Pioneer VSX-74TXVi-S - Manual

5 En Connecting using HDMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48About HDMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Using the i.LINK interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Checking the i.LINK inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

Before you start 01 6 En Chapter 1: Before you start Checking what’s in the box Please check that you've received the following supplied accessories: • Setup microphone (cable: 20 ft.) • Remote control unit • AA/IEC R6P dry cell batteries x2 • AM loop antenna • FM wire antenna • Audio control cable ...

5 minute guide 02 7 En Chapter 2: 5 minute guide Introduction to home theater Home theater refers to the use of multiple audio tracks to create a surround sound effect, making you feel like you're in the middle of the action or concert. The surround sound you get from a home theater system depends n...

5 minute guide 02 8 En 1 Switch on the receiver and your TV. 2 Connect the microphone to the MCACC SETUP MIC jack on the front panel. Place the microphone so that it’s about ear level at your normal listening position (use a tripod if possible). Make sure there are no obstacles between the speakers ...

5 minute guide 02 9 En Problems when using the Auto MCACC Setup If the room environment is not optimal for the Auto MCACC Setup (too much background noise, echo off the walls, obstacles blocking the speakers from the microphone) the final settings may be incorrect. Check for household appliances (ai...

Connecting your equipment 03 10 En Chapter 3 Connecting your equipment This receiver provides you with many connection possibilities, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. This page explains the kinds of components you can connect to make up your home theater system. Rear panel This illustration show...

Connecting your equipment 03 11 En 12 Composite and S-video monitor outputs Use to connect monitors and TVs. Connecting your TV and DVD player on page 12. 13 Audio/video source inputs/(outputs) (x6) Use for connection to audio/visual sources, such as DVD players/recorders, VCRs, etc. Each set of inp...

Connecting your equipment 03 12 En Connecting your TV and DVD player The diagram shows a basic setup of this receiver together with a TV and DVD player, with S-video or composite video connections. Different TVs and DVD players may offer alternative connections. See also Using the component video ja...

Connecting your equipment 03 13 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 the audio/video outputs on the set-top box to the SAT AUDIO and VIDEO inputs. Connec...

Connecting your equipment 03 14 En • For a second recorder, use the DVR/ VCR2 outputs. 3 If the device can output digital audio, connect an optical-type 1 digital audio output from the recorder to the DIGITAL 2 (DVR/VCR1) input. Use an optical cable for the connection. 2 • For a second recorder, use...

Connecting your equipment 03 15 En Connecting digital audio sources This receiver has both digital inputs and outputs, allowing you to connect digital audio components for playback and for making digital recordings. Most digital components also have analog connections. See Connecting analog audio so...

Connecting your equipment 03 16 En Connecting analog audio sources This receiver features three 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 oth...

Connecting your equipment 03 17 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 03 18 En Bare wire connections Make sure that the speaker cable you’re going to use is properly prepared with about 3 / 8 in. (10 mm) of insulator stripped from each wire, and the exposed wire strands twisted together ( fig. A ). To connect a terminal, unscrew the terminal ...

Connecting your equipment 03 19 En The diagrams below show suggested surround and surround back speaker orientation. The first diagram ( fig. A ) shows orientation with one surround back speaker (or none) connected. The second ( fig. B ) shows orientation with two surround back speakers connected. •...

Connecting your equipment 03 20 En Important • The signal ground ( ) is designed to reduce noise that occurs when an antenna is connected. It is not an electrical safety ground. FM wire antenna • Connect the FM wire antenna to the FM UNBAL 75 Ω in the same way as the AM antenna. For best results, ex...

Controls and displays 04 21 En Chapter 4: Controls and displays Front panel Illustration shows the VSX-74TXVi front panel 1 INPUT SELECTOR dial Use to select an input source. 2 STANDBY/ON Switches the receiver between on and standby. Power indicator lights when the receiver is on. 3 PHASE CONTROL – ...

Controls and displays 04 22 En 9 HDMI indicator Blinks when connecting an HDMI-equipped component; lights when the component is connected (page 48). 10 i.LINK indicator (VSX-74TXVi only) Lights when an i.LINK-Audio-equipped component is selected (page 49). DIGITAL VIDEO CONVERSION indicator (VSX-72T...

Controls and displays 04 23 En Display 1 SIGNAL indicators Light to indicate the currently selected input signal. AUTO lights when the receiver is set to select the input signal automatically (page 28). 2 Program format indicators These change according to which channels are active in digital source...

Controls and displays 04 24 En Remote control The remote has been conveniently color-coded according to component control using the following system (press the corresponding input source button to access): • Green – Receiver controls (see below) • Red – DVD controls (page 72) • Blue – Tuner/XM Radio...

Controls and displays 04 25 En TV – Use to turn on/off the power of the TV. TV VOL +/– – Use to adjust the volume on your TV. INPUT SELECT – Use to select the TV input signal. TV CH +/– – Use to select channels. 8 Component control buttons The main buttons ( , , etc.) are used to control a component...

Listening to your system 05 26 En Chapter 5: Listening to your system Important • The listening modes and many features described in this section may not be available depending on the current source, settings and status of the receiver. See Listening modes with different input signal formats on page...

Listening to your system 05 27 En Using the Home THX modes THX and Home THX are technical standards created by Lucasfilm Ltd. for cinema and home theater sound. Home THX is designed to make home theater audio sound more like what you hear in a cinema. Different THX options will be available dependin...

Listening to your system 05 28 En Listening in stereo When you select STEREO , you will hear the source through just the front left and right speakers (and possibly your subwoofer depending on your speaker settings). Dolby Digital and DTS multichannel sources are downmixed to stereo. • While listeni...

Listening to your system 05 29 En • PCM – Only PCM signals are output. 1 The receiver selects the first available signal in the following order: ; HDMI ; DIGITAL . When set to DIGITAL or AUTO , 2 DIGITAL lights with Dolby Digital decoding, DTS lights with DTS decoding, and WMA9 Pro lights to indicat...

Using the tuner 06 30 En Chapter 6: Using the tuner Listening to the radio The following steps show you how to tune in to FM and AM radio broadcasts using the automatic (search) and manual (step) tuning functions. If you already know the frequency of the station you want, see Tuning directly to a st...

Using the tuner 06 31 En Saving station presets If you often listen to a particular radio station, it's convenient to have the receiver store the frequency for easy recall whenever you want to listen to that station. This saves the effort of manually tuning in each time. This receiver can memorize u...

The System Setup menu 07 32 En Chapter 7: The System Setup menu Making receiver settings from the System Setup menu The following section shows you how to make detailed settings to specify how you’re using the receiver (for example, if you want to set up two speaker systems in separate rooms), and a...

The System Setup menu 07 34 En • With error messages (such as Ambient Noise or Microphone Check ) select RETRY after checking for ambient noise (see Problems when using the Auto MCACC Setup on page 9) and verifying the mic connection. If there doesn’t seem to be a problem, you can simply select GO N...

The System Setup menu 07 35 En 1 Select ‘Surr Back System’ from the System Setup menu. See Making receiver settings from the System Setup menu above if you’re not already at this screen. 2 Select the surround back speaker setting. • Normal (SB) – Select for normal home theater use with surround back...

The System Setup menu 07 36 En The volume increases to the 0dB reference level. 2 Adjust the level of the left channel. This will be the reference speaker level, so you may want to keep the level around 0dB so that you’ll have plenty of room to adjust the other speaker levels. • After pressing ENTER...

The System Setup menu 07 37 En frequencies. Depending on speaker placement, your listening position, and ultimately the shape of your room, it results in an overly resonant (‘boomy’) sound. The Standing Wave Control uses filters to reduce the effect of overly resonant sounds in your listening area. ...

The System Setup menu 07 38 En How to use Professional Acoustic Calibration EQ If you find that lower frequencies seem overly reverberant in your listening room (i.e. it sounds `boomy'), or that different channels seem to exhibit different reverb characteristics, select Aco Cal EQ Pro. (or ALL ) for...

The System Setup menu 07 39 En Using Professional Acoustic Calibration EQ 1 Select ‘EQ Professional’ then press ENTER. 2 Select an option and press ENTER. • Reverb Measurement – Use this to measure the reverb characteristics of your room (for graphical output using a PC, see Connecting a PC for Adva...

The System Setup menu 07 40 En After the Acoustic Calibration Equalization is set, you are given the option to check the settings on-screen. Data Management This system allows you to store up to six MCACC presets, allowing you to calibrate your system for different listening positions (or frequency ...

The System Setup menu 07 41 En 2 Select the MCACC preset you’ll be copying the settings ‘From’ then specify where you want to copy them (‘To’). Make sure you don’t overwrite an MCACC preset you’re currently using (this can’t be undone). 3 Select ‘Copy’ to confirm and copy the settings. Copy Complete...

The System Setup menu 07 42 En 1 Select ‘Speaker Setting’ from the Manual SP Setup menu. 2 Choose the set of speakers that you want to set then select a speaker size. Use / to select the size (and number) of each of the following speakers: 1 • Front – Select LARGE if your front speakers reproduce ba...

The System Setup menu 07 43 En 4 Adjust the level of each channel using the / buttons. If you selected Manual , use / to switch speakers. The Auto setup will output test tones in the order shown on- screen: Adjust the level of each speaker as the test tone is emitted. 1 5 When you’re finished, press...

The System Setup menu 07 44 En Set the bass peak level gradually, then press ENTER at the point just before the tone starts to distort. 1 The display on the receiver shows RESUME while the volume returns to its original position, then you automatically return to the main Bass Peak Level menu. 4 When...

Other connections 08 45 En Chapter 8: Other connections Caution • Make sure the power is switched off before making or changing the connections. Connecting an iPod This receiver has a dedicated iPod terminal that will allow you to control playback of your iPod using the controls of this receiver. 1 ...

Other connections 08 46 En 3 Continue browsing until you arrive at what you want to play, then press to start playback. 1 Navigation through categories on your iPod looks like this: Playlist Song Artist Album Song Album Song SongGenre Artist Album Song Composer Album Song Shuffle Songs Tip • You can...

Other connections 08 47 En 2 Use the XM RADIO (SHIFT+TUNER) input source button to switch to the XM RADIO input. 1 For best reception, you may need to move the Connect-and-Play™ antenna near a window (the southernmost window should produce the best results). • If after pressing XM RADIO the display ...

Other connections 08 48 En Connecting using HDMI If you have a HDMI or DVI (with HDCP) equipped compo-nent, you can connect it to this receiver using a commer- cially available HDMI cable. 1 The HDMI connection transfers uncompressed digital video, as well as almost every kind of digital audio that ...

Other connections 08 49 En Using the i.LINK interface VSX-74TXVi only If you have a component with an i.LINK connector, you can connect it to this receiver using an i.LINK cable. Since the i.LINK interface does not transmit video signals, the video signal of i.LINK-connected compo-nents must be conn...

Other connections 08 50 En Checking the i.LINK inputs If you have several i.LINK-equipped components and have assigned them to input functions in The Input Setup menu on page 61, you can confirm the settings you made below. 1 Select ‘i.LINK Check’ from the Other Setup menu and press ENTER. See The O...

Other connections 08 51 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 08 52 En Using the USB interface VSX-74TXVi only It is possible to listen to two channels of audio from your computer by connecting to the USB interface on the rear of this receiver. Depending on your model of computer and the software installed, you can listen to the stereo audio ...

Other connections 08 53 En After selecting 2nd Zone in Surround back speaker setting on page 34, you can use the speakers connected to the (surround back) B speaker terminals on the rear panel to listen to stereo playback in another room. See Switching the speaker system below for the listening opti...

Other connections 08 54 En Bi-wiring your speakers The reasons for bi-wiring are basically the same as bi-amping, but additionally, interference effects within the wire could be reduced, producing better sound. Again, to do this your speakers must be bi-wireable (that is they must have separate term...

Other connections 08 55 En Multi-room listening This receiver can power up to three independent systems in separate rooms after you have made the proper multi-room connections. An example multi-room setup is shown below, but the number of multi-room connections (and the way you choose to connect the...

Other connections 08 56 En • Connect a TV monitor to the MULTI-ROOM & SOURCE MONITOR OUT jacks on the rear of this receiver. You should have a pair of speakers attached to the surround back speaker terminals as shown below. Secondary multi-room setup (ZONE 3) • Connect a separate amplifier to th...

Other connections 08 57 En • You can’t use the iPod and XM Radio functions simultaneously using the multi-room feature. 4 Use the MASTER VOLUME dial to adjust the volume. This is only possible if you selected the VARIABLE volume control in Multi-Room and IR receiver setup on page 63. 1 5 When you’re...

Other connections 08 58 En Switching components on and off using the 12 volt trigger You can connect components in your system (such as a screen or projector) to this receiver so that they switch on or off using 12 volt triggers when you select an input function. However, you must specify which inpu...

Other connections 08 59 En • Use a 3-ringed miniplug SR+ cable to connect the CONTROL IN jack of this receiver with the CONTROL OUT jack of your plasma display. To make the most of the SR+ features, you should connect your source components (DVD player, etc.) in a slightly different way to that desc...

Other connections 08 60 En Connecting a PC for Advanced MCACC output If you use the Professional Acoustic Calibration EQ (see page 37) to measure the reverb characteristics of your listening room, you can check the results graphically using a computer connected to this receiver. Use a commercially-a...

Other Settings 09 61 En Chapter 9: Other Settings The Input Setup menu You only need to make settings in the Input Setup menu if you didn’t hook up your digital equipment according to the default settings (see Input function default and possible settings below). In this case, you need to tell the re...

Other Settings 09 62 En • 12V Trigger 1 / 2 – After connecting a component to one of the 12 volt triggers (see Switching components on and off using the 12 volt trigger on page 58), select M. ROOM , ROOM2 , ROOM3 or OFF for the corresponding trigger setting to switch it on automatically along with t...

Other Settings 09 63 En Multi-Room and IR receiver setup • Default setting: Variable / Setting 1 If you’ve made multi-room connections (see Multi-room listening on page 55) you may need to specify your volume setting. Also use this menu to specify your IR receiver type (if necessary). 1 Select ‘Mult...

Using other functions 10 64 En Chapter 10 Using other functions Setting the AV options There are a number of additional sound and picture settings you can make using the AV Parameter menu. The defaults, if not stated, are listed in bold. Important • Note that if a setting doesn’t appear in the AV Pa...

Using other functions 10 65 En 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). 1 Keep in mind you can't make a digital recording from an analog source or v...

Using other functions 10 67 En The front panel display shows each of the following settings for two seconds each: 2 When you’re finished, press STATUS again to switch off the display. Resetting the system Use this procedure to reset all the receiver’s settings to the factory default. Use the front p...

Controlling the rest of your system 11 68 En Chapter 11: Controlling the rest of your system Setting the remote to control other components Most components can be assigned to one of the input source buttons (such as DVD/LD or CD ) using the component’s manufacturer preset code stored in the remote. ...

Controlling the rest of your system 11 69 En 4 Point the two remote controls towards each other then press the button that will be doing the learning on this receiver’s remote control. PRES KEY starts flashing to indicate the remote is ready to accept a signal. • The remote controls should be 1–2 in...

Controlling the rest of your system 11 70 En 3 Press the button of the component for which you want to check the preset code, then press ENTER. The brand name and preset code appears in the display for three seconds. Renaming input source names You can customize the names that appear on the remote L...

Controlling the rest of your system 11 71 En 5 Use / to select a command in the sequence then press ENTER . If this is the first command in the sequence, select 1ST CODE . Otherwise, simply choose the next command in the sequence. PRES KEY flashes after you press ENTER . 6 If necessary, press the in...

Controlling the rest of your system 11 72 En Controls for TVs This remote control can control components after entering the proper codes or teaching the receiver the commands (see Setting the remote to control other components on page 68 for more on this). Use the input source buttons to select the ...

Controlling the rest of your system 11 73 En Operating other Pioneer components with this unit’s sensor Many Pioneer components have SR CONTROL jacks which can be used to link components together so that you can use just the remote sensor of one component. When you use a remote control, the control ...

Additional information 12 74 En Chapter 12: Additional information 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. Investi...

Additional information 12 75 En Other audio problems No sound from surround back speakers. • Check that the surround back speakers are set to LARGE or SMALL (see Speaker Setting on page 41). • Make sure surround back processing is set to SBch ON (see Using surround back channel processing on page 29...

Additional information 12 76 En Video Settings Can't record audio. • You can only make a digital recording from a digital source, and an analog recording from an analog source.• For digital sources, make sure that what you’re recording isn’t copy protected.• Check that the OUT jacks are properly con...

Additional information 12 77 En Professional Calibration EQ graphical output Display The display shows KEY LOCK ON when you try to make settings. • With the receiver in standby, press STANDBY/ON while holding down the MULTI-ROOM&SOURCE CONTROL button to disable the key lock. Most recent settings...

Additional information 12 78 En Remote control i.LINK interface During playback of a Surround EX or DTS ES source on the SBch AUTO setting, the EX and ES indicators don’t light, or the signal is not properly processed. •The source may be Dolby Surround EX / DTS ES software, but it has no flag to ind...

Additional information 12 79 En i.LINK messages You may see the following messages displayed in the front panel display when using the i.LINK interface. USB interface HDMI Message Explanation BUS FULL The i.LINK bus has reached its capacity and cannot transmit any more data. CANNOT LINK 1 The connec...

Additional information 12 80 En iPod messages XM radio messages 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. Noisy or distorted picture. • Sometimes...

Additional information 12 81 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 informat...

Additional information 12 82 En WMA9 Pro can support up to 5.1/7.1 channel playback with sampling rates up to 24-bit/96kHz. Using the unique WMA compression techniques, WMA9 Pro can deliver multichannel music and soundtracks over high-speed internet networks at low bit rates with minimal audio degra...

Additional information 12 83 En the THX Surround EX playback mode, otherwise THX Select2 Cinema mode will apply ASA processing to provide optimum replay. • THX MusicMode For the replay of multi-channel music the THX MusicMode should be selected. In this mode THX ASA processing is applied to the surr...

Additional information 12 84 En Multichannel signal formats SBch Processing Input signal format Standard THX Auto Surround SBch Processing ON (7.1 channel decoding used for all sources) WMA9 Pro (6.1/71 channel) Straight decoding WMA+THX CINEMA Straight decoding Dolby Digital EX (6.1 channel flagged...

Additional information 12 86 En Specifications Amplifier section Continuous average power output of 140 (or 130) watts* per channel, min., at 8 ohms, from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz with no more than 0.09%** total harmonic distortion (front). Continuous Power Output (20 Hz-20 kHz, 8 Ω , 0.09%) Front. . . . ...

Additional information 12 87 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 th...

PIONEER CORPORATION 4-1, Meguro 1-Chome, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8654, Japan PIONEER ELECTRONICS (USA) INC. P.O. BOX 1540, Long Beach, California 90810-1540, U.S.A. TEL: (800) 421-1404 PIONEER ELECTRONICS OF CANADA, INC. 300 Allstate Parkway, Markham, Ontario L3R OP2, Canada TEL: 1-877-283-5901 PIONEER...