VSX-94TXH Testing System and Listening Tests

Reference System 2 features an RBH Sound CinemaSITE system complete with a full 5.1 system of Signature SI-760/R speakers, a pair of 66-SE dipole surround speakers, and a pair of SI-1010P powered subwoofers. A 92-inch Masquerade projector screen masking system from Carada shows off the image from a reference Epson Pro Cinema 1080UB LCD projector. The room has been thoroughly treated with acoustical material, including both diffusion and absorption, provided by RPG Diffusors. An APC S15 system with additional SBATT provides power protection and runs the entire system on battery should 'Florida Flicker' power company decide to become lax in executing its duties. For sources I use a Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD player and a Denon DVD-3930CI DVD player. I also, on occasion, put up footage from the Xbox 360 to show off high definition gaming footage.

Listening Tests - Two-Channel

We put up a bunch of test discs, but disengaged the MCACC system's EQ in order to get a straight-up, undefiled comparison of the listening material. Focusing on two-channel is crucial in my opinion as it gives the receiver a chance to dump all of its power reserves into just two channels, rather than spreading the power supply thin across all 5 or 7 channels. We utilized some old standby reference material as well as some newer (for us) titles in order to get a clear appreciation of what this receiver could put forth.

CD: Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
This album has a surreal, nearly ominous tone for much of its duration. The title track quickly launches into a powerful wash of electric guitar and drums-laden chords which push both bass and high-end to their limits. After the verse and chorus a guitar solo really let me hear the articulate midrange that was otherwise hiding behind the wall of sound which was so pervasive in this track. Paying attention to cymbal hits and the almost aquatic-sounding synth sounds, I felt that the Pioneer had a good handle on providing plenty of resolution to the track. "Shallow" has a more coherent, chorused guitar track while distorted vocals reveal, after the first verse, a clean midrange tonality. The lower mid-bass was pushed hard by the cohesive bass-drum combination that drove the chorus. I played this song LOUD (over 100dB peaks at the listening position according to my SPL meter) and the VSX-94TXH had a lot more headroom left to give. Even though I can, I simply don't have any desire to push an AV receiver that loud for long and risk damaging my hearing. Even at higher levels, the Pioneer continued to retain its dynamics. Mated to good speakers, this is a receiver that can deliver truly clean-sounding and powerful audio to ridiculous levels. Track 5 "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" was an obvious exercise in imaging, so present was the musical content in the room. At times I felt the instruments come right out of the main speakers towards the surrounds (which were not engaged) - an eerily pleasant effect of depth, but one that caught me off guard the first time I heard it.

CD: Damien Rice - O
This album has some wide-ranging dynamics, lending itself to be an awesome reference disc that I like to pull out for most of my reviews (whether or not it makes it into the final copy). On "Delicate" a good AV receiver will have Rice's voice positioned well into the room and allow me to hear the slight crack in his tonality. The VSX-94TXH did just that and the violins, panned mostly left in the first track, were absolutely raw and beautiful in their reproduction. "Volcano" has a nice, almost Chinese-styled, cello intro that gives over to bass and a deliberate working of cymbal bell hits. Though this track would get lost on a system that didn't have enough dynamics and control to handle the detail, the VSX-94TXH never once faltered. Finger noises on the primary guitar are unmistakable and, while they will be picked up by even the worst AV receiver in the world, the ultra high-end squeaks will not come off with any clarity. Pioneer's receiver portrayed them authentically, with all of the proper decay and no compression. Bass in this track was thick and strong, pushing the speakers to their limits as the full complement of sounds fill in the other frequency ranges. As the song wrapped up in a sort of canon-style of vocal presentation, the Pioneer rendered the pleasant cacophony with finesse, though it seemed that every sound and instrument possible was firing off at once. Lastly, "Amie" featured twin acoustic guitars with a mixture of truly 3-dimensional string effects that found their way well into the room. Powerful strings enter the mix early in the song and filled the listening room completely, putting me in the middle of a symphony hall. Reverb was nothing short of perfect and the airiness presented by the Pioneer made me appreciate the clean sound of this receiver.

Listening Tests - Multi-Channel

This go-around I shied away from movies. To be honest, they mostly measure your AV receiver's ability to play loud and send a bass-managed signal to a subwoofer. Since most of you already realize that Transformers will sound awesome on this receiver, I felt it more important to focus on music - a much more difficult medium. To help me out with this task, I enlisted some classics as well as some more current products from our friends at AIX Records, who consistently put out top-quality 5.1 DVD-Audio discs with unique audience and "stage" mixes that audibly put you in the middle of the session as it's being recorded.

dts CD: Eagles - Hell Freezes Over
From the very outset, this album took my ears captive and held them until the disc ended. Short, but sweet, "Tequila Sunrise" came through the Pioneer VSX-94TXH as if it wasn't really there - so clear was the sound of the up-front acoustic guitar and percussion which filled the surrounds. "Hotel California" sounded so clear on the Pioneer, with the opening guitar solo simply issuing forth from the CinemaSITE as if I were listening to the band play live right in my living room. As crowd cheers and clapping poured into the surrounds and the bass started to hit, the VSX-94TXH seemed to do a good job at bringing out the special nuances in music that lesser receivers might gloss over. Don Henley's vocals had such a pure, almost raw feel that it didn't sound as if his lips had ever come in contact with a microphone - so honest was the presentation. During "I Can't Tell You Why" the keyboard strings gently floated into the room as Timothy B. Schmidt's falsetto voice carried out the opening verse. I was close to listening to the entire dts album, but finally stopped myself - after track 9 "New York Minute". I frequently use this track to test out a receiver's ability to convey quality, extended reverb through my system. The verb in this track is particularly smooth and uncompressed, and the CinemaSITE presents it unrestrained, allowing me to test an AV receiver's ability to correctly portray the track. The Pioneer didn't let me down and carried the detail of the piece, unmolested, to my ears.

DVD-Audio: Laurence Juber - Guitar Noir
Laurence Juber's Guitar Noir is an incredibly pure music experience, with single guitar, bass and percussion driving the majority of songs. Juber's style is very authentic and almost super-acoustic, largely because he doesn't seem to ever use a pick - at least not in any of the songs I touch upon here. The opening title song put forth Juber's dynamic solo guitar playing in a truly live way. I was playing the Stage Mix version of this disc and, between the Pioneer's authentic rendition of the upright bass and the subtle but clear percussion emanating from mostly the right surround, it was like sitting on the floor in the midst of something very grand. What was great about these tracks was how the Pioneer was being forced to route power to all of the speakers in equal portion - treating the surrounds as equals. Rather than playing second fiddle, the surrounds were equally detailed and exquisite, showing me that care was given by the VSX-94TXH to all channels. "Mosaic" is another solo guitar exercise, with a shaker and ultra-high chimes that were well-produced by the tweeters and remained uncompressed as they danced through the room. Both track 5 "Rules of the Road" and track 9 "Stolen Glances" began with some interesting finger slaps on acoustic guitar that really came through with exceptional crispness and presented yet another great source for testing the ability of the Pioneer to handle quick dynamics that didn't sound slurred and suffered none of the sloppiness a less-equipped receiver might produce.

DVD-Audio: The Carl Verheyen Band - Rumor Mill
Guitar fingering and lick'in good, this uncompressed and effects-free DVD-Audio disc is an exceptional source that will bring any flaws in your system front and center. Now that I had recently listened to some acoustics tracks, I wanted to go back and queue up some electric guitar and drums to give a listen to some "thicker" tracks and hear how the Pioneer handled a more dynamic piece. The VSX-94TXH handled the cymbal decays in track 9 "Holly House" without any of the tell-tale muted compression you can observe in underpowered systems. Pioneer's flagship receiver dealt with this bluesy rock tune authoritatively and allowed me to crank it up to over 103dB (measured peaks) at the listening position (albeit I didn't do this for long) without introducing any noticeable compression, even on the difficult crashes and Hammond B3 organ which ramps up in the final parts of the song. Track 10 "Passing Through" introduced Carl's vocals (raw and unrefined, but passable) and an aggressive 5-string bass and drums that really broke through the mix and challenged the Pioneer's dynamic capabilities. This DVD-Audio disc really worked the Pioneer to untold levels, but no matter how hard I tried (reviewers are sadistic at times when it comes to testing gear) I couldn't really get it to audibly distort, compress or otherwise give out and underperform my expectations.