Pioneer SC-2022 in the test

For Pioneer, digital amplifiers are anything but a low-budget solution. The Japanese cost Class D amplifiers in the AV receiver 1,000 euros. Among them are classic transistor technology with Darlington output stage. Not a bad solution, which is also found in the upper class with other manufacturers, but at Pioneer, the digitalos declared as Direct-Energy HD power amplifiers in the upper league have very special fragrance brands. Thus, the promulgation awakens the highest expectations that the amplifiers are used, which help the LX series to sound altitude flights and immense performance.


Specialties on board


However, the developers accept that the receiver reacts quite clearly to the impedance of the connected speakers. This property is generally attached to all digital amplifiers, but is particularly pronounced on the SC-2022.


Hearing test


On 2-ohm boxes, its output stages produce a drop of almost 4 dB, while the frequency response rises slightly at 8 ohm. Therefore, Pioneer owners should make a bow around particularly low-impedance boxes, although the power reserves would be enough.


While Apple AirPlay has quickly established itself as a standard for wireless audio streaming among the receivers of large manufacturers, with the exception of Onkyo, Bluetooth support is still the exception. With Pioneer, you can wirelessly stream music from mobile phones in this way, but an optional AS-BT200 adapter is required for about $ 100.


A Pioneer specialty is dedicated to eliminating phase differences between the low frequency effect (LFE) channel and full range signals from Blu-ray discs and DVDs. For this purpose, the SC-2022 constantly analyzes the phase relationships between the channels in its DSP. If the mastering studio did not work cleanly and filtered out the other channels, Auto Phase Control Plus can detect and correct this via real-time analysis.

On the video side, the receiver can only scale up to 1080p, but the signal can be polished effectively and finely. For example, if you play YouTube content on your receiver, Stream Smoother is an effective tool to compensate for block and mosquito noise - those infamous compression artifacts that occur with low-bit-rate video

In the hearing test, full-value bit-food was offered, which the SC-2022 received however initially over its analog inputs from the player. The Pioneer reproduced a very large space. At the upper end of the frequency scale the performance was very open, at the bottom very massive. The bass was massive and at the same time relatively soft, while voices in the middle layers left a somewhat "tied" impression. The SC-2022 did not know how to carry emotions.


With surround movies, this vote worked particularly well, sound effects even profit from it. In addition, the Pioneer placed high performance reserves and stability in the weighing pan.