A Good Match? Pioneer Elite Receiver & ACI Panorama/Sapp

Jayman · « **on:** 21 Oct 2005, 05:32 pm »

I used to own a pair of Sapphire II's many years back and had them paired with 200w B&K monoblocks. I found the sound to be quite balanced, the B&Ks were a little laid back and warm (for a solid-state amp) while the Sapphires were a little bright. I have long since sold all that gear and lived with crappy low-end mid-fi for quite some time (B&W 602's and Denon vanilla Receiver). I just sold all that gear as well as I just moved back to the USA from China.

I am now looking to re-build a decent system with ACI as the heart. I will be getting the panoramas. I can't yet afford B&K separates and need a decent A/V receiver that is a good match with the Panoramas. I am looking at getting either the Pioneer Elite VSX-52TX or the 54X. Both are 110 wpc.

Does anyone have experience with the Pioneer / Panorama matchup (or even Sapphires)? Would you please share your experience or opinion based on your knowledge of the two?

Thanks

PS - I like my sound neutral and detailed, leaning a tad bit toward warmer sounding mids. I will be pairing with an ACI self-powered sub so deep base is not an issue here.

Mike Dzurko · « **Reply #1 on:** 22 Oct 2005, 03:20 am »

How big is the room? Dimensions? Thanks!

Jayman · « **Reply #2 on:** 22 Oct 2005, 04:07 am »

Mike,

As of yet I do not know the room dimensions. I imagine that I will first be moving into a small 2-bedroom apartment until the housing bubble bursts and the time is right to buy a home.

Either way we are looking at a small living room, maybe 16' x 12'? something like that. In other words we are filling a small space. I am assuming you are asking because you are afraid there's not enough juice to fill a large space?

I am most curious about just how they will match up, these components.

Thanks in advance

Groch · « **Reply #3 on:** 22 Oct 2005, 05:12 am »

Hi Jayman, Welcome back.

I have used the Elite VSX-56Txi in a surround setup with both the Sapphire 25th edition and the Sapphire XLs. The 56 has the same power ratings as the 52/54 but somewhat different processing. It was a great match. I purchased the 56TXi because I felt that while some other brands had slight feature advantages, the Pioneer sounded better most of the time.

The Elite receivers have really fine amplification. Pioneer uses all MOSFETs and very large power supplies and caps in the Elite series products. It easily played the Sapphires louder than I would ever use them in my 2 bedroom apartment, and as the Panoramas are a bit more sensitive than the Sapphires it should be great for them too.

I felt that the Elite receivers tended towards a slightly warmer sound than Yamaha or Denon, which sounds like what you are looking for. I do think that it might be a tight squeeze putting Panoramas all around in a room that size, but the Pioneer receivers all have built in room equalization, so a set up using larger speakers in front and perhaps Emeralds in the rear might be a good solution.

Jayman · « **Reply #4 on:** 22 Oct 2005, 06:16 am »

Groch,

Thanks for your reply. Indeed I was planning on putting the Pano/Sapphires in the front and smaller satellites for the rear channels.

What I am quite glad to hear is your first-hand experience with this combo and your confirmation that the ACI / Pioneer together should suit my preferences.

Thanks again.

Mike Dzurko · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 Oct 2005, 08:48 pm »

I haven't recently listened to the Elites but Groch has given you good feedback, and his comments match with what I've heard from other folks. Sounds like the Elite will be a pretty good match. The Sapphire XLs and Panorama are both easy loads for an amp. They don't have real high sensitivity, but the easy impedance load allows them to work well with just about any amp in the real world.