AUDIO/VIDEO MULTI-CHANNEL
RECEIVER
VSX-C301
Operating Instructions
vsx-c301_FL.book 1
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.
In some countries or regions, the shape of the power plug
may sometimes differ from that shown in the explanatory
drawings.
However, the method of con-necting and
operating the unit is the same.
Operating Environment
Operating environment temperature and humidity:
+5
°C +35°C (+41°F +95°F); less than 85% RH
(cooling vents not blocked).
Do not install in the following locations:
· Location exposed to direct sunlight or strong
artificial light
· Location exposed to high humidity, or poorly
ventilated location
H045 En
VENTILATION: When installing this unit, make sure to leave space around the unit for ventilation to
improve heat radiation (at least 20 cm at top, 50 cm at rear, and 10 cm at each side).
WARNING: Slot and openings in the cabinet are provided for ventilation and to ensure reliable operation of
the product and to protect it from overheating, to prevent fire hazard, the openings should never be blocked and
covered with items, such as newspapers, tablecloths, curtains, etc. Also do not put the apparatus on the thick
carpet, bed, sofa, or fabric having a thick pile.
H040 En
CAUTION:
THE
STANDBY/ON
BUT TON
IS
SECONDARY
CONNECTED AND THEREFORE DOES NOT SEPARATE
THE UNIT FROM MAINS POWER IN STANDBY
POSITION. THEREFORE INSTALL THE UNIT SUITABLE
PLACES EASY TO DISCONNECT THE MAINS PLUG IN
CASE OF THE ACCIDENT. THE MAINS PLUG OF UNIT
SHOULD BE UNPLUGGED FROM THE WALL SOCKET
WHEN LEFT UNUSED FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME.
H017BEn
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
NOTE: THE NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS COMPARTMENT WARNING IS LOCATED ON THE APPLIANCE BONNET
TWO VOLTAGE SELECTOR SWITCHES
(multi-voltage model only)
Only multi-voltage model is provided with these
switches. Mains voltages in Saudi Arabia are 127 V
and 220 V only. Never use this model with the 110 V
setting in Saudi Arabia.
Only multi-voltage model is provided with
these switches.
U.S. and Canadian models are not provided with these
switches.
H014 En
The line voltage selector switches are on the rear panel.
Check that they are set properly before plugging the
power cord into the household wall socket. If the voltage
is not properly set or if you move to an area where the
voltage requirements differ, adjust the selector switches
as follows.
1. Use a medium-size screwdriver.
2. First, insert the screwdriver in the groove of the
voltage selector at the right, and adjust so that the
tip of the groove points to the voltage value of your
area.
3. Next, insert the screwdriver in the groove of the
voltage selector at the left and adjust until the
voltage is the same as at the right.
CAUTION 220 -230 V
Power source voltage is factory adjusted 220-230 volts. If your
area is different, change voltage selectors settings.
TWO VOLTAGE SELECTORS
110V
220 -230V
240V
110V
120 -127V
220 -230V
240V
120-127V
vsx-c301_FL.book 2
Before you start
3
En
English
Before you start
Checking the supplied accessories
Please check that you've received the following supplied
accessories:
· AM loop antenna
· FM wire antenna
· Power cable x2
· Dry cell batteries (AA Size / IEC R6P) x2
· Remote control unit
· Operating instructions
· Speaker cable labels
Loading the batteries
The remote control operates on two AA batteries
(supplied).
Caution
· Incorrect use of batteries may result in such hazards
as leakage and bursting. Observe the following
precautions:
· Never use new and old batteries together.
· Insert the plus and minus sides of the batteries
properly according to the marks in the battery case.
· Batteries of the same shape may have different
voltages. Do not use different batteries together.
· When disposing of used batteries, please comply
with governmental regulations or environmental
public institution's rules that apply in your country or
area.
Ventilation
· When installing this unit, make sure to leave space
around the unit for ventilation to improve heat
dispersal (at least 20 cm at the top, 50 cm at the rear,
and 10 cm at each side). If not enough space is
provided between the unit and walls or other
equipment, heat will build up inside, interfering with
performance and/or causing malfunctions. See
below for exceptions to this.
· Don't place anything on top of the receiver except for
a Pioneer DV-466, 366, 266, 355, 533-K DVD player. If
you do place one of these pieces of equipment on top
of the receiver be sure to leave the ventilation space
over it as prescribed above.
· If using a rack to hold the receiver make sure the
back of the rack and the left side are open.
· Also, if you're using a case with doors, leave the
doors open when using the receiver.
· Do not place on a thick carpet, bed, sofa or fabric
having a thick pile. Do not cover the receiver with
fabric or other covering. Anything that blocks
ventilation will cause the internal temperature to rise,
which may lead to breakdown or fire hazard.
· The receiver may become hot while in use, please
take care around it.
Maintenance of external surfaces
· Use a polishing cloth or dry cloth to wipe off dust and
dirt.
· When the surfaces are dirty, wipe with a soft cloth
dipped in some neutral cleanser diluted five or six
times with water, and wrung out well, and then wipe
again with a dry cloth. Do not use furniture wax or
cleansers.
· Never use thinners, benzine, insecticide sprays or
other chemicals on or near this unit, since these will
corrode the surfaces.
1
2
3
vsx-c301_FL.book 3
4
En
Contents
Before you start
Checking the supplied accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Loading the batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Maintenance of external surfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
01 Quick start guide
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Easy Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Connecting speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Connecting your TV and DVD player. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Switching on and playing a DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
02 Introductory information
Introduction to home theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
03 Connecting your equipment
Rear panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Installing the receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
When making cable connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Connecting a DVD player and TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Connecting a TV with a built-in digital TV tuner . . . 10
Connecting a satellite/cable receiver or other set-top
box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Connecting other video components . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Connecting equipment to the front panel inputs . . . 13
Installing your speaker system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Connecting the speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Placing the speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Connecting antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
AM loop antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
FM wire antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Connecting external antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Operating other Pioneer components with this unit's
sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Plugging in the receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
04 Controls and displays
Front panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Remote control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Operating range of the remote control . . . . . . . . . . 20
05 Getting started
Using the Room Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Checking the settings on your DVD (or other)
player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Playing a source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
06 Home theater sound
Playing multichannel sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Playing stereo sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Listening with headphones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Using the Advanced Surround effects . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Using the Sound Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Enhancing dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Listening with virtual surround back speakers . . . . . 24
07 Using the tuner
Setting the channel step. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Finding a station. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Tuning directly to a station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
MPX mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Memorizing station presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Naming station presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Listening to memorized station presets . . . . . . . . . 26
08 Using other functions
Selecting the input signal type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Using the sleep timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Resetting the system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Default receiver settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
09 The System Setup menu
Making receiver settings from the System Setup
menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Setup menu options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Setting individual channel levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
10 Controlling other equipment
Using the remote control with other components. . . 32
Recalling preset codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Remote Direct function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Resetting all remote control settings . . . . . . . . . . . 33
VCR / DVD / LD player and DVD recorder
controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Cable TV / satellite TV / digital TV / TV controls . . . . 35
Preset code list. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
11 Additional information
Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Surround sound formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Dolby Digital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Dolby Pro Logic II and Dolby Surround. . . . . . . . . . 39
DTS Digital Surround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
vsx-c301_FL.book 4
Quick start guide
01
5
En
English
Chapter 1
Quick start guide
Introduction
This Quick start guide shows you how to connect your
speakers, TV and DVD player to this receiver, and also
takes you through switching on and playing a DVD disc.
Easy Setup
This section shows you how to connect your speakers,
subwoofer, DVD player and TV to this receiver so you can
start enjoying home cinema sound right away.
Before you start, make sure everything you're connecting
is switched off and unplugged.
Connecting speakers
This receiver has speaker terminals for front left and right
speakers (L and R in the diagram), a center speaker (C)
and two surround speakers (RS and LS). The minimum
speaker configuration is just the front left/right speakers,
but we recommend connecting all five if possible. Note
that surround speakers should always be connected as a
pair; do not connect just one surround speaker. All the
speakers you use should have a nominal impedance
between 616.
1
Connect your speakers to the receiver, as shown
in the diagram below.
Prepare the speaker cable by stripping about 1 cm of the
plastic shielding from each speaker wire.
Connect the front speakers to the FRONT L/R terminals;
the center speaker to the CENTER terminal; and the
surround speakers to the SURROUND L/R terminals.
Press on a tab to open a terminal; insert the exposed
wire, then release the tab to secure.
For correct sound it's important that the positive and
negative terminals of the receiver and each speaker are
matched. To help you do this, attach the supplied colored
self-adhesive labels to one half of each speaker cable.
2
Connect a powered subwoofer to the
SUBWOOFER OUT jack, as shown in the diagram
below.
Use a standard audio cable with RCA/phono plugs.
COAX
CONTROL
AC IN
IN
L
R
DVD
MONITOR
OUT
FMUNBAL75
AM LOOP
ANTENNA
IN
OUT
SUB
WOOFER
OUT
TV/SAT
(DVD)
OPT1
DVR/VCR
OPT2
DVD
(TV/SAT)
IN
VIDEO
AUDIO
L
R
TV/SAT
IN
DVR/VCR
OUT
L
R
DIGITAL IN
CENTER
L
R
L
R
FRONT
SURROUND
SPEAKERS
TWO VOLTAGE SELECTORS
110V
120 -127V
220 -230V
240V
110V
220 -230V
240V
120-127V
LINE LEVEL
VSX-C301
RL
C
RS
LS
SW
vsx-c301_FL.book 5