Picked up a 1014TX...

[j_garcia]

It's earmarked for a customer, but it will be with me over the weekend. Still under original warranty, seller bought it right when the 1015 came out. Going to give it a run through this weekend to see if it lives up to it's rep. as a top budget receiver.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

It's earmarked for a customer, but it will be with me over the weekend. Still under original warranty, seller bought it right when the 1015 came out. Going to give it a run through this weekend to see if it lives up to it's rep. as a top budget receiver.

Nice. What happens if it outguns the Marantz? I'm interested to see if they (1014 and 8300) sound similar with all tone controls set flat. Some of the guys here say the Yamaha's have the best bass output for surround receivers. I've never done a comparison, but my older Yamaha 2 channel unit puts out some solid bass. Not sure about Pio's.

 

[j_garcia]

Looking at it in the box, it is almost as deep, though not quite as tall as my 8300, which is fairly large. Seems like a solid unit, though it also doesn't feel quite as heavy as the 8300. If it can keep up with my 8300 at 1/3 the price, I would be surprised. I'm going to try it just in stereo at first, because I'm not sure if it will handle five 4 Ohm speakers. I'm very curious to see how it does.

 

[Takeereasy]

very cool Garcia. Make sure you let us know how it goes.

 

[j_garcia]

OK, so it turned out to be a book....

Well, fired it up real quick and dirty in my 2ch rig. Analog only from my CDP to the CD input, stereo, direct. Bass was slightly subdued, and the highs are a bit dialed back at the top - not quite a lack of detail, but for lack of a better term, less of a "round" sound compared to my 7200. Though a bit flat, midrange detail seems good, but when I went back to my 7200 (in class AB mode), it seemed pretty clear that there was not as much depth with the 1014. It sounds almost identical to the 41Tx I had listened to previously.

Power is what I was most curious about, and when I cranked it, this is where I really started to notice the difference. The 1014's power was all at the top. To get the 1014 at a moderate level, I was at -18 on the dial (MCACC off), and the volume only really seemed to make significant changes when I reached about -20, as if 90% of the the volume range was between -25 and 0, and I figure at -20 I'm at about 85% of total power. To achieve the same volume on my 7200 I'm at less than 30% on the dial. I checked the manual, and found it to be rated 20-20K .09THD, but it specifically states that is only with the two main channels driven. No numbers given for all channels driven, and while the numbers look good, with just my two bookshelf speakers hooked up, distortion was quite evident when I pushed it up to -12. With Loreena McKennit Live in Paris & Toronto, her vocals quickly became "fuzzy" and the loss of control was obvious during the heaviest vocal passages, so I brought it back down. Back to the 7200 - not a hint of this fuzzy sound at even higher volume. Perhaps there is some kind of current limiting going on in the amp section? I am now hesitant to even hook up my 4 Ohm mains to this guy... Of note - I have an Audiosource amp which puts out 80w x 2, and it has a db/watt meter. With it hooked up to these speakers, at 50% gain on that guy, my speakers registered peaks of just under 1w of useage for average volume levels in my room.

Build quality is very good for a receiver in this price range. The remote is impressive also. I'll be trying out the 1014's DACs tomorrow, and possibly MCACC. I'll also use a SPL meter so I am comparing sound at the same registered volume.

First impression: it's not going to be outgunning the 8300 any time soon IMO, it's par for the price range, and is certainly not a bad receiver by any means. I picked it up for $300, BTW.

 

[chas_w]

I've had a 1014TX for a while now and agree that the bass is a bit subdued for 2 channel without a powered sub. I also found that with my old speakers (Athena AS-F2) I experienced some of the "fuzzy" loss of control at higher volumes using the 1014 that I did not experience when I demo'd a Denon 3805 at home for a few weeks. After switching to Ascend CMT-340's I have not experienced this problem with the 1014TX. Though -12 is a bit louder than my normal listening volume, Norah Jones at this level remains clean and clear on the Ascend/1014 combo. Now you're making me wonder what the Ascends would sound like with better amplification!

I've considered buying a multi-channel amp as a first step towards separates. Any chance you could hook up an amp to the 1014 preouts to see how it sounds?

 

[Takeereasy]

Nice Garcia. Still seems like it's a heck of deal as a budget HT. Let's see how well all those bells and whistles work when you get a chance. I'm most interested in how the Mcacc fares. If the Dac's are good quality, and the auto setup performs well then I'll have to take my hat off to Pioneer for this guy.

 

[j_garcia]

Well, I did actually have an spare amp laying around, the Audiosource, but I didn't get to hook it up this weekend. I had car problems and spent much of my free time repairing that, so I didn't get to spend quite enough time with this guy and I am delivering it today. I did get to spend some more time with it, using the 1014's DACs and it actually sounded better, which makes me suspect the analog section isn't so stout inside this guy. This makes me wonder if it is a bad unit or if that's just how this guy sounds, though talking with others who have also owned one, have said pretty much the same thing.

Via optical digital, bass was slightly improved, but the overall sound was still relatively flat. Vocals lost most of the "fuzz", but it still appeared to run out of steam around -12 (pretty loud), so I didn't push it any higher than that. The main thing I didn't get to try out was MCACC, which was disappointing, however, I will be installing it for this guy sometime this week when we get his speakers in, so I will be able to get a feel for how well MCACC does.

For the price range, I'd say this is a solid unit, no real complaints (except that it isn't much to look at ), and I would say it's a good contender in it's price bracket. If you have a larger room or current hungry speakers, you will either want an external amp or a beefier receiver, IMO.

The Ascend 340 are quite efficient and I think they would make a very good match for this receiver in the average size room. They can take an absolute ton of power too, so I'd be curious to see if they sounded better with a nice solid amp too.

What I may do is see if I can bring a pair of my mains over to this guy's house with the Audiosource amp and fire them up together.

 

[Takeereasy]

What I may do is see if I can bring a pair of my mains over to this guy's house with the Audiosource amp and fire them up together.

If it works out right you could upsell the guy on the spot.

 

[j_garcia]

LOL. I hadn't thought of that.

 

[wilkenboy]

I'm very interested to hear how things go -

My short list for speakers and receiver are the Ascend CBM-170s and the Pioneer 1015 - any comparisons of the 1014 and 1015 by someone that has experience with both units?

Thanks!

~Josh

 

[chas_w]

What I may do is see if I can bring a pair of my mains over to this guy's house with the Audiosource amp and fire them up together.

That would be great if you could do a quick 1014 vs. 1014 with amp test...keep us posted....