The present review is aimed to compare two AV receivers - Pioneer Elite SC-LX704 vs Onkyo TX-SR353 that are meant to satisfy the needs of cinema and music lovers.
A significant difference between the receivers in the number of channels, Pioneer Elite SC-LX704 has 9.2 versus 5.1 for Onkyo TX-SR353. Regarding power, then Elite SC-LX704 has such a W/Ohm ratio - 135/8 when TX-SR353 has a power of 140/6. The THD is the same and is 0.08%.
Characteristics of digital to analog converter (DAC) are different, ES9026PRO 384 KHz/32-bit for Elite SC-LX704 and 192 KHz/24-bit for the TX-SR353. Only the Elite SC-LX704 supports Bi-amping feature. The Pioneer Elite SC-LX704 can transmit an audio signal directly to the amplifier and bypasses any DSP processing.
Only the Pioneer Elite SC-LX704 can connect to the Internet via WI-FI. Rivals from our review have Bluetooth support. Only the Elite SC-LX704 supports Spotify. HDMI signal transmission in standby mode is implemented in each of the devices. The Elite SC-LX704 can scale the input HDMI signal, unlike the TX-SR353. Dolby Vision technology found support only on the Elite SC-LX704.
The Pioneer Elite SC-LX704 has 7/3 HDMI inputs/outputs versus 4/1 HDMI connectors of the Onkyo TX-SR353. The HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC) feature supports both devices. Unfortunately, HDMI eARC is not available on monitored devices. The Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) feature is present in most modern AV receivers and the models in our comparison are no exception. The Elite SC-LX704 supports the protection of digital content of the standard HDCP 2.3, versus HDCP 2.2 in the TX-SR353. The Elite SC-LX704 has a built-in phono stage for connecting a vinyl player. An ECO mode is not present in each of the AV receivers. The setup assistant will help you configure Pioneer Elite SC-LX704.
Only the Elite SC-LX704 has a Dolby Atmos multichannel audio format support. A surround technology DTS:X is supported only by the Elite SC-LX704.