# An owner's review on the Pioneer SC-67 Elite receiver...



## jon96789 (Mar 21, 2013)

I used to own a couple of TOTL Onkyo receivers... The TX-NR905 and the TX-NR906. I really liked them a lot but they both succumbed to the dreaded HDMI board failure. This year, I decided it was time to look into a new receiver. I ended up buying the Pioneer SC-67 at Best Buy for $1200, about $800 off retail.

The Pioneer receiver looks a lot lot more massive than it actually is. It is taller than my Onkyos but I'd say about 15 lbs lighter. The Onkyo had a lot of power, more than I really needed but I was not too concerned about the lighter weight (lighter receivers generally means a smaller power supply which results in less power reserves). Why? The Pioneer is using the third generation (D3) of their digital amplification techonology licensed from B&O. Looking around the back, you will notice that the rear panel chock full of connectors. It has nine channels of amplification. There are eleven speaker outputs (you can drive another pair of speakers in another room if desired, but it will disable one pair in the main (i.e. 9.2 to 7.2). There are seven HDMI inputs (siz are assignable) and three outputs. Surprisingly, there is also a MM phono input.

What it does not have is analog inputs for multi-channel operation. If you have a Blu-ray player with analog outs for audio, itwill not work here. You will have to connect it via HDMI. I noticed that is feature is missing from a lot of the newer generation of AVRs. That is too bad since some players (like the Oppos) have excellent audio from the analog ports since they have excellent DACs built-in. I was a bit disappointed also in the fact that all the connectors were nickle-plated instead of gold. What is also missing are AC outlets. This seems to be trend as well with newer components. This is too bad as I love to have fans sitting on the AVRs to draw out any heat generated by the unit. Without the AC outlet, the fans will be always on unless I have a switched outlet somewhereelse.

*The Amplifier*
Digital amplification is more efficient (uses 50% less power than a class AB design) in generating power for the amps than a standard receiver. Pioneer's first iteration sounded pretty good but was a bit temperamental when driving 4-ohm loads. This third generation was designed to fix that weakness. The Pioneer can handle 4-ohm loads with no issue (in my case, i am driving Polk LSi15s, which are realtively demanding speakers). Most other receivers have to enable a 4-ohm load with a switch which limits the power demand by lower impedance speakers).

How does it sound? It sounds great. The power rating is identical to my previous Onkyo (except the Pioneer has nine channels vs. the Onkyo's seven). There is a noticeable difference in sound. The Pioneer sounds more "clean" while the Onkyo sounded grainy. Another thing I noticed was that the Onkyo seemed to sound more robust or dynamic. The Pioneer also seemed to have better imaging and a slightly deeper soundstage, the bass seems to be more tight. However, i did notice that the Pioneer does not have as much "air" or openess that other amplifiers have.

*bummers...*
One thing I really, really hate is that the Pioneer uses a remote just like their Elite Blu-Ray players do. It's a tall slender device with all the buttons laid out in a even non-friendly design. The buttons are really tiny and the text labels are way too small and are dark colored making them illegible. Most users i know have a Logitech Harmony. If you buy this receiver, you have to make a Harmony a required purchase with this one.

Another nit is that the Pioneer front panel display has smaller text than my Onkyo so it is a tad harder to read at a distance over several feet.

I tried Pioneer's Apple iPhone app, while some others found it great, i found it to be rather cumbersome.

HDMI handshaking is pretty slow on this AVR. When you watch a Paramount movie and get to the splash screen, you will hear the music but it will be a couple seconds before yousee the mountain and the Paramount logo to appear.

*the good stuff...*
I like the ability to run a second system... My room has a pair of floorstanding speakers which I use for listening to stereo music... You know, non-surround. I use an Oppo BDP83SE as a source and it sounds marvelous through the Pioneer. With my Harmony, I can select HT mode and enjoy movies with all of its bombastic sounds, or select Hi-Fi mode and listen to CDs, SACDS or even records without skipping a beat.

The AVR runs a LOT cooler than my previous Onkyos... The Onkyos were like ovens. The Pioneer uses the cooler running Marvell Qdeo video processor instead of the super-hot HQV processors of the Onkyo. Right now, I think the Marvell processor outperforms anything else out there; HQV, ABT, Faroudja... The upscaling of DVDs is excellent with nothing to complain about.

Pioneer's calibration system, MCACC is fast and easy, but unfortunately it does not compensate for the subwoofers. You have to do that manually. Otherwise, it does improve the soundfield a bit over non-calibration. I actually like the end results better than the Audyssey stuff.

*the unknown...*
the amplifier is supposed to be tuned by AIR Studios in England. I really don't know if it makes a difference, but the music does sound sweet. The unit also has a music recovery mode, where it tries to improve compressed music (MP3 et al) back to its former glory. I could not tell a difference, but i am a bit deaf in the high frequencies.

I do not use AirPlay so I cannot comment on it or any other internet features of the receiver.

*conclusion*
Overall, I am very happy with the Pioneer. The Onkyo had a better remote and was a bit easier to use, but the Pioneer just sounds better. It was nice to have that many HDMI ports (I thought the four on the Onkyo was going to be enough...was not so).


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## 8086 (Aug 4, 2009)

The bass from the Pioneer ICE amps is very big and in my opinion it's a tad too fat and bloated. Treble seems a tad relaxed compared to non-ice powered Pioneer elite receivers.


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## jon96789 (Mar 21, 2013)

bummers...

The Pioneer is suffering some sort of HDMI issue... My Denon DVD player does not output any sound via HDMI when a video device is connected to the HDMI out. As soon as I unplug the TV from the HDMI out, audio appears. When I reconnect the TV, the audio mutes. I did this on different /inputsoutputs and with different cables with the same result. When I connect the Denon directly to the TV, there is no issue at all.

I also am noticing that video is starting to dropout intermittently from my Oppo player.

:hissyfit:


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## magic (May 23, 2011)

I wonder if you have some sort of bypass setting on for the hdmi on the receiver or the TV I recall having some issue with mine. 
Is the audio coming out of the TV instead?

It might be a Longshot.... Also check the Denon

Edit 
I forgot to mention the oppo. I don't have any experience with it so I don't know it could be bad.


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## jon96789 (Mar 21, 2013)

magic said:


> I wonder if you have some sort of bypass setting on for the hdmi on the receiver or the TV I recall having some issue with mine.
> Is the audio coming out of the TV instead?
> 
> It might be a Longshot.... Also check the Denon
> ...


Nope.. no bypassing on the receiver end. The denon works fine on the TV when connected directly.


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## jon96789 (Mar 21, 2013)

Well, it appears that my Pioneer is fine, it's the Denon DVD-3930CI that has the issues. It uses HDMI 1.1 and apparently HDMI is NOT 100% backwards compatible. I took the Pioneer out to ship for repair and replaced it with a Denon AVR-2808CI. 

Guess what? The Denon DVD player still has no sound. i talked to an installer. He said he has been encountering issues with newer AVRs and older HDMI players where there is no sound output. he has to connect the players through the coax to get sound.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

jon96789 said:


> ..... he has to connect the players through the coax to get sound.


No big deal, if its just DVD not BluRay you wont hear any difference in sound using optical or coax.


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