Pioneer VSX-LX70 - Manual

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: 5 m) • Remote control unit • AA/IEC R6P dry cell batteries x2 • AM loop antenna • FM wire antenna • Power cord • Antenna ad...

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 Automatically setting up for surround sound (MCACC & Full Band Phase Control) The Auto MCACC Setup measures the acoustic characteristics of your listening area, taking into account ambient noise, speaker size and distance, and tests for both channel delay and channel level...

5 minute guide 02 9 En • With error messages (such as Too much ambient noise! or Check Microphone ) select RETRY after checking for ambient noise (see Problems when using the Auto MCACC Setup below) and verifying the mic connection. If there doesn’t seem to be a problem, you can simply select GO NEX...

5 minute guide 02 10 En 3 Press S.DIRECT ( STREAM DIRECT ) to select ‘AUTO SURROUND’ and start playback of the source. 1 If you’re playing a Dolby Digital or DTS surround sound DVD disc, you should hear surround sound. If you are playing a stereo source, you will only hear sound from the front left/...

5 minute guide 02 11 En Using Full Band Phase Control The Full Band Phase Control feature calibrates the frequency-phase characteristics of the speakers connected.Standard speakers designed exclusively for audio use generally reproduce sound with the divided frequency bands output from a speaker sys...

Connecting your equipment 03 12 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 sho...

Connecting your equipment 03 13 En 11 Audio/video source inputs/(outputs) (x6) Use for connection to audio/visual sources, such as DVD players/recorders, VCRs, etc. Each set of inputs has jacks for composite video, S-video 1 and stereo analog audio. See Connecting a DVD/HDD recorder, VCR and other v...

Connecting your equipment 03 14 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 15 En The diagram shows a basic setup of this receiver together with a Blu-ray disc player, with S-video or composite video connections. See also Using the component video jacks on page 16 if your Blu-ray disc player has component video inputs/outputs. If your Blu-ray di...

Connecting your equipment 03 16 En Connecting a DVD/HDD recorder, VCR and other video sources This receiver has two sets of audio/video inputs and outputs suitable for connecting analog or digital video devices, including DVD/HDD recorders and VCRs. 1 Connect the audio/video outputs of the video pla...

Connecting your equipment 03 17 En • Since they are assignable, it doesn’t matter which component video inputs you use for which source. After connecting everything, you’ll need to assign the component video inputs—see The Input Setup menu on page 64. 2 Connect the COMPONENT VIDEO OUT jacks to the c...

Connecting your equipment 03 18 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 19 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 20 En Bare wire connections Make sure that the speaker cable you’re going to use is properly prepared with about 10 mm of insulator stripped from each wire, and the exposed wire strands twisted together ( fig. A ). To connect a terminal, unscrew the terminal a few turns ...

Connecting your equipment 03 21 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 22 En 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, extend the FM antenna fully and fix to a wall or door frame. Don’t drape loosely or leave coiled up. Connecting external antenna to improve FM re...

Connecting your equipment 03 23 En Using an external antenna to improve AM reception To improve AM reception, connect a 5 m to 6 m 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. ...

Controls and displays 04 24 En Chapter 4: Controls and displays Front panel Illustration shows the VSX-LX70 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 – Pr...

Controls and displays 04 25 En DIGITAL VIDEO SCALER indicator – Lights when Resolution is set to a setting other than PURE (for example, when the video input signal is upscaled) (page 68). HDMI indicator – Blinks when connecting an HDMI- equipped component; lights when the component is connected (pa...

Controls and displays 04 26 En Display Illustration shows the VSX-LX70 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 32). 2 Program format indicators These change according to whi...

Controls and displays 04 27 En Remote control Illustration shows the VSX-LX70 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 –...

Controls and displays 04 28 En 7 TV CONTROL buttons These buttons are dedicated to control the TV assigned to the TV CTRL button. Thus if you only have one TV to hook up to this system assign it to the TV CTRL input source button. If you have two TVs, assign the main TV to the TV CTRL button (see pa...

Listening to your system 05 29 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 30 En • Dolby Digital EX – Creates surround back channel sound for 5.1 channel sources and provides pure decoding for 6.1 channel sources (like Dolby Digital Surround EX) • DTS-ES – Allows you to hear 6.1 channel playback with DTS-ES encoded sources • DTS Neo:6 – Allows y...

Listening to your system 05 31 En Tip • When an Advanced Surround listening mode is selected, the effect level can be adjusted using the EFFECT parameter in Setting the Audio options on page 68. Listening in stereo When you select STEREO , you will hear the source through just the front left and rig...

Listening to your system 05 32 En Selecting MCACC presets • Default setting: MEMORY 1 If you have calibrated your system for different listening positions 1 , you can switch between settings to suit the kind of source you’re listening to and where you’re sitting (for example, watching movies from a ...

Listening to your system 05 33 En Using the Virtual Surround Back mode When you’re not using surround back speakers, selecting this mode allows you to hear a virtual surround back channel through your surround speakers. You can choose to listen to sources with no surround back channel information, o...

Listening to your system 05 34 En Using the genre synchronizing function This feature automatically selects the most appropriate Advanced Surround mode for the source currently being played back on a Pioneer DVD recorder supporting HDMI Control connected to this receiver via HDMI. 1 For details on H...

Using the tuner 06 35 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 36 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 37 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 39 En 3 Connect the microphone to the MCACC SETUP MIC jack on the front panel. Make sure there are no obstacles between the speakers and the microphone. If you have a tripod, use it to place the microphone so that it’s about ear level at your normal listening position. Other...

The System Setup menu 07 40 En You can also choose to view the settings by selecting individual parameters from the MCACC Data Check screen: • Speaker Setting – The size and number of speakers you’ve connected (see page 48 for more on this) • Channel Level – The overall balance of your speaker syste...

The System Setup menu 07 41 En • For some of the settings below, you’ll have to connect the setup microphone to the front panel and place it about ear level at your normal listening position. Press SETUP to display the System Setup menu before you connect the microphone to this receiver. If the micr...

The System Setup menu 07 42 En Fine Speaker Distance • Default setting: 3.00 m (all speakers) For proper sound depth and separation with your system, it is necessary to add a slight bit of delay to some speakers so that all sounds will arrive at the listening position at the same time. The following...

The System Setup menu 07 43 En Acoustic Calibration EQ Adjust Acoustic Calibration Equalization is a kind of room equalizer for your speakers (excluding the subwoofer). It works by measuring the acoustic characteristics of your room and neutralizing the ambient characteristics that can color the ori...

The System Setup menu 07 44 En By analyzing the graph, you should be able to see how your room is responding to certain frequencies. Differences in channel level and speaker distance are taken into account automatically (compensation is provided for comparison purposes), and the frequency measuremen...

The System Setup menu 07 45 En 3 If you selected ‘Reverb Measurement’, select EQ ON or OFF and then START. The following options determine how the reverb characteristics of your listening area are displayed in Reverb View and Output PC ( Data Management ): • EQ OFF – You will see the reverb characte...

The System Setup menu 07 46 En 1 Select ‘ FULL BAND PHASE CTRL ’ 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 an option and press ENTER . • Measurement – Calibrates and corrects the frequency-phase characteri...

The System Setup menu 07 47 En 1 Select ‘MCACC Data Check’ from the Data Management setup menu. 2 Select the setting you want to check. • It is useful to do this while a source is playing so you can compare the different settings. 3 Select the MCACC preset that you want to check. Use the / buttons i...

The System Setup menu 07 48 En Manual speaker setup 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 current speaker system or add new speakers). These settings are design...

The System Setup menu 07 49 En • Subwoofer – LFE signals and bass frequencies of channels set to SMALL are output from the subwoofer when YES is selected. Choose the PLUS setting if you want the subwoofer to output bass sound continuously or you want deeper bass (the bass frequencies that would norm...

The System Setup menu 07 50 En Important • When Speaker Distance is selected while MCACC is set to OFF , the selection screen for the MCACC memory appears. Select a memory to adjust manually. 1 Select ‘Speaker Distance’ from the Manual SP Setup menu. 2 Adjust the distance of each speaker using the /...

Other connections 08 51 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 audio content from your iPod using the controls o...

Other connections 08 52 En 1 Use the / buttons to select a category then press ENTER to browse that category. • To return to the previous level, press RETURN . 2 Use the / buttons to browse the selected category (e.g., albums). • Use / to move to previous/next levels. 3 Continue browsing until you a...

Other connections 08 53 En 1 Use an HDMI cable to connect one of the HDMI IN interconnects on this receiver to an HDMI output on your HDMI component. HDMI indicator lights on the front panel when an HDMI- equipped component is connected. 2 Use an HDMI cable to connect the HDMI OUT interconnect on th...

Other connections 08 54 En 1 Connect the front, surround, center and subwoofer outputs on your DVD player to the corresponding MULTI CH input jack on this receiver. • Use standard RCA/phono jack cables for the connections. 2 If your DVD player also has outputs for surround back channels, connect the...

Other connections 08 55 En Press repeatedly to choose a speaker system option: • SP A – Sound is output from speaker system A and the same signal is output from the pre-out terminals. • SP B – Sound is output from the two speakers connected to speaker system B. Multichannel sources will not be heard...

Other connections 08 56 En Connecting additional amplifiers This receiver has more than enough power for any home use, but it’s possible to add additional amplifiers to every channel of your system using the pre-outs. Make the connections shown below to add amplifiers to power your speakers. • Befor...

Other connections 08 57 En MULTI-ZONE listening options The following table shows what you can listen to in each sub zone: Basic MULTI-ZONE setup ( ZONE 2 ) 1 Connect a separate amplifier to the MULTI-ZONE & SOURCE OUT jacks and a TV monitor to the MULTI- ZONE & SOURCE MONITOR OUT jacks, bot...

Other connections 08 58 En Using the MULTI-ZONE controls The following steps use the front panel controls to adjust the sub zone volume and select sources. 1 See MULTI- ZONE remote controls below. 1 Press the MULTI-ZONE & SOURCE ON/OFF button on the front panel. Each press selects a MULTI-ZONE o...

Other connections 08 59 En 1 Connect the IR receiver sensor to the MULTI-ZONE & SOURCE IR IN ( MAIN ZONE ) jack on the rear of this receiver. If you also plan to use a separate IR receiver in the sub room, connect this to the ZONE2 jack. 2 Connect the IR IN jack of another component to the MULTI...

Other connections 08 60 En Important • You can’t use the SR+ features when HDMI Control is set to ON. Make sure to set HDMI Control to OFF when you use the SR+ features (page 63). • If you connect to a Pioneer plasma display using an SR+ cable, you will need to point the remote control at the plasma...

Other connections 08 61 En Connecting a PC for Advanced MCACC output When using the Acoustic Calibration EQ Professional (see page 43) to calibrate the reverb characteristics of your listening room, you can graphically check the results on your computer connected to this receiver. Also, when the Ful...

HDMI Control 09 62 En Chapter 9 HDMI Control By connecting this receiver to an HDMI Control-compatible Pioneer plasma display or the HDD/DVD recorder with an HDMI cable, you can control this receiver from the remote control of a connected plasma display, as well as have the connected plasma display ...

HDMI Control 09 63 En Setting the HDMI options You must adjust the settings of this receiver as well as HDMI Control-compatible connected components in order to make use of the HDMI Control function. For more information see the operating instructions for each component. Setting the HDMI Control mod...

Other Settings 10 64 En Chapter 10: 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 r...

Other Settings 10 65 En Input function default and possible settings The terminals on the rear of the receiver generally correspond to the name of one of the input source functions. If you have connected components to this receiver differently from (or in addition to) the defaults below, see The Inp...

Other Settings 10 66 En Multi Channel Input Setup You can adjust the level of the subwoofer for a multi-channel input. Also, when the multi-channel input is selected as an input source, you can display the video images of other input sources. In the Multi Channel Input Setup, you can assign a video ...

Other Settings 10 67 En 2 Select the ‘ PDP Volume Control ’ setting you want. • OFF – The receiver does not control the volume of the plasma display. • ON – When the receiver is switched to one of the inputs that use the plasma display ( DVD/LD , for example), the volume on the plasma display is mut...

Using other functions 11 68 En Chapter 11: Using other functions Setting the Audio options There are a number of additional sound settings you can make using the Audio Parameter menu. The defaults, if not stated, are listed in bold. Important • Note that if a setting doesn’t appear in the Audio Para...

Using other functions 11 69 En Setting the Video options There are a number of additional picture settings you can make using the Video Parameter menu. The defaults, if not stated, are listed in bold. Important • Note that if a setting doesn’t appear in the Video Parameter menu, it is unavailable du...

Using other functions 11 70 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 To use this feature, you must set ZONE2/RECSEL to RECSEL in the ZONE Audio...

Using other functions 11 71 En 1 During recording, press the REC SELECT CONTROL button on the front panel until RECOUT shows in the display. 1 2 While RECOUT shows in the display, use the INPUT SELECTOR dial to select the source you want to record. The default, RECOUT SOURCE , records the source you...

Using other functions 11 72 En Checking your system settings Use the status display screen to check your current settings for features such as surround back channel processing and your current MCACC preset. 1 Press STATUS to check the system settings. These appear on the front panel display. 1 The f...

Controlling the rest of your system 12 74 En Chapter 12: 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 12 75 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 3 cm t...

Controlling the rest of your system 12 76 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 ...

Controlling the rest of your system 12 77 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 12 78 En • The TV CONTROL buttons on the remote control are dedicated to control the TV assigned to the TV CTRL button. If you have two TVs, assign the main TV to the TV CTRL button. Controls for other components This remote control can control these components af...

Controlling the rest of your system 12 79 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 13 80 En Chapter 13: 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 13 81 En Other audio problems No sound from the surround or center speakers. • Check that the Stereo listening mode or the Front Stage Surround Advance mode isn’t selected; select one of the surround listening modes (see Listening in surround sound on page 29). • Check that th...

Additional information 13 82 En Video Noise is output when scanning a DTS CD. • This is not a malfunction of the receiver. The scan function of your player alters the digital information, making it unreadable, resulting in noise being output. Lower the volume when scanning. When playing a DTS format...

Additional information 13 83 En Settings Professional Calibration EQ graphical output Display Can’t record video. • Check that the source is not copy-protected.• The video converter is not available when making recordings. Check that the same type of video cable is used for connecting both the recor...

Additional information 13 84 En Remote control HDMI You can’t get DIGITAL to display when using the SIGNAL SELECT button. • Check the digital connections and make sure that the digital inputs are assigned correctly (see The Input Setup menu on page 64). • If the multichannel analog inputs are select...

Additional information 13 85 En iPod 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. No picture or sound. • This receiver is HDCP-compatible. ...

Additional information 13 86 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 13 87 En DTS The DTS technologies are explained below. See www.dtstech.com for more detailed information. DTS Digital Surround DTS Digital Surround is a 5.1-channel audio coding system from DTS Inc. now widely used for DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, 5.1 music discs, digital broadcasts,...

Additional information 13 89 En Listening modes with different input signal formats The following charts outline the listening modes available with different input signal formats, depending on the surround back channel processing and decoding method you have selected. Stereo (2 channel) signal forma...

Additional information 13 90 En Multichannel signal formats SBch Processing OFF d (Maximum 5.1 channel playback) Dolby Digital Surround 2 Pro Logic ll MOVIE 2 Pro Logic ll MUSIC 2 Pro Logic ll GAME 2 PRO LOGIC Neo:6 CINEMA Neo:6 MUSIC 2 Pro Logic ll MOVIE+THX 2 PRO LOGIC+THX Neo:6 CINEMA+THX 2 Pro L...

Additional information 13 91 En SBch Processing ON (7.1 channel decoding used for all sources) DTS-ES b (6.1 channel sources/ 6.1 channel flagged) DTS-ES (Matrix/Discrete) DTS+ 2 Pro Logic llx MOVIE a DTS+ 2 Pro Logic llx MUSIC DTS-ES+THX (Matrix/Discrete) DTS+ 2 Pro Logic llx MOVIE+THX a THX Select...

Additional information 13 93 En Specifications Amplifier Section Maximum Output Power (1 kHz, THD 10.0 %, 6 Ω ) . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 W/channel (LX70), 250 W/channel (LX60) Continuous Power Output (DIN 1 kHz, THD 1 %, 6 Ω ) Front . . . . . . . 180 W + 180 W (LX70), 170 W + 170 W (LX60)Center ....

Additional information 13 94 En Cleaning the unit • Use a polishing cloth or dry cloth to wipe off dust and dirt. • When the surface is dirty, wipe with a soft cloth dipped in some neutral cleanser diluted five or six times with water, and wrung out well, and then wipe again with a dry cloth. Do not...

Additional information 13 95 En • DCDi Faroudja’s DCDi Processing is selectable and ensures that images are smooth and natural, without staircasing or jaggies. • iPod Ready With the new iPod terminal, you’ll be up and running in no time, now that this receiver’s enhanced compatibility makes on-scree...

Printed in <ARB7382-A> Published by Pioneer Corporation.Copyright © 2007 Pioneer Corporation.All rights reserved. PIONEER CORPORATION 4-1, Meguro 1-Chome, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8654, Japan PIONEER ELECTRONICS (USA) INC. P.O. BOX 1540, Long Beach, California 90801-1540, U.S.A. TEL: (800) 421-140...