Pioneer Elite VSX-LX505 vs. BasX MC1

[eurorom]

I am in the market for a new Cinema Processor and shopping around I found the Great Pioneer Elite. It has everything I need plus it will give me temporary amplifiers to use while I upgrade my amps. So my question is would I hear exprerience so much difference on the two Processors? Now the difference in price is only 100.00 which to me is not an issue.

Comments...

[leewilli]

I know your question is about the Pioneer unit, but I can say the MC1 is great. I just replaced my Denon X3700H (known for great sound and very good pre-outs to hold you over before going full processor upgrade) and I have to say the leap in quality has been noticeable without making any tweaks or running EMO-Q yet.

Throw my vote in for MC1.

[eurorom]

Aug 5, 2023 22:40:27 GMT -5 leewilli said:

I know your question is about the Pioneer unit, but I can say the MC1 is great. I just replaced my Denon X3700H (known for great sound and very good pre-outs to hold you over before going full processor upgrade) and I have to say the leap in quality has been noticeable without making any tweaks or running EMO-Q yet.

Throw my vote in for MC1.

Thank you...that is the question I have...is the difference in dynamics, channel separation...better ditails on the MC1 ? with out Imax and Dirac???

[leewilli]

It may be confirmation bias, but I hear better separation, a richer mid-range, more pronounced highs in music and in movies, and the bass feels like it's more aggressive if that makes any sense. I did not notice a noticeable difference when I tested Jumanji The Next Level or Bad Boys For Life, both of which triggered IMAX Enhanced on the Denon, but as expected just DTS:X on the MC1. If anything I've had to do a -2db on the subs so far, but keep in mind I have not run EMO-Q yet. Thus far I've only entered speaker distances and set levels to see how it performs out of the box.

[leewilli]

I ran EMO-Q and my experience is mixed. Hopefully I'm allotted time later this week to calibrate with REW and compare. I think the unit still sounds great without EMO-Q applied, but I know once I apply recommendations from REW based on my room it'll get better. I eked out a little more from the Denon over Audyssey with REW changes but the MC1 still sounds better right out the box. I'm expecting better performance after REW suggestions are applied to the MC1, but that jives with a lot of posts I've seen online that this proc is aimed at customers who don't mind manual calibration.

Will post results within the week...I hope.

[ttocs]

While I don't have any experience with the MC-1, I have had experience with several Pioneer Elite receivers, with the most recent being from about 12-13 years ago. So yeah, it's been a while.

In the mid 2000's my first Pioneer Elite receiver was a step up sound-wise from my flagship Denon it replaced. But consider the competing products here, one mass product was better than another.

Even though the Elites were a much better experience than my Denon, I would bet dollars to donuts that the MC-1 would best the Pioneer Elites. This is based on my positive experience with BasX amps.

[vcautokid]

I too have experience with Pioneer Elite and was a dealer of the line for over 10 years. It was the heyday of great things at Pioneer. But seems to plague so many audio companies is money. Pioneer was in trouble, and I could see it the products as time went by. Gone was the exotics like the AX-10 DVD-A player, the monster VSX recievers like my 65 pound net VSX-49tx receiver. HDMI? Nope. Plenty of clean detailed power? You bet. Built for about anything. CNC'd aluminum side caps, and massive unregulated Linear Power Supply, copper everywhere. This thing was a beast. I would make compete against my AVR-4802 that I have presently, I think the Denon would sound smoother, the Pioneer more decisive, and a bit more forward, and full of life if that is your thing.

This is different times for Pioneer and it is now owned by Voxx Distribution which has Klipsch and Onkyo, and Integra and of course Pioneer Elite. Without which Pioneer would have vanished for good.

Could it be a good receiver, maybe, I have heard some challenges with it, but what AV product is not without those. Especially HDMI. Don't get me started about that "Schiit" show. Still not impressed with that police State BS connection that is, but I digress.

The LX505 is a kissing cousin of the Onkyo RZ-TX50. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so plus you save some green too. Always a nice thing. If the latest is what you are after, and DIRAC too, it tough to argue here about it. I think DIRAC is great. The 8K UHD 60hz, is nice, but how soon do you think you are going to see any 8K content anyway. With regular broadcast still stuck in 720p and 1080i because of costs. Only some exceptions for 4K are happening today, or you buy BluRay discs in 4K UHD.

The MC-1 is a different beast all together. If the MC-1 follows the tradition of great sound we know from Emotiva, it is going to be a treat. Their Preamplifiers have quite a great history of performing well above their price point. XMC and RMC further testimony along with XSP and MMC, and many others in the past. Can the MC-1 compete against the LX505. Absolutely.

Beat it?

Only your ears will tell that. You will need external amplification no doubt. The LX505 gets you started but honestly no where at reference level playback with only 50 watts per channel all channels driven. Nobody just listen 2 channel all the time. Realistically. I don't anyway.

So external amplification for all receivers that include preamplifier outputs is a must if you hope to exploit the benefits of the dynamic headroom and scale external amplifiers can only provide. No receiver with very very few exceptions are going to go at it alone on reference power output. The MR-1 is one of those exceptions, but I would at least run more amplifier beef for the front stage. Just me, what can I say. But the MR-1 is one of the last honest power houses offering an unregulated linear power supply with a toroidal transformer at its price. Nobody at any price is doing that. Am I sounding like a fanboy here? Well maybe, maybe not, when you look at the landscape, the power supply in most receivers today are suspect. Compliances, packaging, and costs dictate the reality of any AV component, I don't care what it is. So companies have to chose who and what they are and how they get there. Been doing this since I was 5 years old. Now in my 60s I have seen and heard allot, and this is truly the best or worst of times depending on what you are doing and your expectations.