Packed with Features, Elite's VSX-74 is as Sexy as Can Be, for under $1500
Written: Mar 13 '06
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Pros: Great features and tons of them. Ipod friendly with no upgrades- much more!
Cons: Not the cheapest at face value, but probably still the most ADDED value!
The Bottom Line: 5 stars for the entire package. As an industry insider, very few products deliver this much performance at this price. Well Done Pioneer.
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| nick1326's Full Review: Pioneer VSX-74TXVi 7.1 Channels Receiver |
Oh, the winds of change... 2006 is sure to be on the the most exciting years in terms of technological advancements coming down the line into products aimed not at uber-high-end clientele, but real-life consumer grade products. Pioneer's VSX-74XVi is easily one of the hottest 1k priced receivers on the market, and this should NOT come as a surprise... With a feature list longer than that of most $2500 (USD) receivers and higher, and with a great amplifier / power supply section, I'm pleased to write about the receiver that I'm calling the most dynamic product to come to market in this price range YET.
If you're reading this review, chances are you've already done a decent amount of shopping for products in and around this class... If not, I surely hope you'll find this review just as valuable -- My aim is to show you all the features and finctionality that are truly crammed into this machine. While most of my readers already know I'm into some much higher priced "audiophile class" gear, I'm quite happy to say that I recently integrated a VSX-74 into my media room and not only it's performance, but additionally its feature list blew me away and made me one very happy camper after just a couple of hours with it.
Before we really tear into the guts of this thing, a few key points to help you better understand this unit and how (or if) it should be looked at to assess if this purchase is really worth your hard-earned cash:
1) This unit has a way more than adequate power supply and amplification section. Pioneer offers real-world power ratings, and this amp delivers what Pioneer promises in terms of real-world watts!
2) Setup on the unit is reasonably straight forward... HOWEVER, to make sure the end-user is ABSOLUTELY capable of using and setting this thing up, Pioneer actually let's you custom tailor how much functionality you want to actually use, in order to make the setup menu even easier to navigate... Bottom Line: Ever have a product that you absolutely LOVED, except you felt a little overwhelmed by a features that you had no idea what they were and no desire to use them???? THere's a real good chance the answer to that is yes. Pioneer has built a real nice way to avoid this into their '74... No more feature-bewilderment blues...
3) Even at this price, you CAN be a truly "integration-friendly" receiver... Let's face it- you may be reading this review on epinions, and YES, there's a chance you are the type of person that wants to go down to your local retailer, buy this thing, set it up YOURSELF and play with it...
However conversely, there is just as much a chance you are reading this review to learn about the receiver, BUT, there's not a damned chance you want to even TOUCH this thing -- You want to hire an integrator to come to your house, setup your entire system, make it work, than simply hand you the remote, teach you to use it and LEAVE. I'm happy to say that even at around 1000 bucks street price, the Pioneer 74's feature list is so well apportioned that it can easily handle all the home-theatre / integrator-sexy type installs and easily be fitted into high-end systems with sexy control systems, anywhere from the high-fallutin' Crestron custom jobs all the way down to control4 and Destiny systems, etc. The unit handles 232 and 12v trigger control with no hiccups, or at least no detectable ones. The unit also never lost sync with my Destiny Domain 3000 controller, so this certainly put my mind at ease.
Amplification: The 74 has a very capable amplifier section, and a healthy 140 watt/ channel spec, and a power supply capable of actually delivering this kind of power.
NOTE: A word on "power conditioners".... There are SOOOO many products being sold under the guise of "power conditioner" and certainly we need alot of myth debunking here... I'm not going to waste your time or mine writing a detailed explanation of this- however please stay tuned, as I plan on writing a general (non-royalty) power-conditioner article, to help people understand what they're actually buying (or should I say, buying, but NOT GETTING)... In short, Pioneer stuck a very ample power supply in this receiver... Beware, those who plan on sticking a 400 dollar monster-power unit on this to make your system "sound better"... in truth, it will probably SOUND WORSE.
In short, without the technical digression, most of these so called power condtioners are really nothing more than gated surge protectors- and despite that they claim to do "line conditioning" they really dont... and sadly, because of all the gates, the power condition usually runs out of gas on bigger peeks and simply cannot keep up with the receivers power supply. It's just like a fire hose... when you run out of water (power) it doesn't matter if you have a fire hose or a garden hose- you aren't gonna get what you want... same with power.
Video Processing: Elite's latest includes some quite respectable video performance. There appears to be a smoothing algorithm built in, as there were distinctly difference image qualities present whilst using BOTH my Arcam DV27a and Denon 2900. Both units were played on my front projection system, including a high end 3 chip projector and a Stewart 106" 1.78:1 Firehawk Screen. I know both of these players pretty intimately, and both appeared a bit different after going through the pioneer's video section. Bottom Line: the images through the pioneer's outputs were clean and crisp. While I agree, it wasn't "perfect pass-through" the picture was great. For comparative purposes, we also tested 2 lower end DVD players (no picking on models or brands, we used a low end Sony and a Low end Panasonic. Both players were basically consumer grade and their image quality was no better than ok. The pioneer actually did smooth out a few of the smaller artifacts present from the lesser players' lesser Video sections. The pioneer made the image a bit cleaner, NOT at the expense of softening the picture.. this is critical - many lower priced video pieces SOFTEN the picture, to achieve the effect of smoothing artifacts... sadly, just as common sense would imply, this is a terrible thing to do- as you are losing perceived resolution. Happily the Elite does NOT fall into this common trap- video is decent.
HDMI/DVI and some last parting video notes: The Elite DOES have 2 HDMI inputs and an output/through-put. Please be advised- while the ELite WILL pass through HDMI, just as HDCP specifies (hi def. copyright protection) the unit CAN NOT play simultaneous video output on both HDMI and COMPONENT legs. Sorry- not possible. It's not Pioneer's fault either- blame the big-wigs at ALL vendors who continue to support HDMI... HDMI was great until they decided to go the next step and create HDMI 1, 2 and 3... Now the result is devices don't synch up properly all the time AND we have to lose our ability to use the outputs we PAID FOR... How's thing sound: HOLLYWOOD: Piracy is happening on THE EXECUTIVE LEVEL. Since you guys are working so hard to produce new products with better in/outs, why don't you LET US HAVE HDMI and LET US USE IT AS WE NEED TO. It's really important that I address this fairly- while I'm upset at this, you can't blame pioneer- they didn't invent copyright law, and UL (and othjer regulatory bodies) says they have to abide by it.
IPOD Functionality: Pioneer did something really nifty with this one... Ipod has obviously become one of the biggest hits around the globe. Vendors are STARTING to put their hands on this and wrestle with it a bit- a way to build in Ipod functionality on their machines, as consumers obviously own them and have embraced them! However, now the real trick is in how to CONTROL the ipod from the comfort of your couch- without picking your butt out of the cushions to go operate a click wheel!!! Pioneer allows you to VIEW and NAVIGATE all your perosnalized lists on your Ipod- you can actually SEE your own playlists scrolling across the Front Panel Display, AND the Elite populates the OSD with the Ipod info too, so you can navigate through your collection and select songs/playlists right from your screen!!! The best part... you don't have to buy an accesories- the VSX74 includes the requissite proprietary cable to offer such functionality.
***NOTE: Ipod users: I personally have 2 different Ipods, one mac and one pc formatted (both OLD, 1 B&W 20gb and one color 20gb. For some reason one of my Ipods won't allow me to update software anymore. I am still able to control my ipod and navigate through the pioneer menus using Ipod control- FYI. While I've heard of bugs preventing this, I can tell you, even without a software update I was able to control the unit without updating, and my ipods are again, OLD. I hope anyone reading this makes use of this awesome feature. I love my Ipod- I especially love being able to use it without A) lifting my butt out of a chair, and B) buying any special new cradles or other stuff!
Remote Control: I was not overly impressed by the elite remote control; the unit is cheap. period. Clearly it appears Pioneer had no choice but to skimp on the remote a bit, in order to build in other better functionalities into the unit (such as the great aforementioned video processing etc). The remote has no backlight- it also is not a learning remote and has no re-mappable buttons. It is not a special sexy looking remote, nor will it cook your meals. 1) It does the job. 2) It WORKS. Again, I'm just being fair. For me, I'd much rather have a better "box" than a better remote... However for those that MUST have a slick remote, you'll need to buy it seperately- this unit's remote is precisely the opposite: it is plain, boring and very UN-sexy... but again, it works quite well and controls the receiver AND my ipod, quite hassle-free.
Additionally, one of the nicest things about the simple and easy to use (albeit, boring) remote is that is makes SET UP OF THE UNIT EASY:
SETUP/CONFIGURATION OF OF THE UNIT: This is truly one of the highlights of Elite's VSX-74: Setup is basically broken down into 2 main parts:
1) input and functionality configuration
2) Level/EQ/speaker/Tweak setup/config
THe pioneer's input setup is literally 2 button clicks away: hit SETUP and then INPUT CONFIG... straight forward enough right? Like many current top-brand electronics, menu setup has come A LONG WAY. I won't lie to you and tell you Pioneer is the only company with a straightforward setup menu- however it is one of only a few GOOD ones, that really make it very easy to use. I look at it backwards: I'm a tweaky guy- and I was impressed that this receiver had the functionality to LET me adjust the right sound parameters and get a good picture and soundstage. Happily, you DO NOT NEED TO BE SAAVY TO USE THIS - even the most electronically-un-educated individual can install and set this thing up pretty easliy. In fact, most of the openining portions of the user-manual are devoted specifically to making it easy for a layman to use this thing!
Looks, Fit and Overall Performance: THe front panel on the all-black Elite is sharp and clean. THe unit is badged with all (and i mean ALL) the appropriate logos, including Lucas Film's THX certification. While I typically don't care about product certifications (I'll decide myself how good it is, Thanks) I have to give Pioneer credit- they've built a TON of features into this unit and kept the price well under 1500 bucks... nice job indeed.
Initial setup should take under 2 hours- TOP-TOP. For me, it was seriously only about 25 minutes to hook up and power up. I'm pretty knowledgeable on this stuff, but to be honest, I personally have not owned any prior Elite products, other than a 50" plasma froma few years ago. Without any prior knowledge of Elite's typical menu-structure, I was able to get the GUI setup (meaning to ON-SCREEN portion of setup, using remote) done in only minutes. Input setup took me about 5 minutes, and the rest of setup is adjusting SOUND. This can take anwhere from 10 minutes, to over an hour, but the receiver does almost all of this automatically, and does not require the end-user to have any special knowledge of understanding of accoustics.
Tweaking Your System and Elites Advanced Sound Setup(s)
Again, I credit Elite for building in a very useful, slick and well-designed system for EQing your room and correcting for any tonal mis-matches between speakers (this is a key feature- since all rooms have EQ problems and can only be adressed with some kind of equalization module).
While this process may sound comlex, Pioneer made it REALLY easy to get done: Simply plug in an included microphone into an easily accesible port on the FRONT panel of this unit, select "auto setup" from the onscreen initial set up menu, confirm by hitting "GO" and simply let the Elite run its own listening tests (full automated) and it will adjust speakers parameters (like level, tone etc) on its own and tune up your room without any of your own input. beyond that, IF the user wants to be more proactive regarding room tuning and setup, the Elite can handle Tweaks galore: There are actually 3 different manual tune-up modes (all of which still make use of the included microphone) and they simply let you get more involved in room tune up- the Elite even allows you to EQ MUJLTIPLE LISTENING POSITIONS - this is a GREAT feature... say on one hand you typically listen with ourself and spouse in the "money seat" --> obviously you'll want your EQ setup to cater to this.. On the other hand, if you now have say 6 people watching/listening from all different parts of the room, you'll want to use the advance setup features- you can have say a 2nd and 3rd listening position (or EQ memory- as each is programmable and memorizable, there are SIX total) where you can custom tailor your systems EQ attributes to accomodate all the various listening positions that can exist in your room.
Overall Sound Quality: For about a grand, I'd say you'll have a hard time beating the VSX-74. This isn't to say no one makes a competitive machine in this price range- in fact, it's this price range and the next one below it, where currently there are the most heated battles in delivering the most bang for your buck... However I'm happy to say Elite's 74 really delivers a serious punch, especially at this price. DVD viewing in surround is a blast with the unit. Elite's THX rating also comes with a THX listening preset mode- which basically emulates a true lucas-approved THX 5.1 (optionally 7.1) theatre. Of all the surround modes, A basically liked THX, Action and Sci-Fi the most- in fact, those were really the only 3 agreeable multi-track modes I needed. All the rest were superflulous, as I got the best results unamimously with those 3. DVD material included :
-Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions, for both audio and video comparison
-SpiderMan (part 1) superbit
-U571 (mostly for sound)
-Master and Commander (excellent dts mix)
-Hero (another great dts mix, with incredible blade-swish sounds to hear from ALL speakers!
-Fifth Element superbit (do i need to explain)
Other video material was played. The above however, more than proved to our demo-room full of viewers that this machine was for real.
Musical Performances (specifically tested to assess realism, imaging and dimensionality of the audio side of this receiver)
-Wes Montgomery, smokin' at the half note
-John Coltrane, 1up 1down remaster
-Elvin Jones, Truth
-Bjork, Vespertine (dts dvd-a version)
-Steely Dan, Gaucho (BOTH cd and dvd-a versions)
-Steely Dan, Aja (just listen to that horn build and guitar solo on home at last)
-Dvorak, various Cello Concertos
Let's call a spade a spade- In a room full of audiophiles, obviously the VIDEO demo's made the most "splash" during out testing of the VSX74. However, contrary to what most might believe, the pioneer did NOT get laughed at. The audio demo's were very well received - the pioneer sounded dimensional and presented a coherent sound stage. Specifically in multi-channel, where the user will reap the most benefit fgrom the units massive feature list. In total truth, if you're a dedicated two-channel listener, you're gonna want a real pre-amp!!! However if you're even as much as an avid enthusiast of music, the pioneer can take you there in both stereo AND multi-ch. I am very impressed with this units pedigree, and I'm quite happy with my purchase. Kudos for a fantastic job -- cramming as much performance as possible into this one, Pioneer Elite's VSX-74 is truly as sexy as can be in this price range.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1250
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Epinions.com ID:
nick1326
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Location: Long Island, NY
Reviews written: 232
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Music, Motorcycles, Drumming, Surfing, the finest cigars and living life to its fullest...
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