Pioneer VSX-L101 vs. Denon AVR-X1300

[sergiodurante]

This is only my 2nd post and wanted to thank all who have made me feel welcome with their great input and advice. Anyway, long story short, I am super new to the world of home theatre/audio.

I picked up my first set of 5.1 speakers just a few weeks ago but was still unable to pick up a receiver. My neighbor lent me his old Sony STR-DH550 which is basically a very basic 5.1 receiver ( it was on sale last week for $150), I had very low expectations. However, going from the TV speakers to true speakers was a mind blowing experience to say the least. I could not believe that a $150 receiver could provide such an experience. My neighbor was urging me to pick up a refurb Denon AVR-X1200 as he said that would really provide a better experience ( I also needed a true Zone 2 for the pool side speakers).

Anyway during black Friday week, I ended up buying/auditioning a Pioneer Elite VSX-L101 for a great deal at under $300. My neighbor continued to urge me to buy the newer version of his previous suggestion - Denon AVR-X1300, so I picked up a refurb yesterday for around $320. I currently have the Pioneer Elite hooked up and still have the Denon in a box, both are of course within their return windows. So I thought I'd outline some observations/questions to all of you experts below.

-Compared to the cheap Sony Receiver, I'd say the Pioneer Elite seems to have better processing that was noticeable when watching movies, the channel separation seemed more detailed that made the movie a bit more immersive. Sound overall moderately more detailed than the Sony, I was finally able to distinguish what the reviewers would refer to as the highs,lows and mids.

-The Pioneer Elite Interface seems a bit archaic and not the most user friendly- is the Denon Interface updated? I did notice they have a newer IOS app that supposedly works well.

-The MACC calibration on the Pioneer was much more intensive than the Sony Calibration ( which took about 5 seconds). However, I was told that the Audyssey configuration is much more detailed and accurate, is this correct?

-The Pioneer, disappointingly , does not have a true zone 2. I had to turn on the Bi-Amp option to the pool speakers to get the most out of the receiver.

-From lurking the web/forums and from speaking to several people, the Denon brand seems to be overwhelmingly favored over the Pioneer brand which was recently acquired by Onkyo. Again, due to my newb status, I have nothing to compare this to.

So what's your take? Should I keep the brand new Pioneer or the Denon ( which I have yet to connect).
Would it sound that much differently??? Would the interface be better??? Is Audyssey just a bunch of hype???

 

[lovinthehd]

I'm more a Denon fan these days (my Pioneer 919 died prematurely) so I'm a bit prejudiced. The Advanced MCACC my unit had may even be a bit more than the LX101's version from the little I saw just now on the LX101 webpage specs. There are different levels of MCACC, some use a single mic position like mine did, but there are others that use multiple mic positions and do more with subs than mine did but haven't really kept up with Pioneer products....altho look forward to what they might do with their Dirac (another room correction system) distribution agreement.

I went to AudysseyXT (like the Denon 1300 has) on an Onkyo and put the Pioneer in the bedroom and thought that was better than MCACC. I now also have a Denon with Audyssey XT32 (highest version) and that's significantly better than XT IMO. The Denon 1300 has that option of an android app that can tweak Audyssey response curves (not an option without Audyssey Pro kits before this). I think you should setup the Denon and see what you think. You might want to check out a guideline on how to run Audyssey first, maybe start here

 

[sergiodurante]

I'm more a Denon fan these days (my Pioneer 919 died prematurely) so I'm a bit prejudiced. The Advanced MCACC my unit had may even be a bit more than the LX101's version from the little I saw just now on the LX101 webpage specs. There are different levels of MCACC, some use a single mic position like mine did, but there are others that use multiple mic positions and do more with subs than mine did but haven't really kept up with Pioneer products....altho look forward to what they might do with their Dirac (another room correction system) distribution agreement.

I went to AudysseyXT (like the Denon 1300 has) on an Onkyo and put the Pioneer in the bedroom and thought that was better than MCACC. I now also have a Denon with Audyssey XT32 (highest version) and that's significantly better than XT IMO. The Denon 1300 has that option of an android app that can tweak Audyssey response curves (not an option without Audyssey Pro kits before this). I think you should setup the Denon and see what you think. You might want to check out a guideline on how to run Audyssey first, maybe start here

Thanks for the info . I didn't know that MCACC had different levels like Audyssey. And you are correct about the VSX-L101 having only the single mic position. I didn't manually tweak the EQ settings at this point . I'll hopefully have some time later to hook up the Denon and give you an update.

Question for you though, the big box store employees kept referring to the Pioneer Elite/ Denon In Command Line/ Yamaha Aventage as having a "Class D " amp. While their lower tier models used a less efficient, inferior amp. Is this correct?

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks for the info . I didn't know that MCACC had different levels like Audyssey. And you are correct about the VSX-L101 having only the single mic position. I didn't manually tweak the EQ settings at this point . I'll hopefully have some time later to hook up the Denon and give you an update.

Question for you though, the big box store employees kept referring to the Pioneer Elite/ Denon In Command Line/ Yamaha Aventage as having a "Class D " amp. While their lower tier models used a less efficient, inferior amp. Is this correct?

AFAIK Denon still is using class A/B amps (mine is at least), as well as Yamaha; Pioneer did start using class D amps in their avrs a while back. Class A/B is nominally less efficient than D but if the amp is well executed you wouldn't be able to tell the difference in sound quality. The class D amps tend to be lighter, though. In general I'd not talk to big box store employees about audio....they're generally just going on marketing materials.