Digital Trends

Even though I'm not a big fan of the remote, I've had worse. What's important here, however, is how the VSX-84TXSi performs, and in that department, it performs admirably. Also, the fact that you can hook up 4 – I repeat, 4 – HDMI-enabled devices is a godsend today as more and more products now utilize HDMI. Currently, I have an EchoStar ViP-622 HDTV Satellite Receiver with DVR, Sony Playstation 3, Toshiba HD-XA2, and an Oppo Digital DV-981HD upconverting DVD player attached to the receiver. In turn, the VSX-84TXSi is tethered to the Pioneer PD-5070. The receiver allows you to pass-thru the video signal directly to your display without processing (including 1080p), or you can utilize the internal Faroudja DCDi HD video scaler that converts lower resolution video signals up to 480p, 720p, or 1080i. Obviously, the audio is processed directly inside the receiver.

 

One of the best things about this receiver is that it includes auto-sensing circuitry, which means that it detects the type of incoming signal being sent, and automatically switches to that particular processor (e.g. Dolby Digital, DTS, or Pro Logic II). A display on the front panel of the unit lights up and gives you visual notification of DTS-ES (or SACD, or whatever). You don’t have to worry about changing anything. Auto-sensing is also carried to its logical conclusion via the i.LINK connection as well. Once you plug in the IEEE1394 cables, the 84TXSi and the i.LINK-enabled device “shake hands” and recognize/enable each component to utilize their i.LINK connectors. This is especially helpful for universal DVD players that play back both DVD-Audio and SACDs.

 

There was one HDMI video cable (Monster Cable) tethered to the PD-5070 from the VSX-84TXSi passing all video signals. The images displayed upon this plasma display were simply spectacular from HD sources such as CBS, ABC, HBO, and ShowTime, as well as the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD sources. Normal HD satellite images from EchoStar didn’t look too shabby either. The Toshiba HD-XA2 is a serious HD DVD player, and all of the images displayed on the 5070 had clarity and depth of field, giving the illusion of true HD quality from a HD DVD player. If you want to be a stickler, you can always put on the Video Essentials test disc – or use the Home Theater Demo disc featuring Mannheim Steamroller – and watch test patterns, measure gray scale (which I did), and calibrate and test different multi-channel audio signals. But the proof is in the pudding, so to speak, and let’s face it, a DVD player and an HD Monitor are designed to watch movies and music videos – not test patterns.

 

Thanks to its powerful, 140-watts per channel x 7 @ 8 ohms amplifiers, the 84TXSi “Direct Energy” amplification powerhouse delivers serious horsepower at all sound levels. By employing THX Select2 certification, it provides a sonic framework capable of producing sound levels of 115dB or higher (e.g. a jet taking off is 120 Db) without taxing the system. While other receivers might produce harsh or raw noise at these levels, the 84TXSi produces a warm sound to complement and enhance the other components in the system. In other words, the 84TXSi was never aurally taxed at any sound level. Also, to handle the wide frequency range of DVD-Audio, the 84TXSi covers a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. In turn, by using a copper direct-current bus bar, diode, and transistor covers, the electrical current output is consistently stable across all 7 channels of power, which is critical in aural reproduction from Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES, or PCM movie soundtracks to the musicality of SACD or DVD-Audio discs.

 

But… “How did it sound? Was it musical enough?” is a question my audio friends always ask. My family room measures 13 feet by 20 feet and can accommodate a large-screen TV and support seven B&W speakers. I am literally surrounded by sound. The B&W's certainly cocooned me and enveloped me in a 360-degree soundfield, which is the goal of 6.1 and 7.1 surround sound sources. Films sounded especially realistic, lifelike, and natural through the B&W loudspeakers from all TV and movie sources. New Line’s Blade II DTS-ES 96/24 6.1 soundtrack, for example, sounded especially realistic during the subterranean tunnel sequences of chapters 15 – 17 that give a new meaning to “you are there,” as music, effects, and dialogue emanate from all directions around you. While Revolutionary Studio’s Black Hawk Down is certainly visually harrowing, it also makes you duck and take cover as bullets whiz all around you.

 

These are just two examples of many films that sounded sonically superior, thanks to the 84TXSi’s surround processing and B&W’s accurate aural imaging (and I can’t forget to mention the superior imagery of the Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD player and Pioneer's PD-5070 plasma HDTV). It should be noted that even older films with a new Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack – like Columbia’s 1776: Restored Director’s Cut – sounded especially crisp and clear. In fact, this newly restored film never looked or sounded as good (even on laserdisc) as it does on this pressing. The DVD is so much better than what appeared originally years ago in theaters, bringing back the joys of the original Broadway theatrical production.

 

With both the DVD-A and SACD recordings, the discs came to life vibrantly, giving the listener the illusion of sitting in the audience for the artist’s performance. With different instruments being directed to somewhere other than the front two speakers, it gives the illusion of being in the center of the music, and that’s not a bad feeling. Personally, I prefer multi-channel sound for today’s recordings, but that’s just me. If you asked me which music system sounds better, I would say that it’s hard to tell. Personally, I think they’re both great compared to the cold and sterile CD! With an HD DVD player or the Oppo Digital “universal” player, you don’t have to chose one format over another and can sit back and enjoy the best of both formats. Within the various DVD-A recordings there's the Ambience Series: Summer Song by Mannheim Steamroller, in which there is a summer rainstorm; I really got the feeling that I was in the middle of that rainstorm, and I quickly sought out an umbrella. On the SACD flip side, Abkco’s Rolling Stones Remastered brought me back to the Sixties again – all I needed were my rose-colored glasses and something to inhale. In fact, The Stones never sounded so good (as they did on SACD), meaning that the recordings truly sounded edgy and raw – something missed on standard CD pressing and vinyl as well – but not metallic or harsh-sounding to the ear. It's unfortunate that these two next-generation audio formats have fallen to the wayside.