pioneer website to the letter. I have used two different USB drives, I have downloaded the firmware via wireless and also wired....I went back and reformatted both drives and downloaded the firmware a second time. In all cases I get an error message that says the file is corrupt or damaged and to reinsert the drive, or download the update again. Bottom line is I can't update the firmware and as a result Pandora doesn't work.

Has anyone else run into this problem? Suggestions?

Try a dead-cheap USB stick.
There are more users who had these problems with their 'expensive' USB sticks, and using a cheap one for example a free give away stick, worked like it should.

The reason ? Don't know :P But it worked
And format the stick as FAT.

I had the same problem the other day updating my SC-61. The update folder you downloaded from Pioneer has 5 or 6 individual files after unzipping or extracting them. Open the folder and copy only the files not the whole folder on the USB stick. Hope it makes sense. It worked for me. Thanks and good luck.

During the pioneer sc-61 setup I have connected the "HDMI Out"
on the receiver to one of the 4 "HDMI IN" terminals on the samsung tv (HDMI 3). When I try and connect the TV to the receiver during the "full auto MCACC" step ("Turn on the TV's power and switch the TV's input to the input to which the receiver is connected. The GUI is displayed from the receiver. Check it.)" I get an error message on the tv monitor that says "No Signal- check connected device's power, cable connection, and source selection". I have followed the instructions, used three different HDMI cables (to ensure that one of the cables wasn't bad), and changed the HDMI input on the back of the TV. I still get the same error message so cannot complete the MCACC setup. My guess is that the TV and receiver are not communicating.

Has anyone had a similar problem, or have an idea of how to resolve the issue?

My equipment is:

Samsung UN55C 6500 HDTV
Pioneer Elite SC-61
Bowers and Wilkins CM9 tower speakers
Bose center speaker
Samsung BluRay player BD-C6500

Please help!

This worked for me perfectly. I now have Pandora working on my SC-61.

Has anyone bi-amped their speakers? Is the difference noticeable? I have Klipsch KLF-20's which can be bi-amped but without an active crossover I am wondering if it is worth doing.

I mentioned in another thread that you need to run through the Wiring Navi again in the AV Navigator tool. I had this problem when I first setup my SC-61 but after the second run through it worked perfectly.

Well, am into HOURS trying to figure this receiver out. Back in 1984 I was one of the first to have the RCA Dimensia Home Entertainment system, and despite the size of the instruction manual I WAS able to figure it out.
I am now trying to set up my Pandora account on the SC-61. I have gone through the process on entering username and passsword but get nowhere. It shows it "connecting" then throws me right back into the username entry. I hope I'm just doing something wrong.

I start out by entering my username (for this part does it matter whether I use small or large caps for letters?). I have been using the large-cap letters for entry similar to other net-based programs. Once I hit "enter" another blank screen comes up on the receiver. I assume this is to enter my Pandora password. I did enter it in small caps just like my original password. Then, once I hit "enter" it shows "connecting", but then throws me back into the username field.

Ayone have any ideas?

Thanks!

Bill

^^
I haven't been checking your posts but did you do the recent Pandora firmware update? because if you haven't you need to in order to restore the connection that was lost last month due to Pandora making changes to their servers. It's been on most receiver threads, not just Pioneer. and the update is not available over the internet; need to download it and install onto a USB flash drive. if you've already done the update, then I can't help you any further because I don't have a Pandora account.

Thanks, ss9001. I did update the firmware yesterday, but am having problems entering my username and password through the receiver.

Bill

I originally had a Sony receiver (STR-DE597), then wound up getting a new Samsung TV. Decided to put my receiver in the basement and go with a simple Samsung soundbar. I ran my iPod through it, and also subscribed to Pandora. I missed the high fidelity sound playback so upgraded and bought a pair of Bowers and Wilkins CM9 speakers. Did a lot of research into receivers and landed on the SC-61 due to features and "perceived" simplicity in the setup.

Well, I've had the receiver over a week, and have put in at least 20 hours trying to get some of the features that I wanted working. The automated speaker setup (MCACC) continues to give me error messages when trying to calibrate the rear surround speakers (Bose). I have triple-checked the speaker wiring polarity. I ran the MCACC both using "Wiring Navi" via the internet through my computer and also using the front panel controls on the receiver.

I have been unable to connect to my Pandora Account (see earlier string) for an explanation. I did update the firmware that was supposed to fix any Pandora connection problems from the Pioneer website to no avail.

In an earlier I explained that I could not get throughput from receiver to my Samsung TV via HDMI cable. I finally disconnected the HDMI connection between the receiver and TV, and now have directly connected my Samsung Bluray player to the TV HDMI input.

So, to sum up:

1. No output to my rear surround-sound speakers.
2. No communication between receiver and TV via HDMI cable.
3. Inability to connect to my Pandora account through the receiver despite having a hard-wire connection to my router. This may be a "user-name" and "password" input issue. Also, inputting that information via the receiver's front panel is very time consuming.

You may have better luck than I have, javygonx, but I'm still hopeful that some help from the AVS Forum members will solve my receiver performance problems.

Bill

Hey all,

I really had my heart set on the SC-61 but then noticed Pioneer's SC-1222. Are there any performance issues between the two? As far as I can tell, they are identical except for custom integration on the SC-61 (which I won't need) and the "Elite" name. Anyone have any input on why the Elite branded AVR is better?

-aj

Edit - Also, right now I found the SC-1522k on Amazon for $900, $200 more than the SC-61. That seems like a steal to me...
Edited by Styphin - 12/30/12 at 12:04pm

Thanks for the advice. It worked just like you said it would. Thank you very much!

Now.....I need to get a pre-amp so I can connect my turntable. Hard to believe these high end AVR's stopped installing inputs for turntables. A small addition but it would make the SC-61 stand out in the crowd even more than it does. Just my rant for the day