Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Hardware › Receivers/Separates/Amps › Pioneer SC-55 vs Anthem MRX500
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Pioneer SC-55 vs Anthem MRX500

post #1 of 14
12/8/11 at 4:28pm
Thread Starter 
Hi
This is my first post on this forum. I need help in deciding between the above 2 receivers. The new receiver will be driving Paradigm monitor 7 speakers with matching center, adp surrounds and SVS PB12-NSD sub. My room size is 14'x19' with vaulted ceiling.
Thanks in advance
Reply
post #2 of 14
12/9/11 at 3:36pm
I had an SC-35 and it certainly was a fine receiver, but for my needs an older vsx-23txh works just as well so I sold the SC-35. It would be hard for me to recommend one over the other since I've never owned an Anthem but I suspect they are at least a notch above Pioneer Elite. But I've owned 5 Elite receivers over the last 3-4 years and have been quite happy with all of them.
Reply
post #3 of 14
12/9/11 at 6:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gene c View Post

. It would be hard for me to recommend one over the other since I've never owned an Anthem but I suspect they are at least a notch above Pioneer Elite.

Can you be bit more specific what feature/quality of Anthem MRX500 gives it a notch over Pioneer Elite SC55. I was talking to an Anthem Dealer today and he said that mrx 300/500 have class D amps so does Pioneer Elite SC55. And I have read equal praises for ARC and MCACC.
Thanks
Reply
post #4 of 14
12/9/11 at 7:58pm
Based on "class" status and not much else. First, you have brands like Pyle, Sherwood, Insignia, etc. Then the mainstream brands like Sony, Yamaha, Onkyo, Pioneer, etc. Then you have the upper-tier brands like Arcam, Rotel, NAD and...Anthem. Those are the boutique brands, if there is such a thing.

Pioneer should offer the better value and more features. But each receiver brand has it's own nuances. The good about Pioneer Elite is that they run very cool compared to most other brands. Even the standard line. They seem to be very reliable and well made. They have 6 MCACC presets which remember not only the eq settings but individual speaker volumes as well. Great for setting up for different situation. One preset can be for two channel music, one for 5.1 movies, one for late night viewing, etc. They're fairly easy to setup and operate, have good power but not class leading, have crystal clear and detailed sound and are one of the best looking receivers out there.

The not so good. One crossover setting for each speaker group. No video processing via hdmi. Whatever comes into the receiver through hdmi goes out through hdmi un-touched. MCACC automatic setup not thought to be as good as Audyssey (it doesn't eq the sub) and Pioneer's MSRP can be a bit higher than some other consumer level brands.

Having said that, I've owned maybe 15 different receivers of varying brands over the last 4-5 years including a Pioneer 1014 (great receiver at the time) an Elite 59txi (an absolute 68 lb beast) a 94txh (good over-all receiver) A vsx-32 (nearly identical to the 1120) and the afore-mentioned SC-35 and currently have a 23txh and 03txh. There is no perfect receiver, they all have the good and bad. But I've decided to stick with Elites for now. To go with the 23txh I also have an Elite DV58av and BDP-05 and with the 03txh a dv48av and BDP-23. They all make great combinations and offer good looks and ease of use.

Unfortunately I don't have any experience with the "upper-tier" receivers as I don't think I can take advantage of what they have to offer so they would be a some-what poor value for me. I felt the same way about the 35. Just too much receiver for me.
Reply
post #5 of 14
12/10/11 at 4:09pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks, that was very informative.
The new Elite receivers have Marvell Qdeo Processor and it does video processing. In Anthem I could not find out which processor they are using.
Reply
post #6 of 14
12/10/11 at 10:25pm
Only the 52, 53, 55 and 57 have Qdeo. The others use Anchor Bay. And it's only applied through an analog video input like composite or component, not through an hdmi input. Probably not a concern for most since almost all hdmi components are now 1080P themselves and don't require any up-conversion. But you can't apply any other video processing to components connected with hdmi. The "Video Parameters" settings are "Un-Available".

Anthem uses the Genesis Torino video processor in all it's receivers. I'm sure it's very good as well.

I also noticed the MX-500 doesn't have 7.1 channel analog inputs (these are starting to disappear, even from the more expensive receivers) and it only has one hdmi output. This also may not be a factor for most potential buyers.
Reply
post #7 of 14
12/11/11 at 4:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gene c View Post

Only the 52, 53, 55 and 57 have Qdeo. The others use Anchor Bay. And it's only applied through an analog video input like composite or component, not through an hdmi input.

My TV (55" Sony Bravia LED TV) is connected to Bell Express Vu HD Box with HDMI Cable. I watch SD and HD channels thru it. So, you are saying if I am routing my BEV signal thru one of the above receivers then they will not upconvert the SD signal to 1080p?
Reply
post #8 of 14
12/11/11 at 6:54pm
Yes, as I understand it you cannot make any video adjustments to any input (such as TV, DVR, DVD, etc) that has an hdmi input assigned to it with a Pioneer receiver. That would mean no video up-conversion from 480P to 1080P. In fact, with an hdmi input you cannot even access the Video Parameters menu. With Pioneer you don't go into the Main menu to make audio or video adjustments. They have a button on the remote labeled "Audio Parameters" and another labeled "Video Parameters". Only inputs with composite or component connections have access to the Video Parameters not those with hdmi connection.

If you select an input that does not have hdmi assigned to it or has composite/component (or nothing assigned to it) you can access the Video Parameters menu to turn Video Conversion On or Off. When I set my Dish Network receiver to output 480P (for both standard and HD stations) and turn the receivers Video Conversion on my display still shows 480P as the in-coming signal. Even with Video Conversion turned on it will not convert an SD hdmi signal to 1080P or apply any other video adjustments like Color, Contrast, etc.

In reality, this is not an issue for me since my Dish receiver apparently converts SD stations to 1080i (though not very well frown.gif ) and both my dvd player and Bluray player will convert to 1080P not to mention that virtually all displays released over the last few years can only display one resolution, either 720P/1080i or 1080P depending on whether the display is 720P or 1080P. I'm sure this is why Pioneer has choosen to do this (although no other brand that I know of has.

I bet your Sony Bravia will convert an SD signal just as well as any receiver on the market. If you had a Westinghouse or Element display then maybe I'd be a bit concerned.

I have no idea how Anthem handles video conversion.

In any event, buy a receiver for it's audio performance, not it's video. smile.gif
Reply
post #9 of 14
1/30/12 at 2:23pm
I read your reply with a lot of interest. I was thinking of purchasing a Pioneer SC 37 receiver because I just purchased a Pioneer Kuro 141 FD Monitor. I figured going with all Pioneer Elite components would make sense. Currently I am using a Sunfire Ultimate receiver. My speakers are Vienna Acoustics Schoenberg Fronts...Weberns for surrounds/center and bergs for side axis along with a Sunfire sub. Am I going to see a major difference in the Pioneer versus the Ultimate? I am also looking at Anthem, Rotel and other Sunfire but the price on the Pioneer is just too good at this point compared to the other receivers. I also like the fact that Pioneer is also 3D ready. I intend to buy a 3D bluray and eventually a 3D projector.
Reply
post #10 of 14
1/30/12 at 6:43pm
Your equipment is at a much higher level than I have any real experience with. The lower price of the Pioneer (and other consumer level receivers) is simply because they sell quite a bit more Pioneers that the do Sunfire's and those higher-end models will also more than likely likely perform better. A Pioneer, Denon, Integra, etc may be a better value but I bet you'll notice a difference in sound quality and performance from the Ultimate. If Pioneer (or something else) has features that you might actually use that aren't available on the boutique brands then maybe you can live with a notch or two lower in performance.

I also have all Pioneer Elite equipment for ease of use and they just look fantastic in the rack but personally, I've always wanted to try an Arcam. I buy all my equipment on the used market so my price/performance ratio is pretty high. I've also been exceptionally lucky with only a couple of duds so far, both dvd players. But it's going to take a while for the latest Arcams to drop to my price level on the used market. In the mean time, I'm quite happy with the Elite SC-27. Easy to use, great looking and sounds pretty good too. But don't expect a Pioneer to sound as good as an Arcam, Anthem, Rotel, etc. I don't see how it can.
Reply
post #11 of 14
1/30/12 at 6:52pm
I recently replaced an older B&K processor with a Pioneer Elite, VSX-32 receiver. The Pioneer processing is very good, video performance is excellent, audio performance is solid, crisp, very clear and open. The amp section seems a step down from the Parasound external amp I have. Audio was thin and not as lifelike as when I used the external amp. Once adding the Parasound amp back into the mix and not using the Pioneer amps, the audio was fuller, vocals, especially male vocals are more lifelike, richer sounding.
Reply
post #12 of 14
4/25/12 at 6:02am
I currently am running a PIoneer Elite 92txh. I am looking to replace it because of two problems.
1. No HDMI on screen display outside of the menu. My setup involves all of my equipment other than tv, sub and speakers being in a different room. With not being able to see my reciever it is inconvienent to change settings. I've lived this way for 4 years now so I'll survive but it is a feature that would have value to me.

2. Dolby TrueHD 7.1. The 92txh has a known bug related to TrueHD 7.1 where the dialog hops around the room and is therefore unusable. As far as I can understand the only way for me to fix this is to pump a couple houndred into getting the firmware updated. Which in this day and age is insane.

3. User driven firmware updates. See point number 2.


If people have a way for me to fix #2 without shelling out a lot of money then great.

Now to the point. I have an opportunity to buy a Anthem MRX300 at a great price (current price is $800 but I might be able to negotiate down from that)
It meets all above requirments and sounds great. the problem is compared to my 92txh it is way underpowered on paper (I know numbers arn't everything) but I am running full 7.1 in a large room and if I remember right it's rated 80 watt per channel (and some reviews said thats at 2 channels only) vs the 92txh which is 120 watt per channel.

then you trhow in Anthems "A very beefy amp – more ‘real’ power than the competition!" comment and I really wonder if I'm am over reacting.

Looking for advice.
Reply
post #13 of 14
4/25/12 at 7:08am

I have a SC-37 and previously had a SC-27. They have been rock solid receivers with plenty of power. The MCACC does a pretty good job I needed to tweak some of the settings. 

Reply
post #14 of 14
5/1/12 at 6:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gene c View Post

Based on "class" status and not much else. First, you have brands like Pyle, Sherwood, Insignia, etc. Then the mainstream brands like Sony, Yamaha, Onkyo, Pioneer, etc. Then you have the upper-tier brands like Arcam, Rotel, NAD and...Anthem. Those are the boutique brands, if there is such a thing.
Pioneer should offer the better value and more features. But each receiver brand has it's own nuances. The good about Pioneer Elite is that they run very cool compared to most other brands. Even the standard line. They seem to be very reliable and well made. They have 6 MCACC presets which remember not only the eq settings but individual speaker volumes as well. Great for setting up for different situation. One preset can be for two channel music, one for 5.1 movies, one for late night viewing, etc. They're fairly easy to setup and operate, have good power but not class leading, have crystal clear and detailed sound and are one of the best looking receivers out there.
The not so good. One crossover setting for each speaker group. No video processing via hdmi. Whatever comes into the receiver through hdmi goes out through hdmi un-touched. MCACC automatic setup not thought to be as good as Audyssey (it doesn't eq the sub) and Pioneer's MSRP can be a bit higher than some other consumer level brands.
Having said that, I've owned maybe 15 different receivers of varying brands over the last 4-5 years including a Pioneer 1014 (great receiver at the time) an Elite 59txi (an absolute 68 lb beast) a 94txh (good over-all receiver) A vsx-32 (nearly identical to the 1120) and the afore-mentioned SC-35 and currently have a 23txh and 03txh. There is no perfect receiver, they all have the good and bad. But I've decided to stick with Elites for now. To go with the 23txh I also have an Elite DV58av and BDP-05 and with the 03txh a dv48av and BDP-23. They all make great combinations and offer good looks and ease of use.
Unfortunately I don't have any experience with the "upper-tier" receivers as I don't think I can take advantage of what they have to offer so they would be a some-what poor value for me. I felt the same way about the 35. Just too much receiver for me.

Just thought it was interesting, but the two receivers I have currently are the 23txh and 03txh. biggrin.gif
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Receivers/Separates/Amps
Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Hardware › Receivers/Separates/Amps › Pioneer SC-55 vs Anthem MRX500