Some Lacking, But Mostly Totally Awesome Receiver
I did my research and looked for what I wanted: a 5.1 surround system, able to handle Blu-ray audio formats, a second zone, and I-pod usability. Although now that I have the receiver, I can think of a couple more, this receiver is everything I was wanting and it does it very well. I love all the extra features, some of which I don't need, some of them I don't want to use. The Phase adjustment that enhances the highs and lows together, I thought, was not helpful at all. It sounded better to me off, as with certain mix options. I do like the Pro Logic II options and settings for enhancing sound for games and music. My wife and I enjoy listening to the radio and our iPods, so those options help. It also has an enhancement for "filling in the cracks" from your compressed mp3s.
I have a Harman Kardon 5.1 speaker set, HKTS 18, which sounds just great. I am still making adjustments here and there with the sound to get it just right. But, for any audiophile, that is an on-going quest.
Here are my dislikes, though small, are bothersome enough to lose a star. The remote control is...for lack of a better word, lame. I had an hold Harman Kardon AVR520 which had a remote that I fell in love with. It was a learning remote and controlled things very well and the button placements were thought out. I don't know if I was spoiled with that or what, but this is not impressive at all. Certain buttons have three different functions depending on the series of buttons that are pressed. The top third of the remote is just for choosing your source and they cram the rest into the bottom. I just think they could have done much better.
Dislike #2: This is my fault, when I did my research, I did not look into this. But whatever video you send to the receiver, that's what is coming out of it. No upscaling. So sadly, if you want to use the on-screen iPod menu or the setup menu for the speakers you have to use the composite output. I would like one cable to the TV, but instead, I have a composite cable for onscreen menus, component my Wii and HDMI for my Blu-ray player. Not that big of a deal, just means I have to change the input on my TV everytime I switch.
And my final dislike with a happy ending. Short story BUT IMPORTANT. I had my system all set-up, and had been watching some movies for a week and a half. I invited a friend over to watch a Blu-ray movie we rented and half way through I noticed that the audio was lagging behind the video maybe by between a quarter and half of a second. Not much, but it made me nuts. Found out it was only on the DTS-HD tracks. After talking to a couple of people at Pioneer, found a couple interesting facts not mentioned in the manual:
1. Pioneer guarntees that their system works perfectly with a Pioneer Blu-ray player (well, duh). Has issues with almost all the others. Mine happened to be one of the others (I have a Sylvania).
2. The Auto-Delay feature, according to the Pioneer tech I spoke to, sets the receiver to delay the audio how it is meant to be delayed ACCORDING TO THE DISC that is being played. For instance, after hours of testing with two brand new Blu-ray players, the movie I rented is perfectly fine for the first half of the movie, but in the middle of it, the audio starts trailing. With the auto-delay on, it is perfect throughout the whole movie. And kudos to te Pioneer techs I spoke with, they were very helpful.
Only one star is taken off because it is a well priced system for all of the features, being able to iPod (a USB port, not a headphone jack), and decoding the Dolby True HD and DTS HD tracks. Bottom line, I love this receiver.
Buy this receiver...
Then buy a universal remote.
2010-02-08
