I'm currently in the market (UAE market) searching for the best possible Receiver, which will meet my needs and requirements. Since I live in the UAE currently my cable box/dish/sat is only limited to RF/Coaxial and Composite. So trying to get the best possible picture on a Samsung 40in 1080p LCD-TV is the challenge.
As for right now the competition is as follows:
Pioneer VSX-AX4AVi-S
check out the postings for the details from the websites:
http://www.pioneer-uae.com/pioneerAdmin/display/productDesc.aspx?pid=273&cid=3
and
http://www.pioneer-uae.com/pioneerAdmin/display/productDesc.aspx?pid=273&cid=3
Trying to decide between Pioneer and Yamaha has been eating my brains. the
Video Upscaling part that is. I can't exactly pin-point which one i want to get. Apparently Pionner uses the, "Analog ADV7400A Chip" (
http://www.tranzistoare.ro/datasheets2/78/786269_1.pdf ) <--- CHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE FOR FULL DETAILS ON THIS CHIP (and if possible can someone translate into layman's terms what does all the techie stuff boil down to)
Where as Yamaha uses the "Anchor Bay Technology’s ABT1010". Accordingly with Yamaha's marketing this chip sounds like its the best and ground breaking technology, which it might be, but will it do the job for trying to acheive HD quality on a Samsung 40in 1080p LCD-TV set???
As for the bells and whistles, they both have great features:
HDMI
Pioneer: 2HDMI in and 1 HDMI out
Yamaha: 3 HDMI in and 1 HDMI out
(for the time being the only thing maybe that i might use the HDMI for is the DVD player but even then i might actually go Component with the DVD player to upscale upto 720p or 1080i/p. (since you can't upscale HDMI inputs) Currently I am using, the Samsung DVD-HR736. any possible future upgrades to HDMI involving HD quality viewing is the only concern that i face, which might only be a newer DVD player or a PS3 so 2 is fine but 3 is just a bonus.
Networking
Pioneer: USB, iLink
Yamaha: LAN-Ethernet
Anyone out there have anything to say on the difference of quality between the two?
IPOD
Pioneer: IPOD docking = YES
Yamaha: IPOD docking = YES
Don't have one, but who knows....
Any reviews or opinions on the ease of use of ipod docking?
XM Satellite
Pioneer: XM Connection =
Yamaha: XM Connection = Yes (XMHD works on this receiver)
Again I don't have XM Satellite... but then again who knows...
Any reviews or opinions on the ease of use of this feature?
Surround Sound
Both are 7.1 Surround Sound
Pioneer: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, DTS, DTS-ES Matrix 6.1, DTS Neo: 6, DTS 96/24, WMA 9 Pro, Surround Modes 6 + 1
- MCACC
Yamaha: Dolby Digital EX/ Dolby Pro Logic IIx, DTS-ES Discrete 6.1, DTS 96/24 / DTS Neo:6, Pure Direct
- Compressed Music Enhancer
- Neural Surround
- YPAO
Seems like Pioneer owns this field.... unless someone can stand me corrected...
POWER
Pioneer:
Output Power per Channel: 270W
Impedance at Output Level: 6 Ohms
Number of Channels: 7
Signal / Noise Ratio 92 / 65 dB
Power Consumption: 460W
Stand-by-mode Consumption: 0.6w
Yamaha
RMS Output Power (20Hz - 20kHz) 140W x 7
Number of Channels: 7
Impedance at Output Level: N/A Ohms (but i think it's 6)
Signal / Noise Ratio: N/A
Power Consumption: N/A
Stand-by-mode Consumption: N/A
if someone can fill in the blanks for the Yamaha, that'll be way too cool... heh
But of course there are more factors that I should be looking at, which I'm overseeing, can someone help me out and point me in the right direction?!?!?!
Well that's the stuff I can fill you guys in to help me choose... But if there are any other factors which will help me to better 'weigh' the 2 receivers, then I'll say they'll be most welcomed and appreciated.
The sooner the reply the sooner I buy... the sooner I can give my final review. Also, I'm trying to avoid buying both and testing each out and then having to return either one, cause I'll probably be up all nite testing and trying, also the fact that I'm kinda of an amateur at this stuff, well a novice more like it, I use to do this stuff a while back, but time has changed and so has technology. Hope you guys will help me out on this one!!!
Thanks,
Kev
