Here, I found that the VSX-56TXi did a very
good job of keeping the stage coherence
together. I found that there was only the
usual small gap between front and surround
hemispheres, indicating excellent overall
presentation, as well as good linearity
between the various pieces required to
deliver this track correctly.
As a closing listen, I went to one of the
best big band discs in my collection, the
Bob Mintzer Big Band’s
Homage To Count
Basie. “One O'Clock Jump” is a killer blues
track, which builds from start to finish and
features an ambient mix with only ambience
information in this quadraphonic (4.0) mix.
As accent chords are hit by the band on a
piano solo chorus, the attack in front, with
decay in all loudspeakers, provided an
excellent peak into what the sound was like
at the recording. Also of note was the pres-
entation of the alto sax solo, which has a
deliberately overblown timbre. I’m not a fan
of this approach, but I also wasn’t hired to
play the part! That said, the presentation
from small combo to tutti shout choruses is
well done both by the recording and the
VSX-56TXi. It is easy to have timbre break-
down with denser passages, and the VSX-
56TXi managed to come through this partic-
ular text with nary a scratch on the Urishi
black exterior.
Conclusion
Pioneer's VSX-56TXi is indicative of the
progress that has been made in the last
several years in the audio side of the home
theatre market. This $1,700 product does
an outstanding job, with performance that
would have been considered high-end sev-
eral years ago. Its warm, rich sonic signa-
ture does an excellent job in conveying the
message rather well. The flaws in the VSX-
56TXi lie in its operational issues far more
than in its sonic attributes. With some user
interface polishing, the few rough spots
could be dramatically improved.
■■
equipment Review
Widescreen Review • Issue 97 • June 2005
5
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