Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Pioneer Elite VSX 55TXI vs VSX 53TX

I have narrowed down my receiver of choice to either the Pioneer Elite VSX 55TXI or the VSX 53TX. I'll be using this receiver with the Epic 60 speaker system minus the sub, (I'll be using a powered SVS sub instead).

I am open for other receiver recomendation.

My room size is 19 feet long, 15 feet wide with an 8ft ceiling. This room is fully enclosed when the door is shut.

I apprecite any advice. Thanks.

Well, I would get the 55txi if you can afford it. It has I-link, which I think is an amazing feature, but only if you plan on gettin a DVDAudio/SACD player with firewire Such as the Pioneer 47Ai or the new flagship 59Ai.

It also has, I believe more power and features, but I am not sure. But I would really love to have the I-link feature because I love Hi-Res music and this is the way to go for that.

Thank you for you opinion. Have you herd of any problems with either receiver. I have found very little reviews on these two. I spoke with different salemen at different stores and received a mixed answer.

The 55TXi and 53TX are relatively minor updates of the predecessor 45TX, which I happily own; they are well matured product. If my 45TX is any indication, you can count on their reliability.

I agree with snippy -- go for the 55TXi by all means, if you plan to get into the SACD and/or DVD-A.

Finally, don't listen to the store salespersons. The vast majority of them aren't truly knowledgeable. Also, they usually have a totally different agenda than the real customer benefit.

Would anyone have any input on how these receivers would compare to the Yamaha RX-V2400? I was considering that receiver but had the 55 on my list too.

-Nick

Again, among the $1000-ish receivers, one distinguishing feature of the Pioneer 55TXi is its i.Link/FireWire input for SACD/DVD-A, which is unavailable on the Yamaha 1400/2400, or on any other brands within the price range AFAIK.

$300 for firewire? Unless you plan on buying high end analog cables, you can save some change by getting the 53tx. Other than the firewire, they're essentially the same. I printed the specs out on each and compared them. VERY little difference between the two models.

so you'd say that the Yamaha is similar quality? I don't know much about firewire as an input to know what I'd really be gaining.

With i.Link/FireWire, you use one digital cable instead of three pairs of analog cables. Seriously, with the i.Link/FireWire hi-rez multi-channel connection, you don't have to rely on the bass management, delay/level setting, and other multi-channel processings on the SACD/DVD-A player. Everything will be done by the receiver, just like it is done for the SPDIF inputs (the traditional optical or coax digital audio connection). My take is, this removes one big "mess" out of the current state of the SACD/DVD-A playback -- often resulting in, according to many people's reports, a clearly audible improvement in the final sound quality.

That said, yes, only you can decide whether it is worth several hundred dollars of additional cost. I also believe that the Yamahas are no lesser than the Elites with respect to general product quality.