anyone running Ascends with Pioneer 55Txi receiver

[Sigma B]

no, but I hope to run some Ascends on my HK 7000 soon though....

[pestosound]

A little late maybe, but I just came across your post. In the last month or so I've put together a set of Ascends (4 170's + 340c center) with the Pioneer 55txi and 47ai universal player. Also an SVS 25-31pc-plus. For the money, I'm very happy with it!

As far as the receiver goes, the main appeal for me was the iLink. For a variety of reasons, I basically shunned SACD/DVD-audio until they finally allowed a digital connection. As of now the 55txi/47ai is practically the only viable solution without getting into the realm of $3000-$5000 receivers and such. So if the iLink is something you'd make use of, I'd wholly recommend the 55txi. Otherwise there are probably some less expensive receivers that are equivalent.

Other than that, I'd say the 55txi has a good amount of power for my purposes and matches the Ascends in terms of a clean/even response. I still have some tweaking to do but the auto-calibration system is useful as a good start. And the options for EQ/crossover/processing/inputs, etc. are robust enough that it should remain useful for a good long time.

Let me know if there's anything specific you're still wondering about.

--David

[jbliz]

David,

Thanks for the input. Better late than never. Well I still haven't made a purchase yet, but I'm set on getting a 7.1 ascend package - 340's for L,C and R channels and 170's for the side and back surrounds. I'm gonna pick up an SVS sub as well. At this point, I'm actually leaning toward getting a Denon 3805. It has 3 Component video inputs (100Mhz bandwidth) and supports PLIIx.

I like the i-link of the Pioneer as well, the Denon 3805 has the proprietary Denon link. I'm not happy about that.

I was mainly just curious how the Pioneer sounded with the Ascends. Just wanted to make sure those two brands were good match. I've now had a chance to audition both the Pioneer and the Denon. They both sound great to me, so I'm just choosing based on features at this point.

Anyway, thanks for the help, sounds like you have a great system. I can't wait until I have mine.

John

[pestosound]

Hi John,

If you're actually getting a 7.1 system, then by all means go for a PLIIx capable receiver! The proprietary Denon-link issue is annoying, but many people are praising the Denon universal players. You should be fine as long as you don't mind sticking with Denon's for the time being.

In any case, I say Firewire is the way to go. With my one cable (free w/the 47ai, btw) I never needed to worry about investing in new coax or optical cables, let alone a set of extraneous RCA's. It's been a basically flawless interface for me so far.

Enjoy your new system, whichever you decide on.

--David

[frank]

i own a poineer elite tx-45 I'm still hooking everything up but 2-channel sounds really good

[jbliz]

David,

I thought the i-link (firewire) was only for multichannel music,i.e., DVD-A and SACD's. Can you use it for transport of audio on a regular old 5.1 Dolby Digital DVD?

Thanks,

John

[pestosound]

Yes indeed, Firewire works on all formats. Just as the old coax and optical connections worked for CD-audio all the way up to various 5.1 formats, i-link does all that and more. When I said "flawless" I meant the 55txi's i-link interface seems very reliable at correctly identifying whatever format you throw at it. i.e. SACD stereo vs. multi-channel, DVD-audio 48k vs. 96k, etc. I assume the Denon receivers w/Denon-link would perform equally well.

Beyond that, the Pioneer's have a feature called PQLS(?) which is supposed to assure a jitterless signal over i-link for all formats including high-res. The Denon product line probably has something equivalent, but I'm not sure. Anyway, Ascends and firewire seems like a happy combination to me.

--David