Pioneer VSX-LX53 AV-receiver
When you get acquainted with Pioneer VSX-LX53 receiver, you immediately draw attention to its impressive design, typical for LX series. The facade is shot with a cold metallic luster and is cut horizontally by a groove into two approximately equal parts. The central place of the upper part is given to the large display. The bottom half is framed on both sides by the large knobs of the input selector and the volume control. Control keys for the operating modes of the receiver lined up between them. The door with microlift, like in top models, is absent - the connectors are hidden under the plug, among which there are a jack for a measuring microphone, a USB input and an HDMI port. On the back wall there are five more inputs and two HDMI outputs, so that the device can be used in a home theater with two display devices. There are nine pairs of terminals for connecting speakers: seven ones are for switching using the standard 7.1 configuration, and two others allow you to connect additional high-end loudspeakers or expand the base by Front Wide loudspeakers. At the same time, there are seven power amplifiers in Pioneer VSX-LX53 and, therefore, the abundance of acoustic terminals only facilitates the switching - all nine channels will not work at once. But if the desire to fully utilize the potential of the receiver is great, then a multi-channel analog output will come to the aid, supporting the configuration of 9.1 and giving the possibility to connect additional two-channel power amplifier for additional front channels. The lack of a multichannel analog input may refer to the disadvantage, although the relevance of this interface decreases year by year.
The basis of digital electronic internals of Pioneer AV-receivers stays the same for almost the entire model range. First of all, this is Freescale Semiconductors sound processor, Anchor Bay Technologies video chip and the famous Advanced MCACC automatic calibration system with 9-band parametric EQ for each channel and the ability to compensate for resonances and standing waves in the listening room.
As part of the home theater, Pioneer VSX-LX53 demonstrated the branded handwriting - the dense surrounding sound field was literally filled with the smallest details, drawn out by the processor from the soundtrack. The tremendous elaboration of spatial trajectories of virtual sound sources coexisted with good dynamics accompanying the most intense scenes of blockbusters. The musical material performed by the receiver did not produce the same favorable impression. Against the backdrop of careful workout of the smallest nuances, the sound seemed to be a bit dry and differed by the sharpness of the upper register. In addition, when playing phonograms of energetic styles, the receiver was clearly short on drive.
