Pioneer SC-LX57 paired with Kef Q-series - good or bad match?

Noggerwood

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as the title says... Are the Pioneer SC-LX57 and Q Series we'll matched?

Ive read that the amp doesn't pair well with 'bright' speakers but, if I'm honest, that doesn't mean too much to me. Looking for opinions / experiences using them together; are they a good match?

my main reason for choosing the LX57 is that it is within my budget (£750) and has the options to output 7.2 surround with the front left and right bi-amped.

i have Q500 fronts, Q200 centre, Q400 and Kef Kube2 subs with 4 x 2005.3 Kef eggs for the surrounds.

Cheers

Woody
 

Noggerwood

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I know; I can get the on a 14 day home trial, so that's what I'm planning on doing. I've currently got a Harmon Kardon AVR-347 which sounds perfect, to my ears, with the Q series but unfortunately the centre channel keeps dropping out when I'm watching a blu-ray and it got the better of me. New amp required!
 

CnoEvil

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If you like HK, Yamaha, Denon and Marantz might suit you better (or another HK).....though do your home test and see what you think.
 

Noggerwood

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I can't seem to find a good deal on any amp's from those manufacturers that have 9.2 channels (to allow me to have 7.2 with bi-amped front) within my budget of £750.

I'll how the home audition goes with the pioneer.
 

Xanderzdad

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Hi Noggerwood

I picked up the SC-LX57 for a bargain price a couple of weeks ago and am very, very impressed with it.

I've got it partnered with Monitor Audio metal domed speakers (classed as bright by many) and it sounds superb.

The amp will calibrate your room and therefore compensate for any sound artifact generated by different speakers.

I'd go for it - my previous amp was pretty good and not that old but this is a massive step up in all areas.
 

Pistol Pete1

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Both Pioneer receivers and KEF Q series speakers combine very well. Detailed sound, but in my opinion not too bright....just open and clear.

I've come from the Devon 2310, and would not go back.....
 

Noggerwood

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Had a demo with the LX57 yesterday and I was really impressed with how it handled everything, movies and music; straight out the box without any settings changed. It was paired with the Cambridge Audio Aero 5.1 package which sounded really nice. Signed on the dotted line and picking it for a 14 day home demo later today; spent most of last night rearranging my stand to make room for it ,it's a bit bigger than my HK AVR-347. I just hope it sounds as nice as it did in the demo with the my Q series. Any hits / tips / tweaks for setting up when I get it home?
 

michael hoy

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Noggerwood said:
Had a demo with the LX57 yesterday and I was really impressed with how it handled everything, movies and music; straight out the box without any settings changed. It was paired with the Cambridge Audio Aero 5.1 package which sounded really nice. Signed on the dotted line and picking it for a 14 day home demo later today; spent most of last night rearranging my stand to make room for it ,it's a bit bigger than my HK AVR-347. I just hope it sounds as nice as it did in the demo with the my Q series. Any hits / tips / tweaks for setting up when I get it home?

Take your time with the set up, the below is a good starting point:

Work Flow:

1) Set Reciever to MCAAC preset 1 (M1). Now Run Auto MCAAC with mic in you listening position.Use tripod for mic!

2) Go into Manual Sp Setup and change the SP settings speakers to small and set crossover.

3) Now re-run Auto MCAAC but select custom, and then select Keep SP settings. You will also be given the options to have MCAAC calibrate for symmetry, all ch adjust and front align. You may save each calibration to seperate presets or run just one of them, or run two of them. You will see these options after you select Keep Sp settings.

4) Now you have an Auto MCAAC calibration(s) saved to M1 (or to multiple presets if you chose more than one EQ calibration type in previous step: symmetry, front align, and all ch adjust) (....note: you must select which preset you want Auto MCAAC to save calibration data to before you enter the audio setup menu.) Now go into Data Management--------> Data Copy and copy M1's data to as many other free presets as you like.

5) Now go into Manual MCAAC--->EQ Professional------>Reverb Measurement and get a reading on the the frequency response characteristics of your room. Be sure to select EQ OFF(standing waves not controlled for via MCAAC fliters) in the Reverb Measurement menu because you don't want the standing wave adjustements (EQ on) to be factored in to the room reverb measurments. Also make sure you haven't moved the mic.

6) After test tones are done, go into Manual MCAAC--->EQ Professional------>Reverb View , and you can analyze the frequency response of individual channels at various frequencies. Based upon that data, you would select the appropriate capture delay time for MCAAC to capture data during for the upcoming EQ calibration.

Change that time frame under Manual MCAAC--->EQ Professional------>Advanced EQ Setup to whatever you decide is the appropriate capture delay time ....(Pioneer recommends 30-50 ms, but they encourage you to analyze the data under reverb view first and refer to the advanced MCAAc software manual for analysis purposes).

7) Change to the appropriate MCAAC preset before you run the new advanced EQ calibration with the new capture time. You choose which preset, but I would recommend a preset that is a carbon copy of an auto MCAAC calibration so that you can do an A-B comparison between auto EQ and advanced EQ. Go under Manual MCAAC--->EQ Professional------>Advanced EQ Setup to start the advanced EQ calibration, and MCAAC should make a more accurate calibration since it will now capture sonic information sooner after the speakers output sound, and get a read on what the frequency response is of the speakers themselves, and not the speakers and all the reverb which accumulates as time passes. (The more time-> collects more reverb and less true speaker reading)

Now you should have an accurate calibration. Also, now you can easily compare the Auto MCAAC EQ effects that are stored in a preset with the advanced EQ effects in other presets while listening to content with a simple button press on the remote. You could also juice the base a few db in a preset, and also compare running the base a bit hot to a flat calibration that you have in other presets.If it is too bright just set 8k band in the EQ e.x. -2db from default value on all speakers.
 

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