Pioneer SC-05 with auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD?

[goldorak]

Hi Guys, i am new here so please excuse any igonrance i might reveal.

I am trying to get a receiver for my HTPC system.
My current system consisted of a creative X-FI titanium professional with very cheap yet acceptable (for the price) mercury HT 5800 amplified speakers. I have blue ray drive in my htpc and it is connected to my sony bravia X 40 inch tv via a sapphire 4850 video card (it has 5.1 sound in it as well but am not using it), i have as well an LG dvd player with HDMI upconverted output and a DVB-C receiver for cable tv with s- video out.

I recently began thinking of getting a slightly more "professional" sound system such as a receiver (i though of the pioneer elite sc-05 for several reasons, mainly the dropping price for a mid range receiver and i searched over the internet and it seems the elite series are good receivers, it has good looks as well ).

as well i heard that to get DTS HD from blue ray disks i need an hdmi 1.3a capable audio output system from my PC, and it seems that the auzen X-FI Home theatre card is coming up soon hopefully.

I am thinking of getting an energy take 5.1 classic system speakers.

my main room is 5 meters by 4 meters almost, and 3 meters height.

1)Would i benefit fa great additional % rom the auzen x-fi home theatre much with a receiver or would my current x-fi titanium be enough to give the needed results? can the 5.1 output from the VGA be good as well?
2) is the pioneer elite sc-05 the right thing for me? should i get a sony DG2100 thing?
3) should i think of the Denon 3803?

I have just stated what my research has given me, your help regarding the above system specially the receiver would be excellent.

thank you

 

[Lordoftherings]

Pioneer Elite SC-05.

Hi goldorak, and Welcome to Audioholics.

At the heavy discounted price of the Pioneer Elite SC-05 right now, I'll say go ahead, it has all the latest (decoders for the new high res. audio codecs, HDMI version 1.3 and much much more). I't's a great deal, and should last you a long time. It is also gorgeous and well built. Just go for it.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[mudrummer99]

I just picked up an SC-05 yesterday for not much more than a song. It is an awesome receiver with lots of options. As far as the soundcard goes, I have used Azunetech's, M-audio, and creative professional cards and I like the azunetech the best. They all sounded very good but the azunetechs just always had a couple more options that just made the much more convenient. Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[goldorak]

But would it be ok without the Auzentech

thanks guys for the reply, I agree with you regarding the SC-05. But my other question was if i am going to benefit a lot from the auzentech, or can i rely on the HDMI output from the sapphire VGA, or the analogue or digital out from the creative x-fi titanium professional since i already have them, and i might save the money, am i going to feel the difference?

are the sony mid range receivers better then the pioneer sc-05? or for example is the denon 3808 better?

 

[Lordoftherings]

thanks guys for the reply, I agree with you regarding the SC-05. But my other question was if i am going to benefit a lot from the auzentech, or can i rely on the HDMI output from the sapphire VGA, or the analogue or digital out from the creative x-fi titanium professional since i already have them, and i might save the money, am i going to feel the difference?

are the sony mid range receivers better then the pioneer sc-05? or for example is the denon 3808 better?

Just forget about the mid-range Sony receivers.

The Denon AVR-3808ci is a very nice receiver, but it is also about $300 more than the Pioneer Elite SC-05. The SC-05 is definitively the better deal.

As for the other questions regarding the Auzentech, HDMI, the Sapphire VGA, and the analog or digital from the Creative x-fi Titanium Professional; I don't see any concern here.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[goldorak]

Pioneer SC-07 with Auzentech X-FI HD

Hi Guys,

I recently hooked my new Home theatre setup:
Sony Bravia X350 40 Inch LCD TV (Full HD)
Pioneer Elite Sc-07
Energy Take Classic 5
Energy ESW-V10 Subwoofer
HTPC (I7 processor 2.66 GHz, 6 GB 1600 MHz Ram, ATI HD 4890, etc...)
And the main audio card in the PC (The Auzentech X-FI HD (HDMI in - out).

I am not that experienced in the receiver world yet but like the technical stuff around it.

After setting the system, i can say the blu ray movie on my HTPC is superb in picture and sound as it plays HD sound tracks through the Auzentech X-FI HD. I did not try games yet, but i think i am gonna love the sound as the sound card as understood has dolby live and dts connect over HDMI with EAX 5.0.

my main (i will not say disapointment) as i knew it before, that the energy take 5 did not deliver the sound i expected. The sound is lovely but not superb, i have a relatively medium to small room (4 meters by 3.5), and cant really go for tower speakers, but i felt i needed more.

the energy sub seems good but possibly limited by the satellites combination. I mean i have seen this sub coupled with even better/larger towers.

the question now, is how to best calibrate the sc-07 and satellites? when moving from 80Hz frequency to 100 Hz, the sound was better as the satellites were suffering when using 80 Hz as crossover! i did use mccac.

I am still playing with the setup, sometimes trying the count on the audio card processing for music for low quality mp3 songs and sometimes using the bitstreaming through HDMI to the receiver.

when playing blu ray, as i said, the sound was really beautiful, clean, and the bass was moving. I am still missing the satellite power but this was less obvious when movie watching. even in some songs titles like self control for laura branigan, the sound was very nice, powerful and clear.

would the speakers be better after a while, i mean burn in thing! or did i ruin the burn in phase by playing them loud already?

after calibration, at 0 dB seems a good listening level, possibly - 2dB is good as well. If i go to 4dB on the sc-07, i feel no relative improvement in sound, no distortion but you feel that the speakers can't give more. when the 80 Hz crossover was used, sometimes the speaker made a pop sound at higl levels above 0 dB, then i lowered the volume, but with 100 Hz, this was better, anyhow the take classic range is 115 Hz and above.

anyhow, just wanted to brief you guys about the setup of this nice hdmi sound card with the sc-07 and take your advice for someone new to this, i.e. how can i make things better now!!!?