Pioneer VSA-AX10Ai Amplifier

The VSA-AX10 was designed by Pioneer engineers in collaboration with experts from the famous AIR Studios in London. Later came the VSA-AX10i modification, in which the developers implemented the possibility of multi-channel digital playback via i.Link protocol for SA-CD-sources. Current current version got improved Dolby Pro Logic IIx decoder, support for WMA 9 PRO multichannel sound (that's the news!), and improved MCACC system of automatic sound field adjustment. The capabilities of this calibrator in the VSA-AX10Ai are much wider than in Pioneer receivers of lower class equipped with the system with the same name. But about that - a little later.

With its performance, the new flagship leaves a very convincing impression. The copper-plated chassis has a powerful spatial frame that ensures the optimum performance of the vibration-sensitive electronic elements. The side walls, as well as the front panel, are made of a thick aluminum profile. Through the ventilation holes you can see the transformer and banks of capacitors of such a huge size (33 000 uF each), that at once eliminates all doubts about the dynamic qualities of this monster. Everything else is top-notch: output stages are built with FETs, 192 kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown converters for conversion to and from digital and a combination of 32-bit SHARC Melody Ultra and 48-bit Motorola DSP for processing.

With the A/B selector you can connect a stereo pair of speakers in addition to the main 7.1 speaker. I won't go into further detail about all the switching possibilities of the VSA-AX10Ai. As with any receiver of such level, they are at least sufficient (well, let me say, it is designed to work with 16 different sources - if we also add to them a computer connected via USB bus and a couple of multichannel players, enabled additionally via i.Link). Much more attention in this model deserves the setting possibilities.

In the new MCACC system developed by Pioneer, the method of "volume calibration" of the sound is already applied. Everything happens as usual - plug in the measuring microphone from the kit, set it on the listening point, start tuning. But now the system first evaluates natural sound background, then sets distances to speakers and signal level, and then does not forget to align them by frequency response! With even greater precision unit can be adjusted in semi-automatic mode Professional Acoustic Calibration EQ, where you have the right to dispose of a 9-band channel EQ, set the correction of reverb and adjust the speakers, based on the "ringing" of the room. The same procedure can be performed on a computer by connecting it to the RS-232 port on the amplifier. You can check the result with the DVD Reference Calibration Disc included in the package. Impressed?

I spent half a day just tuning the VSA-AX10Ai. Then I went back to them again and again to reach the state of Mono no Aware. Everything is within my control. You can adjust it to any speaker, room, source or program you want. Take for example the presence of two subwoofer outputs - for a system with a couple of subs or speakers with active bass, it's a godsend! After spending another half a day to program the remote control (by the way, the most successful design: large display, clear interface, powered by rechargeable battery, not batteries), you get a thing, the use of which can be reduced to the Standby/On button and volume knob.

Describing the sound of VSA-AX10Ai, I could use all the epithets I know... If I hadn't listened to the Lexicon RV-8 and Onkyo TX-NR5000E with the same programs shortly before. The Pioneer doesn't lose to them in transferring dynamics and microdynamics. The details are handled neatly, although sometimes it seems to show a little more diligence than it should. And the VSA-AX10Ai sound can be identified by its characteristic only articulation: in the bass a little more rolling after-sounds, the midrange is movable and more playful, in the upper range you can feel a very light touch of detachment - it is not even coloring or veil, but some subtlest web of new sound nuances.