AV Receiver Reviews

Pioneer VSX-LX505 Elite 9.2-Channel A/V Receiver Review Page 2

The Pioneer system was pretty much spot on in calculating channel levels and distances to all of my speakers, though its on-screen "report," which shows equalization for the LCR and surround channels, did not graphically reveal any room-mode corrections—only general adjustments to speaker response. MCACC's EQ adjustments for each channel are displayed in a nine-band graphic EQ display, which you can further tweak. In other words, Pioneer gives you all the tools you need to wreak aural havoc. As Elmer Fudd might say, if you plan on messing with the derived EQ settings, proceed "vewy, vewy, ca'fuwy."

At the end of the day, the results produced by MCACC sounded very similar to those obtained from Dirac, though I could not make a meaningful comparison since the LX505 only stores one "run" of MCACC or Dirac, at a time; Dirac does, however, provide three memory presets for storing modified versions of the original curve. While I could cheerfully use all of my allotted space to compare and contrast the intricacies of the two systems, my editor would have a fit, so here's my 10-cent summary: casual users will be perfectly happy with a one- or perhaps three-mic-position run of MCACC, while the geeks among us will want to dive fully into the Dirac-verse, possibly even downloading and running the fuller-version Dirac software on a Mac or PC and using a calibrated mic such as the ubiquitous MiniDSP UMIK-1 to measure many more positions. At the end of the day I preferred Dirac, mostly for its customizable house-curve options, but set-and-forgetters will find Pioneer's MCACC system easier to use and fully capable of producing excellent results.

Performance
With setup complete, I surfed and quickly found a convenient streaming presentation of that old action-movie chestnut Jack Reacher, which the Pioneer dutifully up-mixed to Atmos. The presentation was surprisingly satisfying. Gunshots were distinctive—crisp yet deep and accurately spatialized—and dialogue, from whispered mutterings to shouts, was locked on-screen and unfailingly intelligible and natural.

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I streamed most of the music I used for critical listening via Roon, disabling MCACC but leaving the two Roon filters I use to mitigate my room's primary low-frequency modes engaged. (This is my usual practice; since every room and setup is different, taking onboard correction systems out of the loop makes base-line sense to me, but subduing my room's influence in a long-known, repeatable way makes for more meaningful judgements.)

I've been a Bonnie Raitt fan since, as a clueless teen. I once opened for her in a tiny church coffeehouse long before she broke nationally (no, I'm not telling when that was). So I was eager to give her new album, Just Like That, a close listen. Streaming it via Tidal/MQA, I was delighted to hear that her voice—still just about the best out there—remains the same powerful, flexible, nuanced instrument, even after a half-century of hard use. The LX505 produced enough power to deliver the album at control-room-playback levels with room to spare. There was no hint of squish or flabbiness on the bottom, even with the receiver in Direct mode, playing full-range stereo with no subwoofer and putting maximum demands on its main left-/right-channel amplifiers.

Just as important, the Pioneer's resolution was high enough to reveal a ghost of an edge on Raitt's vocals on "Something's Got a Hold of My Heart"—presumably a deliberate production choice (I also heard it on high-end HiFiMan headphones running through a separate DAC/headphone-amp)—while delineating her inimitable, moaning, compressed-Strat slide guitar with perfection.

SACD may be a dead, or at least moribund format, but it lives on in my system. I cued up the cherished Telarc recording of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, again running subwoofer-less to sweat the amp channels as hard as possible, and let the Pioneer up-mix the five channels to height-enabled 9.0. The results did not disappoint. From the opening, birdsong-like bassoon-solo to the violent, club-wielding climax, the Pioneer ably reproduced the breadth and power of this superb recording. I heard no issues on low-end impact, definition, or breadth and depth of the sound as recorded in Cincinnati's Music Hall, and the Atmos embellishment dialed in via the LX505's listening mode options contributed a welcome sense of height to the front-stage "air."

Watching my usual movie trial scenes produced consistently fine results, so I moved on to the reference-standard Bladerunner 2049 and watched it all the way through—something I had, unaccountably, never done before. The undisputed star of the show was Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch's brilliant score with its heavy electronica, frequently arresting spatial tricks, and deep and powerful bass, produced in full by the LX505. I switched on the MCACC EQ calibration and, amazingly, the sound was utterly perfect without any touchups of balance or subwoofer level—something that happens very rarely. This is one of the most heavily spatial soundtracks I know, and the LX505 delivered it seamlessly through my nine speakers, with smooth, consistent pans and a convincing but not overblown sense of height.

In sum, whether I was playing music or watching movies, I had no complaints about the receiver's sonic delivery.

Hands On
Of course, there's a lot more to an AVR than its sound and visual delivery, however excellent. Like virtually every competing model, the Pioneer LX505 is drowning in features and functions, far too many to cover here, so allow me to cherry pick a few to highlight.

I'll begin with a complaint. The pokey remote Pioneer supplies was a disappointment (its Onkyo sibling gets the same one). Sure, the Pioneer Remote app is free and a vastly superior alternative, but hey—this is a $1,500 component. The good news: apart from those cheesy speaker terminals, that was the only serious gripe I could muster, and the Remote app, downloaded to my iPad, proved a pleasure to use for streaming and most everything else.

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There's much to like, starting with the Personal Preset feature that lets you establish three one-touch presets for storing combinations of source, output, and listening mode (but not channel balances, unfortunately). With 24-bit/192kHz-capable digital-to-analog hardware, the LX505 is ready for hi-resolution streaming from apps or an external server. In a quick comparison, hi-rez files streamed via the TwonkyMedia server residing on my iMac and through my excellent Roon-ready standalone DAC were indistinguishable.

The list of features goes on and includes onboard apps for Tidal, Spotify, Pandora, and Amazon but not Qobuz (my preference) and an IMAX Enhanced mode in addition to the requisite Dolby Atmos and DTS:X surround processing. The receiver also supports HDMI with eARC (enhanced Audio Return Control), which worked without fuss or delay when connected to my Sony OLED TV, flowing Atmos and all other surround formats without incident, something that has not always been the case in my experience.

Lastly, for the truly tech-obsessed (and custom installers), the Pioneer has a web-setup interface: enter the IP address shown on the Network setup page into your browser and you get a page with basic setup and control functions. To which I'll add an Easter egg: enter "ciuser" for the login and password, instead of the default "admin/admin," and you gain access to a vastly more complete set of controls, including a few esoteric items not even accessible via the supplied remote or free app.

Conclusion
TMI? Probably. So let me leave you with this: I liked the Pioneer VSX-LX505 a good deal. I think it's a fairly priced, near-state-of-the-art audio/video receiver. AV-ers seeking performance and function over more subjective variables like looks or brand-cachet are likely to be very satisfied.

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COMMENTS
utopianemo's picture
Submitted by utopianemo on August 27, 2022 - 4:52pm

Two questions: How is the GUI and how stable is the operation? I recently replaced my Pioneer Elite for a different brand. The sound was absolutely unimpeachable, but my Elite (same tier but it came out shortly after the HDR-capable chipsets became available had a clunky, sluggish AI, and never passed HDR reliably (even 4K SDR was inconsistent).

After having a few major components replaced with no improvement, I bit the bullet and bought a competing brand at the same tier. The sound isn’t quite as nice, but the lack of headache/anxiety from not having a $1,500 piece of hardware that doesn’t operate reliably is totally worth it.

Dealzguy18's picture
Submitted by Dealzguy18 on August 28, 2022 - 10:13am

Rather unfortunate this is such a poorly written review. Firstly Pioneer that I used to love started going down when Onkyo acquired their AV division. The Onkyo cheapness started to show up in the Elite receivers. Pioneer has dumbed down their awesome D3 D class amplifier with run of the mill cheap D class. No they are not the same in terms of quality and tuning. D3 was codeveloped with B&O and I have it on two of older Elite AVRs that are just beasts. Pioneer has gone for including a boatload of all the latest features, which will is commendable, ultimately fails in the sound quality that it was known for.

Review should include some history and comparison as well and be bold to comment on the deterioration of this brand,

dsb9001's picture
Submitted by dsb9001 on September 3, 2022 - 9:13am

I agree this was a very poor review because it barely covered anything but the basics. I purchased this receiver but returned it not long after. There are several things I liked about it but the dislikes outnumbered the likes by too many to justify keeping it. Of the many dislikes, the main ones are:

1. In order to get 11.1 (for 7.1.4) output, an additional amp is required that can ONLY be put on the lower main rear surrounds, instead of being able to assign to one of the height front/rear outputs. This is most annoying as my separate amp is smaller and of lessor quality, which would be fine on one of the upper Atmos surrounds as it wouldn't get as much usage, but it's not what I would want to use for my main rears. I intend to purchase a receiver I've found that lets you assign the channels the additional amp can replace (hint: the make begins with a "D").

2. After many trials I could not determine any difference between Dirac Live and MCACC. Setting up Dirac Live however was a major time consuming hassle and had to keep overriding the settings in order for it successfully complete the setup. This happens every time you need to recalibrate it (which I needed to do a few times adjusting speaker placement). Maybe there will be a fix in the future but it was too frustrating for me to want to mess with.

3. Dirac Live set up is only available via a phone app (I use iOS). I keep my receivers a long time (I had the Pioneer this replaced for over 12 years) and have a concern that over time the app will no longer work due to lack of ongoing support with newer OS versions. This has already happened with my previous Pioneer... the app has not worked since iOS 12 and just crashes on newer versions. It can't even be downloaded anymore. The Dirac Live calibration functionality should be built into the receiver or you risk losing a major feature once app version support ends.

4. Probably not an issue for most, but I still have a device with component output I like to use from time to time, but this receiver's component inputs are restricted to 480i, making the device unwatchable. My 12 year old Pioneer easily handles up to 1080i component to HDMI conversion.

Dealzguy18's picture
Submitted by Dealzguy18 on September 7, 2022 - 11:35am

Thank you for the detailed first hand user experience sharing. This is what has become of Pioneer after they were taken over by Onkyo. On the 480i content you are absolutely right, I too have an older Elite SC65 that has QDEO by Marvell chip that upscales all sources to 1080P and it looks awesome. Plus the D3 amps on it are so powerful and equal for all channels it can power even 4 ohm speakers very well.

Eleonorereichert's picture
Submitted by Eleonorereichert on January 29, 2023 - 11:32pm

The D3 amps on it are so strong and equally distributed across all channels, it can provide adequate power to speakers with an impedance of only 4 ohms. wordle hint

vincedog3's picture
Submitted by vincedog3 on June 14, 2023 - 5:10pm

Okay lets get this out of the way. I had the VSX-49TX, and that was total beast mode. By today's standards, stupid as a sack of rocks. But 65lbs folks. Beefy Linear Power Supply. All legacy, fully discrete output devices, scalloped aluminum side panels. Like the AX-10 DVD-A player was. I was a Pioneer dealer for over 10 years in the hey days of Pioneer Elite.

Reality be told. Pioneer was fools with their money. The compliances and standards and costs ate them alive. I was surprised they didn't die sooner. Sound United backed out of the deal for gang. So Vox bought them up. I am not bothered by what they have here. Looks like a bitchin' Processor Preamplifier. I need the modern HDMI outputs, and surround schemes, I don't need the amplifier stages, I am using external anyway from Parasound, and Emotiva, so this thing could be 5 watts a channel, and I wouldn't care. This will be in my bedroom system along with my Samsung TV, and Jamo front C series speakers, and Elac 6.2 mk.2 as my surrounds. SVS PB-1000 Subwoofer for the dynamics and excitement. I know what I am getting into here. I also remember this as Stereo Review, back when I was a kid. AV has been me since I was 5 years old! I am in my 60s now. This receiver for what it does is fine. If you want better you will squander away more green. Put the money in room treatment, speakers, and amplifiers. This Pioneer will make a dandy front end. Nothing more, nothing less.

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gicoy20042's picture
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For McAllen, it appears to offer great performance for its price.

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Submitted by joedavidson on February 22, 2024 - 6:35pm

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larrymartin's picture
Submitted by larrymartin on March 19, 2024 - 3:59am

It is great to see such detailed comparisons between MCACC and Dirac. The thorough evaluation of sound performance especially with music and movies provides valuable insights for potential buyers.
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Huntyy's picture
Submitted by Huntyy on March 25, 2024 - 5:32pm

Pioneer's VSX-LX505 Elite A/V receiver represents a new generation of reasonably priced AVRs with up-to-date technology and enough channels to rock a full. A great deal for everyone at Tree Removal Sioux City

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After having a few major components replaced with no improvement, I bit the bullet and bought a competing brand at the same tier.

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Hepice's picture
Submitted by Hepice on April 19, 2024 - 9:17am

Boasting an impressive array of features including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, this receiver delivers immersive surround sound that brings your movies and music to bitlife. Its advanced connectivity options ensure seamless integration with your existing devices, while its intuitive user interface makes setup and operation a breeze. With its sleek design and superior audio quality, the Pioneer VSX-LX505 Elite is a top contender for those looking to elevate their home theater experience.

muenzewerfen's picture
Submitted by muenzewerfen on April 30, 2024 - 4:05am

With nine channels of power, it's well-equipped for driving a comprehensive Dolby Atmos or DTS:X setup, including four height speakers. The inclusion of Dirac Live and Pioneer MCACC room correction ensures optimized audio performance, while HDMI 2.1 support, 8K readiness, and compatibility with Sonos systems enhance its versatility. Münze werfen Despite minor drawbacks like the small remote and speaker-out terminals, the LX505 delivers excellent value for those seeking a high-quality AVR without breaking the bank.

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