error when calibrating vsx-45tx (1 Viewer)

[NickGiovas]

I tried using the auto calibration feature on my Pioneer Elite vsx-45tx for the first time today and I got an error on the first screen when it tested the microphone. If I retry it gives me the same error. If I tell it to continue it tells me "error" on the main speakers and says "no" for all of the others. If I manually say yes to all of the speakers it then goes through all of the tests and appears to properly set the speakers after completion, but if I try the test again, I get the error again and have to manually set the speakers to "on".

The other question I have related to this is about the microphone - what is it supposed to look like? The one in the drawing in the manual appears to be round/flat, but the one that came with mine is a small rectangle that looks like it has a clear led in the front of it. No other holes in it at all. Is this the microphone? The one I had with my Onkyo 939 actually looked like a microphone

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Nick,

That's not the microphone. That's an IR blaster--emits infrared signals to the remote control IR receivers on other pieces of gear. These IR blasters are how DireTV boxes with vcr controllers operate the vcr.

The microphone that came with my VSX45TX (which I suspect is also a gray market item) is flat circular black plastic thing about the diameter of a quarter or half dollar with a sorta foam-looking dome on top, and a plastic clip on the back. I also got a circular foam piece about 2 inches across and half an inch thick with a rectangulat cutout shaped to fit the clip on the back of the Mike into. This sits nicely on the top of the back of my couch about even with where my ears would be if I were sitting there, and points the foam dome straight up.

I unpacked mine and did the auto calibration last night--worked like a charm except it wanted to set my bookshelfish speakers to Large and thinks my sub is 16 feet away when it's actually only about 14 feet. In any case, I'm very happy with this machine.
Movie soundtracks are noticeably more detailed and dialog is more intelligible, with more directionality than with my previous Sony VS333ES and I think it's mainly due to the auto setups eq capability.

 

[MikeRP]

Nick:

Steve is right about the mic.

Steve:

Don't think that the MCACC is wrong about the sub distance - it is correct. The sub distance should always come out to be a little longer than the actual distance. I beleive it is because of the long sound waves of the sub.

Guys, we also talk over on AVSForum about the 45TX all the time. Brae and I torture and test the machines to try to find out as much as possible about this thing since Pioneer tech support doesn't know as much as we do.

Come on over - its under 45 TX -24 db shutdown test update.

We need to hear your experiences with the 45 and your likes and dislikes.

We also talk here too so its not exclusive.

Mike

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Hi Mike, just posted over there about my new toy, bought largely because of that thread and the MCACC one over here.

My main criteria for whether or not a new piece of gear is truly an upgrade is whether or not I see or hear stuff I didn't see or hear before. This receiver definitely meets that requirement. I've never had a problem setting speaker levels properly, but the auto-equalization has really made my speakers come alive.

Thanks for the info about the sub distance. I figured it was something like that or possibly the "standing wave" thing that goes on with subs. I tried flipping the phase switch on the sub but got the same result. Sounds great anyway.

So far no problems whatsoever, except the one I caused myself by messing with the Bass peaking adjustment without reading the instructions first.

I never had any intention of going beyond 5.1 speakers, but am going out tomorrow in search of a pair of rear surrounds.

 

[MikeRP]

Steve:

I agree - get those rear surrounds - you'll be impressed with the extra detail. I love mine.


Mike

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Bought the rear surrounds yesterday afternoon, Energy XL150s to match my current ones. Spent most of last evening relocating and hooking up speakers and rerunning the auto setup.

Ran about an hour of FOTR in DTS-ES, and am quite happy with the results, well worth the cost of the speakers. All my speakers are bookshelf size units, and running them as small I can get ear-splitting volume with no apparent strain on the receiver driving all channels. My experience in the past has been that indadequate power results in less sound clarity. My setup now with no external amps is giving me the best clarity I've ever heard. I'm hearing lots of little details in the soundtrack of this movie, which I've watched maybe 10 times since it's release, that I've never heard before.