Free Audio Upgrade
2009
Pioneer Elite SC-07 – AV network receiver – 7.1 channel
A few weeks ago I upgraded the receiver in our dedicated screening room to the Pioneer SC-07. Its almost identical SC-27 replacement is now showing up and we couldn’t resist the close-out price on the SC-07s. Outside of the obvious never ending desire to upgrade I was looking for two features my old receiver lacked.
The first being Dynamic EQ or in the Pioneer’s case THX Loudness Plus™. This allows you to maintain the dynamic range one would hear at reference level when you are listening at levels well below reference. For a complete understanding of the gory details you can use the provided link. I also wanted the ability to store more than one set of room correction settings. The SC-07 uses MCACC and allows for six and you can choose up to three different methods of room correction logic.
After an untold number of times running MCACC followed by a few movies I am more than happy with the upgrade and feel the difference between what I sold the old receiver for and the price I paid for the SC-07 ended up being a sound decision. Although during the course of the upgrade I ran across something that improved the sound even more and it didn’t cost me a penny.
I was so impressed with how well MCACC corrected the speakers and room deficiencies I took a closer look at my room’s environment. I have a few acoustical panels and the room itself works well. However the very top of my speakers were shinny black plastic (they lift right off) which would reflect the light from the screen if I placed them within several feet. Because of this I had always placed them too far apart well beyond the recommended 24 – 28 degrees.
I knew this wasn’t ideal and it was hurting my audio performance so I came up with a solution. I could see the plastic caps would easily lift off and I would be left with bare wood. A few cans of flat black spray paint and the reflections would be gone!
After a day or so of letting the paint dry I ended up moving the speakers in roughly 6 feet (3 feet per speaker). To verify reflections wouldn’t be a problem I projected a 100 IRE image and the speakers were as hidden as the rest of the room. Since I was redoing the fronts I figured I might as well take a look at the others and see if there was anything else I could do to improve their performance. For reference I visited Dolby’s Home Theater Speaker Guide and based on their recommendation I relocated the rear surrounds and pointed each speaker directly towards the focal point (sweet spot).
I had reviewed their site and others over the years and taken the information into account so I wasn’t starting from scratch. But this time I let their recommendation dictate my speakers placement not the room. Why not it’s a dedicated screening room!
After my manual room correction it was time to rerun MCACC. First pass reported the left front was an inch further away from the focal point than the right front and all of the other speakers were good to go. Next pass was a winner and it was time to sit directly in the middle of that focal point and see what all of my manual labor resulted in.
Before the reconfiguration I was completed satisfied with the sound and didn’t expect a dramatic difference. It certainly wasn’t a night and day difference although it was easy to spot. Sounds were more clear and directional and pans were smoother. I felt like I had a direct connection to each sound and could easy hear where it was placed. Previously it sounded almost as good however it felt muted in that the sounds were more generally placed in the room. To sum up the difference I would say everything is now in sync. The audio track is being presented as it was recorded as I can hear the quietest details, follow the sounds as they travel from speaker to speaker and even at lower levels the audio comes alive as never before.
Looking back I have to admit the best upgrade was reconfiguring the speakers. It improved the listening experience more so than the receiver upgrade. Certainly it wasn’t as fun as tweaking a new receiver but getting better results without spending a penny (except in my case a couple of cans of spray paint) can’t be over looked.
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