What Hi Fi Sound and Vision 31 AUG 2009

Pioneer VSX-LX52

£ 950 4
* * * *

A good option, especially if you're a fan of Pioneers. However, it can just be bettered in the performance-per-pound stakes

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Comments

john550 November 4, 2009 14:44

i'd say do some tweaking that personally sounds good to the listener ie:sub trim levels,speaker channel levels and do a reverb and acoustic auto set up then TWEAK AWAY.I thought my vsx-lx50 sounded bright and was disappointed at first,but had good bed-time read of owners manual and set it up the way i like it and i got it sounding great: punchy,nice low to midrange sound,essentially getting rid of that bright sound with no major sound quality loss.Sounds great with both music and movies!

Clare Newsome September 15, 2009 14:03

We always run manual set-up with a sound pressure-level meter after a receiver's auto set-up has run - to compare how well the automatic system fares with optimised manual settings.

james2580 September 14, 2009 20:40

Don???t be fooled by this receiver???s superb but ultra sensitive auto set-up!  It will falsely report that a speaker or speakers are out of phase when they are not.  If you believe what it tells you and blindly change the phase the net result will be a sound that lacks weight and scale and is slightly bright, just like in the review findings.  I am not suggesting the reviewers were fooled but it is possible.  I realised the issue when having corrected my RR speaker phase I set up for a different listening position and the receiver reported the same speaker was again out of phase and in addition my centre speaker was now out. By moving the furniture and the microphone I could make the receiver report different speakers out of phase. I don???t see this as a fault but a symptom of the highly analytical and effective auto set-up; it is just something to be aware of.

My advice is to confirm correct phase by the tried and trusted visual method and ignore the declared auto set-up phase error.  In this way you will enjoy a fantastic product at its best.  Even with CDs my old Arcam AVR280 sounds dull and lacklustre in comparison, my speakers did not know what hit them and I can???t get enough of the sound from this gem.


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