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Overview
Pioneer Elite SC-85 was introduced in 2014. It is equipped with 9 channel amplifier with 135 W (8 Ω, 1 kHz and 2 channel driven) power per channel and is capable of 9.2 maximum channel processing. It supports Dolby Atmos, passes 4K/60Hz and upscales up to 4K/60p (Marvell Qdeo) video signal.
We evaluated the a/v receiver and gave 85 overall score out of 100. Our ranking system is based on the amplifier specifications, audio and video features, connectivity, multizone capabilities, radio and many other details.
In 2015 Pioneer Elite SC-85 was replaced by Pioneer SC-95. Let us now have a look at some important differences between Pioneer Elite SC-85 and its successor.
UPGRADES
Pioneer SC-95
vs
Pioneer Elite SC-85
More Channel Processing
11.2
vs
9.2
Dolby Surround Upmixer
vs
DTS:X
up to with firmware update
vs
DTS Neural:X
with firmware update
vs
HDR10
vs
Wi-Fi
vs
via optional AS-WL300 adapter (sold separately)
Bluetooth
SBC, AAC
vs
via optional AS-BT100 or AS-BT200 adapters (sold separately)
Pioneer Elite SC-85 features 9 channel power amplifier with Class D3 design. It is rated at 135 W (8 Ω, 1 kHz, 2 channel driven) and is able to drive 4 ohm speakers.
AMPLIFIER
Channels
9.2
Power Output
135 W (8 Ω, 1 kHz, 2 channel driven)
Front Wide Channel Support
Amplifier Design
Class D3 (Direct Energy HD)
THX™ Certification
Continuous 6 Ω Rated
Certified 4 Ω Performance
Bi-amp Capability
Front, Center, Surround, SP-B
Speaker Configurations
Pioneer Elite SC-85's 9 channel amplifier can be assigned for different speaker configurations.
Dolby Atmos Configurations: The following speaker configurations are supported for Dolby Atmos:
5.2.2, 5.2.4, 7.2.2 with internal amplifier.
Configurations without height channels: There are also other speaker configurations available which do not include height channels:
5.2, 7.2, 9.2 with internal amplifier.
Front Wide Channel support: Pioneer Elite SC-85 supports front wide channels. With the presence of two front wide speakers you can enhance the front surround stage. The following speaker configurations are available for front wide channels - 9.2.
4-ch Bi-Amp: Pioneer Elite SC-85 allows you to bi-amp up to 4 main channels simultaneously. During bi-amplification two amplifiers are used for one speaker. One amplifier powers the midrange and tweeter section of the speaker and another amplifier powers the low frequency woofers. Each amplifier is less loaded and performs better. In order to use this feature speakers must have 2 pairs of connectors.
Pioneer Elite SC-85
Dolby Atmos
Pioneer Elite SC-85 supports Dolby Atmos. It is a cinematic audio format in which sounds exist as individual entities, called audio objects. In Dolby Atmos, any sound can exist as an independent audio object, free of channel restrictions. They can be precisely placed and moved anywhere in your room, including overhead, to flow above and around you in three-dimensional space. Through the use of audio objects, overhead sound, and all the richness, clarity, and power of Dolby sound, Dolby Atmos turns your room into an amazing place for entertainment. The format supports up to 128 simultaneous independent audio objects in a mix for rich, realistic, and breathtaking sound. It recreates the director's original concept through descriptive metadata to provide customized playback for home theater and delivers sounds above you through overhead speakers, special upward-firing Dolby Atmos speakers, or a Dolby Atmos enabled sound bar.
DECODING
Dolby Atmos
up to with firmware update
Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization
Dolby Atmos Music
Dolby TrueHD
Dolby Digital Plus
Dolby Surround Upmixer
Dolby Pro Logic
PLIIz
Dolby Digital EX
Surround EX
DTS:X
DTS Neural:X
DTS Virtual:X
DTS Neo
Neo:X
DTS-HD Master Audio
DTS-HD High Resolution Audio
DTS 96/24
DTS Express
DTS-ES
Discrete 6.1, Matrix 6.1
IMAX Enhanced
Auro 3D with Auro-Matic Upmixer
Sound Processing
Advanced Sound Retriever: Compressed music enhancement in Pioneer Elite SC-85 is done by Pioneer’s Advanced Sound Retriever. Hear the detail, warmth and clarity, the way the artist intended it, from all of your highly compressed MP3 and WMA files stored on USB, Smartphone and portable media players. By restoring data that tend to get lost in the digital compression process, Pioneers Advanced Sound Retriever Technology enhances audio reproduction all the way upto 20 Khz frequencies.
Room Calibration
Pioneer Elite SC-85 comes with MCACC Pro room correction system and includes the calibration microphone.
MCACC: Pioneer’s exclusive Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration System (MCACC) delivers an easy-to-use, automatic sound adjustment system to precision-tune your Pioneer and Pioneer Elite receivers with minimal effort. Every MCACC system comes with a microphone to measure and analyze reverb characteristics. The equalizer optimally adjusts sound parameters to fit the size and shape of your home environment while maintaining the integrity of high-resolution playback without any degradation to the quality of your music.
Video Section
HDMI
Pioneer Elite SC-85 features 8 HDMI inputs. It has 3 outputs: 2 for MAIN and 1 for MAIN/HDZONE.
4K/60Hz Passthrough: All inputs pass up to 4K/60p (4:4:4 24-bit) 4K/60p (4:2:2 36-bit) 4K/24p (4:4:4 36-bit) video signal.
4K Upscaling: Pioneer Elite SC-85 can upscale up to 4K/60p (Marvell Qdeo) from HDMI and analog sources.
Analog To HDMI Upconversion: The a/v receiver supports video upconversion, so you can connect your analog Component and Composite video sources and Pioneer Elite SC-85 will output them via HDMI. This means that you will need only one HDMI cable to connect to your TV.
3D Ready: Pioneer Elite SC-85 is able to pass 3D video through HDMI.
Pioneer Elite SC-85
VIDEO FEATURES
HDR10
HDR10+
Dynamic HDR
BT.2020 color space
Dolby Vision
HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma)
HDBaseT Compatible
Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC)
QMS (Quick Media Switching)
ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode)
VRR (Variable Refresh Rate)
QFT (Quick Frame transport)
3-D Ready
Video Signal Passthrough
up to 4K/60p (4:4:4 24-bit) 4K/60p (4:2:2 36-bit) 4K/24p (4:4:4 36-bit)
Video Signal Upscaling
up to 4K/60p (Marvell Qdeo)
Multi-zone Playback
Pioneer Elite SC-85 offers multi-zone playback which allows you to play different input sources in 4 different rooms.
Zone 2
Powered Zone 2: You can use the unit's 2 amplifier channels by connecting Zone 2 speakers directly to the speaker terminals. The remaining 7 channels will be left for main zone amplification.
Audio Pre/Line Output: If you have a dedicated amplifier for Zone 2 you can connect it to the a/v receiver via pre/line outs and use "pre out" option to control volume from the a/v receiver or use "line out" option - send fixed signal and then control volume on the Zone 2 amplifier.
Zone 3
Powered Zone 3: You can use the unit's 2 amplifier channels by connecting Zone 3 speakers directly to the speaker terminals. The remaining 7 channels will be left for main zone amplification.
Audio Pre/Line Output: If you have a dedicated amplifier for Zone 2 you can connect it to the a/v receiver via pre/line outs and use "pre out" option to control volume from the a/v receiver or use "line out" option - send fixed signal and then control volume on the Zone 3 amplifier.
Zone 4
HDMI Output: Pioneer Elite SC-85 offers HDMI output for Zone 4. This means that it can send two different HDMI signals to two displays.
ZONES
Number of Zones
4
Powered Zones
2, 3 and HDZone
Zone 2 Outs
RCA Pre/Line Out + Subwoofer
Zone 3 Outs
RCA Pre/Line Out
Zone 4 Outs
HDMI
RS-232C Interface
+12V Trigger Output
2 (Main, Zone2, Zone 3, HDZone)
Remote (IR) Input/Output
2 / 1
Inputs and Outputs
Audio
Analog Pre-Outs: Pioneer Elite SC-85 has 11.2 preamplifier outputs which allow you to connect the a/v receiver to the external power amplifier. You may want to use a high quality external amplifier for certain channels, usually for front L/R and center, and use the a/v receiver to power the rest.
Analog Line Inputs and Outputs: There are 3 line inputs and 1 line output for analog audio connection.
Digital Inputs and Outputs: 2 optical inputs, 1 optical output and 2 coaxial inputs are available for digital audio connection.
Headphone Output: There is a 6.3 mm (1/4") headphone output jack on the front panel.
Video
HDMI:
Inputs: 8 (1 front) Outputs: 3 (2 for MAIN, 1 for MAIN/HDZONE) 8K Inputs: 0
Composite Video: Connect you VCR, Laserdisc player and other old video equipment with composite video cables.
Inputs: 2 Outputs: 2
Component Video: Component video connection gives you the higher quality video compared to the composite video connection. So in case your old DVD player and other equipment do not have an HDMI output but have Component video output use this connection over the composite one. Pioneer Elite SC-85 supports up to 1080p (1125p) resolution on Component video connectors.
Inputs: 2 Outputs: 1
Front A/V Inputs
HDMI, USB
TERMINALS
HDMI Inputs
8 (1 front)
HDMI Outputs
3 (2 for MAIN, 1 for MAIN/HDZONE)
8K Inputs
USB Input
1 Front
USB DC Out Port
1 Rear for AS-WL300 (5 V, 0.6 A)
Optical Inputs
2
Optical Outputs
1
Coaxial Inputs
2
RCA Line Inputs
3
RCA Line Outputs
1
XLR Line Inputs
Phono Input
Multi-Channel Input
RCA Pre-Outs
11.2
XLR Pre-outs
Composite Video Inputs
2
Composite Video Outputs
2
S-Video Inputs
S-Video Outputs
Component Video Inputs
2
Component Video Outputs
1
Pioneer Elite SC-85 Evaluation
We evaluate Pioneer Elite SC-85 and give score of 85 out of 100. We also give separate scores for 6 different categories according to the available features and specifications some of which are listed below. These evaluations are relative and may change each time a new receiver is added to the database.
OVERALL
85
Amplifier
EXCELLENT
91
We give Pioneer Elite SC-85 a score of 91 for Amplifier features.
9.2 Channels
High Power Output - 135 W
Audio Features
EXCELLENT
85
We give Pioneer Elite SC-85 a score of 85 for Audio Features features.
9.2 Channels
Front Wide Channel Support
9.2 Channel Processing
Dolby Atmos
No Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization
No DTS:X
No IMAX Enhanced
No Auro 3D with Auro-Matic Upmixer
DSD via HDMI
Video Features
GOOD
73
We give Pioneer Elite SC-85 a score of 73 for Video Features features.
No HDR10
No HDR10+
No Dolby Vision
No 8K Passthrough
Analog To HDMI Upconversion
Connectivity
GOOD
83
We give Pioneer Elite SC-85 a score of 83 for Connectivity features.
No eARC
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
Does not Work with Amazon Alexa
8 HDMI Inputs
4 HDMI Outputs
0 8K Input
USB Input
Few RCA Line Inputs
No Phono Input
RCA Pre-Outs
Composite Video Inputs
Component Video Inputs
Ethernet
Zones
EXCELLENT
96
We give Pioneer Elite SC-85 a score of 96 for Zones features.
4 Zones
Radio
EXCELLENT
85
We give Pioneer Elite SC-85 a score of 85 for Radio features.
Analog Tuner
Pandora
Spotify
No Tidal
For a full specification list please go to the specifications page:
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