Pioneer VSA-AX10Ai - Manual

6 En Our philosophy Pioneer is dedicated to making your home theater listening experience as close as possible to the vision of the moviemakers and mastering engineer when they created the original soundtrack. We do this by focusing on three important steps: 1 Achieving the highest possible sound qu...

Before you start 01 7 En Chapter 1 Before you start Checking the supplied accessories Please check that you've received the following supplied accessories: • Microphone • Remote control unit • Remote control unit recharger and AC adapter • AC adapter cord • Power cord • U-shaped connectors x2 (attac...

Before you start 01 8 En • Do not use the AC adapter or AC adapter cord for any other purpose than those specified below. 1 Connect the AC adapter cord then connect the adapter to the recharger and plug it into an AC outlet. 2 Place the remote control on the recharger, aligning the indent on the bot...

Before you start 01 9 En 2 Press the center of each cross point to align the touch screen with the LCD panel underneath. This adjustment will make sure your remote control is calibrated correctly. When you've touched both cross points, PLEASE WAIT is displayed and you’ll return to the remote setup m...

Before you start 01 10 En 2 Use the + and – buttons to set the LCD TIMEOUT and BACKLIGHT TIMEOUT settings. You can adjust these from 20–120 seconds. • The backlight timeout can’t be longer than the LCD timeout setting. 3 Press ENTER when you’re finished. You’ll return to the remote setup menu. Reset...

Before you start 01 11 En 2 Remove the battery cover. 3 Use a pen or other sharp instrument to press the reset button located in the hole to the right (above the battery). After restarting the remote control, the touch screen shows the Home menu. Replacing the lithium-ion batteries If you notice tha...

Connecting your equipment 02 12 En Chapter 2 Connecting your equipment This amplifier provides you with almost limitless possibilities for connecting your audio/video system, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. Depending on your needs, you could be up and running in no time after a few simple conne...

Connecting your equipment 02 14 En Connecting your TV This page shows you how to connect your TV to the amplifier. To be able to play the sound from the TV’s built-in tuner, connect the analog audio outputs from your TV to this amplifier. 1 Connect the MONITOR OUT 1 video jack on this amplifier to a...

Connecting your equipment 02 15 En Connecting a DVD player Different DVD players offer a different selection of connections, but all should give you at least a digital audio output, stereo analog audio outputs and a video output. Additionally, you may have a player with multichannel analog audio out...

Connecting your equipment 02 16 En Connecting the multichannel analog outputs For DVD Audio and SACD playback, your DVD player may have 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 channel analog outputs (depending on whether your player supports surround back channels). 1 Connect the front, surround, center and subwoofer outpu...

Connecting your equipment 02 17 En Connecting a satellite/cable amplifier or other set-top box Satellite and cable amplifiers, and terrestrial digital TV tuners are all examples of so-called ‘set-top boxes’. 1 Connect a set of audio/video outputs on the set- top box component to the SAT AUDIO and VI...

Connecting your equipment 02 18 En Connecting a VCR or DVD recorder This amplifier has three sets of audio/video inputs and outputs suitable for connecting analog or digital video recorders, including VCRs, DVD-recorders and HDD recorders. 1 Connect a set of audio/video outputs on the recorder to th...

Connecting your equipment 02 20 En Using the component video jacks Component video should deliver superior picture quality when compared to composite or S-video. A further advantage (if your source and TV are both compatible) is progressive-scan video, which delivers a very stable, flicker-free pict...

Connecting your equipment 02 21 En Connecting digital audio sources This amplifier has both digital inputs and outputs, allowing you to connect digital components for playback and for making digital recordings. Many digital components also have analog connections for recording analog sources (such a...

Connecting your equipment 02 22 En Connecting analog audio sources This amplifier features five stereo analog inputs for audio sourses such as a CD player, tape deck, turntable, or a radio tuner. Two of these inputs have corresponding outputs for use with audio recorders. One of the audio inputs ( P...

Connecting your equipment 02 24 En Installing your speaker system To take full advantage of the amplifier’s surround sound capabilities connect front, center, surround and surround back speakers, as well as a subwoofer. Although this is ideal, other configurations with fewer speakers—no subwoofer or...

Connecting your equipment 02 25 En Caution • These speaker terminals can be under hazardous voltage . When you connect or disconnect the speaker cables, to prevent the risk of electric shock, do not touch uninsulated parts before disconnecting the power cord. • Make sure that all the bare speaker wi...

Connecting your equipment 02 26 En Plugging in the amplifier Only plug in after you have connected all your components to this amplifier, including the speakers. Caution • Handle the power cord by the plug part. Do not pull out the plug by tugging the cord, and never touch the power cord when your h...

Controls and displays 03 27 En Chapter 3 Controls and displays Display 1 SIGNAL indicators (page 69) Light to indicate the currently selected input signal. AUTO lights when the amplifier is set to select the input signal automatically. 2 Program format indicators These change according to which chan...

Controls and displays 03 28 En Front panel 1 INPUT SELECTOR dial (page 37) Turn to select a source component. The input indicators show the current component. 2 STANDBY/ON and power OFF / ON Press STANDBY/ON to switch the amplifier on or into standby. The OFF / ON switch turns of the main power (you...

Controls and displays 03 30 En Remote control 1 Date and time display See Setting the clock on page 9 to set this to the current time. 2 LCD touch screen The LCD touch screen appears when the screen is touched or a button on the remote control is pressed. 3 Cursor hard keys and ENTER Use to navigate...

Controls and displays 03 31 En 2 INPUT 1 / 2 / 3 Press 1 , 2 or 3 to find the screen with the input source you want. After pressing the appropriate button to choose a source, you are taken to the corresponding function menu (see Operating menus for additional components below). 3 TV CONT Press to ac...

Controls and displays 03 32 En 14 LOUDNESS (page 48) Press to switch Loudness on/off. 15 INPUT (page 37) Press repeatedly to cycle through all possible input sources. 16 SPEAKER A/B (page 75) Press repeatedly to select speaker system A , B , A/B or off (in that order). (See Caution on page 75 for ex...

Controls and displays 03 33 En 10 MPX Press to mute/restore the sound. DISPLAY Press to change the display. SPLIT Press to split the screen. SELECT Press to select one of the split screens. P in P Use for picture-in-picture. SWAP Press to swap small and large pictures with P in P. 11 IN1 / IN2 / IN3...

Getting started 04 35 En Chapter 4 Getting started Introduction to home theater You are probably used to using stereo equipment to listen to music, but may not be used to home theater systems that give you many more options (such as surround sound) when listening to soundtracks. Home theater refers ...

Getting started 04 37 En 10 The Auto Surround Setup has finished! Press SYSTEM SETUP to exit the System Setup menu. The settings made in the Auto Surround Setup should give you excellent surround sound from your system, but it is also possible to adjust these settings manually using the Surround Set...

Getting started 04 38 En 3 Change the amplifier input to the source you want to play. You can use the front panel INPUT SELECTOR knob or the dedicated INPUT buttons on the remote control touch screen Home menu (see Basic remote control displays on page 30 if your unsure how to do this). 4 Start play...

Listening to your system 05 39 En Chapter 5 Listening to your system About the listening modes Using this amplifier you can enjoy listening to sources, analog or digital, in either stereo or surround sound. However, the listening mode options and the current active mode may change depending on your ...

Listening to your system 05 40 En With multichannel sources, if you have connected surround back speaker(s) and have selected SB CH MODE ON , you can press STANDARD repeatedly to select: • 2 Pro Logic IIx MOVIE – See above • 2 Pro Logic IIx MUSIC – See above • SX (Studio extension) – Adds surround b...

Listening to your system 05 41 En Using the Advanced surround effects The Advanced surround effects can be used for a variety of additional surround sound effects. The Advanced Cinema modes are designed to be used with movies, and the Advanced Concert modes are for music. • Press ADVANCED CINEMA or ...

Listening to your system 05 42 En With two channel sources , press THX repeatedly to select a matrix-decoding process for the THX CINEMA mode (see Listening in surround sound above for an explanation of each process): • 2 Pro Logic IIx MOVIE • 2 PRO LOGIC • NEO:6 CINEMA With multichannel sources , p...

Listening to your system 05 43 En Using the multichannel analog inputs If you’ve connected to the multichannel inputs on the rear panel (see Connecting the multichannel analog outputs on page 16), you will be able to select them as your input source. See Using the Stream Direct mode below if you wan...

Listening to your system 05 44 En Listening with Acoustic Calibration EQ You can listen to sources using the Acoustic Calibration Equalization set in Automatically setting up for surround sound on page 35 or Acoustic Calibration EQ on page 55. Refer to these pages for more on acoustic calibration eq...

Listening to your system 05 46 En Using the surround back channel • Default setting: SB CH ON You can have the amplifier automatically use 6.1 or 7.1 decoding for 6.1 encoded sources (for example, Dolby Digital EX or DTS-ES), or you can choose to always use 6.1 or 7.1 decoding with other sources (fo...

Listening to your system 05 47 En Listening with virtual surround back speakers • Default setting: VIRTUAL SB OFF If you don’t have real surround back speakers connected, you can use the Virtual Surround Back feature to simulate one. Sometimes the material may sound better in the 5.1 format for whic...

Listening to your system 05 48 En Using Hi-bit and Hi-sampling You can use both Hi-bit and Hi-sampling to create a wider dynamic range with digital sources like CDs or DVDs. 1 Press OPTION repeatedly to select HI-BIT or HI- SAMPLING. The remote control menu for this step is shown below (see note at ...

Listening to your system 05 49 En • Press TONE to switch the tone control on or off. When the tone control is switched off, BYPASS shows in the display. The remote control menu for this step is shown below (see note at the start of this chapter if you need help). Note • You can’t use the tone contro...

Listening to your system 05 50 En Listening to dual mono soundtracks You can specify how dual mono encoded Dolby Digital soundtracks should be played. Dual mono is not widely used, but is sometimes necessary when two languages need to be sent to separate channels. 1 Press OPTION repeatedly to select...

The Surround Setup menu 06 51 En Chapter 6 The Surround Setup menu Making amplifier settings from the Surround Setup menu This amplifier allows you to make detailed settings to optimize the surround sound performance. You only need to make these settings once (unless you change the placement of your...

The Surround Setup menu 06 54 En a decrease in the amount of bass due low frequency cancellations. In this case, try changing the position or direction of speakers. If you can’t get good results, listen to the bass response with it set to PLUS and YES or the front speakers set to LARGE and SMALL alt...

The Surround Setup menu 06 55 En Speaker Distance For good sound depth and separation from your system, you need to specify the distance of your speakers from the listening position. The amplifier can then add the proper delay needed for effective surround sound. 1 Select ‘Speaker Distance’ then pre...

The Surround Setup menu 06 56 En 2 Select ‘Manual’ then press ENTER. 3 Select CUSTOM1 or CUSTOM2 then press ENTER. 4 Select the channel you want, adjust the frequency curve to your liking, then move to the next speaker. Use the / (cursor left/right) hard keys to select the channel, then ENTER to sel...

The Surround Setup menu 06 57 En Professional Acoustic Calibration EQ This setup minimizes the unwanted effects of room reverberation by calibrating your system based on the direct sound coming from the speakers. It can also provide you with a graphical output of the frequency response of your room....

The Surround Setup menu 06 58 En Note that changing the room (for example, moving furniture or paintings) will affect the calibration results. In such cases, you should recalibrate your system. Using Professional Acoustic Calibration EQ 1 Select ‘Acoustic Cal EQ’ then press ENTER. 2 Select ‘Professi...

The Surround Setup menu 06 60 En Use the / (cursor left/right) hard keys to adjust the setting. The X-Curve is expressed as a downwards slope in decibels per octave, starting at 2kHz. The sound becomes less bright as the slope increases (to a maximum of -3.0dB/oct ). Use the following guidelines to ...

Controlling other equipment 07 61 En Chapter 7 Controlling other equipment Using the remote control with other components The supplied remote control can operate not only this amplifier, but also your TV, DVD player and other components. If the component is listed in the remote control's memory, sim...

Controlling other equipment 07 62 En 4 From the ‘Replacing Device’ screen choose the type of component that you’ve connected. In this example, we’re setting the remote to control a DVD player, so we’ll select DVD . • It is best to have the input source button ( DVD/LD ) match the component. 5 From t...

Controlling other equipment 07 64 En Note • If you see Failed (or OK! doesn’t appear) on the touch panel, or OK! is displayed, but you find that the command wasn't learned, try teaching the command again, but vary the distance (closer or farther) between the remote controls. Some signals may be stro...

Controlling other equipment 07 65 En 3 Select the button you want to rename. For example, choose the SEARCH MODE button if it was programmed with the ‘eject’ command from your DVD player’s remote. • Remote control soft keys such as , , / (cursor left/right) and TV CONT are used to select menu screen...

Controlling other equipment 07 66 En Multi Operation and System Off The Multi Operation feature allows you to program a series of commands for the components in your system. For example, you could turn on your TV, turn on your DVD player and start playing the loaded DVD using only two buttons on the...

Controlling other equipment 07 67 En • You don't need to program the amplifier to switch to the input function selected in step 2, or to switch on or off. This is done automatically. With Pioneer components , you don’t need to: • program the power to switch off in a shutdown sequence; • program the ...

Controlling other equipment 07 68 En Using System off • From the remote control Home menu press SYSTEM OFF. The command sequence you programmed will run, then all Pioneer components will switch off, followed by this amplifier. Switching components on and off using the 12 volt trigger You can connect...

Using other functions 08 69 En Chapter 8 Using other functions Making an audio or a video recording You can make an audio or a video recording from an audio or video source connected to the amplifier (such as a CD player or TV). Keep in mind you can't make a digital recording from an analog source o...

Using other functions 08 70 En Reducing the level of an analog signal The input attenuator lowers the input level of an analog signal when it’s too strong. You can use this if you find the that the OVER indicator is lights often, or you can hear distortion in the sound. • From the remote control amp...

Using other functions 08 71 En Press repeatedly to cycle through the possible video sources. You can select DVD/LD , TV , SAT , VIDEO , DVR/ VCR1 , VCR2 , VCR3 or OFF (no video signal). Note • If you change the source using the input buttons (or front panel INPUT SELECTOR dial), the system returns t...

Using other functions 08 72 En Dimming the display You can choose between four brightness for the front panel display. Note that when selecting sources, the display automatically brightens for a few seconds. • From the remote control amplifier menu, press DISPLAY DIMMER repeatedly to change the brig...

Using other functions 08 73 En Checking your system settings Use the status display screen to check the various settings you’ve made for features such as sound delay, digital noise reduction, and high-sampling. 1 From the remote control amplifier menu, press STATUS to check the system settings. You ...

Other connections 09 75 En Chapter 9 Other connections Caution • Before making or changing the connections, switch off the power and disconnect the power cord from the power outlet. Plugging in components should be the last connection you make with your system. • Be careful not to allow any contact ...

Other connections 09 76 En Alternating surround speaker setups using speaker system B (ITU-R) After you connect an alternate set of surround speakers, you can use speaker system B to provide surround sound when listening to sources like DVD-Audio discs. This will give you a setup of 9 speakers where...

Other connections 09 77 En 2 Select the ‘Front Bi-Amp’ setting from the Speaker Systems menu. See Speaker Systems on page 52 to specify how you’re using the surround back speaker terminals. Note • For 7.1 surround sound with this configuration, you must connect an additional amplifier to the surroun...

Other connections 09 78 En Note • Before making or changing the connections, switch off the power and disconnect the power cord from the AC outlet. • You can use the additional amplifier on the surround back channel pre-outs for a single speaker as well. In this case plug the amplifier into the left...

Other connections 09 79 En 1 Use an i.LINK cable to connect one of the i.LINK connectors on this amplifier to an i.LINK connector on your i.LINK component. • The arrow on the cable connector body should be face down and lined up with the arrow below the connector on the amplifier for correct alignme...

Other connections 09 81 En • Windows ® 98SE – Select Multimedia , and then select Audio . Choose PIONEER AV Receiver/ Amplifier from the drop down menu. • Windows ® Me/Windows ® 2000 – Select Sound and Multimedia and then select Audio . Choose PIONEER AV Receiver/Amplifier from the drop down menu. Y...

Other connections 09 82 En Use a commercially-available cable to connect the RS-232C jack on your computer to the 9-pin RS-232C jack on this amplifier. See the documentation provided with the Advanced MCACC application for more information. Advanced MCACC output using your PC Before continuing, make...

Advanced setup 10 83 En Chapter 10 Advanced setup The Input Assign menu You only need to make settings in the Input Assign menu if you didn’t hook up your digital equipment according to the default settings for the digital inputs, or if you have connected equipment using component video or i.LINK ca...

Advanced setup 10 85 En Assigning the video inputs • Default settings: MULTI IN – OFF USB – OFF You can choose to watch a video source at the same time as you listen to the audio source from the multichannel analog inputs or USB connector. To do this, you must let the amplifier know which video comp...

Advanced setup 10 86 En 4 Select the setting you want to adjust. • OSD Adjustment – Adjust the position of the on- screen display on your TV. • Bass Peak Level – Prevent bass tones from distorting the sound from your speakers. • D-Range Control – Specify the amount of dynamic range adjustment to Dol...

Advanced setup 10 87 En Dynamic Range Control • Default setting: OFF This setting specifies the amount of dynamic range adjustment to movie soundtracks. You may want to use this when listening to surround sound at low volumes. 1 Select ‘D-Range Control’ from the Expert Setup menu. 2 Choose the setti...

Advanced setup 10 88 En 3 When you're finished, select RETURN and press ENTER. You will return to the Expert Setup menu. 12 Volt Trigger • Default setting: OFF · OFF (all components) After connecting a component to one of the 12 volt triggers (see Switching components on and off using the 12 volt tr...

Advanced setup 10 89 En THX Ultra2 Subwoofer Setup With a THX Ultra2 subwoofer (or one that has a response to 20Hz), depending on the position of the subwoofer and the walls in your listening area, you may experience overly resonant frequencies in the bass. If you have this problem use the THX Ultra...

Additional information 11 90 En Chapter 11 Additional information Optimizing your speaker setup In addition to the speaker placement tips outlined in Placing the speakers on page 25, you can use the diagrams and explanations provided below as a reference for optimum placement of each set of speakers...

Additional information 11 91 En THX speaker system setup If you have a complete THX speaker system, follow the diagram below to place your speakers. Note that the surround speakers ( indicates bi-polar radiating speakers) should output at an angle parallel to the listener. If you have two surround b...

Additional information 11 92 En Troubleshooting Incorrect operations are often mistaken for trouble and malfunctions. If you think that there is something wrong with this component, check the points below. Sometimes the trouble may lie in another component. Investigate the other components and elect...

Additional information 11 93 En No sound output from the front speakers. • The U-shaped connectors that connect the POWER AMP IN terminals to the front channel pre outs are not connected. • Reconnect the POWER AMP IN terminals to the front channel pre-outs using the supplied U-shaped connectors (see...

Additional information 11 94 En Other audio problems Sound is produced from analog components, but not from digital ones (DVD, LD, CD-ROM etc.). • The digital input assignment is wrong. • Assign the digital inputs correctly (see Assigning the digital inputs on page 83). • The digital components aren...

Additional information 11 95 En Video Can't record audio. • You are trying to make an analog recording from a digital signal, or a digital recording of an analog source. •You can only record analog to analog, or digital to digital. • The digital source is copy protected. • You can't record digital s...

Additional information 11 96 En Settings Remote control Symptom Cause Remedy The Auto Surround Setup continually shows an error. • The ambient noise level in the room is too high. • Keep the noise level in the room as low as possible when using the Auto Surround Setup. If the noise cannot be kept lo...

Additional information 11 99 En USB interface Miscellaneous Note • If the unit does not operate normally due to external effects such as static electricity, disconnect the power plug from the outlet and insert again to return to normal operating conditions. NO SIGNAL A component is outputting an i.L...

Additional information 11 100 En Surround sound formats Below is a brief description of the main surround sound formats you’ll find on DVDs, satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcasts, and video cassettes. Dolby The Dolby technologies are explained below. See www.dolby.com for more detailed informa...

Additional information 11 101 En DTS 96/24 DTS 96/24 is an extension of the original DTS Digital Surround which offers high quality 96 kHz / 24-bit audio using a DTS 96/24 decoder. This format is also fully backward compatible with all existing decoders. This means that DVD players can play this sof...

Additional information 11 102 En Advanced Speaker Array™ (ASA) When you set up your home theater system using all eight speaker outputs and the two surround back speakers are placed close together as shown in the diagram in THX speaker system setup on page 91, the surround sound experience is optimi...

Additional information 11 103 En Specifications Amplifier section Continuous Power Output (Stereo Mode)Front . . . . . . . . . 170 W + 170 W (DIN 1 kHz, THD 1 %, 6 Ω ) Continuous Power Output (Surround Mode)Front . . . . . . . . . 170 W + 170 W (DIN 1 kHz, THD 1 %, 6 Ω ) Center . . . . . . . . . . ....