UMC-1 or Pioneer Elite VSX-23TXH

[indian]

Well, my receiver seems to be going out way ahead of when i was planning on upgrading and seems i am stuck with a decision. Am currently using an onkyo 705 as a preamp to XPA-5. The problem is my onkyo is no longer sending a signal to my Subwoofer. i do not wish to spend money getting it fixed when i was already so close to replacing it with an upgrade.
I could go with either UMC-1 or Pioneer elite VSX-23TXH receiver for close to same price and was wondering what you guys think. I realize i am posting on an emotiva forum but am confident i will get an honest answer. what can be some of the pros and cons to going with one or the other? I believe the pioneer is a great receiver but have been wanting to upgrade to a pre/pro since i got the amp. please give me your thoughts and suggestions.
Thanks.

[placebo473]

Have you really tried troubleshooting the problem? Checking connections at the sub and preamp outs and going into the menus and double checking your settings? Are you sure the sub is getting power? It seems like a rare occurance that any preamp or receiver would stop sending a signal that a simple restart wouldn't fix assuming all connections are secured. Or are you really looking for a reason to upgrade? It's surely nothing wrong with that if that's the case.

[indian]

Good questions. I have done all of the above. checked the sub and cable with local dealer. checked all my settings in receiver. did a reset on my receiver and then double checked again. still not sending signal to sub. i know it's a very rare problem and is quite suspicious to my wife. but in all honesty i have tried everything i know. she wants me to get a quote to get fixed but that's the last thing i want to do. but i guess that is an option to please the wife. still, if someone can give me some insight to original question, i would appreciate it.

[jdskycaster]

I did not compare the 23TXH but I did compare the 21TXH which is very similar minus a couple of features. I decided to keep the UMC-1. Not that the 21TXH (in my test) was not a competent piece, overall I preferred the sound quality of the UMC-1 for both movies and music. I also thought the edge in video quality favored the UMC-1.

The absolute deal breaker for me was a total lack of OSD (overlay on-screen) of what mode the Pioneer is in. The UMC has an excellent OSD via HDMI implementation and also allows you to tweak settings while watching or listening to a source. You cannot do that with any of the Pioneer AVR's up to and including their top models. Since all of my equipment is isolated in a rack in another room separate from my HT there is no visual indication available for what mode is currently selected. If I want to change modes I could not tell if the unit actually responded to a command and made the change. The UMC-1 is much more user friendly and tweakable in this regard.

Best of luck in your search,

JD

[palmfish]

On screen OSD is nice to have if your components are hidden from view. In my case, my components are in a rack beneath my HDTV behind glass doors.

I chose the Pioneer Elite SC-25 for a number of reasons, not the least of which is Advanced MCACC. My listening room is far from perfect, so Auto Room EQ was a high priority to me. I chose Advanced MCACC because it not only detects speaker size and distance, and applies EQ to each channel, but it also corrects phase and reverb problems. You can run MCACC, manually tweak them to your desire, and then save up to 6 different settings.

It made a huge difference in SQ in my room, and as a bonus, everything works - the first time, every time, with no firmware updates.

My Harmony One worked with it on the first try without having to input hex codes or call Logitech. I can choose the various inputs and choose different listening modes (THX, Pure Direct, All-channel stereo, etc.) with the push of a button.

Although I'm very pleased with it's power/sound and therefore don't use an external amp (those cool-running Class D amps are fantastic), I think any of the Elites would serve as a fine pre/pro too. I think the 21TXH has a street price of around $550 - which is a lot of bang for the buck, IMO.

[spartanstew]

Pioneer.

[yesman]

+1 for Pioneer.