Specifications

A/V AMPLIFIERS & RECEIVERS TECHNOLOGY
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Combined with the 3-D space frame, the stable cast iron base realises heretofore
unknown chassis rigidity. The heavy 4 kg cast iron base, made by TAOC — known as the
quality audiophile accessory brand — overwhelmingly enhances the strength and
stability of the chassis. And it serves to support and intercept external vibration thanks
to its specially designed material — 10 times more anti-resonant than steel. The base
contacts the frame at 15 points with the newly developed, patent-pending pivot-shape
for crystal-clear and even deeper bass sound.
Only the most select parts and cutting-edge technology are found in Pioneer’s high-end A/V amplifier and receivers. Each has been
precisely engineered with an ultra rigid construction, the best-in-class amplifier design and advanced digital processing — the first step
in Pioneer’s Advanced Multi-Channel Stereophonic Philosophy. It is crystal clear that these high-class components were designed with a
quest for pure sound perfection.
TOP-PERFORMANCE COMPONENTS
STABLE CAST IRON BASE FOR ULTIMATE CHASSIS RIGIDITY
(VSA-AX10Ai)
With Pioneer’s Advanced Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration system (MCACC) — an automatic sound field adjustment system created by Pioneer
experts in cooperation with AIR Studios professional sound engineers — you are able to precision-tune your home system to your living room just like
a sound professional, with minimum effort. Using the included calibration microphone, the MCACC system monitors the sound environment and automatically adjusts
various sound parameters. (See page 55 for more info.) Advanced MCACC also neutralises the effects of reverberation, caused by obstacles or imperfect room
characteristics. With Pioneer’s patent-pending 3-D Calibration method, frequency and level readings are taken for each band at a series of time intervals. This enables
even more accurate tonal measurement and calibration of the frequency balance. The sound is adjusted based on how we actually hear it.
You can even visualise the room acoustics of your own room on your PC, and therefore make more accurate settings. All that’s needed is to connect an RS-232C cable (not
included) to your PC, and download software from the Pioneer website. You can also consult this site to get calibration results for the VSX-AX4AVi and the VSX-AX2AV.
The VSA-AX10Ai also includes an automatic ‘X-curve’ adjustment*, to ensure that the sound is perfectly matched to your room size. Our perception of the sound frequency
changes depending on our distance from the source (high frequencies decrease more for larger rooms). ‘X-curve’ compensates for this difference.
Audio will be fine-tuned and personalised for your home — heard
exactly the way the recording engineers intended.
* X-curve is authorised as an international standard, ISO 2969.
PROFESSIONAL SOUND REPRODUCTION WITH ADVANCED MCACC (VSA-AX10Ai, VSX-AX4AVi, VSX-AX2AV)
Since this amplifier incorporates 7-channel, high power units, it
generates a huge amount of energy. The chimney-shaped heat sink acts
as a natural cooling system, releasing excess heat from the power
elements which could otherwise adversely affect operation. There is less
resonance compared to general cooling systems,
and the sound remains transparent to the source
input signal.
CHIMNEY-SHAPED HEAT SINK FOR EFFICIENT HEAT
DISSIPATION AND LOW RESONANCE (VSA-AX10Ai)
The VSA-AX10Ai uses twin 32-bit floating-point processors SHARC Melody Ultra and
48-bit processing Motorola DSP engines, such as those widely used in pro audio
equipment. Pioneer engineers created the most advanced digital processing module, the
Ultra Digital Core Engine, optimised for the DSPs. It features a short signal path thanks
to the latest 6-layered circuitry board design and an exclusive processing algorithm. The
Ultra Digital Core Engine processes the data with extreme precision, and delivers more
powerful multi-channel sound decoding and processing than
ever before. This engine can handle all the latest surround
formats, and makes high-definition-quality 96 kHz/24-bit
processing possible for Dolby Pro Logic IIx, THX and DTS Neo:6.
ULTRA DIGITAL CORE ENGINE FOR MORE POWERFUL
SIGNAL PROCESSING (VSA-AX10Ai)
Chimney-shaped
large heat sink
Speaker level (dB)
Frequency (Hz)
Example of a room with a large amount of
reverberation — frequency and level measured
over time reveal reverberation in the room
Example of a room with no reverberation
— nonexistent in a home environment
Tim
e (ms)
Ultra Digital Core
Engine
Speaker level (dB)
Time (ms)
Frequency (Hz)
For full features and specifications, please see pages 91 — 94.
Cast iron base and 3-D space frame construction