AUDIO/VIDEO MULTI-CHANNEL RECEIVER SINTOAMPLIFICATORE AUDIO/VIDEO MULTICANALE VSX-915-S/-K Operating Instructions Istruzioni per l'uso IMPORTANT CAUTION RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol, within an equilateral triangle, is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated "dangerous voltage" within the product's enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons. CAUTION: TO PREVENT THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK). NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL. The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance. D3-4-2-1-1_En-A Thank you for buying this Pioneer product. Please read through these operating instructions so you will know how to operate your model properly. After you have finished reading the instructions, put them away in a safe place for future reference. Operating Environment Operating environment temperature and humidity: +5 ºC ­ +35 ºC (+41 ºF ­ +95 ºF); less than 85 %RH (cooling vents not blocked) Do not install this unit in a poorly ventilated area, or in locations exposed to high humidity or direct sunlight (or D3-4-2-1-7c_A_En strong artificial light) WARNING This equipment is not waterproof. To prevent a fire or shock hazard, do not place any container filed with liquid near this equipment (such as a vase or flower pot) or expose it to dripping, splashing, rain D3-4-2-1-3_A_En or moisture. This product complies with the Low Voltage Directive (73/23/EEC, amended by 93/68/EEC), EMC Directives (89/336/EEC, amended by 92/31/EEC and D3-4-2-1-9a_En 93/68/EEC). WARNING Before plugging in for the first time, read the following section carefully. The voltage of the available power supply differs according to country or region. Be sure that the power supply voltage of the area where this unit will be used meets the required voltage (e.g., 230V or 120V) written on the rear panel. D3-4-2-1-4_A_En VENTILATION CAUTION When installing this unit, make sure to leave space around the unit for ventilation to improve heat radiation (at least 60 cm at top, 10 cm at rear, and 30 cm at each side). WARNING Slots and openings in the cabinet are provided for ventilation to ensure reliable operation of the product, and to protect it from overheating. To prevent fire hazard, the openings should never be blocked or covered with items (such as newspapers, table-cloths, curtains) or by operating the D3-4-2-1-7b_A_En equipment on thick carpet or a bed. WARNING To prevent a fire hazard, do not place any naked flame sources (such as a lighted candle) on the D3-4-2-1-7a_A_En equipment. STAN DARD ADVA NCED SURR LISTE NING ST/DIR /AUTO ECT SURR MODE SIGNA SELECL T STAN DBY /ON DVD/ LD TV/SA T INPUT ATT DIMME SPEAK RERS EXTEN DED MODE BAND TUNIN /STAT G ION PHO NES FL DVR/ VCR VIDEO ACOUS TIC EQ AUD IO/VI DEO MULT I-CHA NNEL CD CD-R /TAPE /MD TUNE R EDIT TONE QUICK SETUP AMP LIFIE R VSX -915 MUL TI SYSTE M SETUP RETUR N ENTE R TUNE R JOG S-VID EO VIDEO AUX MAS TER VOLU ME DOWN UP If the AC plug of this unit does not match the AC outlet you want to use, the plug must be removed and appropriate one fitted. Replacement and mounting of an AC plug on the power supply cord of this unit should be performed only by qualified service personnel. If connected to an AC outlet, the cut-off plug can cause severe electrical shock. Make sure it is properly disposed of after removal. The equipment should be disconnected by removing the mains plug from the wall socket when left unused for a long period of time (for example, when D3-4-2-2-1a_A_En on vacation). CAUTION The STANDBY/ON switch on this unit will not completely shut off all power from the AC outlet. Since the power cord serves as the main disconnect device for the unit, you will need to unplug it from the AC outlet to shut down all power. Therefore, make sure the unit has been installed so that the power cord can be easily unplugged from the AC outlet in case of an accident. To avoid fire hazard, the power cord should also be unplugged from the AC outlet when left unused for a long period of time (for example, when on vacation). D3-4-2-2-2a_A_En This product is for general household purposes. Any failure due to use for other than household purposes (such as long-term use for business purposes in a restaurant or use in a car or ship) and which requires repair will be charged for even during the warranty period. K041_En Manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories. "Dolby", "Pro Logic", "Surround EX", and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. "DTS" ,"DTS-ES Extended Surround" and "Neo:6" are trademarks of Digital Theater Systems, Inc. Contents 01 Before you start Introduction to home theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . Checking what's in the box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Loading the batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Installing the receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ventilation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6 7 7 7 06 Listening to your system Auto playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Listening in surround sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Using the Advanced surround effects . . . . . 34 Dolby Pro Logic IIx Music settings . . . . . . . 35 Neo:6 Music settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Listening in stereo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Listening with Acoustic Calibration EQ . . . . . 36 Choosing the input signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Using the surround back channel (Extended mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Using the Virtual Surround Back mode (VirtualSB). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Using Loudness and Midnight listening . . . . 40 Enhancing dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Using the tone controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Playing other sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Selecting the multichannel analog inputs . . . 41 Using the sleep timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 02 5 minute guide Listening to Surround Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Using the Quick Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 03 Quick surround sound setup Automatically setting up for surround sound (MCACC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Other problems when using the Auto MCACC Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 04 Connecting up Making cable connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analog audio cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Digital audio cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Video cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Connecting a DVD player and TV . . . . . . . . . Connecting the multichannel analog outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Connecting a satellite receiver or other digital set-top box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Connecting other audio components . . . . . . About the WMA9 Pro decoder . . . . . . . . . . Connecting other video components . . . . . . Using the component video jacks. . . . . . . . Connecting to the front panel video terminal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Connecting antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FM wire antenna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AM loop antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using external antennas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Connecting the speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hints on speaker placement. . . . . . . . . . . . Operating other Pioneer components . . . . . . 15 15 15 15 17 18 18 19 19 20 21 21 22 22 22 22 23 24 25 07 The System Setup menu Making receiver settings from the System Setup menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Surround back speaker setting . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Manual MCACC speaker setup . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Fine Channel Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Fine Channel Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Acoustic Calibration EQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Manual speaker setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Speaker setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Crossover network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Channel level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Speaker Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 08 Using the tuner Listening to the radio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Improving FM stereo sound . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Tuning directly to a station . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Saving station presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Naming station presets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Listening to station presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 An introduction to RDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Displaying RDS information . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Searching for RDS programs . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Using EON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Clearing all stations from the RDS and EON searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 05 Controls and displays Front panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Operating range of remote control unit . . . 26 28 29 32 09 Making recordings Making an audio or a video recording . . . . . . 55 10 Controlling the rest of your system Setting the remote to control other components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Selecting preset codes directly . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Programming signals from other remote controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Erasing one of the remote control button settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Erasing all of the remote control presets . . . . 58 Direct function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Confirming preset codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Controls for TVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Controls for other components . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Using this receiver with a Pioneer plasma display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Using the SR+ mode with a Pioneer plasma display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 12 Other Settings The Input Assign menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 The Other setup menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Dynamic Range Control Setup . . . . . . . . . . 68 Dual Mono Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 LFE Attenuator Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 SR+ Setup for Pioneer plasma displays . . . 69 English 13 Additional information Italiano 11 Other connections Second Zone speaker B setup . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Switching the speaker system . . . . . . . . . . 63 Bi-amping your front speakers . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Bi-wiring your speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Connecting additional amplifiers. . . . . . . . . . 65 Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Resetting the main unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Switching the speaker impedance . . . . . . . . . 73 Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Power cord caution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Cleaning the unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Français Deutsch Nederlands Español 01 Before you start Chapter 1: Before you start Introduction to home theater You are probably used to using stereo equipment to listen to music, but may not be used to home theater systems that give you many more options (such as surround sound) when listening to soundtracks. Home theater refers to the use of multiple audio tracks to create a surround sound effect, making you feel like you're in the middle of the action or concert. The surround sound you get from a home theater system depends not only on the speakers you have set up in your room, but also on the source and the sound settings of the receiver. DVD-Video has become the basic source material for home theater due to its size, quality, and ease of use. Depending on the DVD, you can have up to seven different audio tracks coming from one disc, all of them being sent to different speakers in your system. This is what creates a surround sound effect and gives you the feeling of `being there'. This receiver will automatically decode Dolby Digital, DTS, or Dolby Surround DVD-Video discs, according to your speaker setup. In most cases, you won't have to make changes for realistic surround sound, but other possibilities (like listening to a CD with multichannel surround sound) are explained in Listening to your system on page 33. Checking what's in the box Ple ...