I am considering the Pioneer Elite VSX-52TX or 54TX for my HT set-up, but 2-channel music is very important to me. The review of the 52TX in Perfect Vision suggests bi-amping to get the best 2-channel sound. Anybody out there had any experiences with bi-amping Pioneer Elite receivers and if the sound quality compares favourably with higher priced receivers such as Arcam, Rotel, Nad.
I haven't compared the sound against the Arcam, NAD, and rotel, but I am bi-amping my 54. I just did the basic comparisons against the Denon avr-3805, RX-v2500, and AVR 630.
The sound is awesome, the procedure is very simple and completely covered in the manual. I got my 54 delivered for less than $700. I do spend time doing critical 2 channel listening, but I also do some multi-channel as well. I highly recommend this receiver!
I have a 54TX and have used the bi-amping feature before I connected my rear center channels. I found that went I turn the volume up to -10dB or greater that the sound is clearer with less distortion than without bi-amping. Once I hooked the rear centers up I lost the ability to do bi-amping so I am bi-wiring. The 54TX is a great receiver I am very happy with it. It is very simple to work with and I have used 95% of the features so far.