Pioneer Elite VSX-LX505 Owners Thread

Asere said:

How much better is having DLBC? Is DLBC like having Audyssey XT32?

Click to expand...

Dirac Live is on a par (I think better) with Audyssey XT32 (which comes with Audyssey's SubEQ functionality)

Dirac Live Bass Control - DLBC is the next step up for bass - it does its stuff with subs, and mostly multi-subs - it has a huge following and many people swear by it. - it is the next step up from Dirac Live. Audyssey has no equivalent

Dirac Live - Active Room Treatment (ART) - is the next step beyond that - where active cancellation of specific sounds/frequencies from specific speakers is used to correct the room - it is a complete paradigm shift.
Toss out all your assumptions about optimal speaker types and combinations.

ART will be available to all manufacturers who want to integrate it into their AVR's starting in October.

There is no word yet from Onkyo/Pioneer/Integra as to which models will support ART.

I returned a glitchy RZ50 with Dirac turned ON and ordered the LX505. Comes in tomorrow. Hopefully I can finally get a feel for Dirac.

Your opinion - anyone else using Direct Pure?
I picked up my 505 about 4 weeks ago. I have struggled with the tone on this AVR. Today I recalibrated the room, 1st using MCACC - mistake. MCACC decided that my speakers where of various sizes and I noticed not much was coming from my center channel - KEF Q250c. So, I recalibrated using DIRAC. The tone was still harsh/bright but I began customizing the various curves. I focused on my front (KEF Q350) and center frequencies. I boost the low end by about 8 db from 20hz to 120hz and dropped the low mids by 8 db. I also curtained off the front and center channels at 500hz. This was an improvement but the sound varies between sources and I am still not completely happy. On average I find Direct Pure to be the most pleasing. So, I ask, is anyone else using Direct pure? I will likely continue to tweak the curves with DIRAC.

Great Price. But, I struggle to find a decent tone out of it.

You sound like a candidate for limiting the range of correction to under 500Hz. If room correction alters the top end, your ears will be really sensitive to it.

Todd Anderson said:

You sound like a candidate for limiting the range of correction to under 500Hz. If room correction alters the top end, your ears will be really sensitive to it.

Click to expand...

Yes, I 've been doing just that - a curtain. This morning I further reduced the curtain to all curves below 250hz - seems to be an improvement. I believe good speakers are key.

I totally agree with you... that and the status of your physical room. Speaker designers will tell you to stay away from altering the innate performance of a speaker, though controlling the low end is, I believe, essential.

Are you noticing a difference between LFE with MCACC and Dirac?

Todd Anderson said:

I totally agree with you... that and the status of your physical room. Speaker designers will tell you to stay away from altering the innate performance of a speaker, though controlling the low end is, I believe, essential.

Are you noticing a difference between LFE with MCACC and Dirac?

Click to expand...

MCACC was a total fail IMO. The MCACC calibration gave speaker sizes that did not make sense to me. Large center, small fronts, I can't recall them all. As you likely know, bookshelf speakers, no matter how big, should be classed as small to allow the low end frequencies to be correctly routed to the sub. I am using an SVS SB200 pro sub. It can handle down to 19hz. So as I said. MCACC was a fail.
DIRAC live was a bit of a learning curve for me. But patience seems to be paying off. DIRAC live allows for a lot of control which is great.
My first attempts resulted in a lot of bright harsh tones. I have noticed that DIRAC can have brightness issues. Every time I'd come across info on DIRAC that made sense, I'd try it out. Often a bit of info can be a dangerous thing. Early on I kept the curtain at 500hz but the sound was still bright. I also read to boost the bottom end a few db to compensate. I did that (7db) but it was still harsh. I tried cutting the low mids a few db. Still harsh.
I came close to taking the receiver back but my latest attempt proved promising. I tried the DIRECT PURE listening mode last night and it was pretty close to my liking.
This morning, I returned all the curves to the original DIRAC recommendation but gave the front and center channels a 3db boost.at from 20hz up to 100hz.. I also moved the curtain down to 250hz.
Oddly now the DIRECT PURE and DIRAC sound very close. But I did notice a bit of low end shadowing on dialogue using DIRECT Pure. I am hoping the adjustments to the DIRAC have corrected that.
Bottom line is that between the two listening modes DIRAC PURE and DIRAC live, I think I am happy with the Pioneer elite 505. Particularly since the DIRECT PURE is acceptable and there there is always possible improvements using DIRAC as I get to know it better.

What is the watts per channel all channels driven?
The 505 boasts 120 watts 2 channels driven.
I am driving all 9 channels and the wattage/channel is likely much less than 120.
I am wonder if I'd benefit using a multi channel power amp, at least for the front soundstage LCR?