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Pioneer Elite 59Txi Owners Thread - Page 6

post #151 of 192
8/26/11 at 7:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by markabuckley View Post

managed to get direct DTS-MA/True-HD decoding working in Jriver MC - so you can decode directly to 8 channel USB into the Pioneer

VERY cheap way to get into a high end receiver that will receive the lossless HD audio (all be it decoded at source)

Any difference from running multi-channel ins?


bob
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post #152 of 192
8/26/11 at 7:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spongebob View Post

Any difference from running multi-channel ins?


bob


yes - one major advantage

if you want to use Bass Management or MCACC on the Pioneer - as although the Pioneer can use either or both with the anlogue inputs, it has to go through a stage of ADC - ie the Pioneer has to convert to Digital then use its DACs to go back to Analogue again.

so if you use analogues and BM and/or EQ on the Pioneer - you're using the "potentially inferior" DACs on the source player,then using the internal ADCs on the Pioneer and then the Pioneer DACs.

I think possibly if you use any processing (DPLIIx, THX Ultra etc etc) as well - it'd have to perform the additional ADC too

if you use the USB input all EQ/Bass Management/Processing (for instance applying DPLIIx for 5.1 - simulated 7.1,THX etc) - - is all performed in the digital domain
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post #153 of 192
8/26/11 at 7:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by markabuckley View Post

yes - one major advantage

if you want to use Bass Management or MCACC on the Pioneer - as although the Pioneer can use either or both with the anlogue inputs, it has to go through a stage of ADC - ie the Pioneer has to convert to Digital then use its DACs to go back to Analogue again.

so if you use analogues and BM and/or EQ on the Pioneer - you're using the "potentially inferior" DACs on the source player,then using the internal ADCs on the Pioneer and then the Pioneer DACs.

I think possibly if you use any processing (DPLIIx, THX Ultra etc etc) as well - it'd have to perform the additional ADC too

if you use the USB input all EQ/Bass Management/Processing (for instance applying DPLIIx for 5.1 - simulated 7.1,THX etc) - - is all performed in the digital domain

I'm using the pio bdp-51 which has great dacs, better than the 59's, right?

bob
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post #154 of 192
9/11/11 at 8:16am
I bought my 59-txi back when I built my home theater in 2004/2005. Besides HDMI inputs, what can newer receivers in the sub-$1300 range provide that the 59-txi cannot do now?

I'm really a bit out of the loop on audio, and we use the receiver primarily in a 7.3 (the other subs go through an external amp) enviornment for movies and TV. Certainly not using it for its full potential, other than the movies.

We have a new 75" DLP coming, and it's got me revisiting all of my setup at the moment. Would love to hear any opinions or suggestions.

I was looking at a YAMAHA RX-A3000 7.2-Channel AVENTAGE Receiver that was on sale, and was curious what I'd give up, if anything, if I made the switch.
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post #155 of 192
9/11/11 at 10:49am
well if you get one let us know the comparison pleasse

I too have considered the A3000 as a replacement for my 59TXi - but I couldn't convince myself I wouldn't loose any SQ - the amp sections on the A3000 I think are quite bit lowered powered vs the 59TXi (not surprising when you consider the price difference)

but I wondered how good the A3000 would be as a Pre-pro - now its heavily reduced - a A3000 + decent 2nd hand power amp is not too bad price wise
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post #156 of 192
9/11/11 at 1:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcrandal View Post

I bought my 59-txi back when I built my home theater in 2004/2005. Besides HDMI inputs, what can newer receivers in the sub-$1300 range provide that the 59-txi cannot do now?

I'm assuming your new 75" DLP will have multiple HDMI inputs. Really there's no reason to upgrade your receiver depending on what you have for a BD player. High end BD players like the Pioneer BDP-09FD or Oppo BDP-95 will decode the HD audio tracks and you can feed them to the 59TXi via analog like I do. Your cable or satellite box can supply the pic to your TV directly and you can handle the audio via digital coax or optical.

I don't loose anything personally by keeping my 59TXi.... My BD player feeds the HDTV the video via HDMI and audio via analog, my cable box connects via component to my DTV input for video and optical to the 59TXi for audio. My iLink DVD player is connected to my HDTV via component for video and iLink for audio. Any DVD I want to upconvert to 1080i I play on the BD player.

When my 59TXi was in the shop I used a secondary HT in the bedroom with a 55TXi pioneer receiver. The 59TXi's sound is so clean and powerful, I don't know how I survived the time it was in the shop....

Fred
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post #157 of 192
9/11/11 at 4:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcrandal View Post

I bought my 59-txi back when I built my home theater in 2004/2005. Besides HDMI inputs, what can newer receivers in the sub-$1300 range provide that the 59-txi cannot do now?

I'm really a bit out of the loop on audio, and we use the receiver primarily in a 7.3 (the other subs go through an external amp) enviornment for movies and TV. Certainly not using it for its full potential, other than the movies.

We have a new 75" DLP coming, and it's got me revisiting all of my setup at the moment. Would love to hear any opinions or suggestions.

I was looking at a YAMAHA RX-A3000 7.2-Channel AVENTAGE Receiver that was on sale, and was curious what I'd give up, if anything, if I made the switch.

That Yamaha looks really nice. I haven't had any Yamaha gear in a long, long time. But, the (2 channel) Receiver I had those many years ago, was built well. It never failed. I just decided to go with separate amps at the time (Conrad Johnson hooked to Maggies).

I owned the 59TXi. It was a very nice AVR for its time. Lots has changed since then too, however. HDMI, improvements in room/speaker correction, different sound retrieval capabilities, among other things.

Up to you whether any of that means anything or not. I'm running Elite's relatively new flagship AVR (SC27....they're up to SC57 now). Not going to be a popular opinion on this thread. But, I find the newer AVRs to sound better than my old 59TXi.

That's a really good price on what appears to be Yamaha's flagship from a year ago. Lot of capability for not a lot of money (relatively).

Go ahead and try it. You can always keep your 59TXi as insurance.
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post #158 of 192
9/14/11 at 6:44pm
Thank you all for the feedback! I received my TV today, and placed an order for a Yamaha A3010 today. I can combine all the different commands for changing the audio/video in my Pronto & Harmony, however I really want things to be more integrated together and use HDMI 1.4 through the receiver.

Not to mention I really liked the idea of 9.2, and will be adding 2 additional rear speakers.

I got the 3010 cheaper than I had imagined I'd see it for a very long time, in fact only a couple online stores sell the A3000 for this price.

I'm looking forward to a new start, but am concerned I will miss the 59txi. My TV is already out the door via Craigslist, however I'll be holding onto the 59txi for a bit. The 3010 is rated at 150watts per channel x 9 vs 160watts per channel x 7 for the 59txi, so I'm hoping I won't notice much in power.

I'm big on technology, so I love all the new bells and whistles that it has (or the idea of them, as I don't have it yet).
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post #159 of 192
9/16/11 at 8:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by graphicguy View Post

Go ahead and try it. You can always keep your 59TXi as insurance.

I own two VSX-59TXi's primarily now as insurance if case of of my cats has an accident again... When you think of what you will get for the 59 now on Ebay, you're not tying up too much money. As I mentioned earlier I've found creative ways of prolonging the life of mine by my selection of BD player that decodes the hi-rez audio and feeds it directly to the 59 via analog.

I've had three receivers over the 2004-2006 time period, powering my 7.1 setup of JBL speakers. When I upgraded my VSX-55TXi to a VSX-56TXi, outside of having advanced MCACC, I did not notice any improvement in sound and only the slightest increase in power. My speakers for all intents and purposes sounded on the 56 as they did on the 55. I turned my 56 back in after a week and picked the 59. From the first time I played anything on the 59, it sounded like I bought a new set of speakers, it cleaned up the sound. I truly believe that the 59 will bring out the best in whatever speakers you have!

Spent some time and do some extentive listening to your 59 before you setup the Yamaha and see what you think. The 59 was build so solid with such high quality standards. Being an old fart that buys for the long term, I plan at least a decade of keeping my VSX-59TXi. It's built like a tank and solid as a rock. Anybody that sees my HT, it's the first thing they notice atop my component case, looking at it from the back that copper chaisis is truly a beautiful thing!

Take your time and don't be in a rush to retire the 59, you never know.... I never thought my sweet, innocent, little Black Dahlia would vomit on my receiver and that Pioneer would take 10 and 1/2 months to get me the replacement power supply board. If I had not bought a used 59 on Ebay for $700, I believe it would have been much longer. A week after I bought the used 59, Pioneer called to say the power supply board was finally shipping.

My 55TXi is still around as the bedroom receiver, (we own 2 Mits CRT RP HDTVs, WS-55413 + WS-55315) with a 5.1 Polk satellite/subwoofer speaker setup.

Fred
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post #160 of 192
9/16/11 at 9:15am
I'm bi-amping B&W 805,s and want to get a pair of nautilus 802's.

I really need to know if the 59 can handle the 802's?


thx

bob
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post #161 of 192
9/16/11 at 10:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mgfred View Post

I own two VSX-59TXi's primarily now as insurance if case of of my cats has an accident again... When you think of what you will get for the 59 now on Ebay, you're not tying up too much money. As I mentioned earlier I've found creative ways of prolonging the life of mine by my selection of BD player that decodes the hi-rez audio and feeds it directly to the 59 via analog.

I've had three receivers over the 2004-2006 time period, powering my 7.1 setup of JBL speakers. When I upgraded my VSX-55TXi to a VSX-56TXi, outside of having advanced MCACC, I did not notice any improvement in sound and only the slightest increase in power. My speakers for all intents and purposes sounded on the 56 as they did on the 55. I turned my 56 back in after a week and picked the 59. From the first time I played anything on the 59, it sounded like I bought a new set of speakers, it cleaned up the sound. I truly believe that the 59 will bring out the best in whatever speakers you have!

Spent some time and do some extentive listening to your 59 before you setup the Yamaha and see what you think. The 59 was build so solid with such high quality standards. Being an old fart that buys for the long term, I plan at least a decade of keeping my VSX-59TXi. It's built like a tank and solid as a rock. Anybody that sees my HT, it's the first thing they notice atop my component case, looking at it from the back that copper chaisis is truly a beautiful thing!

Take your time and don't be in a rush to retire the 59, you never know.... I never thought my sweet, innocent, little Black Dahlia would vomit on my receiver and that Pioneer would take 10 and 1/2 months to get me the replacement power supply board. If I had not bought a used 59 on Ebay for $700, I believe it would have been much longer. A week after I bought the used 59, Pioneer called to say the power supply board was finally shipping.

My 55TXi is still around as the bedroom receiver, (we own 2 Mits CRT RP HDTVs, WS-55413 + WS-55315) with a 5.1 Polk satellite/subwoofer speaker setup.

Fred

Fred....in all frankness, I believe room/speaker correction schemes will have more of an impact on an AVR's sound than moving from one model to another.

I can't recall which version of MCACC the 59TXi ran. I know it had 9 bands of equalization at the time I owned mine.

I like the ICEamps in the SC series. I felt they were more powerful than the A/B amps in the 59TXi while retaining all the smoothness the Elites are known for.

That said, if the 59TXi is working for you, then by all means, there's no reason to upgrade. It's a nice piece. I don't miss mine, though.
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post #162 of 192
9/16/11 at 3:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by graphicguy View Post

Fred....in all frankness, I believe room/speaker correction schemes will have more of an impact on an AVR's sound than moving from one model to another.

I can't recall which version of MCACC the 59TXi ran. I know it had 9 bands of equalization at the time I owned mine.

I like the ICEamps in the SC series. I felt they were more powerful than the A/B amps in the 59TXi while retaining all the smoothness the Elites are known for.

That said, if the 59TXi is working for you, then by all means, there's no reason to upgrade. It's a nice piece. I don't miss mine, though.

The 59TXi runs the Advanced MCACC late 2003 flavor and the latest version that applies to it is 1.4, that's what I last got from the download site. The 55TXi ran the normal MCACC from late 2003.

I have two floorstanding speakers as fronts, four full range bookshelf speakers as surrounds and a full range center channel with a 250W powered subwoofer. My HT room is the "great" room which for poor married guys with WAF would be the formal living and dining areas, the ceiling goes up to the top of the second story roof from the open foyer area. So to really enjoy the room, I needed a receiver with some punch.

Sound quality is such a subjective thing, when I was a teen (late 60s) my Dad had McIntosh seperates with JBL Olympus speakers. Through the mid and late 70's I hung out at a lot of Boston nightclubs where way too much gear was shoved into way too small of a space. I've been to a few Who concerts and even what I had no idea of what true loud was before ... A Ted Nugent concert. I worked for a dozen years or more in loud low level noise computer rooms. While not comparable to what we have nowadays, my 71 Firebird Formula 455 had 4 Jenzen triaxials with the loudest 8 track player I ever heard. So all in all, I'm lucky I still hear.........

Going from a $1700 55TXi with 100 wpc (8 Ohm) to a $4500 59TXi with 140 wpc (8 Ohm), besides giving my speakers power to handle my larger room (I moved in 2005) it IMHO brought out a clarity and sound quality my initial Elite receiver did not. You mentioned earlier you might get in trouble in this thread saying you liked the ICE SC series more, it's all a matter of subjectivity. My daughter and I will have disagreements on what color something is, apparently we see things different on the color spectrum.

Someday if I meet the right rich widow... I hope to own McIntosh seperates.

Fred
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post #163 of 192
9/29/11 at 10:51pm
I'm PM'ed Mark about this, but if anybody can answer sooner I'd appreciate.

Is the USB port on the back of the VSX-59TXi take a USB B plug or is it a USB Mini B plug? I'm thinking about finally getting around to using mine.

Thanks!

Fred
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post #164 of 192
9/30/11 at 8:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mgfred View Post

Is the USB port on the back of the VSX-59TXi take a USB B plug or is it a USB Mini B plug?

The manual says USB 4 pin B plug, don't know if that means Mini...

Fred

Edit:

Steve answered my question in the SC-09TX thread, it's the regular B plug.
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post #165 of 192
10/8/11 at 8:39am
I think I'm going to sell my 59-txi now that I have my A3010 in place. I didn't see any recent listings on ebay and I'm wondering what you guys think these might sell for now. With the lack of HDMI, I'm sure it won't be in big demand.
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post #166 of 192
10/8/11 at 8:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcrandal View Post

I think I'm going to sell my 59-txi now that I have my A3010 in place. I didn't see any recent listings on ebay and I'm wondering what you guys think these might sell for now. With the lack of HDMI, I'm sure it won't be in big demand.

6-800 ?


bob
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post #167 of 192
10/8/11 at 9:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcrandal View Post

I think I'm going to sell my 59-txi now that I have my A3010 in place. I didn't see any recent listings on ebay and I'm wondering what you guys think these might sell for now. With the lack of HDMI, I'm sure it won't be in big demand.

I've seen several listings on Ebay recently, there's one right now where they have been asking around $1100, however it's in it's 3rd listing at least and it's gone from over $1300 to where it is now with no offers. Ones I have seen sell have been in the range of $700-$850. My spare one I bought was for $700, however it did not come with the original remote control.

When I bought my second 59TXi it was to replace one that had been in the shop for about 10 months (my cat spit up on it) and wouldn't you know it a week later Pioneer calls me to tell me my parts shipped from Malaysia. I thought about selling the spare, but with 4 cats you never know what may happen, so it's now insurance. You may want to hold onto yours, there's so many things that can happen and in emergency it may come in handy. The 59TXi is one of the best built receivers ever made and IMHO there's few out there that can compete on sound quality.

Fred
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post #168 of 192
10/21/11 at 11:06pm
mgfred - sorry hadn't spotted your PM

tcrandal - hows the 3010 comparing to the 59TXi ?
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post #169 of 192
2/7/12 at 9:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mgfred View Post

I bought the Pioneer IDK-01 iPod unit, simple menus but it does charge the iPod. I connect it via R/L analogs and composite to the receiver. Soon I am going to get an HD Radio tuner and connect it via optical.

How does this connection sound?
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post #170 of 192
2/7/12 at 3:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by geoellis View Post

How does this connection sound?

Since the 59TXi doesn't have an iPod jack, it's probably the best way to use your iPod with this receiver. It sound's great, as good as any other input device you connect.

Fred
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post #171 of 192
3/5/12 at 3:09pm
my 59TXi has failed wonder if anyone had any ideas please ? Is intermittent and has happened 3 times in the last 2 weeks (and currently is failed)

(1) No sound out at all - either analogue (even in Source Direct 3 mode) - or digital

(2) No sound from test tones

(3) I have gone into diagnostics mode, and all "protect" circuitry is not detecting any failures (Temp, DC, Overload etc)

(4) Relays definately click "on"

I've tried a Reset to no avail

I'm guessing a dry joint somewhere ?

Amp turns on fine - and you can navigate menus etc - but doesn't detect any inputu signals either - for instance feed it a DTS signal and it doesn't lock on
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post #172 of 192
3/5/12 at 3:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by markabuckley View Post

my 59TXi has failed wonder if anyone had any ideas please ? Is intermittent and has happened 3 times in the last 2 weeks (and currently is failed)

(1) No sound out at all - either analogue (even in Source Direct 3 mode) - or digital

(2) No sound from test tones

(3) I have gone into diagnostics mode, and all "protect" circuitry is not detecting any failures (Temp, DC, Overload etc)

(4) Relays definately click "on"

I've tried a Reset to no avail

I'm guessing a dry joint somewhere ?

Amp turns on fine - and you can navigate menus etc - but doesn't detect any inputu signals either - for instance feed it a DTS signal and it doesn't lock on

Can only offer my condolences and hope you figure it out. Did you try leaving it unplugged for several hours?

Tape monitor on by mistake? That happened to me!


bob
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post #173 of 192
3/17/12 at 7:14pm
Mark:
You might want to invest the $60 bucks or so to have it checked out. I had what I thought was a deathblow to my 59 when my cat spit up on it and blew out the power supply boards. It took a while to get the parts but the repair cost me about $535 total and it is running great.
Fred
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post #174 of 192
4/8/12 at 8:39am
Fixed !!! Cost £3

Colleague at work said to check fuses with a meter even if looked non blown to check was not faulty mechanically (at one of ends)

Sure enough one measured open circuit and on replacement amp now detects all incoming signals !
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post #175 of 192
4/8/12 at 9:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by markabuckley View Post

Fixed !!! Cost £3

Colleague at work said to check fuses with a meter even if looked non blown to check was not faulty mechanically (at one of ends)

Sure enough one measured open circuit and on replacement amp now detects all incoming signals !

Now to see if the fuse was just doing it's job or hopefully a false blow.

Long live the might 59's!


bob
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post #176 of 192
4/8/12 at 9:07am
I think mechanically detached

As before finally stopping working it had been intermittent over a few weeks which doesn't sound like a traditional blowing of a fuse but could be explained by a mechanical break

We shall see over the next fee days
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post #177 of 192
4/8/12 at 9:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by markabuckley View Post

I think mechanically detached

As before finally stopping working it had been intermittent over a few weeks which doesn't sound like a traditional blowing of a fuse but could be explained by a mechanical break

We shall see over the next fee days


Good news. Fingers crossed
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post #178 of 192
4/8/12 at 4:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spongebob View Post

Good news. Fingers crossed

Ditto........
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post #179 of 192
4/9/12 at 9:39am
^^ thanks very much

gave the receiver a proper workout today (before had only beeen testing that signals were being detected properly) - and sure enough is working perfectly ! been using it for around 6 hours today with no issue

I'd already sold my Denon 4311 (which I liked quite a lot (certainly was best modern AV receiver I'd demoed) but had issues with the EQ and my old speakers) - and was going to order a Pioneer SC-LX55 this evening to replace it- but I'm not so sure now - the 59Txi being repaired has taken me by surprise

tbh - it sounds better (even on Blurays) than the Denon so I'm not convinced a SC55 is going to sound any better - tempted just to replace my aged speakers instead with the money

the Pioneer seems to deliver truly- high-end sound that sounds detailed and open - but still warm - that combined with a ridculous amount of power and head-room just means you can really crank up the volume and it sounds sublime. I've tried many receivers over the years in my system (within my price budget of $3k) - and the Pioneer is only one (even with crossover at 80hz which I use) that sounds effortless

none of the Blurays I tried sounded any more closed in due to the legacy DTS format - compared to lossless I'd been used to for the last few months

ref power and the finding of the Pioneer being effortless in sound sort of goes against the "60W" per channel is enough for reference volumes in a medium size room

you'd think in my speaker system and room (pretty average - lower average) - especially with a decent subwoofer and a crossover at 80hz that you shouldn't need much power - perhaps its more to do with the current the Pioneer outputs to the speakers - who knows - but it seems to work
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post #180 of 192
4/9/12 at 10:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by markabuckley View Post

tbh - it sounds better (even on Blurays) than the Denon so I'm not convinced a SC55 is going to sound any better - tempted just to replace my aged speakers instead with the money

I can't remember or don't know if you mentioned what you have for speakers, but if you feel confident you 59TXi is all fixed.. go for new speakers (or get your current ones fixed if there's value in that). Through the last few years I've checked out new receivers and when I was pretty sure Pioneer was never going to get the parts to repair my 59, I bought another 59 on Ebay. Now of course that week Pioneer called me to say my parts were shipping.... I love my 59TXi and although there's no decoding HD audio or HDMI, I'm able to get around that with my BDP-09FD. I have a Pioneer IDK-01 to handle my iPod and a onyX XM radio with the home kit for satellite radio, heck I can keep my 59TXi going for another decade (as long as my cat stays away from it). The 59 combo of a DV-59AVi and VSX-59TXi is incredible for SACD/DVD-Audio via the iLink connection.

Keep your VSX-59TXi and just build around it!

Fred
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