2008년 11월 27일
Pioneer Elite SC-05 A/V Receiver
Pioneer Elite SC-05 A/V Receiver
If you're like me, you've seen your net worth take a significant hit in 2008. Not only has my house's value dropped nearly 30 percent, but my retirement fund dropped that much the first week of October! Consequently, I don't feel as wealthy as I did in 2007—although no one would ever confuse me with Daddy Warbucks in any event.
Despite my falling fortunes, I'm always on the lookout for a good bargain, especially in home-theater components. One of the many benefits of being an equipment reviewer—besides the huge paycheck (hint hint, Scott!)—is the privilege of auditioning a wide assortment of electronics in the comfort of my own home, though it was much more fun when my house was worth more. In that process, I've come to realize that you don't need to spend megabucks for solid performance. In many cases, you can get nearly all the performance of a flagship model, minus some features, for a fraction of the price. Such is the case with the Pioneer Elite SC-05 A/V receiver.
Features
I recently reviewed the Pioneer Elite SC-09TX flagship and found it to be one of the classiest-looking AVRs I've ever used. The SC-05 isn't far behind, even though it lists for only one quarter of the SC-09's $7000 price tag. Lacking the full-color LCD screen from the SC-09, a more traditional text-based display graces the SC-05's front panel. The build quality is solid, although not as impressive as the flagship model, which boasts a dual-chassis structure versus a single-chassis design in the SC-05. Unfortunately, Pioneer chose to use a non-detachable power cord, a rarity in this price class.
I recently reviewed the Pioneer Elite SC-09TX flagship and found it to be one of the classiest-looking AVRs I've ever used. The SC-05 isn't far behind, even though it lists for only one quarter of the SC-09's $7000 price tag. Lacking the full-color LCD screen from the SC-09, a more traditional text-based display graces the SC-05's front panel. The build quality is solid, although not as impressive as the flagship model, which boasts a dual-chassis structure versus a single-chassis design in the SC-05. Unfortunately, Pioneer chose to use a non-detachable power cord, a rarity in this price class.
In collaboration with Bang & Olufsen, Pioneer has developed a unique Class D amplifier the company calls a "Direct Energy High Fidelity Class D (HD) amplifier," which is a variation on B&O's ICEpower technology used in the Wyred 4 Sound Ice Cube power amp. The amplifier offers a total of 630 watts of simultaneous, fast-response, low-distortion (0.09%) power into 8 ohms. With its Class D design, Pioneer claims 90% efficiency, which conserves a lot of energy.
The SC-05 has virtually every feature and connection available, highlighted by four HDMI 1.3a inputs and one output. With the HDMI inputs, the AVR can receive and decode both DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD soundtracks via bitstream from a Blu-ray player, and it supports Deep Color as well.
While the flagship model boasts THX Ultra2 Plus certification, the SC-05 offers THX Select2 Plus certification, which means it's engineered for smaller rooms where the display and center speaker are 10-12 feet away from the listening position. One of the many benefits of being THX-certified is the inclusion of THX Loudness Plus, which ensures an accurate listening experience at any volume.
Other features include XM and Sirius satellite-radio support and an iPod digital port hidden behind the front panel. This port does double duty as a USB storage-device input for music and digital photos. As with the SC-09TX, support for HD Radio is not included.
Utilizing its Ethernet port, the SC-05 features Home Media Gallery, which lets the AVR access digital movies, music, and photos from a DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) server such as a suitably configured Windows PC. A wide range of file formats are supported, including MPEG-4 and WMV for video and MP3 and WMA (lossless included) for audio. Internet radio is also available—a feature surprisingly absent in the flagship SC-09TX.
Pioneer's advanced Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration (MCACC) measures the acoustic characteristics of your listening room, ambient noise, and speaker size and distance and calculates the optimum delay, level, and equalization for each channel. The AVR generates a series of test tones, and the supplied microphone—placed at the listening position—feeds the tones back to the receiver so it can optimize the speaker settings and equalization for your particular room.
A Faroudja DCDi video processor provides the deinterlacing and scaling of analog inputs. Pioneer decided not to process any HDMI signals—instead, these signals are passed through the unit untouched. The composite, S-video, and component inputs can be transcoded to HDMI and output at resolutions up to 1080p/60, which means you only have to run one cable from the AVR to the display.
User Interface
The remote included with the SC-05 is functional but nothing to brag about. I found it very responsive to commands, and some buttons—volume control and mute—are backlit, although this isn't the case for the input buttons. It fits nicely in my hand, but control in a dark room is limited to changing the volume only. It was nearly impossible to change inputs easily. It does offer "universal" functionality, but aftermarket universal remotes are a big upgrade—especially with the WAF (wife-acceptance factor).
Pioneer has developed an exclusive jitter-reduction circuit, which digitally reshapes the waveform of the audio clock to greatly reduce jitter for all content. In addition, a PQLS (Precision Quartz Lock System) circuit works in conjunction with the BDP-05FD and BDP-51 Blu-ray players for higher-quality CD playback. In theory, the quartz oscillator eliminates the jitter that can occur with the transmission of digital-audio bits.
User InterfaceThe remote included with the SC-05 is functional but nothing to brag about. I found it very responsive to commands, and some buttons—volume control and mute—are backlit, although this isn't the case for the input buttons. It fits nicely in my hand, but control in a dark room is limited to changing the volume only. It was nearly impossible to change inputs easily. It does offer "universal" functionality, but aftermarket universal remotes are a big upgrade—especially with the WAF (wife-acceptance factor).
The front panel display is easy to read from across the room, and it's thankfully dimmable. The simple yet elegant design of the front panel includes only a couple of knobs—one for source selection, the other for volume control. A flip-down panel hides some other functions, including a headphone jack, the MCACC setup-mic input, inputs for audio/video (presumably for a video camera or game console), multi-zone controls, the USB port, and audio/video controls.
The Home Media Gallery user interface is simple and easy to use. Connection to my home network took seconds to accomplish, but I needed to venture into my office and give the Pioneer permission to connect to my files. Once that was completed, music, video, and picture files streamed seamlessly to the AVR. Internet radio worked as advertised, although finding good stations can be a challenge because there are so many to choose from!
The rear panel offers a vast variety of hook-up options, including analog stereo and composite video outputs for a second zone and stereo audio for a third zone. The speaker terminals are a little cramped, but that's why some bright mind invented banana plugs.
The user menu is well organized and easy to navigate. Volume and input commands didn't appear on my display, although this type of support is provided via Kuro Link and HDMI control with Pioneer flat panels. In order to activate PQLS, HDMI control must be enabled whether your display is compatible or not.
Setup & Tests
My HDMI sources include a TiVo Series 3, an Oppo DV-983H DVD player, a Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-ray player, and a Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD Blu-ray player. I also connected my Xbox 360 and BD30 via component to see how well the AVR deinterlaced 1080i signals to 1080p. However, I didn't need to go through the effort since all HD signals, whether component or HDMI, pass through the AVR with no processing.
My HDMI sources include a TiVo Series 3, an Oppo DV-983H DVD player, a Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-ray player, and a Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD Blu-ray player. I also connected my Xbox 360 and BD30 via component to see how well the AVR deinterlaced 1080i signals to 1080p. However, I didn't need to go through the effort since all HD signals, whether component or HDMI, pass through the AVR with no processing.
I discovered this when I attempted to test the AVR's ability to deinterlace 1080i component signals from the Panasonic BD30 and even a Toshiba HD-A35 HD DVD player. With the AVR's output resolution set to 1080p or Auto, the output signal was still 1080i. Component signals at 480i were deinterlaced and upconverted to 1080p without a hitch, but an AVR in this price class should be able to convert all analog sources to 1080p, not just standard definition.
The video upscaling in the SC-05 actually surpassed the results from the flagship SC-09TX with test patterns. I tested the deinterlacing performance with the HQV Benchmark DVD at 480i via component from the BD30. Both jaggies tests were acceptable, with jaggies showing up in the yellow area on the single rotating bar and the lowest bar in the three-bar test. The waving-flag test looked great with few jaggies, but the bricks in the background looked on the soft side and noisy. The film-detail race-car sequence had some very slight moiré and took a split second to lock onto the signal, but mixed 3:2 content with horizontal and vertical scrolling video passed with flying colors—an area where the SC-09TX stumbled badly.
Watching the opening sequence of Star Trek: Insurrection didn't reveal any jaggies on the rooftops or bridges in this challenging scene, and the coliseum flyover in Gladiator looked just as good, which matched the results I got on the SC-09TX.
Pioneer has chosen a "do no harm" philosophy with HDMI signals in all of its Elite AVRs, which bypasses any video processing on the HDMI inputs. While some may not agree with this decision, at least the HDMI inputs show no adverse affects from passing through the AVR—which is something that not all such devices can claim. Below-black and above-white information isn't clipped, and depending on your other equipment, HDMI processing may well be redundant.
As with the SC-09TX, I wasn't satisfied with the out-of-the-box audio performance of the SC-05 due to my acoustically challenged room. Using the supplied microphone, I utilized the Expert MCACC program, which provides some customizable options and measures up to three seating positions—the Basic program measures only one—which is particularly helpful when calibrating for a flat frequency response.
After completion, three separate correction curves are stored in memory—Symmetry (default) flattens the frequency response of the front right and left channels, All Channel Adjust flattens all channels, and Front Align sets all speakers in accordance with the front-speaker measurements. I found the Symmetry setting to be the most pleasing, which is what I preferred on the SC-09TX as well.
Real-World Performance
Movies are my passion, so I couldn't wait to put the SC-05 through its cinematic paces. The first disc in the queue was Disney's fabulous Blu-ray release of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, which boasts an exhilarating Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack. Danny Elfman's award-winning score shows off a full-bodied midrange along with crisp highs and tight bass, which the Pioneer handled with ease. The track incorporates many discrete effects creating the illusion of characters moving around the room, and the AVR's decoder and ICEpower amplifiers were well up to the task.
Movies are my passion, so I couldn't wait to put the SC-05 through its cinematic paces. The first disc in the queue was Disney's fabulous Blu-ray release of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, which boasts an exhilarating Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack. Danny Elfman's award-winning score shows off a full-bodied midrange along with crisp highs and tight bass, which the Pioneer handled with ease. The track incorporates many discrete effects creating the illusion of characters moving around the room, and the AVR's decoder and ICEpower amplifiers were well up to the task.
Another exceptional TrueHD soundtrack is on the Blu-ray release of The Matrix Reloaded. The highway chase scene places you right in the middle of the action with vehicles careening all over the road, and the SC-05 didn't break a sweat. It was able to convey a clean 360-degree soundfield with rich ambiance and never sounded stained or fatigued.
One of the best-sounding Blu-ray soundtracks of 2008 is the DTS-HD Master Audio track on The Incredible Hulk, which features impressive dynamics with foundation-shaking bass. As expected, the SC-05 passed the test with flying colors, with tight bass and distinct highs, especially during the climactic battle in the third act.
As with the flagship SC-09TX, 2-channel performance was outstanding—whether from SACD, DVD-Audio, or CD. The title track from Billy Joel's An Innocent Man SACD is one of my favorite recordings, and the SC-05 provided excellent imaging across the front soundstage, making it difficult to localize the right and left speakers. My M&K speakers never sounded strained for power, even with their heavy 4-ohm load.
Pioneer sent me a BDP-05FD Blu-ray player in order to test the PQLS technology for CD audio playback. I listened to The Eagles "Hotel California" from Hell Freezes Over to test this feature and found minor differences in the sound quality with PQLS on and off. Is it better? Marginally, but without double-blind testing, the placebo effect could be in effect. Still, I wouldn't call the sound with PQLS off bad by any means, just different.
As with other ICEpower amplifiers I've tested, the SC-05 was a little bright when I first fired it up. Once it got warm, it lost its harshness and became more neutral. So if you want to do some critical listening, give it a few minutes to warm up—your ears will thank you.
I really love the Home Media Gallery for its convenience—although I really missed the LCD screen on the SC-09TX. In any case, the AVR's ability to stream WMA lossless audio files made sampling music a breeze. And its ability to display JPEG photos stored on a networked computer allowed my wife and me to take a stroll down memory lane without having to crowd around the computer screen or firing up my Xbox 360 and listening to its hideously loud CPU fan.
Comparisons & Conclusion
Throughout this review, I've compared the SC-05 to the flagship SC-09TX, and for good reason. The two are more alike than different. The SC-09TX offers more amplifiers—ten versus seven—and more connection options, including HD video in multi-zone applications, a second HDMI 1.3a output, 10 additional watts per channel, and that slick LCD screen.
Throughout this review, I've compared the SC-05 to the flagship SC-09TX, and for good reason. The two are more alike than different. The SC-09TX offers more amplifiers—ten versus seven—and more connection options, including HD video in multi-zone applications, a second HDMI 1.3a output, 10 additional watts per channel, and that slick LCD screen.
The SC-05 does offer Internet radio and weighs nearly 30 pounds less, so moving it around doesn't require a trip to the chiropractor. But the most significant factor for me is the value proposition, which is heavily weighted in the SC-05's favor. The flagship will set you back $7000 versus $1800 for the SC-05. If you need the additional 10Wpc, component output for Zone 2, and a second HDMI 1.3a output for your main room, consider the Pioneer Elite SC-07 at $2200, which shares many of the features of the SC-05, including the same user's manual.
The $1500-$2000 price range is full of AVRs vying for your hard-earned dollar with the likes of Sony, Denon, Onkyo, Sherwood Newcastle, and others offering many of the same features found in the Pioneer, although none use ICEpower technology. My only major criticism of the SC-05 is its video processing, which is somewhat lacking compared to what the competition provides. But with Blu-ray moving toward the mainstream and HD content seeing growth from both cable and satellite providers, is HD video processing that big an issue? Not to me, although some may see it as a necessity.
From an audio perspective, you can't go wrong with the SC-05. It plays loud and clear at insane levels and never breaks a sweat—which is what I look for first and foremost in an AVR. Its user interface is easy to navigate, and the Home Media Gallery is simply outstanding.
If your net worth is heading south and you're looking for flagship performance at a bargain price, the Pioneer Elite SC-05 brings a lot to the table. Sure, it falls short in its video processing but makes up for it with fantastic audio performance.
Highs
Home Media Gallery
4 HDMI inputs
Clean, dynamic amplifiers
Excellent two-channel performance
Decodes Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks
Internet radio
Home Media Gallery
4 HDMI inputs
Clean, dynamic amplifiers
Excellent two-channel performance
Decodes Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks
Internet radio
Lows
No HD radio
No video processing of HDMI inputs
No video processing of 1080i/720p component signals
No HD radio
No video processing of HDMI inputs
No video processing of 1080i/720p component signals
Specifications
Rated max power: 130Wpc (8Ω, 20Hz–20kHz) x 7
Max THD: 0.09%
Speaker impedance range: 4-16Ω
No. of zones: 3 (A/V to Main, A/V to Zone 2, analog audio to Zone 3)
Analog audio inputs: 12 (11 L/R, 1 7.1-ch) plus tuner
Digital audio inputs: 6 (4 optical, 2 coax)
Analog audio outputs: 5 L/R (3 Rec, Zone 2, Zone 3)
Analog preouts: 7.1
Digital outputs: 2 optical
Video inputs: 4 HDMI (1.3a), 3 component, 7 S-video, 7 composite
Video outputs: 1 HDMI (1.3a), 1 component, 3 S-video (2 Rec, 1 monitor), 4 composite (2 Rec, Zone 2, Zone 3)
Speaker outputs: 7 (5-way binding posts)
Other connections: 1 USB, 1 Ethernet, 1 RS-232C, 1 AM/FM antenna in, 1 Sirius, 1 XM, 2 12V trigger outs, IR input/output 2/1
Dimensions (WxHxD): 16.5" x 7.9" x 18.1 "
Weight: 40.75 lbs
Price: $1800
Max THD: 0.09%
Speaker impedance range: 4-16Ω
No. of zones: 3 (A/V to Main, A/V to Zone 2, analog audio to Zone 3)
Analog audio inputs: 12 (11 L/R, 1 7.1-ch) plus tuner
Digital audio inputs: 6 (4 optical, 2 coax)
Analog audio outputs: 5 L/R (3 Rec, Zone 2, Zone 3)
Analog preouts: 7.1
Digital outputs: 2 optical
Video inputs: 4 HDMI (1.3a), 3 component, 7 S-video, 7 composite
Video outputs: 1 HDMI (1.3a), 1 component, 3 S-video (2 Rec, 1 monitor), 4 composite (2 Rec, Zone 2, Zone 3)
Speaker outputs: 7 (5-way binding posts)
Other connections: 1 USB, 1 Ethernet, 1 RS-232C, 1 AM/FM antenna in, 1 Sirius, 1 XM, 2 12V trigger outs, IR input/output 2/1
Dimensions (WxHxD): 16.5" x 7.9" x 18.1 "
Weight: 40.75 lbs
Price: $1800
Review System
Source
Panasonic DMP-BD30
Oppo DV-983H (DVD, CD, SACD, DVD-A)
TiVo Series 3 HD-DVR
Xbox 360
Panasonic DMP-BD30
Oppo DV-983H (DVD, CD, SACD, DVD-A)
TiVo Series 3 HD-DVR
Xbox 360
Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)
Electronics
Belkin PF60 power conditioner
Belkin PF60 power conditioner
Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer
Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector
Measurements
This graph shows that the SC-05's left channel, from Multi input to speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads continuously at 1 kHz, reaches 0.1% distortion at 168.1 watts and 1% distortion at 197.2 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1% distortion at 249.6 watts and 1% distortion at 338.4 watts.
With five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads (blue curve), the amp reaches 0.1% distortion at 119.7 watts and 1% distortion at 153.9 watts. With seven channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads (green curve), the amp reaches 0.1% distortion at 137.8 watts and 1% distortion at 149.0 watts. It's odd that the power output at 0.1% distortion with five channels driven is less than with seven channels driven, but that is indeed the case with this AVR. The test was performed several times to verify this result.
The manufacturer's stated distortion of 0.09 % was reached at 135.3 watts with seven channels driven into 8-ohm loads. This corresponds almost exactly with the specified power output.
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