Pioneer Elite - 1050W 7.1-Ch. A/V Home Theater Receiver

A recent purchase of a 3D projector forced me to upgrade my home theater receiver. Although my current receiver (Pioneer Elite VSX92-TXH) was still going strong, it only had 3 HDMI 1.3 inputs and 1 output. It could not pass 3D signals through it, lacked enough HDMI inputs to handle all my other sources, and any workarounds meant it would not decode uncompressed audio while playing 3D disks (Playstation did not have two HDMI outs.) No HDMI switchers or splitters would work due to the way HDMI 1.4 handshakes. I needed a new receiver to handle my new system needs. I checked out Denon, Onkyo, and Marantz, but came back to Elite because of its reputation, familiarity, video switching capability and new SC build architecture. It has plenty of HDMI 1.4 inputs (8 total), two outputs (one for my Projector and one for my Plasma) and dual subwoofer outs... which meant I could finally get rid of the RCA splitters that feed my sub and my buttkickers in the seats. The SC-71 has plenty of power and a newer version of the audio setup routine (MACC), which I have grown to appreciate due to the way my room is set up. I was able to price match this unit at our local Best Buy store, walking out with the box in hand. I was actually far lighter in weight than the unit it replaced. But once I set up it up the room, connected my components, ran it through the set up process, etc... I can honestly tell you that I was pleasantly surprised with the way it made all my sources look and sound better than before. It runs much cooler than my previous receiver. And I notice a lot of nice improvements... like how much more nuance there is to audio detail in movies, even though I have been a fanatic about running uncompressed audio for many years now. And the iPad app for control or installation/assessment... I'm sure competing receivers in this price range have similar features/apps, etc. After living with this unit for a month or so now, I am convinced that this receiver will serve me well, both now and into the future. It was was great choice for me. Just for a little background, this is my third Elite receiver. All three of them are still working, although one is pre HD and has only limited component HD capability. My second now lives with a neighbor who has no 3D needs/desires and only one or two HDMI components. It should give him many years of service. Now I have a current model that I trust will perform as well as it's predecessors. Again, I have never had to replace an Elite receiver due to a quality or dependability issue. I have replaced them because I have moved into areas that did not exist when my prior receivers were built, meaning I needed to up upgrade to gain access to those features/functions that did not exist five or six years prior. I would say that I am loyal to the Pioneer Elite brand because it has given me so many years of reliability, offers excellent features and functionality, and is a real value (not the cheapest, for sure, but justified)... all of which make it a solid investment.

This receiver replaced a 10 year old Yamaha receiver that just was too outdated. I always felt that my Yamaha was a bit short on power. I was pretty sure that the Pioneer SC-71 should give me enough power for my space. I have a 7.1 surround sound system with Klipsch Reference speakers and a Velodyne sub. I was fairly confident this receiver was enough and knew I could upgrade to the more powerful SC-72 if I was wrong. Just didn't want to spend the extra money even though the 72 does have the better DAC. No worries, the SC-71 was enough. However It took me a while to calibrate the sound settings where I liked them. I thought the automatic settings with included microphone set the proper reverberation control but really did not like much else that it did. I ended up manually setting everything. All in all a great product. No real complaints.

I purchased this receiver to go with a set of Bose speakers. I've had other receivers, but this will be my last receiver! The quality is amazing and the power it puts out thru the speakers allows me to put the speakers in my bedroom windows to listen to my playlist while out in my very large backyard. Not only is the sound quality perfect, but I can hear every word perfectly from a long distance away. This receiver replaced a mediocre one that I paid a decent amount of money for several years back. I should have purchased the Pioneer then instead of wasting my money on junk! The power and sound quality it pushes out thru my speakers is worth every penny and I will never purchase any other brand ever!!!

I love the sound. It interfaces well with my components. I like the Multi-zone capability. I'm having a little difficulty getting the other zone to work. Updating the software with a USB was good. They don't tell you you can't keep the update file in a folder on the flash drive. The system looks good and eventually I'll have to run a cat 5 to run network to the A/V receiver in the near future. I'm not running a sub-woofer at this time and it still sounds great. I plan on purchasing high end Martin Logan Subwoofer to rock the house. I'm using SpeakerCraft AIM-7 speakers built into the ceiling. All in all I'm please with what I have.

I had to replace a Sunfire Ultimate Receiver that finally gave up the ghost (or fried its cheap capacitors). While the sound isn't quite on that par, it is close. The build quality is excellent, although a bit lighter than I was expecting. The speaker terminals are located such that they don't block other inputs or each other during attachment. It has enough HDMI and digital inputs (2 coax, 2 fiberoptic) for most needs. The only detraction I'd have is that the interface is a bit awkward. Navigating through the menus can be a chose during set up. Even worse is the fact that there are options such as "skip input" in which Yes means no input and No means the input is shown. While it is technically correct, it is often disorienting when you are flying through the inputs trying to decide if you have all of the correct inputs showing as available. Also, trying to get up Pandora, etc. isn't exactly intuitive. Overall I'd rate it 5/5. After all, hopefully you only need to set it up once. Oh, and I purchased it in store Monday at 2 PM, but it wasn't in stock. BB arranged shipping to my home for free. It arrived the following day (Tuesday) at 5 PM. They certainly didn't cheap out on the shipping!

I did quite an extensive research on different name brands and came back to pioneer every time for the most part on quality of sound and usage of the different features and in the end went with Pioneer also because I had purchased a plasma TV years and years ago and really have been very happy with that purchase/item! While getting used to a new remote usage is difficult the owners manual was pretty straightforward on locations of buttons and usage of them but will obviously take some time to fully be comfortable with all the different functions that one remote can do and perform in the end I'd say this is one step above everyone else if not more because of the lead having the capability of the same power if not more but only using A third of the electricity as the others turn off 70% of the electricity they require as wasted electricity and pioneer uses all that instead of it being wasted. so in the end playing near can be looked at in the elite series anyway as a possibility of green technology. Other items that I really cared for or the dimming capability on the front panel all the way down to fully blacked out so that it is not and I catching item when trying to watch a movie to see all these other features and items bright colors on the screen of the unit so I would suggest fully and deeply thinking about any lead SC model from Pioneer over many of the others as a very good purchase.

This unit was an upgrade from an older model Pioneer receiver (21). The sound quality and operator interface is second to none compared to the competition. Easy to use and fantastic intuitive interactive PC menu and manuals. Would recommend Pioneer to anyone

When I started searching for a new AVR Pioneer was the last unit I was considering. I looked at Marantz, Denon, Onkyo, and Yamaha. The Pioneer is just a great sounding unit in it price range. The other AVR's are AB class amplifiers, and get really hot during operation, but the Pioneer runs fairly cool with fantastic sound for the price range. The Marantz also sounded phenomenal, but it was more expensive and I just did not want to keep upping the budget. Awesome stereo for this midrange AVR. Plus there are a lot of features you just don't find until you get to higher end AVR's. Unit was also fairly easy to setup. Takes a little time for the configuration settings and the automated leveling, but worth it in the end.