Pioneer VSX-59TXi - Manual

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 quality...

6 En Contents Our philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 01 Before you start Checking the supplied accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...

Before you start 01 8 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 • AM loop antenna • FM wire antenna • Power cord • U-shaped co...

Before you start 01 9 En – in extremely hot or cold areas– in places where there is vibration or other movement– in places that are very dusty– in places that have hot fumes or oils (such as a kitchen) Using the remote control Keep the following in mind when using the remote control: Operating range...

Before you start 01 10 En There are three remote setup menu screens, which can be navigated by using the touch panel / (cursor left/right) soft keys: • For more on navigating the remote control menu screens, see Basic remote control displays on page 33. Calibrating the remote control screen This wil...

Before you start 01 11 En Setting the button alert volume You can set the volume of the ‘beep’ you hear when you press a button on the remote. • Press BEEP to select a setting. Each press selects between quiet, loud or off. The current setting is shown on the touch screen. Setting the time-out setti...

Before you start 01 12 En Locking the remote control This receiver has a remote control lock feature that makes the remote control touch screen and hard keys inoperative. 1 At the same time, press the and hard keys for about three seconds. • This is not possible from the remote setup screen. LOCKED!...

Before you start 01 13 En 1 Use a small phillips screwdriver to remove the screw fixing the battery cover to the back of the remote. 2 Remove the battery cover. 3 Disconnect the old battery cell from the unit. Do not pull the connector out by holding onto the attached wires. Hold the connector firml...

Connecting your equipment 02 14 En Chapter 2 Connecting your equipment This receiver 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 connec...

Connecting your equipment 02 16 En Connecting your TV This page shows you how to connect your TV to the receiver. To be able to play the sound from the TV’s built-in tuner, connect the analog audio outputs from your TV to this receiver. If your TV has a built-in digital decoder, you can connect the ...

Connecting your equipment 02 17 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 18 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 19 En Connecting a satellite/cable receiver or other set-top box Satellite and cable receivers, 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 VIDE...

Connecting your equipment 02 20 En Connecting a VCR or DVD recorder This receiver 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 the...

Connecting your equipment 02 22 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 23 En Connecting digital audio sources This receiver 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 as...

Connecting your equipment 02 24 En Connecting analog audio sources This receiver features four stereo audio-only inputs. Two of these inputs have corresponding outputs for use with audio recorders. One of the audio inputs ( PHONO ) is a dedicated turntable input which should not be used for any othe...

Connecting your equipment 02 26 En Installing your speaker system To take full advantage of the receiver’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 27 En Caution • Make sure that all the bare speaker wire is twisted together and inserted fully into the speaker terminal. If any of the bare speaker wire touches the back panel it may cause the power to cut off as a safety measure. Bare wire connections Before you start...

Connecting your equipment 02 28 En Connecting antennas The supplied antennas provide a simple way to listen to AM and FM radio. If you find that reception quality is poor, an outdoor antenna should give you better sound quality—see Connecting external antennas below. AM loop antenna 1 Assemble the s...

Connecting your equipment 02 29 En To improve AM reception, connect a 16–19 ft. length of vinyl-coated wire to the AM LOOP terminals without disconnecting the supplied AM loop antenna. For the best possible reception, suspend horizontally outdoors. Plugging in the receiver Only plug in after you hav...

Controls and displays 03 30 En Chapter 3 Controls and displays Front panel 1 INPUT SELECTOR dial (page 41) 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 receiver on or into standby. The OFF / ON swit...

Controls and displays 03 31 En 9 Input indicators Shows the currently selected source component. The MULTI CH INPUT indicator lights when a component connected to the MULTI CH INPUT is selected. Nothing lights if an unassigned i.LINK-equipped component or USB connection is selected. 10 LISTENING MOD...

Controls and displays 03 33 En Remote control 1 Date and time display See Setting the clock on page 10 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 navigat...

Controls and displays 03 34 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 35 En 15 INPUT (page 41) Press repeatedly to cycle through all possible input sources. 16 SPEAKER A/B (page 82) Press repeatedly to select speaker system A , B , A/B or off (in that order). (See Using speaker system B on page 80 for exceptions to this). 17 VIDEO SELECT (page...

Controls and displays 03 36 En 11 Number buttons (page 56) Use to input a radio frequency. 12 DIRECT ACCESS (page 55) After pressing, you can access a radio station directly using the number buttons. Remote control displays for other components The functions on these screens are available once you’v...

Controls and displays 03 37 En 11 IN1 / IN2 / IN3 / IN4 These are unassigned buttons which can be used to learn new commands. See Programming signals from other remote controls on page 69 for more on this. 12 DTV controls DTV ON/OFF Press to switch the digital TV on/off. DTV MENU Press to display th...

Controls and displays 03 38 En DISPLAY Press to display/change disc information shown on-screen. TOP MENU Press to display the top menu of a DVD disc. 4 Press to return to the main Home menu (see Home menu screens above). 5 / (soft keys) Press to go to the previous/next TV control menu screen. 6 TV ...

Getting started 04 39 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 41 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 42 En 3 Change the receiver 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 33 if your unsure how to do this). 4 Start playb...

Listening to your system 05 43 En Chapter 5 Listening to your system About the listening modes Using this receiver 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 s...

Listening to your system 05 44 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 45 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 46 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 47 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 18), 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 48 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 39 or Acoustic Calibration EQ on page 61. Refer to these pages for more on acoustic calibration eq...

Listening to your system 05 50 En Using the surround back channel • Default setting: SB CH ON You can have the receiver 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 (for...

Listening to your system 05 51 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 52 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 53 En Adjusting the bass and treble • Default setting: Bass: 0 , Treble: 0 You can adjust the bass and treble controls separately to adjust the overall tone. 1 Press OPTION repeatedly to select BASS or TREBLE. The remote control menu for this step is shown below (see note...

Using the tuner 06 54 En Chapter 6 Using the tuner Note • The remote control operations in this section are accessed from the remote control tuner menus. If you’re not sure how to navigate the touch panel, see Basic remote control displays on page 33. To go to the tuner menu, press TUNER on the remo...

Using the tuner 06 55 En Tuning directly to a station Sometimes, you'll already know the frequency of the station you want to listen to. In this case, you can simply enter the frequency directly using the number buttons on the remote control. 1 On the tuner touch screen menu, press BAND to change th...

Using the tuner 06 56 En 5 While the display is blinking, press ENTER. 6 Repeat steps 1 – 5 to memorize up to 30 stations. Naming station presets You can input a name of up to eight characters for each preset station in the receiver’s memory. For example, you could input New Jazz for that station an...

The Surround Setup menu 07 57 En Chapter 7 The Surround Setup menu Making receiver settings from the Surround Setup menu This receiver 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 c...

The Surround Setup menu 07 60 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 07 61 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 receiver can then add the proper delay needed for effective surround sound. 1 Select ‘Speaker Distance’ then pres...

The Surround Setup menu 07 62 En Setting the Acoustic Calibration EQ manually Before manually adjusting the Acoustic Calibration EQ, we recommend copying the ALL CH ADJ or the FRONT CH ALIGN settings from the Auto setup above (or from Introduction to home theater on page 39) to one of the custom set...

The Surround Setup menu 07 63 En 3 Select CUSTOM1 or CUSTOM2 then use the / (cursor left/right) hard keys to select the setting you want to copy. • You can also copy from one custom setting to another. For more on the ALL CH ADJ and FRONT CH ALIGN settings, see Setting the Acoustic Calibration EQ au...

The Surround Setup menu 07 64 En • Reverb characteristics for different channels – Reverb characteristics can be somewhat different for each channel. Since this difference increases as the sound is influenced by the various room characteristics, it is often better to capture a frequency analysis ear...

The Surround Setup menu 07 66 En • Semi Auto – The X-Curve is calculated automatically. The larger your listening area (as determined by the speaker distance setting), the greater the X-Curve slope (see the following step for more on this). 4 Check the X-Curve setting. If you selected ‘Manual’, make...

Controlling other equipment 08 67 En Chapter 8 Controlling other equipment Using the remote control with other components The supplied remote control can operate not only this receiver, but also your TV, DVD player and other components. If the component is listed in the remote control's memory, simp...

Controlling other equipment 08 68 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 08 69 En To exit without saving the preset you have assigned, press CANCEL instead of INSTALL above. Tip • Pioneer DVD recorders fall into the following setting types: Pioneer-1 – DVR-7000 Pioneer-2 – 4 – DVR-310, DVR-510H Pioneer-5 – DVR-57H, DVR-810H If you have more th...

Controlling other equipment 08 70 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 08 71 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 08 72 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 08 73 En • You don't need to program the receiver 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 p...

Controlling other equipment 08 74 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 receiver. Switching components on and off using the 12 volt trigger You can connect ...

Using other functions 09 75 En Chapter 9 Using other functions Making an audio or a video recording You can make an audio or a video recording from the built-in tuner, or from an audio or video source connected to the receiver (such as a CD player or TV). Keep in mind you can't make a digital record...

Using other functions 09 76 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 rec...

Using other functions 09 77 En Note • If you change the source using the input buttons (or front panel INPUT SELECTOR dial), the system returns to normal playback. Enhancing SACD playback You can get more detail from SACDs by maximizing the dynamic range (during digital processing) using the SACD ga...

Using other functions 09 78 En Switching the speaker impedance • Default setting: Speaker 6 Ω Ω Ω Ω We recommend using speakers of 6 Ω to 16 Ω with this system, but it is possible to switch the impedance setting if you plan to use speakers with a lower impedance rating (for example, less than 6 Ω )....

Using other functions 09 79 En Resetting the system Use this feature to reset the system to its factory default settings (see Default receiver settings below). 1 Switch the receiver into standby. 2 While holding down the front panel DIGITAL NR button, press and hold STANDBY/ON for about three second...

Other connections 10 80 En Chapter 10 Other connections Using speaker system B You can connect a pair of speakers to the B speaker terminals on the rear panel to listen to stereo playback in another room, or you can also use these terminals to hear surround sound when playing DVD-Audio sources. Once...

Other connections 10 81 En 1 Connect an alternate (ITU-R) set of surround speakers as shown below. Connect the ITU-R surround left speaker to the left speaker terminal of speaker system B. Connect the ITU-R surround right speaker in the same way. • Make sure that the + / – connections are properly i...

Other connections 10 82 En 2 Select the ‘Front Bi-Amp’ setting from the Speaker Systems menu. See Speaker Systems on page 58 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 10 83 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 10 84 En • When selected in the main room, i.LINK sources can’t be heard in the sub room unless they can output both i.LINK and analog signals at the same time. Also, the sound from an i.LINK source selected in the sub room switches off if the same source is selected as an i.LINK s...

Other connections 10 85 En Using the front panel multi-room controls 1 Press the MULTI ROOM & SOURCE ON/OFF button on the front panel. The MULTI ROOM indicator lights on the front panel to indicate the multi-room control has been switched on. 2 Press CONTROL. Make sure that any operations for th...

Other connections 10 86 En • Use an i.LINK cable to connect one of the i.LINK connectors on this receiver to an i.LINK connector on your i.LINK component. • The arrow on the cable connector body should be face down for correct alignment with the connector on the player. When properly connected, the ...

Other connections 10 87 En The system will not work if the connected components form a loop. If a loop is detected, the message LOOP CONNECT shows in the display. Figs. 3 and 4 show connections that form a loop. Another consideration when connecting i.LINK devices is the speed of the interface. At p...

Other connections 10 89 En 1 Select ‘PC Output’ and press ENTER. When the receiver is ready for transmission, Operate a PC shows on the OSD. • If PC Output isn’t displayed, the receiver probably doesn’t have any transmission data. Make sure you have completed steps 1–6 in Using Professional Acoustic...

Advanced setup 11 90 En Chapter 11 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 11 91 En 4 When you're finished, select RETURN and press ENTER. You will return to the Input Assign menu. Assigning the component video inputs • Default settings: Component 1 – DVD/LD Component 2 – OFF Component 3 – OFF If you used component video cords to connect your video equipment...

Advanced setup 11 92 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 receiver know which video compo...

Advanced setup 11 93 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 11 94 En Note • Since the THX Ultra2 feature has a bass limiter to control bass peaks, the bass attenuator is automatically switched off if you set up your system using the THX Ultra2 Subwoofer Setup on page 96. Dynamic Range Control • Default setting: OFF This setting specifies the a...

Advanced setup 11 95 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...

Additional information 12 97 En Chapter 12 Additional information Optimizing your speaker setup In addition to the speaker placement tips outlined in Placing the speakers on page 27, you can use the diagrams and explanations provided below as a reference for optimum placement of each set of speakers...

Additional information 12 98 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 12 99 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 12 100 En No sound Symptom Cause Remedy No sound is output when an input source is selected. • Improper connections. • Make sure you have properly connected the component to the corresponding input on the back of the receiver (see Connecting your equipment on page 14). • Sound...

Additional information 12 102 En Other audio problems No digital output from the DVD player when playing a multichannel DVD-Audio or SACD disc. • DVD players do not output digital audio when playing these kinds of discs. • To enjoy fully multichannel DVD-Audio and SACD discs, connect your DVD player...

Additional information 12 103 En Video Settings Symptom Cause Remedy No image is output when an input is selected. • The video connections are incorrect. • Make sure the video component is connected correctly (see pages 17–21). • You are using component video connections for your source, but not for...

Additional information 12 105 En Display The date and time have suddenly changed. • The remote control is low on batteries and reset the date automatically. • Reset the clock (see Setting the clock on page 10). • The date was cleared after restarting the remote control. • Reset the clock (see Settin...

Additional information 12 106 En i.LINK interface i.LINK messages You may see the following messages displayed in the front panel display when using the i.LINK interface. Symptom Cause Remedy No sound is output. • An output signal is not produced from the i.LINK connector on the source player. • Ref...

Additional information 12 107 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. Symptom Cause Remedy No sound. • The comp...

Additional information 12 108 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 12 109 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 12 110 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 98, the surround sound experience is optimi...