Hub for HDMI connects. Prodigious amplifying power. Advanced Multi-Channel AcoustiC Calibration System (MCACC) for calibrating speakers and listening room.

Remote is not backlit.

Recently we upgraded from Pioneer’s Elite VSX-39TX receiver to the current highest rank of the Elite line, the VSX-84TXSi. This receiver performs exceptionally. I refuse to describe the Pioneer with the numbing, sleep-inducing cliché “awesome.” Words like “exceptional” or “atypical” are far more expressive of its characteristics.

Although correctly connecting the complex Pioneer VSX-84TXSi to all the other ancillary components took several hours spread out over two days, by studying the available online operating instructions in advance of the purchase made installation easier

One of the highlights of the VSX-84TXSi is Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration, or MCACC, Pioneer’s automatic surround sound setup using its included microphone. With three front Cambridge SoundWorks in-wall speakers along with four CSW surround speakers and a CSW subwoofer, this 7.1 speaker system presented a seemingly fine sound portrait, but after MCACC setup, the entire soundstage took on an enhanced quality, easily surpassing our earlier impressions. MCACC automatically calibrates the speakers taking into account the entire acoustical space of the room! It automatically determines speaker size and distance from listening position, channel delay and channel level for up to six listening positions. In addition, the VSX-84TXSi also provides phase correction and standing wave elimination to prevent distortion to maintain sound coherency for each listening position. We now have superb sound from a relatively modest speaker array.

Many of the Pioneer VSX-84TXSi features are presently beyond my ability to use such as the HDMI inputs which will one day connect a future plasma or LCD TV to a high definition DVD player. HDMI uses one connect in place of three component and two audio connects to reduce cable clutter. That we like a lot. It reportedly surpasses the three-wire component connects in video quality.

With this newest flagship receiver from Pioneer, the music from the Fantasia 2000 DVD appears with several magnitudes of greater clarity, depth, and breadth. Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto, all featured on Fantasia 2000, were more distinct and dynamic than ever before. On minidisc Diane Schuur (in a duet with José Feliciano on one track) surprised me with an obviously augmented sound field, with heretofore unheard nuances of vocal music. The exquisite and remarkably melodic Miklos Rosza film score on DVD of "Ben-Hur" also revealed details of orchestration of which I had been previously unaware. (Give a listen to Rosza's Violin Concerto and be astounded at its utter beauty.) And when we hear Alfred Newman’s 20th Century Fox fanfare we are indeed in the theater!

Before MCACC calibration, the piano and percussion of the Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" Super Audio CD sounded so subdued as if recorded far in the background, but after calibration, the piano and percussion assume a full and proper perspective with other soloists.

This Pioneer even showcases CD’s burned from iTunes such as Kodály’s Sonata for Cello and Piano or Yusef Lateef’s “Bamboo Flute Blues.” We knew these titles before as stereo LP’s, but now as CD's, through this receiver they acquire a breathtaking immediacy and clarity. Even an old monaural LP favorite such as “Cantorial Jewels” displays new details of tenor Richard Tucker’s great singing, even revealing his slight overextension on one track. "The Blues and the Abstract Truth" by Oliver Nelson was always a fine music, but this Pioneer A-V receiver adds a presence that can be almost touched.

All this says that the aesthetic and emotional promise of being in the space of a performance or film presentation finds fulfillment using the VSX-84TXSi. With features too numerous to describe, this receiver will add to the enjoyment of a home audio/video regardless of selected source. Of course no collection of electronics can displace the experience of attending a live performance nor will it equal the IMAX theater experience. Even so we can at home attempt to create a reasonable and highly satisfying facsimile of those events.

If this review appears too fervent in its praise of this particular Pioneer receiver, such fervency is due to the successful collocation of elements of engineering whose effect is to cause one while listening to sigh, to laugh, to cheer, perhaps even to weep and say “ah” in response.

Strongly recommended!

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite VSX-39TX and two other earlier Pioneer receivers.