AUDIO/VIDEO MULTI-CHANNEL
RECEIVER
VSX-515-S/-K
VSX-815-S/-K
VSX-915-S/-K
Operating Instructions
VSX_815-915.book.fm 1
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.
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.
CAUTION
RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DO NOT OPEN
IMPORTANT
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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
or moisture.
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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).
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NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to
Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in
a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not
installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does
cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off
and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
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Information to User
Alteration or modifications carried out without appropriate authorization may invalidate the user's right to operate
the equipment.
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CAUTION: This product satisfies FCC regulations when shielded cables and connectors are used to connect the
unit to other equipment. To prevent electromagnetic interference with electric appliances such as radios and
televisions, use shielded cables and connectors for connections.
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D3-4-2-1-5_En
Voltage selector
You can find the voltage selector switch on the rear
panel of multi-voltage models.
The factory setting for the voltage selector is 220 V.
Please set it to the correct voltage for your country
or region.
· Saudi Arabia operates on 127V and 220V mains
voltage. Please set to the correct voltage before using.
· For Taiwan, please set to 110 V before using.
Before changing the voltage, disconnect the AC power
cord. Use a medium size screwdriver to change the
voltage selector switch.
220V
240V
110V
120
127V
TWO VOLTAGE SELECTORS
110V
120-127V
220V
240V
Medium-size screwdriver
VSX_815-915.book.fm 2
English
Italiano
Français
Nederlands
Español
Deutsch
Contents
01 Before you start
Introduction to home theater
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Checking what's in the box
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Loading the batteries
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Installing the receiver
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Ventilation
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
02 5 minute guide
Listening to Surround Sound
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Using the Quick Setup
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
03 Quick surround sound setup
Automatically setting up for surround sound
(MCACC)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Other problems when using the Auto
MCACC Setup
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
04 Connecting up
Making cable connections
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Analog audio cables
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Digital audio cables
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Video cables
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Connecting a DVD player and TV
. . . . . . . . . . 16
Connecting the multichannel analog
outputs
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Connecting a satellite receiver or other
digital set-top box
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Connecting other audio components
. . . . . . 18
About the WMA9 Pro decoder
. . . . . . . . . . 18
Connecting other video components
. . . . . . . 19
Using the component video jacks
. . . . . . . . 20
Connecting to the front panel video
terminal
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Connecting antennas
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
FM wire antenna
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
AM loop antenna
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Using external antennas
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Connecting the speakers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
A and B speaker systems
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Hints on speaker placement
. . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Operating other Pioneer components
. . . . . . 25
05 Controls and displays
Front panel
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Display
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Remote control (VSX-815/915)
. . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Remote control (VSX-515)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Operating range of remote control unit
. . . . . 35
06 Listening to your system
Auto playback
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Listening in surround sound
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Using the Advanced surround effects
. . . . . 37
Dolby Pro Logic IIx Music settings
. . . . . . . . 38
Neo:6 Music settings
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Listening in stereo
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Listening with Acoustic Calibration EQ
. . . . . 39
Choosing the input signal
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Using the surround back channel
(Extended mode)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Using the Virtual Surround Back mode
(VirtualSB)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Using Loudness and Midnight listening
. . . . . 43
Enhancing dialog
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Using the tone controls
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Playing other sources
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Selecting the multichannel analog inputs
. . . 44
Using the sleep timer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
07 The System Setup menu
Making receiver settings from the System
Setup menu
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Surround back speaker setting
. . . . . . . . . . . 46
Manual MCACC speaker setup
. . . . . . . . . . . 47
Fine Channel Level
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Fine Channel Distance
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Acoustic Calibration EQ
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Manual speaker setup
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Speaker setting
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Crossover network
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Channel level
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Speaker Distance
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
08 Using the tuner
Listening to the radio
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Improving FM stereo sound
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Tuning directly to a station
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Saving station presets
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Naming station presets
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Listening to station presets
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Changing the frequency step
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
09 Making recordings
Making an audio or a video recording
. . . . . . 57
VSX_815-915.book.fm 3
10 Controlling the rest of your
system (VSX-515)
Setting the remote to control other
components
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Selecting preset codes directly
. . . . . . . . . . . 58
Direct function
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Clearing all the remote control settings
. . . . 59
Controls for TVs
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Controls for other components
. . . . . . . . . . . 61
Preset Code List
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
11 Controlling the rest of your
system (VSX-815/915)
Setting the remote to control other
components
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Selecting preset codes directly
. . . . . . . . . . . 64
Programming signals from other remote
controls
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Erasing one of the remote control button
settings
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Erasing all of the remote control presets
. . . . 66
Direct function
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Confirming preset codes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Controls for TVs
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Controls for other components
. . . . . . . . . . . 69
12 Other connections
Second Zone speaker B setup
. . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Switching the speaker system
. . . . . . . . . . 71
Bi-amping your front speakers
. . . . . . . . . . . 72
Bi-wiring your speakers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Connecting additional amplifiers
. . . . . . . . . 73
Using this receiver with a Pioneer plasma
display
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Using the SR+ mode with a Pioneer plasma
display
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
13 Other Settings
The Input Assign menu
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
The Other setup menu
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Dynamic Range Control Setup
. . . . . . . . . . 76
Dual Mono Setup
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
LFE Attenuator Setup
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
SR+ Setup for Pioneer plasma displays
. . . 77
14 Additional information
Troubleshooting
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Resetting the main unit
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Switching the speaker impedance
. . . . . . . . . 81
Specifications
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Power cord caution
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Cleaning the unit
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
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.
VSX_815-915TOC.fm 4
Before you start
01
5
En
English
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Deutsch
Nederlands
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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 36.
Checking what's in the box
Please check that you've received the following
supplied accessories:
· Setup microphone
· AM loop antenna
· FM wire antenna
· Dry cell batteries (AA size IEC R6) x2
· Remote control
· Power cords (make sure you use the
correct cord for your country/region):
VSX-515/815/915-K (black models)
Round 2-pin type and Australian type
VSX-515-S (silver models)
Round 2-pin type, flat blade 2-pin type and
UK 3-pin type (Except Australian model)
VSX-815/915-S (silver model)
Round 2-pin type, flat blade 2-pin type, UK
3-pin type and Australian type
· Power plug adaptor (VSX-515/815/
915-K only) x1
· J-shaped plug x1
· These operating instructions
Loading the batteries
Illustration shows the VSX-515 model
VSX_815-915.book.fm 5