Pioneer Channel AV Receiver, VSX-1123-K (Black)
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #7543 in Receiver or Amplifier
- Color: Black
- Brand: Pioneer
- Model: VSX-1123-K
- Dimensions: 6.63" h x
17.13" w x
14.25" l,
21.60 pounds
Features
- Dolby TrueHD Dolby Pro Logic IIz/Dolby Digital Plus
- Digital Core Engine with Texas Instruments Aureus DSP
- HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC)
- Pioneer Auto MCACC Room Calibration
- iPod digital transmission via front USB terminal
Product Description
The Pioneer VSX-1123-K 7.2 Channel HD Multi-Zone Network ready AV Receiver featuring AirPlay, HTC ConnectTM, 4K Ultra HD Up-Scaling and MHL 2.0 compatibility. Pioneer sound enhancements include Phase Control, Auto Phase Control Plus, PQLS Bit-stream, Advanced Sound Retriever, Auto Level Control, Advanced Surround, Virtual Speakers, and Virtual Depth.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Very capable receiver for this price
By Reginald J.
I actually purchased my VSX-1123K from my local Best Buy. As much as my wife and I adore Amazon Prime, the fact that Pioneer doesn't honor warranties for receivers purchased through Amazon did not sit well with me, especially considering the complications people have had with the VSX-1022.As for the performance, I have to tell you that I was previously using a 6.1 Channel 760 watt Onkyo home theatre in a box for 9 years, and for about a week, a 5.1 Channel Denon AVR 1513, so I have to compare it to those two. This is my first experience with Pioneer receivers, but I was able to go through the entire setup with little difficulty, despite many complaints of Pioneer's interface being very confusing. Now for the Audio/Video performanceAudio Performance:It's just OK, but I think I will look into disabling the fully automatic MCACC altogether, or manually doing the setup. Through the Blu-ray players, I am running the new Andrew Jones (22 series) speakers for mains, surrounds, and center channel. At 1 week old, they aren't broken in yet but they sounded beautiful with excellent imaging with the Onkyo, even better with the Denon (that upgrade included Dolby TrueHD and DST Master HD but much lower power receiver). Neither of those used room correction, and I think that the MCACC is at fault with the Pioneer. Before, the base was so full and authoritative with the Onkyo and Denon, I was constantly turning down my Onkyo sub to balance out the base. The imaging was excellent--voices in music would stay firmly planted slightly left of center and just above eye height on my tv. With the Pioneer, I ran the full auto MCACC out of the box, with the microphone placed EXACTLY at my ear height in the center of the seating area. I stood behind the seats, outside of the sound field as to not interfere with the process. When listening to music, using my usual reference songs, instead of hearing one homogenous sound stage in front of my, it sounded like the three fronts were playing individually. This should not happen. Instead of hearing vocals firmly cemented front and center, I heard sound coming from the mains and center as three separate sources, which was very strange. I wondered also if the sub was playing b/c I could barely hear it, and the fronts sounded anemic, bass wise. I checked the MCACC settings, and the fronts were set to large, and sub was on, so that wasn't the issue. I won't delve further into MCACC, I will just see how to disable it and go with that route, as I tend to be an audio purist, no DSP; opera, hall, or any of the other useless, "echoey" sounding effects. I'm confident that the sound will be excellent once I disable MCACC, but for now with music I'm not impressed. For movies, the surround effect is decent, but again, not as nice as with the Onkyo or the excellent low end Denon. Had the Denon not been so low powered as to easily distort during explosions in "Ronin" at moderate volume, I may have kept it, and not gotten the Pioneer. Also, the MCACC may be to blame, but while watching "The Avengers" blu-ray with my wife to experience 7.1 for the first time, she often asked me to turn the sound up during dialogue sequences, which brought the volume up to about -20Db (0 being maxed out, -80 being mute), which is unusual for a receiver of this advertised power. So of course, due to the dynamic range, I'd have to quickly turn it back down during loud scenes. With the Onkyo, 35/80 was always more than sufficient volume for movies. I quickly found a semi-suitable remedy; to adjust the level of all speakers at once by +6 or +7 Db. That is a nice feature to have, so you don't lose the relative level of each individual speaker.Video Performance and a bit more on the Audio:With Blu-Ray, the picture was very nice (Avatar and The Avengers blu-rays), and I will admit that I wasn't totally sure about some of the acronyms on the remote so I may have turned something on/off without realizing it. The colors in movies were appropriately saturated, rich and accurate. The resolution picture was sharp and detailed, but nothing mind blowing. I'm primarily using a Panasonic DMP BD220 Blu-Ray player, Home Theater Magazine's top pick under $250. I also use an LG BD470, also a highly capable player. When using my PC from my TV via HDMI, initially the picture was incredibly blurry. I knew something had to be wrong but initially I couldn't tell if it was some processing mode that I may have accidentally turned on. The PC's desktop resolution was correctly set to 1080p, but I found from checking the info on my tv remote that it was scaled back to 720p. I had to change press the video parmeter button on the remote, and change the "res" from from auto to pure. I was rewarded with crystal clear 1920 x 1080 from my PC. It may be a bit sharper than before with the Denon. My Onkyo does not have HDMI, so it went straight to the TV previously. The colors seem to be very accurate, but I haven't payed a game yet so I don't know if the receiver introduces any lag. I don't expect it will, b/c despite complains I often see about gaming via HDMI, I've never experienced any video lag in the past with any source, aside from watching Lost on Netflix via blu-ray, but I can adjust the audio delay to correct that. I also tried Soul Calibur 2 on my PS2 and Dead or Alive 2 on my Sega Dreamcast, just to make sure the other inputs were working. The picture seemed to be scaled up on the PS2, so it was surprisingly a bit smoother via component video cable than I recall from my other receivers. The Dolby Digital via optical cable was lacking; "S" words were very scratchy sounding, as if the 16/48 Dolby sound was poorly upsampled to 24/96, but i suspect that was the fault of the video game. Again, MCACC could be to blame here. I will try a DVD later on the PS2 and see how that turns out, as DTS has always been decent on the PS2 in movies. The Sega Dreamcast is connected through composite video (single yellow RCA) and 2 channel analog audio (red & white RCA cables) as the Pioneer does not have s-video--many receivers are dropping this connection but oddly retain plenty of lower quality composite inputs. The video was ugly, but I attribute that to the composite video (240i resolution) and the fact that the Dreamcast launched back in 1999, so the games are very old anyways. Again, the audio wasn't very good, even though I know it was good converted to Pro Logic II on my other receivers. I really can't wait to disable MCACC.In summary:I'm sure my review seems less forgiving than my 4 star rating suggests, but I am very confident that the audio will improve once I can defeat the MCACC, and use a totally manual setup. There is no way that this upper middle range receiver cannot outperform the low end Denon AVR 1513, and my 9 year old Onkyo home theatre in a box. The speakers cannot be blamed, as they are incredible sounding even with barely 30 hours of break in time, easily worth 2X or 3X the price, and my LG 47LH90 tv has always had a beautiful picture since day one, and I just got the HDMI board in it replaced 3 days ago. The receiver's software is up to date, so there are no firmware issues, I positioned my speakers according to THX specs for 7.1, I had the microphone positioned EXACTLY where my head is for optimal calibration, so I am convinced that the MCACC is to blame for the subpar audio performance. Video is quite good, though I've only watched two blu-ray movies, about 5 mins of Lost in HD on Netflix, and 2 mins each of Soul Calibur 2 (PS2) and Dead or Alive 2 (Dreamcast), and basic computer use (all day long). Some of the things I really like are that the analog video sources are converted to digital, so I only have to use 1 HDMI out to the TV, I can adjust the level of all channels together so I don't lose the relative adjustment between the individual speakers, there is a phone app available so you don't have to use a flashlight to find the one button you want to press on the non backlit remote during dark movie viewing sessions, and you can even rename the input sources from default, so I have mine labeled as PS2, Dreamcast, etc. You just have to remember which input button to use on the remote, or for any HDMI inputs (there are 7 or 8 of these total), you can keep hitting the HDMI button, or to cycle all inputs use the input left/right buttons. I can't stress enough how much I can't wait to audition some music, movies, and PC games with MCACC disabled. I couldn't find another review on this new receiver before I bought mine, so I hope someone who is interested in it will take a leap of faith like I did; you won't be disappointed (if you disable MCACC and for your PC input, change the "video parameter button's resolution setting to "pure"). I expect to be smiling ear to ear like I was when I first used my Onkyo and Denon, in the next 12 hours after disabling MCACC and demoing a couple more Blu-Rays, FLAC music files, and trying a PC game. For this price, this receiver is a must buy, so buy it already. I will enable email alerts for replies, so if anyone can tell me how to disable MCACC or has questions about this new receiver that I may be able to answer, by all means reply. Thanks.4/23/2013 Update:In addition to doing some research online regarding the MCACC technology and how to use it, I discovered that I should have run the full auto MCACC using the all channels setting instead of "symmetry". All channels may not be verbatim, but you'll know when you see it. Doing this did improve the sound with music a bit, but the sound stage and imaging are not as well defined and precise as with the lower end Denon AVR-1513, however it is an improvement at least. Whereas with my reference songs, I used to hear the main vocals firmly planted to the left of the tv, and just above mid height, the Pioneer initially gave seemingly separate audio tracks from the left and right main speakers. By re-running MCACC, I was at least able to get the sound image to "appear" on the tv screen, but still not really focused anywhere in particular. I also tried switching the phase but that did not seem to remedy the issue, either. I'm still on the fence as to whether the downgrade in music presentation is due to me not yet having gained a full understanding of how to properly configure MCACC vs the Pioneer's DAC (digital to analog converter) not doing the job the same as the Denon. I'm going to say that, after reading so many forum posts at AVSFORUM, it most likely my lack of education on the reciver--at least I hope it is. I can say that the power on hand and available headroom obviously far exceed that of the Denon, and seems to be on par with my nearly decade old Onkyo, even if the volume control seems to be rather miserly with the output levels until I get to about -25db, and this is after increasing all channels' levels to +8 of their calibrated settings. I should point out that I am primarily playing music from my PC, via HDMI audio from my Radeon HD6870 video card. I can't imagine that the video card's onboard sound processor is at the level of my Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Pro Gamer in terms of quality components used, but it does offer uncompressed 7.1 channel 24/172 audio, which is not an option with the X-fi, only having SPDIF (digital coax) or analog out. I may try the X-fi with analog output, and that will at least tell me if the blame lies with the Pioneer's DAC, since using analog out would effectively use the X-fi's DAC and remove Pioneer's from the chain. I am also going to try my motherboard's built in HDMI and see if that fairs any differently.4/28/2013 **** Update ****I have tried to use the Media Server Function with no success. I understand it's very rudamentary, which is all I wanted--just a simple folder view of shared folders. The first few times I tried it, it would get as far as seeing the shared PC's name, but would go no further. I thought the unit was frozen until I realized I had to hit the receiver button again before anything would work--something that I have noticed a lot with this remote. If you use any of the buttons other than input selections or volume, you often have to hit the receiver function button for anything to work. Luckily that button is not too hard to find, out of the 65 buttons on the remote, most of which don't have a distinctive feel or intuitive location to make them easier to find. As for the Media Server, after several tries, I finally got it to see my folders and I went to the music folders. I tried to play a flac file, and after about 7 seconds, the music stopped and the receiver just sat in the foler, and would not respond for a long time. Upon subsequent tries, it would not even attempt to play the file, or any other FLAC files. I tried again today to use the media server function, but again it would not get further than finding my PC's name, and that's it. I am starting to question whether this was a wise purchase decision, b/c the simplest thing does not work. I haven't gotten a chance to try any other files, so I can't say if the receiver just didn't like that particular one. I'm going to try Pandora today and see if that at least works. I will feel bad if I take yet another receiver back to Best Buy, but it's my money and to be a flagship receiver for this particular line, I expect that everything should work as advertised.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Rich sound with plethora of options and connectivity.
By Das Spaz
New for 2013 is the VSX-1123-K flagship non Elite series receiver from Pioneer. Airplay, HTC connect, Push Play for Android from the iControlAV2013 app, DLNA, MHL, Pandora and Internet radio. And that's just scratching the surface. It has a plethora of codecs it can play, lossless audio formats, upconverts sources to HDMI and 4K resolutions, Audio Return Channel and 3D capable. It has two HDMI zones, two Audio zones, 90 watts per channel for 8 ohm impedance speakers and 165 watts per channel for 6 ohm impedance speakers. I would take the wattage with a grain of salt however. This also has the A/B Class amplifiers.First before I begin I think I need to cover Pioneer MCACC a bit. MCACC stands for Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration System, and it is a piece of software built into the receiver which optimizes the sound for your room. You plug in a mic that comes with the unit and set it up at ear level where you would sit and listen to your music, movies and other audio sources. It will adjust the system sound and generate the best acoustics and listening levels for your room. Your first run you want to run MCACC in Full Auto, ALL CH ADJ, with the following speaker settings, either Normal(SB/FH), Normal (SB/FW), or Speaker B. Unless you have THX speakers set that option to no. Also for the above setting you need to to have at least a 5.1 system. I set my receiver to Speaker B when I ran MCACC. After I ran MCACC and then I copied the results to all 6 memory slots, just so I can have a backup when tweaking the settings. Even though I copied the results I only adjusted the speaker distance and some of the levels on only the first memory slot. Also MCACC will let you know if you have the phase of the speakers crossed, positive going to negative instead of positive going to positive and negative going to negative.Crossover or X.Over frequency is the frequency at which the LFE channel or the .1 channel for the subwoofer gets cut off at. Anything above this frequency will not be sent to the subwoofer. Also, apparently when studios mix the soundtracks to accommodate those without subwoofers the LFE gets mixed to the other channels as well. How much I am not sure. When you set the subwoofer to Plus the receiver will ignore the X.Over and all bass will be sent to this channel. If you have set the front speakers to Large and the Sub to just Yes, the full range of the L+R channel will be sent to the Large speakers. For instance my front speakers have a fq response of 37Hz to 20kHz, the sub covers 37Hz to 200Hz, this means that if I have a X.Over of 80Hz and my speakers set to large, the L+R channel will not be cut off below 80Hz and these channels will receive the full spectrum of the soundtrack. The subwoofer however will only receive the LFE (.1) channel at 80Hz and below. LFE channel only goes up to about 120Hz, so why is 80Hz a popular cut off fq? Several reasons, the Dolby LFE is normally 80Hz and below, DTS contains only about 5% of the LFE between 80 - 120Hz and as far as human perception goes anything 80Hz and under is becomes non directional more or less. You can set your X.Over at 120Hz or rather 150Hz and get the full LFE track. Alternatively setting a crossover for small speakers will send fq’s above this cut off to the small speakers and anything below to the woofer. If you want some more reading in regards to this, pages 132 to 134 of the official MCACC thread on AVS Forum have more detail.I think the biggest mistake people make when they buy this receiver is that they do not run the MCACC, they don’t read the Manual, and that they don’t know how to set the receiver to playback the soundtrack properly. Read the manual, there are a lot of settings on this receiver for a reason and going in blindly will only result in your frustration. Personally there are two settings you need to understand DIRECT and PURE DIRECT. Here what the Manual says about these. DIRECT - Plays back sound from the source with the least modification next to PURE DIRECT. With DIRECT, the only modifications added to PURE DIRECT playback are calibration of the sound field by the MCACC system and the Phase Control effect. PURE DIRECT - Plays back unmodified sound from source with only minimal digital treatment. Direct mode uses EQ and Standing Wave. Pure Direct does not. Pure Direct only uses the channel level and distance settings gathered from your calibration.I generally use Direct for all my listening needs as it applies the MCACC treatment in only a limited manner. I like the way it sounds, in movies it makes it sound lively. This is a subjective preference though. Compared to my AVR 2650 from Harman Kardon this receiver kicks ass. It does not have that boomy sound, and it balances the Highs, Mediums, and Lows quite nicely. Where as my H/K sounded kind of flat. After running MCACC on this Pioneer and tweaking the levels a bit afterwards I feel immersed in the movies. This device gives me that Theater sound experience that I did not know I was lacking with the H/K Avr 2650. Either way I am satisfied with the sound reproduction on this.The iControlAV2013 app. I use an Android device the Nexus 4, and the app is a convenient way to browse my music library on my DLNA server and phone itself. The Push Player in the input section of the app tries to mimic the Airplay feature from iOS devices, it does a nice job. The Push Player has a nice layout and is very easy to use. Using the volume rocker on my phone will respectively turn the receiver's volume up and down. When playing music via push player an icon appears in the status bar of the phone for quick and easy access. The fact that I can be lying on my bed and turn on my receiver via the app is very nice, then I can browse and push songs to ti. Before you can do that the Network standby feature needs to be turned on in the menu. You can switch zones and sources with the app, control volume, switch inputs, change listening modes, change the balance, phase, emphasize the bass or treble, and many other features. It is a nice visual representation of the controls available for the receiver. Mostly I use the app for playing music, when I’m watching TV or Movies I reach for the remote. Also the App is free from both Android and iOS.The DLNA server connectivity option is also great, I have a linux media server at home and this device connects to DLNA server perfectly. I use Plex Media Server. I love being able to stream my complete music library to the receiver and with this supporting lossless formats I don’ tneed to convert anything. One thing to note and I have found this a constant on the net, and even in my past personal experience windows DLNA server which is built into some of Microsoft products is less than stellar and has connectivity issues. Even if you get the device to see the server once that does not necessarily mean it will see it again. Take it from an IT guy, find yourself a third party applications like Plex, TVersity or Twonky. These applications are more reliable and are universal not proprietary to the manufacturer. Microsoft product only works well with microsoft product, avoid like the plague.The remote has a ton of buttons, I like options, so the buttons are very welcome. Learn the remote and all it’s functions, it can be a quick and easy way to make changes on your receiver. Also it can be used as a universal remote, it is capable of learning other remote codes effectively eliminating a bluray player, TV remote, or any other IR remote. The remote feels very light and flimsy, however the button presses are very responsive and I like the receiver function button. For anyone with kids this prevents the little ones from making changes to the settings if they decide to pick up and play with the remote.The OSD is not pretty by any means, but who cares it has to be functional. As far as I’m concerned I care about the functionality of the device and the quality of sound reproduction than a pretty interface.Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are available via adapters, unfortunately you have to buy them seperate. Personally I try not to use Wi-Fi where I can, most of my house is wired, I have two gigabit switches sitting in each room that has a TV and network capable devices. I only use Wi-Fi on my phone and laptop. So this receiver is wired. Bluetooth is very lossy, generally I stay away from streaming music via Bluetooth there is too much quality loss. Also it is very susceptible to interference, if you’re an audiophile this is probably not your cup of tea anyways. Now Pioneer says that it has some sort of tech that improves this, the only way I would consider Bluetooth as a streaming option is if the Bluetooth copied the entire digital file and buffered it in memory for playback. This is the only way that I can see the original file retaining it’s quality, unfortunately I can not find any information on the Pioneer Bluetooth streaming except that you require the Air Jam application for android to stream the songs to the Bluetooth device. Also the Pioneer devices are Apple friendly Air Play and such.With 7 HDMI inputs and analog source to HDMI and 4K upscaling you can’t go wrong. It has a second HDMI Zone out, so you can have a different sources on two different TV’s add Zone B speakers and this thing is a sure winner. This device will allow HDMI pass through after it has been switched off. It will pass through the last source that was selected on the receiver before it was turned off.A lot of people think that you should be able to plug and play something and it should sound amazing. Unfortunately this is the culture a lot of manufacturers are breeding, specifically Apple. I have to disagree. You are able to get away on this receiver by just running the Advanced MCACC and leave it at that, and the receiver will sound beautiful. However if you want the Maximum out of your experience I suggest you play with some of the sound options. Start with the basic stuff like levels and balance, then perhaps work your way up to adjusting the EQ and seeing what sounds the best for your environment and listening pleasure.
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