Purchased the Pioneer VSX-405 at a goodwill for $20.
The speaker change A or B has a slight short and requires a little finesse to get both A & B working simultaniously but works just fine using A or B separately.
Was shopping around for a reciever for my outside speakers I use near the pool finding this at $20 was a steal it sounds good pushing the outside speakers and also have a set of floor speakers I use inside to use when were having a get together. Don't like to use my real system unless it's for watching movies.
The VSX has the classic Dolby Pro Logic not to be confused with Dolby Digital 5.1.
The old Dolby was used in theaters back in the 70s and 80's and only uses 4 speakers.
So using for a surround system today is not recommended back in the VCR days sure it kicked butt.
It sounds very crisp even today for playing mp3s or CD's while it's not very powerful it's plenty enough to annoy neighbors.

I'd recommend this product to anyone that can find it at the price I have:)

I bought this receiver new back in college...sometime in the early 1990s and I have been using it ever since. I've really been happy with it this entire time and it's still working perfectly 10-15+ years later! It's not a super powerful amp, but it's loud enough for my livingroom. With a good set of speakers it responds well. Good frequency response. I wouldn't consider myself a true audiophile, but I am a musician and recognize a good sounding system. I think it was worth the price and more.

Good value for the money and a good entry-level receiver (for back then, that is).

Somewhat poor power output. Bass is distorted at high volumes.

I must say that this receiver was a great buy. I bought it late 1996 and it has been going strong ever since. It's really no good compared to the receivers availible today, but I must say that I'm very pleased with the buy.

It's not my primary receiver today, but it does a great job when hooked up to a computer or a playstation.

If i weight in all the aspects of pricetag, durability, and comparisons between other similar products back then I must give it a quite good raing...

Price for entry level

lack of DTS and some bass distortion

Make no mistake about it, I'm not suggesting anyone go out and buy one used; however, I will defend the product on its objective. It was meant to be an entry level product for individuals on a budget. One has to take in accord that this was still a relatively new technology, at least at the consumer level. The industry in 1996 was just graduating from basic surround at the consumer level. I had it paired with BA speakers and the system rendered a decent reproduction of sound, and for $279 we need not but this old guy in the Hall Of SHAME!

Solid and reliable, takes all the use and neglect I give it without complaint. Has sleep timer.

Sound is strained compared to vintage Marantzs'. Remote can't tune stations directly and has exclusive funtions not on front panel. Front panel black with almost invisible lettering is dark, hard to read. Amber display is ugly and washes out during daytime. AM section sounds terrible with buzzing noise that can't be tuned out.

Actually the receiver I have is the vsx-403. I bought it in 1995 because it was the most affordable a/v receiver I cound find. I wish I'd waited longer and looked farther. It's rated at a continuous 65 wpc which I believe is accurate. It has no trouble driving inefficient speakers and passive sub. I'm impressed with its flawless reliability but honestly the only thing about it that's better than the old Marantzes is the fact that it has a remote contol. Too bad resale value is so low, I've seen these and similar models on ebay for $20-$40. Next time I'll save longer and buy another Marantz, NAD, Rotel or even Sherwood Newcastle.

Similar Products Used:

Vintage Miida receiver, Marantz 2220b, 2270

I bought the VSX-405 as an entry-level receiver for home studio work and as my main audio listening system. I was 18 at the time, and proceeded to take the system to college. In dorm rooms and at home the system did its job and for the money I suppose I can't complain.

It definitely got high decibal usage and was partnered with a very wide range of speaker types (studio monitors + subwoofer, surrounds, OLD radio-shacks, Jamos, etc) and again, worked as I thought it should. Of course, at that time I only knew what LOUD was, so as an enthusiast i realize that this isn't the receiver for everyone. Mainly because of the problems I have had:

1) its very noisy. Any time I turn it on with a CD/LD input there's a great deal of hiss which to me means cheap amp components (go with separates!!! :)).
2) the surround sound modes are even noisier and while this is common for all receivers, I rarely used these features because they sounded so terrible.
3) now, after approx 3-4 years, one of the channels has died. A few months ago, it was the right channel which had about 10% of the correct power (and any low frequencies distorted BIGTIME) and now its the left channel. I understand that after a few years, some wear and tear can be expected but having my balance set to 7 o'clock to equalize things out just wont work in a shoddy studio setting like mine :)

Overall, I *was* happy with it when I had no idea what I was doing, and now im very very disappointed. Most of the Pioneer consumer equipment that I have seen is very touchy and has lots of annoying bugs so I probably wont be buying Pioneer again. Just my $.02!

The Pioneer VSX 405 is worth about the same as other products on the market today. It's only going to last a little longer than the warranty, then not worth fixing. My Zeneth 29" TV was the same, 14 months old, time to dig a hole! On the rating there was no #0 or I would have entered it!!!

I came up with the same occurence that Bryan R the right chanel has lost its power. In my case that happens only in some inputs so the amplifer part is still OK. I gave the amplifer to friend of mine and he looked it and chanced some components and fixed some solderings. I don't know if it is going to work until I test it at home after work.

Overall I can say that it is oldfashioned nowdays what comes to home theatre but works fine in stereo if it happens to work at all.

My first true home theatre receiver. I had spent a long time in the store listening to different receivers. And this one was the only one I found in my price range, with the features, the sound quality, and the power I was looking for. It's only rated at 280 watts total power, but I am sure it has a much higher peak output. For a medium end receiver, it's great. Sure, it has no AC-3 output, but Digital outs weren't available on any of the receivers at the time. This receiver still puts out great bass and treble, and has an easy to use interface. This has a full pro-logic output system (none of this Matrix garbage), with an "a" and "B" front channel selector. Sure, it's a little behind the times now, but it's still a great sounding receiver for someone looking to put together a nice little system. It's going to be hard to find: it was out of production about 1.5 to 2 years ago, being completely replaced by the 407 and 456 and the rest. But, as a side note, a good friend of mine owned a 456 (I may have the exact number incorrect. If I do, I appologize.) which soon developed a static intereference problem. It was returned soon after. Yet my good ol' 405 has been going strong for 3 years. A great buy.