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Opinions On Pioneer Elite Sc-71 Receiver


jordan122345

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Hey guys just trying to get some opinions on this receiver I found for.a good price. I will be running klipsch rf 82 fronts,klipsch rc35 center,and klipsch rs35 rears. I am still searching for a sub and an amp.  But anyways the receiver I found is a brand new pioneer sc-71 for $600 AMD it looks to have pretty dang good specs. Any chance of a better receiver for $600. Any opinions would be awesome. Thanks ron

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A lot of equipment could be THX certified and if it was, it would be more expensive because of the licensing to be THX certified. Its just another marketing tool.

Class D amplification is the topology of the amps design. Class D is extremely efficient and only uses the power it needs. Traditional receivers and most amplifiers are class A/B because they offer a good balance of sound quality refinement and efficiency but has a good amount of waste heat. Class D runs cooler and is more efficient but is harder to get good sound quality out of. Keep in mind, the Class D revolution has really only come to a head in the last few years and there has been a ton of improvement in the technology.

Personally, I have found some class A/B and Class D to have noisy ground floors (when you have no sound being played, the noise you hear in the background). You really aren't supposed to hear anything with the amp on but sometimes it happens depending on the amps design. There are also other classes of amps such as G and H which are similar to A/B and offer better sound quality with far better efficiency than A/B nearing class D efficiency. Class G and H work on different voltage rails in the transformer and change when additional power is needed which is not how class A/B functions, it just stays on a single rail. When the rails change, its inaudible and indistinguishably quick. I have this in my ARC audio car amps. Outlaw audio also makes a monoblock employing that technology. My 7 channel outlaw amp is class A/B and has a quiet noise floor.

The Pioneer SC amps have gotten good praise over the years it seems. I've read a few reviews and they have all been positive. Personally, I think the technology of Class D belongs in a receiver since you have limited space and heat is a concern. You get really good output that a class A/B would have a damned hard time mimicking. Face value, that receiver looks good. Pioneer usually has one of the best gizmo/trinket and quality to price ratio of the main brands. For some, this wins them over. I haven't done any research on it otherwise but i'd say if it it fits, you sits.

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Class D can be good and bad just like class A/B can be good and bad. I'd buy the receiver and test it. Do you have a return period? Test it out and see if it meets your needs. Its just a different topology at the end of the end. A lot of audiophiles don't like it because its digitally based and not analog. They say that some of the sound is "lost" or it lacks warmth. Every amplifier has its own unique sonic signature. The sooner you learn this fact, the better off you will be. To further make it more...interesting, keep in mind that each and everyone hears the sound from a unique perspective, their own.

The best most uninhibited sound you can can get is from a purely analog source. That would mean a class A tube amplifier with a turntable for instance. There would be ZERO digital incursion here because nothing has been converted to 1's and 0's for instance. Class A is extremely inefficient and expensive and produces a ton of waste heat. A lot of people say they can heat part of their house or at minimum the room the amplifier is in. For the most part, Class A does not fit the mainstream household budget nor its ease of use and robustness in a multi-channel environment. Class A is typically used for 2 channel stereo setups.

Rotel is owned by bowers and wilkins and is one of the first mainstream HiFi companies to start employing Class D amplifiers in their multichannel amps. They make a good product and stand behind their Class D amps. I havent heard them but I can only assume that they sound pleasing. It's on my to-do list to hear them at some point although I dont think i want to make a change any time soon from what I have.

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if it makes you feel any better, it's a receiver. Unless you spend bucu bucks on one and even at that it isn't worth it, most receivers have a very similar performance curve when it comes to amplification. Almost every single class A/B amp is a slacker and has way overstated outputs. Sound and Vision mag or Home Theater mag very often bench test receivers and amps and I'd say that at full bore, all channels driven, most receivers will put out about 50% of what the manufacturer says. I am seeing it more and more that they are more clearly labeling things (tested with only 2 channels) which yields more power but isn't reflective of its use as a home theater multi-channel receiver. Its a deceitful and overlooked marketing tactic that they use.

The good thing is that the Pioneer SC line with Class D amps tend to adhere closer to the rated specs than its competitors. What you also have to realize is that have you have a dedicated subwoofer and cross your speakers at 60hz or 80hz, yours speakers shouldn't be power gobblers as if you had left them on full range and letting them reproduce those low bass tones which take power. In actuality, klipsch speakers are really efficient and the power that receivers put out are generally sufficient barring the low end receivers but even they generally work well. You can get low end out of your speakers on full range but most say, including myself that it isn't as clean and crisp as it could and should be. Most don't realize or don't care. Ignorance is bliss when it comes to audio until you've become enlightened.

The benefits of a separate power amp are clear after owning one. The sound is generally more refined and smooth with a ton of performance that is realized in the lower end of the frequency spectrum. This isn't a separates vs receiver debate but something i wanted to add.

After having gone to separates though, I don't have any desire to go back to just a receiver for my home theater needs. This isn't to scare you out of a receiver though. Receivers fit the needs of the many and for a small but growing group, separates are the way of life.

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I agree about separates. That is why I run seperates in both systems.

As far as receivers I have owned several ...this might be showing my age.. Now I just thought I'd say I was into stereo before they came out with 8 tracks. My first receiver was a Concept 5.5 .Then I stuck Pioneer for a while. When surround sound came in I went over to Onkyo then Sony Es then Denon. Did not like Denon at all. Of all the receivers I had the best was STR-DA7ES by Sony. The reason I went to seperates was cause I figured you are always going to need amplification but processing technology is going to keep changing. Back to the Pioneer Sc Elite series. Like I said. They seem Ok

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  • 1 month later...

Hey guys just trying to get some opinions on this receiver I found for.a good price. I will be running klipsch rf 82 fronts,klipsch rc35 center,and klipsch rs35 rears. I am still searching for a sub and an amp.  But anyways the receiver I found is a brand new pioneer sc-71 for $600 AMD it looks to have pretty dang good specs. Any chance of a better receiver for $600. Any opinions would be awesome. Thanks ron

How have you like the SC-71, I am about to pull the trigger on it or an Onkyo TX-NR818 and last choice is Denon X4000 but it is also the most costly. Do you mind telling me where I can get an SC-71 for $600 if this was new, thats an amazing price.

I am using

Klipsch WF34, WS24, WC24 and dual Emp Tek es1010i subs,

The X4000 has Audysey Multi EQ XT32 SUBEQ allowing independent level and delay of each sub. I think I would prefer Audysey over Pioneers room correction mode. However I would like the Class D amps for cooler running and I like the feature set of the SC-71 and have also looked at SC-63 which is actually a bit better feature wise but more costly. To date do you like the match with your speakers?

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i'm also looking at either the Denon AVR X4000 or the Pioneer Elite SC-63. I'm worried about the complexity of setting the Pioneer unit up. From the reviews on Amazon, it looks like the Denon may be more user friendly for a relative nOOb like me.

For reference, I'm currently running a 7.1 system with a HK AVR 630 powering a RC-35, a set of RF-35's, and 4 RS-35's. My sub is a HSU STF-3.

I'm really considering building a couple of subs using Scrappydue's thread to guide me: http://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/145539-build-thread-4-stereo-integrity-18s/

Thoughts?

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i'm also looking at either the Denon AVR X4000 or the Pioneer Elite SC-63. I'm worried about the complexity of setting the Pioneer unit up. From the reviews on Amazon, it looks like the Denon may be more user friendly for a relative nOOb like me.

For reference, I'm currently running a 7.1 system with a HK AVR 630 powering a RC-35, a set of RF-35's, and 4 RS-35's. My sub is a HSU STF-3.

I'm really considering building a couple of subs using Scrappydue's thread to guide me: http://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/145539-build-thread-4-stereo-integrity-18s/

Thoughts?

Where have you been able to find the SC-63

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