Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Experience with Pioneer Elite VSX-84TXSi?

Deos anybody have any experience with this new receiver, especially with the Axiom M60s or M80s? There are threads about it on AVS Forum, but they're kinda tangential at times. Thanks.

I see that you like that word, tangential. It's a good word. I prefer conniptionesque, myself.

I'm sorry, but I can't make any comments on the Elite.

I'm interested in the little brother, the VSX-81TXV. It doesn't look as nice as the 84 but should have all the features I need. If only someone actually owned it and could provide a review.

I too was interested in the Elite AVR until the local shop steered me to a Rotel for the same money with a 5 year warranty and better sound... I bought the Rotel after testing it and an Arcam 300 for 4 days. The Arcam was far superior in music but once the bullets started flying in Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers the Rotel proved far superior on my M60's, VP150 and QS8's

Ron, which Rotel model did you end up going with, and how much did it cost? I've also read lots of rave reviews on the Arcam 300/350 and lusted after them, but they're a little pricey. I'm not sure I'd appreciate them enough to justify the extra cost.

Probably the 1057-I too heard the rotel and the pioneer in a side by side a/b switch and the rotel sounded better to me. I don't know all the fancy audiophile terms but I'd describe it as though a bedsheet was removed from the speakers when the rotel was on. To be fair the rotel is a 5.1 unit and the pioneer is 7.1-and the rotel has fewer extras like auto eq and ipod docks and the like.

Dennis, Rotel is a good name for receivers. Pioneer has been around for awhile but every one i've had or known runs hot. Their Elite line should be beefy enough to drive the M80s and certainly would not have any problems with other Axiom speakers. Keep reading around to see if anyone has used the Elite line with 4 ohm speakers and find out more about potential for shutdown protection.

All that being said, the sonic differences between the Rotel, Pioneer or Arcams of the world will be nil when all the settings are made neutral. I have also A/B'd receivers in box stores with the switch buttons and sometimes they do sound different but this is a brutal and uncontrolled method by which to objectively judge such things. More often than not some settings have been changed or tweaked, even without the knowledge of the salesperson (customers like to play and tinker when no one is watching).
I suggest you shop for features/requirements, price, future proofing and aesthetics (or in whatever order is most important to you). This will determine if that $4000 processor is what you really want (e.g. because it looks big, shiny and silver with an lcd display) or whether that $400 receiver is plenty (e.g. because its onboard processors for DD, DTS and everything else are sonically the same as the 4k unit anyway).

There may be a review in the works of a similar receiver... of course, I can't say which at this time but it just might be playing music in someone's HT as we speak... maybe...

I went with a Rotel RSX-1056 ... List $1299.99 US as the 1057 is out they cut 20% off the list and I bit. One of the biggest sells is that Rotel carries a 5 year parts and labor warranty and when you call for support you get a human. The receiver is rated at 75 Watts per 5 channels... all channels driven not one channel check the wattage then check the next. It makes a big differnce. You can do a 7.1 but I use the back for Zone two instead.

I beg to differ the "sonic" differnces between a Pioneer a mass produced receiver, a Rotel a Family owned English company ( also owns Bowers and Wilkins speaker company (B&W)) and a handmade in Cambridge England Arcam would be huge at nuetral settings as what's left is the quality of the amp.

I lusted after the Arcam for two years which is why when my HK 630 went in for warranty repair with 2 days to spare on the factory warranty I cherished the possibility of obtaining the Arcam. But as the receivers main duty station is in the family room serving TV and Movies the Rotel sounded better. I assumed it must be the DSPs of the Rotel vs the Arcam. What the Salesman said two years ago rang through my head as I tested them ... "Movies are mainly music and that's what Arcam focuses on ... the music". So I assume that was the differnce, my movies have more explosions and bullets than music.

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I beg to differ the "sonic" differnces between a Pioneer a mass produced receiver, a Rotel a Family owned English company ( also owns Bowers and Wilkins speaker company (B&W)) and a handmade in Cambridge England Arcam would be huge at nuetral settings as what's left is the quality of the amp. ...What the Salesman said two years ago rang through my head as I tested them ...

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Ron, these examples you give along with the statement about the salesman's word ringing in your head DEFINE the very biases that exist for which one cannot objectively know if there are differences between receivers/amps/preamps...

Try a blind A/B, a truly blind A/B test and you will see just how impossible it is to hear any differences between receivers that all reproduce signals with a perfectly flat response curve.
Granted power in the amp section can make a difference but only at higher SPL unless the amp section is really that horrible (e.g. Sony HTIB units).
I've been down this road with a hardcore stereophile friend of mine and he has since built and used his own switcher box for comparisons.

Here we go again...

The reference to the salesman statements was an attempt to explain how the Arcam could sound so good in music but miss the mark in Movies.
I didn't make my choice between the Pioneer, Rotel and Arcam based on a salesman statements but rather how they sounded through my Axioms in my room not theirs so although I didn't connect each output to a O scope and compare the traces, in my room, with my sources through my speakers with my ears the Rotel one. And that's all we can give readers here is our opinions based on our experiences.
Which is all I was trying to do ... articulate the results of my four days with three receivers.

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Here we go again...

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Hop onboard the train of truth Ken.
We're doing about 90 kph today.

I hope you wore your galloshes, because the levies broke and it's flooding with truth.

If we only talked about power amp section well then, maybe then there will not be much of a difference, but add all the "programs" or DSP's etc... and there is a difference that most will certainly notice. That difference, as clear as it may be, could be liked or not, but that's a matter of taste. Any of the receivers mentioned here would sound great...so, it's a matter of taste, features and warranty. Pepsi or Coke?

osvi

That's the nice and frustrating thing about audio equipment in this price range. Everyone wants the very best but there is too much subjectivity.

However, I do think that the A vs B question is reasonable to ask a large group of people. I might want to find the purchase I could make which would please the most people, rather than making the buy that would only please me. Without a poll you can't gather this data.

osvi,

Take a page from the world of science. Subjectivity in this topic means squat whether you believe it or not. People just don't like to hear it. It is an oppressive thought after all that your opinion means diddly and in America, they bear arms and try to shoot that person.
In China, you get shot instead.
In Canada we wait for the Americans to shoot someone and have the Chinese tell them they disagree.
Life is harsh.

Where is Bigwill when you need him? A China reference and he's no where to be found.

I don't know where a puertorican fits there but we do have a few things in common...M60's, Onkyo (a Yamaha also) receiver and lots of beer and wine. By the way, my Yamaha sounds humm, "different" compared to my Onkyo. Should I do a blind test???

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Where is Bigwill when you need him? A China reference and he's no where to be found.

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I think he's in China , checking out what's going on first hand