I have decided, I think??

[Lightning Steve]

Well I've made a decision on upgrading my amp. At present I have a Sony DG510, it's okay and not knocking it for the price I paid. But I wish I had known a bit more before I bought it. At the time I was just looking for something that did Dolby Digital (cause it'll be years before I get a BlueRay player, was six months!) and HDMI connectivity (the concept of HDMI pass through I didn't understand and wasn't explained to me by the sales drone or else I would have said that's the stupidest feature I ever heard of), plus it had set up and sound features my older Dennon didn't. Well I now want something better.
I'm thinking I will get the Pioneer VSX_1018AH. I decided on this one for price, features and the fact my Brother is going to buy my Sony. The Pioneer seems to put out a bit more power than the others in this price range, it does Dolby True-HD and DTS-HD which none of the others do. Other than that they all seem to be about the same, other than things I'm not interested in (I-pod, Sat. radio etc.). I rely could use some input on this as I don't want to end up in the same boat as I did with the Sony. It will be used for movie/games 99% of the time.
One thing the Pioneer doesn't do/have is "High current" (amp?), is this something I should be looking for or will need? Or under "output" it isn't 4 Ohm capable (say 6 Ohm okay) is this a potential problem? Also the Pioneer is rated at 120 watts per channel and my speakers, older PSB's say for "Power Handling Capacity" "80 Watts Program. This speaker will handle the power of amplifiers rated from 15 to 125 watts. RMS driven to clipping less than 10% of the time" for the fronts and center, and the rears, "60 Watts program …amps rated 10 to 80 Watts" will these speakers still be okay to use? From what I've been reading on here I would need to spend a fair bit to get better than what I have, I think? I'm still happy with the PSB's and can't really afford to replace them now anyway. I've been doing a fair bit of reading on speakers (still really clueless) but not sure there is any point for me to upgrade them as long as they will work okay. Perceived sound seems to be such a subjective thing. I know I can't say what's a correct sound reproduction. I could tell whether one set of speakers sounds different than another pair but as to which one is technically better, probably not. My PSB's sound good to me but after years of loud cars, motorcycles, music, guns, an ex-wife and 29 years working in a noisy industrial environment I'm still surprised I can hear at all! And really for just movie use I don't think I would need speakers as good as someone who was a big classical music listener would I?
Is the Pioneer going to be okay for me or is there something else I should consider?

 

[zumbo]

The 1018 will work just fine. It seems to be the best deal at the moment.

What sub are you using?

 

[just-some-guy]

that one is similar to my vsx 818 i just installed.... i'm still figuring it out. but its 125 wpc doesn't sound as loud/good as the 80wpc yamaha rxv850(15 years old) that it replaced. and doesn't weigh nearly as much (if that means anything)

 

[rnatalli]

Yamaha, Pioneer, and Sony receivers generally overrate their power ratings whereas HK, Marantz, Denon, and Onkyo come closer to their stated specs. That's not to say the 1018 isn't a great unit because it is, but I doubt it puts out anymore than 40wpc with all its channels driven. I also doubt you will actually need 40 watts into all the channels at the same time under normal circumstances. You should be fine with the 1018.

 

[Seth=L]

If you can still nab a TX-SR805 you could submit that into the running if the heat doesn't bother you, but for overall stability the Pioneer is a very safe bet.

 

[bandphan]

Yamaha, Pioneer, and Sony receivers generally overrate their power ratings whereas HK, Marantz, Denon, and Onkyo come closer to their stated specs. That's not to say the 1018 isn't a great unit because it is, but I doubt it puts out anymore than 40wpc with all its channels driven. I also doubt you will actually need 40 watts into all the channels at the same time under normal circumstances. You should be fine with the 1018.

acutally pioneer has been very conservitive latley. To the JSG have you run the auto setup? If so did you check the levels?

 

[zumbo]

Yamaha, Pioneer, and Sony receivers generally overrate their power ratings whereas HK, Marantz, Denon, and Onkyo come closer to their stated specs.

This is a generalization.
Not confirmed for all products.
Each brand has lower-end models that may not produce what they state, under certain circumstances.

 

[just-some-guy]

To the JSG have you run the auto setup? If so did you check the levels?

MCACC ? yes, a few different times = when i change/move something.
yes (i think = still learning this thing). its default was 0, i kicked it up to 7.5.

i know this is a cheaper, ummm, less expencive, reciever. but the funny thing about it, it starts at -94db. i have to turn it up to -85db to hear anything out of the speakers (while standing in front of the tv/reciever. see my humbleness thread in the gallery forum). and i can turn it all the way up. couldn't do that with the yamaha. i don't know, maybe its just me. i'm not getting any younger

 

[bandphan]

you turned the trim up to +7? Also what might be preceived is "less" loud, could be a flater sound.

 

[just-some-guy]

acutally pioneer has been very conservitive latley.

(not to jack the o/p thread. but i think he would be interested in this also.)

now that i think about it, care to elaborate ?

 

[just-some-guy]

you turned the trim up to +7?

Also what might be preceived is "less" loud, could be a flater sound.

yes. iirc, it went to 10.

perhaps. maybe i don't have the settings equalled. like i said, this unit has a bunch of useless(to me) bells & whistles. i'm trying to figure my way around them.

 

[bandphan]

(not to jack the o/p thread. but i think he would be interested in this also.)

now that i think about it, care to elaborate ?

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers/pioneer-vsx-818v

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers/pioneer-vsx-94txh/measurements-analysis-report

Especially in the upper end, rating have been conservitive

 

[just-some-guy]

yeah, i read the first link. thats why i chose this unit, and the price (another story).
the 2nd link, thanx, have not seen that.

 

[rnatalli]

acutally pioneer has been very conservitive latley. To the JSG have you run the auto setup? If so did you check the levels?

I'm not sure about that; the 918 wasn't too impressive on the bench. I don't know how much difference there is between the 918 and 1018 amp section, but it can't be much. I imagine the Elites fair much better when it comes to measurements.

Like Zumbo said, I was generalizing brands and it doesn't hold true across the board.

 

[rnatalli]

I thought I recall someone said Tweeter was clearing out the VSX-01THX for $399. I don't know the differences between that and the 1018.

 

[bandphan]

Not much differnce, mostly ci stuff. Tweeter also had the 91 and 92 at great prices.