Step up from Pioneer VSX-1021

csmileyk
csmileyk Posts: 1
edited March 2012 in Electronics
Hello,

A noob questions here. I recently added the Polk Monitors and CS2, the rest of the setup is over two years old. The Monitors and CS2, I think sound really great. My setup:

Polk Monitor 70 series II ? Front left and right
Polk CS2 ? center
Energy LCR Flat Panel speakers - surrounds
Polk In-ceiling rear surrounds
BIC F12 subwoofer
Pioneer VSX 1021-K AVR
Room size: 20 feet X 19 feet

The question I have is, is the Pioneer VSX 1021-K powerful enough to drive the new setup. I crank up the volume often, and use the system for about 70% to watch movies, 30% for music.

Should I upgrade to a receiver with more power say a Pioneer VSX 1121, Or, along with the VSX 1121 buy a 3 or 5 channel amplifier ? say an Emotiva XPA3/XPA5 or one of the Crown or Behringer?s.

I am not a audioholic, but I have read other forums which say as the receiver drives more speakers at higher volumes, the sound quality decreases.
Reason to upgrade would be to maintain the sound quality and also not destroy my speakers.

Please kindly recommend any AVR or AVR/Amplifier combination. Overall budget for the upgrade would be about $1100.

Thanks
Post edited by csmileyk on
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Comments

  • flyfisher
    flyfisher Posts: 220
    edited March 2012
    That 1121 should be fine and it does have pre outs for an amp.
    Also,if you browse the for sale section,I believe there are a few used Pioneer SC's (05,27) for sale at a great price.It might be worth to check it out and still have enough for an amp and stay within your budget.
    Living Room Monitor 60's*CS2*FXi A6's*VSX 21txh*BD-P1590
    Spare Room RTi A7*CSi A6*FXi A4's*Epik Legend*BDP-05fd*DVL-919 Laserdisc/DVD player
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  • specd_out
    specd_out Posts: 505
    edited March 2012
    The 1021 will power your speakers and you most likely wont ever have any issues. But you are limited because you dont have preouts. I have the Pioneer elite vsx-32 which is basically the 1121k with elite badges and 12v triggers. I would recommend either the 1121k or the vsx 32. They both a little bit more power but more importantly they have preouts so you can add amps in the future if you feel the need.

    I powered rtia5's for my mains csi6 center and t15 surrounds for over a year with no issues. I pushed it a little. hardly ever going over -10 and didnt have any issues. Now I have the mains powered off a Carver amp and the sound has much improved.
    HT Rig Samsung 64F8500 |Pioneer Elite BDP-52FD|Pioneer Elite VSX-32| Two Carver TFM-15cb Bridged for mains|Polk Audio RTiA5 Cherry|Polk Audio CsiA6 Cherry|Polk Audio T-15 Heights|Polk Audio FXia6 Surround|DIY 8cuft Dayton Ultimax 15" powered with a Crown XLS1000
    2Channel Rig Polk Audio LSi9 Cherry| Carver C-1BillD Mod|Carver M1.0t MkII Opt2|Pro-ject RM 1.3|SpeedBox S|AQ King Cobras|AQ Rocket88|
    ISF Level 2 Certified Calibrator
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  • evhudsons
    evhudsons Posts: 1,175
    edited March 2012
    At some point you will feel the need. Adding seperate amps are excellent ways to dramatically upgrade the sound far more than upgrading the receiver itself. Preouts for sure. I had a pioneer vsx1020, then got a used elite receiver for preouts. The used elite sounded so much better, and when I added the seperate amp the sound quality was profound.
    Polk Audio SDA CRS+ crossover 4.1TL by Trey/VR3 (Rings and custom stand by Larry)-Polk Audio SDA SRS2 crossovers by Trey/VR3Parasound HCA1500aYamaha rxa-3070 with musicast-Celestion SL6S presence,- sl9 surround backNHTsuper1's surroundMagnepan SMGParasound 1500pre- Sofia "Baby" tube amp - Monitor Audio Silver RX2 Marantz 2230/B&Kst140Technics 1200mk2 Gamertag: IslandBerserker I am but a infinitesimally small point meeting the line of infinity in the SDA universe
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  • obieone
    obieone Posts: 5,077
    edited March 2012
    Welcome to the forum.
    Amazon has dropped the price of the SC-55 from $1,089, to $1,039. With this rcvr, you'll be pretty much be all set for the forseeable future.
    If at some point you jump to the higher end speakers, either watt hogs(RTiA9), or 4 ohm speakers (LSiM), this has the preouts you'd need for external amps.
    I refuse to argue with idiots, because people can't tell the DIFFERENCE!
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  • B Run
    B Run Posts: 1,888
    edited March 2012
    I like my Elite SC better than I liked my Pioneer 1120 with Adcom amp, and you can definitely find them cheaper now.
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