Measurements of the Pioneer SC-61 AVR

[starfly]

Any higher end Yamaha Aventage units in the pipeline?

 

[audioBliss]

Mediocre by the current DAC standards is still exceptional by standards of only a few years ago and much better than most if not all speakers. Specs and reviews like this are really great but now and then you have to weigh in with a little perspective on the sound that actually reaches your ears.

True but it's also nice to completely eliminate variables in the listening chain. Electronics is easily the most convenient to fix(i.e. buy stuff that measures so good that you don't possibly have to worry about it ever again). Then you "only" have to concentrate on the important(and difficult) stuff like the room and speakers going it to it knowing that if anything sounds off it's got nothing to do with the electronics chain at least.

 

[temujin44]

How about Integra DRX-4.3?
Gene DellaSala from audioholics took some measurements and they appear to be respectable. Below are at 1Vrms output

 

[amirm]

How about Integra DRX-4.3?

Hopefully someone can offer one for review. Right now we don't have coverage of Onkyo/Integra products. I do have a 10 year old Onkyo I can measure but that is it.

 

[amirm]

Any higher end Yamaha Aventage units in the pipeline?

Yes, I just ordered a Yamaha RX-A1080. So we will have good overage there as I am told that is the start of their serious AVR line.

 

[amirm]

Are there any Marantz/Denon units in the pipeline, by any chance?

A member has a Denon AVR-X3500H that I should be able to test after I run through a couple of other NAD products.

 

[vavan]

fwiw I have sc-lx901 (9016), parasound hint (9018) and oppo-205 (9038) and can't hear any discernible difference between those three in my setup

 

[MikeyMac]

fwiw I have sc-lx901 (9016), parasound hint (9018) and oppo-205 (9038) and can't hear any discernible difference between those three in my setup

I also have the OPPO205 and the Pioneer SC-lx901 and listening to music through them both it’s near impossible to tell the difference in SQ
I have a revealing system so the Pioneer SC-LX901 must be a good receiver.
Has Armin done any tests on the Pioneer SC-LX901 ? Any links please

 

[vavan]

No, he didn't

 

[ezra_s]

I also have the OPPO205 and the Pioneer SC-lx901 and listening to music through them both it’s near impossible to tell the difference in SQ
I have a revealing system so the Pioneer SC-LX901 must be a good receiver.
Has Armin done any tests on the Pioneer SC-LX901 ? Any links please

you can use the search button and check title and his name for any product or brand, results will easily tell you

 

[Coffee_fan]

Amir, I have a Pioneer SC-91, which is 3 years newer than your SC-61, it has I guess the same class D3 amp, just 5W more per channel and has a Sabre 9006 24 bit DAC, which I do not know whether the SC-61 had.

https://www.pioneerelectronics.ca/POCEN/Home/AV-Receivers/Elite-Receivers/SC-91#specs
https://www.pioneerelectronics.ca/POCEN/Home/AV-Receivers/Elite-Receivers/SC-61#specs

 

[amirm]

Is yours working or developing the issue with sound?

 

[Coffee_fan]

Not so far. Although possibly I have not used it that much. I am currently listening to it. I disable most of the DSP modes otherwise the sound is exaggerated.

 

[Darvis]

Loving all the AVR reviews recently, a lot of good info there! Thanks for doing all of these.

Are there any Marantz/Denon units in the pipeline, by any chance? Really curious to see what a giant like that will do. Probably not great either, but my Marantz SR6013 seems to be holding up a lot better than my old NAD T755 ever did!

A Marantz 6014 I think. Waiting for this impatiently

 

[Abe_W]

Any of you scientists (Honors PhDs) ever notice that these Pioneer Elites sound eerily similar to the vintage Pioneer sound of the 80s? I'm keeping an Elite for pure sentimental value.

 

[Coffee_fan]

Any of you scientists (Honors PhDs) ever notice that these Pioneer Elites sound eerily similar to the vintage Pioneer sound of the 80s? I'm keeping an Elite for pure sentimental value.

Closer to a bit journeyman here ;-). That's strange, but may be they tuned them up for the "Pioneer sound", which IMO was always warm, bloated. The last Pioneer I lived with before this one I think was an SX-585 with a pair of Advents. As for these Elites to me, although they have the warm strong bass, they have a nasal quality to the voices which I figure is the D3 amplifier.

 

[Abe_W]

Closer to a bit journeyman here ;-). That's strange, but may be they tuned them up for the "Pioneer sound", which IMO was always warm, bloated. The last Pioneer I lived with before this one I think was an SX-585 with a pair of Advents. As for these Elites to me, although they have the warm strong bass, they have a nasal quality to the voices which I figure is the D3 amplifier.

I was not exactly the audiophile back in those days. But, i have a clear memory of the sound of my dad's 95/9900 stack he had paired with HPM 100s. When i had the Elite paired with my turntable not too long ago, it was the closest thing i'd ever heard to that old sound . Maybe they still have the same old phono pre in the Elites? Whatever, but, on digital sources (with relatively more exacerbated nasal), i have been able to minimize it with some some eq deployed. For Class D, the Pioneer Elites seem to be the most excusable!

 

[Coffee_fan]

I was not exactly the audiophile back in those days. But, i have a clear memory of the sound of my dad's 95/9900 stack he had paired with HPM 100s. When i had the Elite paired with my turntable not too long ago, it was the closest thing i'd ever heard to that old sound . Maybe they still have the same old phono pre in the Elites? Whatever, but, on digital sources (with relatively more exacerbated nasal), i have been able to minimize it with some some eq deployed. For Class D, the Pioneer Elites seem to be the most excusable!

They are nice indeed. At some point I used them in Bi-amp mode and I liked several modes they had like the Direct, Pure Direct (no sub) and Front Surround. I have to admit though that I bought them for Stereo rather than HT. I then moved on from it, but I still appreciate it. Let's see if Amir wants to measure mine one of these days because it is a few years newer than his and I think it has a Sabre based DAC instead of AKM.

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

I grabbed one of these locally a few months ago for $100 since my old receiver would power off after a certain signal level and my ELAC Debut Reference needed a little more juice.

I’m wondering if I’m able to replace the fan with a Noctua fan or similar because it is a higher pitched sounding fan and can get somewhat annoying. Has anyone done this?

The remote also stopped working but I’m still able to use my other remote from my other receiver. Has anyone had a good experience with eBay replacements? I’m thinking I could also just find a cheap android phone with an IR blaster as well.

 

[bigx5murf]

I grabbed one of these locally a few months ago for $100 since my old receiver would power off after a certain signal level and my ELAC Debut Reference needed a little more juice.

I’m wondering if I’m able to replace the fan with a Noctua fan or similar because it is a higher pitched sounding fan and can get somewhat annoying. Has anyone done this?

The remote also stopped working but I’m still able to use my other remote from my other receiver. Has anyone had a good experience with eBay replacements? I’m thinking I could also just find a cheap android phone with an IR blaster as well.

Can you measure the factory fan leads with a multimeter? Most noctua fans should be 5v, at least the PWM ones should be. If the factory fan is a 12v, you'd have to find a suitable fan for that voltage.

I've bought many remotes off eBay. Most of the knockoffs are functional enough to get by. But sometimes you need the factory ones, usually for room correction features. I buy the factory remotes of the AVR is a keeper and not a flipper. You can usually find the factory remote model number by finding the manual online.