Pioneer VSX-LX505 AVR Review

[EWL5]

I own a Pioneer '505' and was unaware of HDMI failure in select AVR's from PAC. I am not finding a discussion this failure at ASR. Is there another forum where this failure is discussed ? Thank you !

It's all over forums like Reddit, AVS, etc. One of those "not I a problem I care about until I do"!

 

[Power Pop 23]

It's all over forums like Reddit, AVS, etc. One of those "not I a problem I care about until I do"!

Yes, it is - and with some postings going back to the 2000's. I use my '505' as a preamp and seven of nine channels are amplified using the 7 channel analog inputs of a 50 pound, Onkyo-TX-SR805 AVR with an HDMI failure circa 2010 ! Problems with HDMI make me wish I still owned a sample of Radio Shack's Archer-branded, Dolby Surround decoder/amplifier for two rear channels.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649275208-archer-dolby-surround-sound-amplifier-151279-realistic/images/1231877/

 

[EWL5]

Yes, it is - and with some postings going back to the 2000's. I use my '505' as a preamp and seven of nine channels are amplified using the 7 channel analog inputs of a 50 pound, Onkyo-TX-SR805 AVR with an HDMI failure circa 2010 ! Problems with HDMI make me wish I still owned a sample of Radio Shack's Archer-branded, Dolby Surround decoder/amplifier for two rear channels.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649275208-archer-dolby-surround-sound-amplifier-151279-realistic/images/1231877/

Any idea where your 505 is in Amir's queue of AVRs to revisit (I think it was you that volunteered)?

 

[Power Pop 23]

Any idea where your 505 is in Amir's queue of AVRs to revisit (I think it was you that volunteered)?

After the review of the Denon AVR-A1H last month, I believe Amir has one more AVR to measure before he will consider measuring the output power of my '505'.

 

[fadetoblackbs]

Just in case you did not notice, a new firmware update has been released yesterday.
Updating my 505 right now…

 

[EWL5]

Just in case you did not notice, a new firmware update has been released yesterday.
Updating my 505 right now…

According to AVS RZ50 owners, the "off by 1" DLBM/DLBC bug was not addressed!

Edit: I forgot that the 505 never got the DLBM/DLBC update...

 

[MbphotoX]

 

[fadetoblackbs]

Regarding „ground loop“ and „hiss or buzzing sound“ problems wirth the 505 here is what I did to solve it: I just connected the grunding lug of the 505 with a spare regular cupper audio cable to the plug (grounding pin) and to the wall (see picture - those are german plugs) and the problem was solved. The power cable provided by pioneer does not include a grounding solution so I took one I had (standard). And thats it. I hope it helps somebody struggling with similar problems.

 

[MbphotoX]

According to AVS RZ50 owners, the "off by 1" DLBM/DLBC bug was not addressed!

Edit: I forgot that the 505 never got the DLBM/DLBC update...

and that's a real shame, too..
feels like Pioneer really got abandoned there..

thinking of the BIG guy, the one and only.. Kuro Plasma..
And they also had leading car stereo receivers..

Now look at them...

 

[fadetoblackbs]

Every time I run Dirac Live on the PC and transfer the results/curves to the 505, the settings regarding speaker size and crossover are changed automatically to the standard values (large speakers, crossover at 80Hz).
Do you know if it the Dirac room correction still works fine if I change those settings (speaker size, crossover) after transferring the Dirac results/curves to the 505?
Thanks.

 

[MbphotoX]

Every time I run Dirac Live on the PC and transfer the results/curves to the 505, the settings regarding speaker size and crossover are changed automatically to the standard values (large speakers, crossover at 80Hz).
Do you know if it the Dirac room correction still works fine if I change those settings (speaker size, crossover) after transferring the Dirac results/curves to the 505?
Thanks.

should still work fine, yes.

Dirac measures everything full-band. If it didn't work, the system would warn you that changing settings will impact the EQ curve and stuff.

That said, do you set crossover and speaker size in the PC application when performing the measurements, or did you do that in the amplifier?!
Because I think you need to set it up on the PC if you want the settings to be correct.

(If you set it up in the app, then it gets changed after the transfer, that would be a bug that you should report to Dirac)

 

[EWL5]

should still work fine, yes.

Dirac measures everything full-band. If it didn't work, the system would warn you that changing settings will impact the EQ curve and stuff.

That said, do you set crossover and speaker size in the PC application when performing the measurements, or did you do that in the amplifier?!
Because I think you need to set it up on the PC if you want the settings to be correct.

(If you set it up in the app, then it gets changed after the transfer, that would be a bug that you should report to Dirac)

The 505 doesn't have DLBM or DLBC so it's not possible to set the crossover in the Dirac PC app.

 

[fadetoblackbs]

should still work fine, yes.

Dirac measures everything full-band. If it didn't work, the system would warn you that changing settings will impact the EQ curve and stuff.

That said, do you set crossover and speaker size in the PC application when performing the measurements, or did you do that in the amplifier?!
Because I think you need to set it up on the PC if you want the settings to be correct.

(If you set it up in the app, then it gets changed after the transfer, that would be a bug that you should report to Dirac)

I set crossover and speaker size directly in the AVR-Settings. Then I run Dirac-Live on my PC, when I transfer the "filters/results" from Dirac-Live (PC) to the "3 slots" of the AVR, all settings I made at the beginning regarding crossover/speaker size in the AVR are overwritten and changed. Thats why I am not sure if changing them over again manually would affect the Dirac filters I transferred in some kind of way or not.
Somebody else experienced/noticed that?

 

[MbphotoX]

I set crossover and speaker size directly in the AVR-Settings. Then I run Dirac-Live on my PC, when I transfer the "filters/results" from Dirac-Live (PC) to the "3 slots" of the AVR, all settings I made at the beginning regarding crossover/speaker size in the AVR are overwritten and changed. Thats why I am not sure if changing them over again manually would affect the Dirac filters I transferred in some kind of way or not.
Somebody else experienced/noticed that?

he goes through the entire process, and near the end mentions that all the speaker sizes and crossovers get reverted.
AND that you can then set them to your desired values after exporting the filters. (Just as I said)

 

[fadetoblackbs]

he goes through the entire process, and near the end mentions that all the speaker sizes and crossovers get reverted.
AND that you can then set them to your desired values after exporting the filters. (Just as I said)
View attachment 439197

This was so helpful.
Thank you so much!

 

[Printdivision]

Hello again.......is anyone else here? I was bothering you with my background noise (at 505), now I have another problem, the background noise has decreased a lot......to negligible, I can hear it softly from 3 meters with the volume at maximum (I noticed it yesterday by chance....I still give it from time to time), I can hear it now from about -10 and it increases with the volume to 0.....but even then it is much quieter. For me the problem has been solved, it doesn't bother me anymore.....anyway, the situations were rare (as I was saying......more like dwarfs on the brain ). The only change I made is a JBL subwoofer, and the electrical extension cord and the electrical cable come over the speaker cables (I had no other choice), I didn't make any changes to anything (settings, etc.). Did something break???......now I'm worried about this, is there any explanation? . Thanks in advance, and I promise not to bother you with this topic again.

 

[fadetoblackbs]

Hello again.......is anyone else here? I was bothering you with my background noise (at 505), now I have another problem, the background noise has decreased a lot......to negligible, I can hear it softly from 3 meters with the volume at maximum (I noticed it yesterday by chance....I still give it from time to time), I can hear it now from about -10 and it increases with the volume to 0.....but even then it is much quieter. For me the problem has been solved, it doesn't bother me anymore.....anyway, the situations were rare (as I was saying......more like dwarfs on the brain ). The only change I made is a JBL subwoofer, and the electrical extension cord and the electrical cable come over the speaker cables (I had no other choice), I didn't make any changes to anything (settings, etc.). Did something break???......now I'm worried about this, is there any explanation? . Thanks in advance, and I promise not to bother you with this topic again.

To prevent this, you might try doing what I described in the post #1,008 of this thread.
You might also try to link the grounding lug of the 505 with the grounding lug of your other connected devices.
That should help in my experience with this AVR....
Your questions never bother, feel free, I also learn every day in this forum!

 

[Printdivision]

Thank you

 

[peng]

Hello again.......is anyone else here? I was bothering you with my background noise (at 505), now I have another problem, the background noise has decreased a lot......to negligible, I can hear it softly from 3 meters with the volume at maximum (I noticed it yesterday by chance....I still give it from time to time), I can hear it now from about -10 and it increases with the volume to 0.....but even then it is much quieter. For me the problem has been solved, it doesn't bother me anymore.....anyway, the situations were rare (as I was saying......more like dwarfs on the brain ). The only change I made is a JBL subwoofer, and the electrical extension cord and the electrical cable come over the speaker cables (I had no other choice), I didn't make any changes to anything (settings, etc.). Did something break???......now I'm worried about this, is there any explanation? . Thanks in advance, and I promise not to bother you with this topic again.

Such issues seem to be quite common and in some cases, after trying the obvious things such as what you likely have done already it would be difficult to solve except request a replacement when it was without the return window. A second unit would likely be better if the issue is related to manufacturer's quality control protocol.

If you haven't try a) the suggested connected the chassis to other connected items, you could try your luck on that, though such a trick rarely work (it's more of a myth, but you never know..), or b) try powering the unit from other outlets not on the same circuit, even if you have to use a longer extension to reach the other outlets and c) separate the interconnect cables from power cables and even speaker cables. Again, it might be tough, you may have to accept the very minor noise that you seem to barely hear it at -10, and focus on enjoying the music.

 

[Printdivision]

I'll enjoy the music, I'll try not to think about the noise (I won't hear it anyway......in a real scenario), thanks