Impressive Pioneer Small Speaker System

After purchasing an HD television set and a player that can display videos in high definition, the next step is to invest in a home theatre system that is a stunner in terms of looks and features. Pioneer’s HTP-LX70 certainly looks the part, but does it perform up to par with other home theatre kits in the market?

Click to enlarge

The Pioneer speaker system has a piano-black glossy finish similar to its Kuro range, which complements any television screen (although it gives a subtle hint that it is designed for a Pioneer screen). The satellites are small and can be placed just about anywhere in the room, although it is prone to fingerprint marks and dust. The subwoofer is big and heavy, which may pose a problem while putting the system together.

Out of the box, the HTP-LX70 comes with four dodecahedron shaped satellites that claims to deliver an ‘Omni-directional’ sound, a subwoofer, a display unit, and a remote control.

The subwoofer can be considered as the ‘heart’ of the speaker system, as it contains all the connecting ports to make the system work. Hidden on its side panel are two control out jacks, two digital optical in jacks, an AM Loop antenna terminal, an FM antenna socket, an analogue audio in jacks, speaker terminals, and an AC in jack for powering the whole system up. Users can also find three HDMI in connectors, an HDMI out connector, and a system connector on the rear panel of the subwoofer.

Click to enlarge

The display unit has four top buttons (Standby/On, Input Selector, Volume Up and Down), four ports (System connection, F. Audio input, iPod input terminal, MCACC setup microphone jack), and a screen to display the tuner, listening mode, and digital format indicators.

Setup is easy but tedious as one would have to connect the AM loop antenna, FM antenna, colour-coded connectors, and HDMI connector to the subwoofer. Users have two different setup options to choose from when setting up the Pioneer home theatre system. The first setup requires a user to place the front speakers and subwoofer in front of the listening position while placing the surround speakers behind their listening position. The other setup, which places all the speakers in front of the listening position, is ‘ideal’ when rear surround speaker placement isn’t possible or you want to avoid running long cables in your listening area.

Before pumping out all your tunes on the LX70, we recommend using the Auto Multichannel Acoustic Calibration (MCACC) system first to get optimal surround sound. This system measures the acoustic characteristics of your listening area, taking into account ambient noise, and testing for channel delay and channel level. All a user has to do is to connect the bundled microphone to the MCACC setup microphone jack at the back of the display unit, place the microphone at their normal listening position, and press the MCACC button. The series of test tones will come out from the speakers and will last for about 10 minutes, resulting to an optical setting for the current speaker setup.

The various sound modes on the system aim to maximise the unit and give users a ‘real experience’ of sound. The Effective Sound mode maximises the sound in movies and music, while the Advanced Surround setting can be used with any multichannel or stereo source ‘for a variety of additional surround sound effects.’ The Front Stage Surround Advance mode is also available and is recommended for users who opted for a front surround setup (with all the speakers in front of the listener). The LX70 also has a Midnight listening mode that allows a user to hear effective sound of movies at low volume levels, a Loudness listening feature that can be used to get good bass and treble from music sources at low volume levels, and a Quiet listening feature that reduces excessive bass or treble in a sound source.

Up to three HD components (Blu-ray players, DVD upscalers, or Network media players) can be connected to the LX70, with the system being able to transfer 1080p/24 video to our television set and its amplifier being able to recognise and decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD. Dialogues in movies were clear, while action sequences were loud, aggressive, and deep.

Various audio tracks and movies played from connected sources sounded crisp and sharp, with the speaker system reproducing highs, mids, and lows with ease. Although, we found the speaker system to favour lower frequencies, giving our audio tracks a ‘bassy’ feel. A minor adjustment to the bass setting will do the trick, and will result to a more balanced system.

Click to enlarge

While a bit clunky, the LX70’s remote sports a touchscreen that display numerous TV, DVD, HDD/DVR, and receiver commands. It was easy to use and the buttons were responsive, although the orange backlight did not help when lights from the ceiling hit the screen. The remote could have been better if Pioneer replaced the orange backlight with a brighter (coloured) screen to give it an even modern look.

Overall, the Pioneer HTP-LX70 is an impressive home theatre kit. The system can be setup in two different ways, comes with a multitude of audio options that can be accessed to suit any listening situation, and sounds great. Just remember to do the calibration setup before using the unit, adjust some of the settings if necessary (like the bass and treble), sit back, and enjoy what the system has to offer.

See page over for product specifications and pricing.

 Pioneer HTP-LX70 Product specifications:

Systems
Functions: 5 (Tuner/Digital 1/2/3, Analogue)
Tuner (band, preset stations): FM/AM

Amplifier
Total Power (RMS): 400W
Front (1 kHz, 10% T.H.D 8 ohms): 50W + 50W
Dual Centre (1 kHz, 10% T.H.D 8 ohms): 50W + 50W
Surround (1 kHz, 10% T.H.D 8 ohms): 50W + 50W
Active Subwoofer (100Hz, 10% T.H.D 8 ohms): 50W + 50W

Surround format and sound features
Front Stage Surround Advance: Yes (Focus 5.1, Wide 5.1)
MCACC Auto Surround set-up: Yes
Sound Retriever: Yes
Dolby Digital: Yes
DTS: Yes
Dolby Digital Plus: Yes
DTS-HD Master Audio: Yes
DTS-HD High Resolution: Yes
Dolby TrueHD: Yes
Advanced Surround Modes: Yes (13 modes)
Surround Modes (stereo source): Yes (8 modes)
Sound Delay (lip sync): Yes

HDMI
Version: 1.3A
Deep Colour: Yes
HDMI Control: Yes

iPod
iPod Interface: Yes (Analogue AV)

Remote Control
LCD Touch Panel: Yes

Terminal (receiver subwoofer)
HDMI input/output: 3/1
Digital Optical Input: 2
Audio In: Yes
3.5mm Audio Jack: 1 (on seperate display)
SR Output: 2

Dimensions
Subwoofer (WxHxD), weight: 245 x 409 x 600mm, 17.8kg
Separate Display (WxHxD), weight: 168.2 x 73.4 x 87.9mm, 0.35kg
Front/Centre Speaker (WxHxD), weight: 122.5 x 89.5 x 104mm, 0.5kg
Surround Sound Speaker (WxHxD), weight: 122.5 x 89.5 x 104mm, 0.44kg

————————————
Pioneer HTP-LX70 | $3499 |  | www.pioneer.com.au

For: Small size, Audio quality, Customisable audio settings
Against: Piano finish leads to fingerprint marks; May be to ‘bassy’ for some; Remote is heavy and tacky
Conclusion: A solid home theatre kit to enhance your HD experience