Update: This deal is still available.
Adorama has
Pioneer Elite VSX-LX505 9.2-Channel 8K A/V Receiver on sale for
$649.
Shipping is free.
Thanks to Deal Editor
iconian for finding this deal.
Note: You may need to add to cart to see deal price.
Key Features:- Dirac Live Room Correction
- HDMI 2.1
- Ultimate 4K Gaming Experience
- 9 Channels of onboard amplification with 11.2-Channel Processing
- 120-watts/per channel
- Imax Enhanced
- Powered Zone 2/Zone 3 Audio
- Bi-directional Bluetooth with aptX HD
Includes:- Pioneer Home Audio Elite VSX-LX505 120W 9.2-Channel Network A/V Receiver
- RC-974R Remote Controller with 2x AAA Batteries
- Speaker Setup Microphone
- DAB/FM Antenna
- Indoor FM Antenna
- AM Loop Antenna
- Power Cord
- User Manual
- Pioneer Home Audio 3 Year limited Warranty
Leave a Comment
Top Comments
I even bought the higher end tuning mic for Dirac and the special mic stand. I got deep into all of the tuning curves, laptop software, and all that jazz well before actually getting the receiver. For months I combed AV forums to get tips and expert advice.
In the end, in spite of days of tuning and tweaks, I returned the Pioneer. The Pioneer's sound was just flat compared to my older Denon. The 3 dimensions of sound were just 2D and too crisp. I thought for sure I got a defective Pioneer and after returning it, continued searching obsessively for any one of these three extremely similar models.
I was on the Crutchfield waitlist for a few months and finally got the Onkyo. I hooked it up. Did all the initial, standard calibration but got the exact same result. I did the curves and tweaked and tweaked. Things changed but never got close to my older Denon. Just flat sound that made me sad. I ended up returning the Onkyo too. It killed my soul.
So now I have the Denon x4700. It sounds amazing like my x4100 but a little better. The new Denon has some features my old Denon did not and that were critical at my house - having volume control on-screen and being able to turn everything on and off with a simple remote.
I'm not arguing with all the people who love these receivers. On paper they look awesome. My experience was less than awesome, but what pleases people's ears is ultimately a very personal experience and wanted to share mine.
That being said. This Pioneer is still a quality receiver and at this price definitely a slick deal. But I'll warn you not to invest as much time as I did trying to tweak it if you aren't impressed after your first calibration. Tweaking helped but in my case did not work out.
269 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Or am I mistaken?
No snark intended...
Whether it's an audible difference is a whole other topic.
You listening for yourself will be the only way to know if it's an audible issue/difference or not.
There is ZERO difference in the RESULT you HEAR between a signal that a sound engineer mixes to emanate from between (partially or fully) a pair of stereo speakers in a stereo signal, and the phantom center mode sending the center channel info to the left and right speakers.
If a sound was mixed to pan evenly from left to center to right front speakers in a movie mix, the phantom mode will do the EXACT SAME THING using two speakers, just like they've been doing in stereo since it was invented. This is exactly WHY phantom center mode was INVENTED. Duh!
If anyone has knowledge to the contrary, it's SIMPLE. Show us any movie scene that DISPROVES it. End of story
It's the same thing that happens when you watch a movie with headphones using a 5.1 track. Lol. It's so elemental.
For this reason alone, when it comes to movies or TV I absolutely want a center channel speaker, and a very good one. Now, if I'm being honest I think this is only really necessary because so many sources have terrible vocal mixes, but in my day to day viewing I'm simply much happier being able to run the center channel 2-3 db hot with a light compression setting like dynamic volume set to day/light.
It's not my ears, they are still good. I also know it's not accurate. I know it's not what some dude wanted us to hear. But I can calibrate like this and be good to go with 99% of what I watch, instead of having to rewind or use captions for anything with quiet dialogue scenes. For this reason alone any system I pull together for video will 100% have a good center channel.
One quick question, The wattage throttling seems to be a concern. I already have a very small two channel amp for my two rear atmos speakers. I was considering buying this receiver just for the processing to have 7.2 4 and dirac. If I bought an additional amp for the lcr, would the power be throttled on only the remaining channels not externally powered? Is the throttling per channel or is it universal?
But the amp thing, if those test results are to be trusted, it's absolutely a real concern for some applications... they show driving the amps hard for more than 35 seconds triggers a mode limiting the the amps to 35 watts until the entire unit is power cycled.
If you understand how much power is generally used to drive a speaker, you know this won't be a problem for most users. A system with subs and 80Hz crossover satellites is only going to be using a few watts to the speakers most of the time, feeding even say 50 watts into a couple speakers in that setup would be as loud as they could reasonably play, so not much risk there, and thus the reason they can get away with this type of setup on the amps. Bass reproduction is what takes the power. So if your sub is doing all the bass work, this amp problem will basically never come up.
But if you run full size front towers, and especially if you want to use them for high volume music playback as 2.0... this is a real issue. 50+ watts into bass reproduction is nothing, and it can absolutely be done running full range towers just playing bass-heavy music at relatively normal listening levels. Lots of good 7-11 channel AVR's rated at 100wpc will do more than 100wpc into two channels with peaks being much higher, and that's what you need for driving towers hard.
My .02 it means this unit should only be looked at as one suitable for sub/sat systems. It makes it a no-go for me as the main thing I was interested in trying Dirac for was for 2-channel music, no subs. I'm glad it got flagged here because I had no idea it was an issue.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
VIP pro from ADORAMA is only $50 and will give you free extended returns.
Only one way to be sure is try 505 in real life.
I even bought the higher end tuning mic for Dirac and the special mic stand. I got deep into all of the tuning curves, laptop software, and all that jazz well before actually getting the receiver. For months I combed AV forums to get tips and expert advice.
In the end, in spite of days of tuning and tweaks, I returned the Pioneer. The Pioneer's sound was just flat compared to my older Denon. The 3 dimensions of sound were just 2D and too crisp. I thought for sure I got a defective Pioneer and after returning it, continued searching obsessively for any one of these three extremely similar models.
I was on the Crutchfield waitlist for a few months and finally got the Onkyo. I hooked it up. Did all the initial, standard calibration but got the exact same result. I did the curves and tweaked and tweaked. Things changed but never got close to my older Denon. Just flat sound that made me sad. I ended up returning the Onkyo too. It killed my soul.
So now I have the Denon x4700. It sounds amazing like my x4100 but a little better. The new Denon has some features my old Denon did not and that were critical at my house - having volume control on-screen and being able to turn everything on and off with a simple remote.
I'm not arguing with all the people who love these receivers. On paper they look awesome. My experience was less than awesome, but what pleases people's ears is ultimately a very personal experience and wanted to share mine.
That being said. This Pioneer is still a quality receiver and at this price definitely a slick deal. But I'll warn you not to invest as much time as I did trying to tweak it if you aren't impressed after your first calibration. Tweaking helped but in my case did not work out.
https://www.audioscienc
I was strongly considering this model until I saw this review, but now I'll avoid Pioneer until I know the design flaw is fixed because this isn't the 1st generation with the problem.
But the amp thing, if those test results are to be trusted, it's absolutely a real concern for some applications... they show driving the amps hard for more than 35 seconds triggers a mode limiting the the amps to 35 watts until the entire unit is power cycled.
If you understand how much power is generally used to drive a speaker, you know this won't be a problem for most users. A system with subs and 80Hz crossover satellites is only going to be using a few watts to the speakers most of the time, feeding even say 50 watts into a couple speakers in that setup would be as loud as they could reasonably play, so not much risk there, and thus the reason they can get away with this type of setup on the amps. Bass reproduction is what takes the power. So if your sub is doing all the bass work, this amp problem will basically never come up.
But if you run full size front towers, and especially if you want to use them for high volume music playback as 2.0... this is a real issue. 50+ watts into bass reproduction is nothing, and it can absolutely be done running full range towers just playing bass-heavy music at relatively normal listening levels. Lots of good 7-11 channel AVR's rated at 100wpc will do more than 100wpc into two channels with peaks being much higher, and that's what you need for driving towers hard.
My .02 it means this unit should only be looked at as one suitable for sub/sat systems. It makes it a no-go for me as the main thing I was interested in trying Dirac for was for 2-channel music, no subs. I'm glad it got flagged here because I had no idea it was an issue.
In my living room I am even running my 2 channel music with subs, so I'm not using the full range of my Klipsch RP-280F mains. I blend them with my 12" subs and it sounds fantastic with this amp. If you don't have subs and run in 2 channel mode, if you have 4 Ohm or 6 Ohm speakers that are harder to drive and more power hungry, skip this Pioneer (Unless you have an external amp).
It seems like it would be a fringe use case for people in the market for 2 channel music to be looking at this AVR versus other options.
VIP pro from ADORAMA is only $50 and will give you free extended returns.
Only one way to be sure is try 505 in real life.
For this reason alone, when it comes to movies or TV I absolutely want a center channel speaker, and a very good one. Now, if I'm being honest I think this is only really necessary because so many sources have terrible vocal mixes, but in my day to day viewing I'm simply much happier being able to run the center channel 2-3 db hot with a light compression setting like dynamic volume set to day/light.
It's not my ears, they are still good. I also know it's not accurate. I know it's not what some dude wanted us to hear. But I can calibrate like this and be good to go with 99% of what I watch, instead of having to rewind or use captions for anything with quiet dialogue scenes. For this reason alone any system I pull together for video will 100% have a good center channel.
I use L + R in full range for music, and L + R (phantom mode) + sub (45 Hz crossover) + surrounds for movies. This "movies" setup requires a lot of power for the L + R speakers at a listening distance of 12 feet (3 ohms impedance below 100 Hz). A receiver that clips at 30 watts would not work well with my setup. It's silly to pay $650 for a receiver that forces the user to divert power hungry bass notes to a sub.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Leave a Comment