Got old Pioneer Elite VSX-07TX -- now have to re-test all the speakers.

Mystery

Not sure why I got it.
May be because it has 'Elite' and 'THX' on the face. :rolleyes:
Also, price was very good.

Anywho, it's old 5.1 Lucasfilm THX certified Pioneer Elite VSX-07TX receiver.
Sticker on the back says it was made in Japan in 1999.
It retailed for $1450. :surprised:

No remote and missing volume knob but works great with universal remote.
I'm not spending $50 on original remote.
I used a volume knob from a donor receiver.
It fits but the power light hole doesn't align to see the led light on the knob.

I never thought Polk SDA-2B's can sound that much better on this.
Looks like this one is a high current model as the Polk 2B's on my Marantz SR5500, Denon AVC-2000 and SX-880 never sounded as good as on this Pioneer Elite.
Bass improved so much that at the same listening level, I could feel the floor vibrating.
More punch, much bigger/open soundstage, overall more authority even at low volume.
And it was on 'Direct' mode without any tone or DSP.
Me likey.
The wpc is not that much different as the Marantz SR5500 is also 110wpc @ 6ohms but for some reason Elite just feels like it's pounding hard, everything sounds so tight, open and more depth.
Same songs and movie tracks had more bass vibrations and power overall.
Now I have to go through all of them to re-evaluate.
I opened the receiver and power capacitors are not that big but the transformer is massive.
Me thinks transformer weighs half of the whole receiver.

Either it's a good receiver or I was high on some Ganja.

StantonZ

I've never found ANY Denon amp/receiver that does well with Polks. Had one in the 90's that consistently "blew it's fuse" and that's the last Denon I ever owned; had Yamaha ever since.

Mystery

It's so amazing that receiver/amp's effect in sound is so drastic.
I had a BOTL Sony STR series 5.1 receiver and not a single speaker sounded good.
I gave that away to a friend probono.

Then I bought Yamaha 5.1 receiver and that was huge upgrade from the Sony.
After that Onkyo 7.1 HDMI receiver, not much better than Yamaha but pretty good.
Marantz SR5500 sounded very good and 25 years old Denon AVC-2000 sounds even better but this Elite bests them all.
Even old silver faced Pioneer SX-880, 780 etc... didn't sound as good.

I need to move up to dedicated amps like Adcom but they won't be used much as even this receiver at 1/8th is more than the room/neighbors can handle so...

skrol

StantonZ wrote: »

I've never found ANY Denon amp/receiver that does well with Polks. Had one in the 90's that consistently "blew it's fuse" and that's the last Denon I ever owned; had Yamaha ever since.

What Denon was that? My DRA-835R and 825R do great with any of my Polks. I even had the 835R pushing a pair of 4 Ohm Vienna Acoustics all day without breaking a sweat.

My AVR-888 is another story. It drives them ok but can't match the DRA-835R for SQ.

Stan

Mystery

skrol wrote: »

What Denon was that? My DRA-835R and 825R do great with any of my Polks. I even had the 835R pushing a pair of 4 Ohm Vienna Acoustics all day without breaking a sweat.

My AVR-888 is another story. It drives them ok but can't match the DRA-835R for SQ.

Stan

He can chime in on Denon specifics but what I meant was not about breaking sweat.

All the receivers I had/have run Polks fine all day long. I never had any receiver shut down while running.
The difference is on the overall sound.
Some receivers make them sound too bright, some veiled, some thin etc... but all of them do drive them fine.
I wouldn't know the full/powerful sound from the same speakers with the Pioneer until I used it.

nguyendot

Find an old Nakamichi amp and you will be even more surprised.