Pioneer VSXAX4ASis - 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 • Sub room remote control unit (VSX-AX4ASi only) • AA/R6P dry cell batteries (VSX-AX4ASi) x4 / ...

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 11 Composite and S-video monitor outputs Use to connect monitors and TVs. Connecting your TV and DVD player on page 12. 12 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 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 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...

Connecting your equipment 03 21 En Plugging in the receiver After you’ve finished making all connections, plug the receiver into an AC outlet. The type of cord and the plug converter which can be used depends on the power voltage in each region or country. Please make sure you use the correct cord a...

Controls and displays 04 22 En Chapter 4: Controls and displays Front panel Illustration shows the VSX-AX4ASi 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 23 En 9 MCACC indicator Lights when one of the MCACC presets (page 30) is selected. 10 i.LINK indicator (VSX-AX4ASi only) Lights when an i.LINK-Audio-equipped component is selected (page 51). DIGITAL VIDEO SCALER indicator (VSX-AX2AS only) Lights when Resolution is set to a ...

Controls and displays 04 24 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 31). 2 Program format indicators These change according to which channels are active in digital source...

Controls and displays 04 25 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 75) • Blue – Tuner controls...

Controls and displays 04 26 En 7 TV CONTROL buttons These buttons are dedicated to control the TV assigned to the TV CONT button. Thus if you only have one TV to hook up to this system assign it to the TV CONT input source button. If you have two TVs, assign the main TV to the TV CONT button (see pa...

Controls and displays 04 27 En Sub remote control unit VSX-AX4ASi only The second remote control supplied with this receiver is for use with the multi-room listening feature, as explained on page 57. Note that you must connect a separate IR receiver as explained in Connecting an IR receiver on page ...

Listening to your system 05 28 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 29 En Using the Home THX modes THX and Home THX are technical standards created by THX 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 depending on t...

Listening to your system 05 30 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 31 En Choosing the input signal You need to hook up a component to both analog and digital inputs on the receiver to select between input signals. 1 • Press SIGNAL SEL (SIGNAL SELECT ) to select the input signal corresponding to the source component. Each press cycles thr...

Listening to your system 05 32 En • VirtualSB OFF – Virtual Surround Back mode is switched off Using the Sound Retriever When audio data is removed during the WMA/MP3/MPEG-4 AAC compression process, sound quality often suffers from an uneven sound image. The Sound Retriever feature employs new DSP t...

Using the tuner 06 33 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 34 En Naming station presets For easier identification, you can name your station presets. 1 Choose the station preset you want to name. See Listening to station presets below for how to do this. 2 Press T.EDIT (TUNER EDIT). The display shows STATION NAME , then a blinking cursor ...

The System Setup menu 07 35 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 37 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 OK a...

The System Setup menu 07 38 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 39 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 40 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 41 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 42 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 43 En 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 adjustments for the same listening position). 1 This is useful for alternate settings to match the kind of sou...

The System Setup menu 07 44 En Renaming MCACC presets If you have several different MCACC presets that you’re using, you may want to rename them for easier identification. 1 Select ‘Memory Rename’ from the Data Management setup menu. 2 Select the MCACC preset you want to rename, then select an appro...

The System Setup menu 07 45 En Speaker Setting Use this setting to specify your speaker configuration (size, number of speakers and crossover frequency). It is a good idea to make sure that the settings made in Automatically setting up for surround sound (MCACC) on page 7 are correct. 1 Note that th...

The System Setup menu 07 46 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 47 En X-Curve Most soundtracks mixed for cinema sound too bright when played back in large rooms. The X-Curve setting acts as a kind of re-equalization for home theater listening, and restores proper tonal balance of movie soundtracks. 1 1 Select ‘X-Curve’ from the Manual SP...

Other connections 08 48 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 and video from your iPod using the controls...

Other connections 08 49 En 2 Use the / buttons to browse the selected category (e.g., albums). • Use / to move to previous/next levels. 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 ...

Other connections 08 50 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 51 En Using the i.LINK interface VSX-AX4ASi 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 52 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 63, 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 53 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 54 En Using the USB interface VSX-AX4ASi 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 55 En Second Zone speaker B setup 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 08 56 En 2 Select the ‘Front Bi-Amp’ setting from the ‘Surr Back System’ menu. See Surround back speaker setting on page 37 to specify how you’re using the surround back speaker terminals. Caution • Most speakers with both High and Low terminals have two metal plates that connect t...

Other connections 08 57 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 58 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 (ROOM 3) • Connect a separate amplifier to th...

Other connections 08 59 En 4 Use the MASTER VOLUME dial to adjust the volume. This is only possible if you selected the VARIABLE volume control in Multi-Room setup on page 65. 1 5 When you’re finished, press CONTROL again to return to the main room controls. You can also press the MULTI ROOM & S...

Other connections 08 60 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 61 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 62 En Connecting a PC for Advanced MCACC output If you use the Professional Acoustic Calibration EQ (see page 40) 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 63 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 64 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 60), select M. ROOM , ROOM2 , ROOM3 or OFF for the corresponding trigger setting to switch it on automatically along with t...

Other Settings 09 65 En Multi-Room setup • Default setting: Variable If you’ve made multi-room connections (see Multi-room listening on page 57) you may need to specify your volume setting. 1 Select ‘Multi-Room’ from the System Setup menu. 2 Select the volume level setting. 1 • Variable – Use this s...

Using other functions 10 66 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 67 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 68 En Playing a different source when recording Using this receiver, it’s possible to listen to a different source than the one you’re recording. 1 During recording, press the REC SELECT CONTROL button on the front panel until RECOUT shows in the display. 1 2 While RECOUT sh...

Using other functions 10 70 En Resetting the system Use this procedure to reset all the receiver’s settings to the factory default. Use the front panel controls to do this. 1 Switch the receiver into standby. 2 While holding down the front panel AV PARAMETER button, press and hold STANDBY/ON for abo...

Controlling the rest of your system 11 71 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 72 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 11 73 En Renaming input source names You can customize the names that appear on the remote LCD when you select an input source (for example, you could change the name of DVR 1 to HDD/DVR ). 1 While pressing the RECEIVER button, press SETUP . The remote LCD display...

Controlling the rest of your system 11 74 En 7 Select the button for the command you want to input. The following remote control commands can be selected: • You don't need to program the receiver to switch on or off. This is done automatically. With Pioneer components , you don’t need to: • program ...

Controlling the rest of your system 11 75 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 71 for more on this). Use the input source buttons to select the ...

Controlling the rest of your system 11 76 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 77 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 78 En No sound Symptom Remedy No sound is output when an input source is selected.No sound output from the front speakers. • Check the volume, mute setting (press MUTE ) and speaker setting (press SPEAKERS ). • Make sure the correct input source is selected.• Check that the...

Additional information 12 79 En Other audio problems Symptom Remedy Broadcast stations cannot be selected automatically, or there is considerable noise in radio broadcasts. For FM broadcasts • Fully extend the FM wire antenna, adjust the position for best reception and secure to a wall, etc.• Use an...

Additional information 12 80 En Video Settings Professional Calibration EQ graphical output Symptom Remedy No image is output when an input is selected. • Check the video connections of the source component (see page 13).• For high-definition video (using component video connections), or when digita...

Additional information 12 81 En Display Remote control Symptom Remedy The display is dark or off. • Press DIMMER on the remote control repeatedly to select a different brightness. After making an adjustment the display goes off. • Press DIMMER on the remote control repeatedly to select a different b...

Additional information 12 83 En USB interface HDMI 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. Symptom Remedy No sound. • Make sure y...

Additional information 12 84 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 85 En Windows Media ® Audio 9 Professional Windows Media ® Audio 9 Professional (WMA9 Pro) is a discrete surround format developed by Microsoft Corporation. WMA9 Pro can support up to 5.1/7.1 channel playback with sampling rates up to 24-bit/96 kHz. Using the unique WMA com...

Additional information 12 86 En ASA processing blends the side surround speakers and back surround speakers providing the optimal mix of ambient and directional surround sounds.DTS-ES (Matrix and 6.1 Discrete) and Dolby Digital Surround EX encoded soundtracks will be automatically detected in Select...

Additional information 12 87 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 (6.1/7.1 channel) Straight decoding WMA+THX CINEMA Straight decoding Dolby Digital EX (6.1 channel flagge...

Additional information 12 89 En Specifications Amplifier Section Maximum Output Power (1 kHz, THD 10.0 %, 6 Ω ) . . . . . . . . 270 W/channel (AX4ASi), 250 W/channel (AX2AS) Continuous Power Output (DIN 1 kHz, THD 1 %, 6 Ω ) Front . . . 180 W + 180 W (AX4ASi), 170 W + 170 W (AX2AS)Center . . . . . ....

Additional information 12 90 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...

<06G00001> <XRB3068-A> Printed in 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, Ontar...