pioneer elite 45 or 47 (1 Viewer)

[NormanB]

in setting up HT with 7.1 what is the main difference besides price in the 45 and 47. the 49 is not in my budget.

 

[MikeRP]

Norman:

The 47 has a better amp section and is THX Ultra 2 certified. The 45 is THX Select certified. Now that's not a qualitative difference. Ultra 2 is designed for rooms above 3000 (I think) cubic feet. Select is for less than 3000 cubic feet. The 47 has a 7 band eq and the 45 a 5 band eq. I'm very happy with my 45. There are some build quality differences.

But, there has been a lot of discussion whether its better to buy a 45 TX and a good sepearte 2 or 3 channel amp for the fronts or the 47. I don't think anyone came to a consensus. Depends on the power requiements of your system and if you like seperate amps.

Either way you'll be pleased.

Good Luck.

Mike

 

[DanielSmi]

Actually Mike the47 and 45tx both have 5-band eq's. There is no 7-band MCACC. The 45tx has more features, except that with ULTRA2 47tx has a couple THX features. the 45tx has a usb port 47doesn't.

Daniel Smith

 

[Scott Merryfield]

If you would consider adding external amplifiers, the 45TX is probably the better choice. If you prefer to keep everything in one unit for simplicity, then the 47TX with it's more robust amplifiers is a better choice.

I own the 47TX, but did not have to face this decision -- there was no 45TX even announced when I purchased the 47TX back in January. I've been very pleased with the performance of the receiver.

 

[MikeRP]

Thanks for correcting me Dan..............I think someone said that on another forum and I picked it up.

In that case I probably would agree that the 45 and a seperate 2 channel amp is the way to go. Unless you have a very large room and the Ultra 2 would come into play.

Mike

 

[MWestyn]

What can the USB port be used for...future updates, streaming audio, pc server based audio, etc.?

Anyone?

 

[David Judah]

The USB is for computer audio, Sean. It uses a TI Burr-Brown chip to do the conversion.

DJ

 

[DanielSmi]

The usb port will connect to your computer, and it will make your 45tx act as an external soundcard. It will decode audio sent to it through the usb port. It will only decode stereo signals and no multi-channel. I'd be very jealous if it decoded multi-channel. Some of the 45txer's have tried this. It think they said that if you have win98 and up your computer will recognize the receiver as a "USB audio device" or something like that. Maybe someone co9uld chime in that has had experience with it.

Daniel Smith

 

[MWestyn]

Thanks. That sounds somewhat convenient. Too bad there is no multisound.

Is this along the lines of Onkyo/Integra's "Net-Tune" (uses a Cat5/RJ45 cable--standard ethernet type)?

 

[David Judah]

The PCM 2902 chip handles 2 channels at 16 bits & up to 48 kHz sampling. I haven't messed with it(and don't care to from a quality standpoint), but I wonder if you can use any of the DSP modes to get a simulated multi-channel effect?

DJ

 

[Christ Reynolds]

It think they said that if you have win98 and up your computer will recognize the receiver as a "USB audio device" or something like that. Maybe someone could chime in that has had experience with it.

i have the 45tx and i connected my computer to it through usb. when you do this, it bypasses your soundcard for processing, which means if you have computer speakers hooked up in addition to the usb port, you will only get sound through the 45tx and not your sound card. the quality of sound is pretty decent, although my speakers dont do the 45tx justice at all, i need an upgrade in the worst way. i like getting thx and dpl2 processing in my mp3's. i use windows xp, and the device manager lists the 45tx as 'usb audio device' under the category of 'sound, video, and game controllers'. my only gripe about this is, the remote doesnt have a button for the usb input on it. you can always cycle through the inputs with the 'input' button near the bottom, but the 9 input buttons near the top doesnt include the usb connection. in fact, my only gripe so far about the 45tx is the remote itself. seems a bit cluttered to me, although i'm slowly learning it. great unit so far.

CJ

 

[Josh_Z]

I would second the vote for the VSX-45 and an external amplifier. I have mine paired with a Rotel with very good results. The soundstage is as good as I have heard in a reasonable home theater system.

The 47 has the MCACC mic built into the remote, which I don't like. Other than that, it is a great all in one box receiver.