Pioneer VSX-LX505 Review – Ultimate Value

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Pioneer VSX-LX505 Review
pioneer vsx-lx505 elite av receiver

Product Name: Pioneer VSX-LX505

Overall
91
  • DESIGN - 91
  • FEATURES - 91
  • CONNECTIVITY - 92
  • SOUND QUALITY - 92
  • VALUE - 90

Summary

This excellent AV Receiver from Pioneer is powerful performer and has good features at a reasonable price.

Pros

  • HDMI 2.1 compatibility
  • Perfect sync with voice control agents
  • Seamless music streaming
  • Gaming-friendly device
  • Unparalleled sound quality and performance
  • Advanced connectivity features
  • Appealing design and supreme build quality
  • Sophisticated room calibration
  • Powerful amplifier and outstanding power generation
  • Refined video quality

Cons

  • The quality of speaker-out terminals could have been better
  • The remote does not have a backlight

Pioneer VSX-LX505 Elite Review

Pioneer VSX-LX505 review

Pioneer has an excellent track record as an AV receiver manufacturer. The company has launched many different models to fulfill the varying requirements of various customers. What about Pioneer VSX-LX505? Does this model beat the competition? This Pioneer VSX-LX505 Review explores the features and performance of this home theater receiver to deliver unbiased information for readers.

Pioneer VSX-LX505 – Build and Design

The sharpness and brightness of the screen display are highly commendable. The colorful LED lights of this model look attractive. It comes with a boxy design and has two large knobs on the right and left sides. The elegant finish of this home theater receiver can be termed exceptional. The intuitive and smart design features make it a reliable and user-friendly device.

Although this model offers high functionality, the front design looks organized. The drop-down door on the front side hides a wide range of direct access buttons to provide an organized appearance. The small remote is easy to handle and comes with larger buttons to ensure great ease of use.

The build quality of this Pioneer receiver never makes you feel disappointed. Top-quality plastic materials are used to make this product. The elegant design and high longevity blend harmoniously to deliver the best value for money.

Pioneer VSX-LX505 – Features

This product offers a wide range of features to ensure supreme customer satisfaction. It comes with many new features, compared to its predecessor, VSX-LX504. You can enjoy an improved gaming experience, higher video quality, and better Wi-Fi standards. The eARC function is an added advantage as well. Let us check the most prominent features of this model.

Sophisticated sound retriever

VSX LX505 performs compressed music enhancement with improved efficiency. Thanks to the sophisticated sound retriever. It reproduces detailed sound with excellent warmth and clarity from compressed WMA and MP3 files in your media players, USBs, and even smartphones. You can expect audio reproduction up to 20 kHz frequencies. There is no need to worry about permanent data loss during the digital compression process.

Advanced live room correction

The DIRAC Live feature lets you calibrate sound based on the specific requirements of a room. It creates a perfect listening environment by optimizing the performance of your home theater speakers. The automatic calibration is done through your smartphone or added wired microphone. If you want to calibrate sound virtually, you can use the macOS app or DIRAC Live personal computer with the Windows operating system.

Seamless music streaming

This device allows you to stream music with ease and comfort. Your internet connection can be used for the music streaming task. Built-in access is made available for Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, Deezer, and TIDAL.

Multi-room audio playback

This Pioneer model is a DTS Play-Fi-ready device that enables multi-room audio playback with optimal efficiency. The Pioneer Music Control app also plays its part in making VSX LX505 a highly functional AV receiver. If you utilize a compatible Apple or Android gadget, music can be played in any number of rooms simultaneously. Your favorite music can be streamed from the home media server networks or leading online services.

Excellent Dolby compatibility features

VSX LX505 is compatible with the most advanced Dolby formats, including Digital Plus, Atmos, TrueHD, and Atmos Height Virtualization. This home theater provides a fulfilling and immersive listening experience to users.

Outstanding video capabilities

This Dolby Vision compatible home theater receiver is capable of 8K pass-through up to 60 Hz. It also performs 8K upscaling up to 60 Hz with meticulous precision. VSX LX505 also supports HLG, HDR10+, and HDR 10.

Perfect compatibility with voice control agents

Many people choose a smart home ecosystem nowadays. This AV receiver works harmoniously with Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant to make users feel satisfied. That is to say, LX505 can be integrated into your automation home system.

Gaming-friendly AV receiver

This device guarantees seamless 4K gameplay to take your gaming experience to the next level. Equipped with an HDMI 2.1 console, VSX LX505 offers access to various gaming-oriented technologies. You can expect appealing visuals and fast responses when playing games using this device. The ALLM feature permits the console to choose the game mode of your television automatically. Don’t worry about graphic tearing and lag because of the QFT and VRR features.

Sonos Certification

It doesn’t matter whether you have a current Sonos home sound system or beginning a fresh Sonos system with the help of an optional Sonos Port; you can manage everything remotely. It can be done with the feature known as Volume Pass-Through available on the mobile Sonos app.

Unlock the power of IMAX at home

The IMAX Enhanced Mode of VSX LX505 lets you enjoy a robust sound and re-engineered 4K HDR visuals. You can expect an immersive listening and viewing experience. It recreates the magic the filmmaker wanted to convey authentically.

Roon-tested home theater receiver

This Roon-tested AV receiver works perfectly with Chromecast, USB, and many other protocols. The Roon team performs the profiling process to make setup and daily use effortless. A well-managed playback experience is what you can expect with this Pioneer AV receiver.

Two-way Bluetooth

The two-way Bluetooth allows high-resolution transmission of signals using aptX high definition codec. Music can be streamed from your favorite gadget to this home theater receiver with the help of AAC or SBC codecs.

Pioneer VSX-LX505 – Connectivity

pioneer vsx-lx505 elite av receiver

This product is compatible with all specifications for the 2021 HDMI 2.1 certification. It offers 6 HDMI inputs and 2 HDMI outputs. Other connectivity features include Stereo RCA (4), USB Type-A (1), RCA Composite (2), Digital Coaxial (1), 3RCA Component (1), and Optical TOSLINK (1).

You can also find two RCA Subwoofer Pre-Outs, one Stereo RCA Zone 2, one 9-Channel RCA Pre-Out, and one Stereo RCA Zone 3. When it comes to wireless connectivity, this model is compatible with DTS Play-Fi, and AirPlay 2. It also comes with a built-in Chromecast feature. Equipped with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapters, VSX LX505 takes the quality of connectivity features to the next level.

Pioneer VSX-LX505 – Sound Quality and Performance

You can find a 9.2-channel amplifier on this home theater receiver. Each channel delivers a power output of 120 watts at 8 ohms. This receiver also generates 230 watts at 6 ohms per channel. Further, it supports 11.2-channel processing. The internal amplifiers let you configure this into 7.1.2 or 5.1.4 channels. You can use external amplifiers to create a 7.1.4-channel system.

This AV receiver never fails to make an impression, even on highly demanding users. You can expect a deep and powerful bass with superb control. The focused midrange makes your listening experience engaging and enjoyable. It achieves perfect loudness and phase performance from all speakers to deliver excellent results.

When it comes to watching movies, you can hear gunshots distinctly. The crispness, depth, and spatial accuracy are commendable. It reproduces dialogues ranging from whispers to shouts with perfection. You can enjoy intelligible and natural sound reproduction with VSX LX505.

This top-quality home theater receiver recreates the breadth and power of all recordings with unfailing precision. It handles low-end and high-end volume levels with impeccable control. LX505 also deals with the most heavily spatial soundtracks with smooth consistency and balance.

The sonic delivery of this receiver can be termed unrivaled. You can expect the same levels of quality when listening to music or watching movies of various genres. Several AV receivers make a soft, squelching sound on the bottom. People often complain about flabbiness in such situations. Forget about squish or flaccidity when using this device.

VSX LX505 is a flexible home theater receiver that handles sounds efficiently at all listening levels. It can even play full-range stereo without a subwoofer with a perfect balance. Don’t worry about sound distortions or lack of clarity. This device transforms your listening and viewing experience with unbeatable sound quality and performance.


Verdict

Pros

  • HDMI 2.1 compatibility
  • Perfect sync with voice control agents
  • Seamless music streaming
  • Gaming-friendly device
  • Unparalleled sound quality and performance
  • Advanced connectivity features
  • Appealing design and supreme build quality
  • Sophisticated room calibration
  • Powerful amplifier and outstanding power generation
  • Refined video quality

Cons

  • The quality of speaker-out terminals could have been better
  • The remote does not have a backlight


Final Words

Does the Pioneer VSX-LX505 Elite model offer the best value for money? When you make a comparative study between LX505 and Denon AVR-X3700H, the former comes with better Wi-Fi standards and a higher number of zones. This model also stands taller with a more efficient power supply, improved DSD sampling, and a higher signal-to-noise ratio. What does it suggest? If you are looking for a more functional and feature-rich home theater receiver, the LX505 version is the better option.

Another model in the same price range as this Pioneer home theater receiver is the Yamaha RX-A4A model. LX505 stands taller than A4A in terms of the number of channels, video performance, connectivity, power, and audio features. Overall, Pioneer VSX-LX505 is a high-performing receiver that offers better value for money than most AV receivers within the same price range.

Vivek Sehgal
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