tromprof Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Up until recently my main system consited of a pair of Klipschorns with a center La Scala (as a summed mono center) being driven by a very nice Grant Fidelity 300B tube amp for LR, and a Canadian tube amp doing the center. I also built a Cinema F-20 sub as well. Prior to the 300B amp I had owned a number of SS amps (Adcom, Yamaha, Sony...) but non of them came close to the magic of the 300B combined with the big horns. The sound was absolute bliss for music and I figured I had taken things about as far as I could go. Wrong. Since we watch movies in the basement as well I have been thinking about maybe adding a reciever capable of surround sound, but I was somewhat afraid the sound would not be up to the high standard set by the tube setup. I also needed to keep the budget for the receiver modest. At first I was intriged by Onkyo receivers, esp. the 809 and 818. They had all the bells and wistles and seemed to have a good reputation here, but on the AVS forum there seemed to be a number of complaints about HDMI failures. Sounded a little scary. In my research I also came across the Pioneer Elite SC-61. What was interesting about this unit is Pioneer is using "class D3" amps in it which have received a number of very good reviews and was first seem a couple of years ago in their flagship units. The only problem was price; $1,100. Well past my budget. A little more digging online and it turns out the the Pioneer SC-1222K and the Pioneer Elite SC-61 are the same unit, just different markings, and even better Newegg has in on sale for $549 with free shipping. Seems like a good way to try surround sound receiver, and if I hate it I can always return it. Well... It has now been two weeks. It took a couple of days to get everything dialed in and the sound is mindblowing. Clarity, depth, and great musicallity, even better than the 300B tubes! So much better in fact I sold the 300B, which not only paid for the Pioneer but also for a near mint pair of walnut Fortes now doing surround duty. I have always loved the sound of tubes with the K-horns above any amp until now. It makes me a little sad to see them go for a humble receiver, but this Pioneer is asolutly awesome, even with the turntable, though I am using a tube phono preamp so there is still a little glow in the basement. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K5SS Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Top shelf Pioneer receivers are hard to beat. I have hooked up separate, high end amps and my SC-35 with I.C.E. amplifiers drives them just as good if not better than the separates. With the built in processors and tuning, they can't be beat IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Great pickup! [H][Y] I also have an SC 35 and feel it is a great avr. MCACC and the pre-amp section are hard to beat when it comes to total system integration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet_Hollow Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Nice, albeit heart breaking review. That last paragraph almost had me shedding a tear for your 300B too. No doubt, D3 = amazing sound at commodity pricing. [Y][8] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlg235 Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 My retailer swapped out my 2 year old Anthem MRX 500 dollar for dollar into a Pioneer SC 65. I've never even considered Pioneer in the past (older receiver is a Denon 3300), but I've been absolutely blown away since hooking it up. Depending on what type of mobile phone you're using...you can control many Pioneer receivers on the fly with iControlAV2 or iControlAV2012 through Google or the AppStore. Congrats!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tromprof Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 I am in love with the sound but am just starting to scratch the surface on all the other little things it does. I will look into the phone thing, I am also pretty sure there is an ap for the ipad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted December 29, 2012 Moderators Share Posted December 29, 2012 Someone here uses the tag line " if it sounds good it is good", glad to hear you like it. [Y] Just think how much cheaper and less maintance you will have over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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