Yamaha Z7 to Pioneer LX83 - A Worthy Upgrade ?

The Z7 is superior to LX83. Demo both & decide if you think it's worth an upgrade. I think not. What speakers have you got?

Thank you for the post bigboss.

Is there a specific reason why the Z7 is superior to the LX83 ?

My speakers are as follows :

Mission 754F (front)

Mission 752F (rear)

Kef 200c (centre)

BK Monolith DF (sub)

The room is 22ft x 16ft so quite a big space to fill !

Thank again.

The LX83 is more in the league of Yamaha RX-V3900 which is a step below the Z7. 

DSP-Z7 offers greater scale & depth to the sound as compared to the 3900 & LX83. It's in a completely different league altogether.

Having said that, some people prefer the Pioneer with movies as compared to the Yamaha. The slightly different presentation to the sound may just appeal you. A demo is on the cards! 

Personally, I wouldn't say that it's worth changing from a DSPZ7 to an SCLX83. They're both excellent, and roughly on par with each other, give or take a couple of things.

I moved from a Yamaha 3800 to a Pioneer 82, and found the Pioneer drove and controlled my old M&K S150's much better than the Yamaha did. It was quite a difference, so much so, I changed to the 83 when that was released. The DSPZ7 wasn't quite good enough to drive S150's properly, and couldn't make them sound how they were intended to. It was much better suited to the M&K LCR750's (a model below the S150's). The DSPZ7/LCR750 combo was perfect.

So if you find your Missions are demanding more than your Z7 can give, it's worth trying the Pioneers, as they have more grip due to their digital amplification. If you feel the Z7 runs them fine, then your next step is really going to be the pre/power route in order to improve things - something like the Onkyo 5509 with a good multi-channel power amp. The 5509 will give you better processing and much better room EQ, as well as independent ISF settings for each video input. Or, you could add a better power amp to your DSPZ7 and use it as a processor.

Think carefully - you have a great receiver!

??

As I've stated. I can only what I've experienced. Pioneer's (well, B&O's) digital ICE amplification has more grip and control than equivalent Class A/B models.

If you're desperate to spend money I'd be inclined to get matching fronts to go with your centre, it's not usually a good idea to mix and match the fronts and centre.

Interesting read here:

http://www.classd.com.es/bang-olufsen-icepower-classd/bang-olufsen-icepo...

One of these days, I'll learn to stop calling it digital...

With the SCLX85, Pioneer have now dropped ICE and changed to DirectFET amplification.

When I changed from my Pioneer to the Onkyo processor (for higher quality processing and room EQ), I wanted to keep the amplification as similar as possible, as I didn't want to lose the sound and grip that I had, and I knew that most 5-channel power amplifiers that I could've afforded just wouldn't do the job, and I'd have ended up with some 'hi-fi warmth', which I didn't want - I want my AV system to be more neutral and accurate. So I went with the Class D Rotel RMB1575, which did the trick.

Hi Judethedude

For a worthwhile upgrade over the DSP-Z7 look at the new Aventage RX-A2010 or the Aventage RX-A3010 AV receivers. If the RX-A2010 and RX-A3010 are not within your budget then i'll recommend that you carry on using your DSP-Z7.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Thank you all for the excellent advice.

I have previously only had Arcam and Yamaha AVR amps and so I'm interested to try the Pioneer LX83 to see how it sounded with the Mission speakers which have a nice warm sound. I do sometimes wonder if the sound combination of the Z7 and the Missions is a bit too smooth/warm and consequently possibly lacking in openess and detail.

Unfortunately, I can't afford an upgrade to one of the new range of AVR amps at the moment (£1500+) and so thought the Pioneer might add something different to my system within a budget I could afford. 

I guess I could always try the LX83 and, if I don't like it, sell it on. The only problem is that, as the LX83 is a newer amp than the Z7, it commands a higher price ans so I would be paying more for the LX83 than I would get for the Z7 should I decide to sell it.

The LX83 go for around £850 s/h but the Z7 about £650 so it's quite a big difference. Is the anything else I should be looking at within the same budget ?

I had a Mission 75C centre speaker for a couple of years but was never happy with it. After doing some research I decided to try the Kef 200C and have found it far superior to the 75C and a good sonic match for the 754F's and 752's.

Thanks again.

Thank you for the additional comments FrankHarveyHiFi.

FrankHarveyHiFi wrote:

I can understand that, it was exactly how I felt with my older 3800. In that case, I think you'll find the LX83 a breath of fresh air

The Z7 is excellent for music (to my ears), does the LX83 come anywhere close ? Ninety five per cent of my listening is films/Sky HD and so it's not a major problem if not.

I would certainly not consider parting with the Z7 until I had given the LX83 a full road test.

Thats very reassuring 

I'm at the stage now thinkng that if I don't try it, I'll keep thinking about it and end up doing it in the near future anyway. Although both the Z7 and the LX83 seem to hold their values reasonably well, they will both depreciate further (and equally) over the next 18 months to 2 years and so I'll lose out the same financially either way so what have I got lose ? 

Thanks again for the continued support.

If you read up on Class D amplification in the link posted earlier, you'll see the benefits of ICE amplification, but you'll hear a cleaner, sharper with a lower noise floor. It's almost like taking a photo with an old film camera - slightly soft round the edges, easy on the eyes. Then you take a pic with your new digital SLR....