Price Paid:  $1400.00 from Ultimate Electronics

Summary:
So far so good on a 30 day trial. MCACC calibration worked well for me, and I like thefact that two settings can be used, one keyed to the front speakers, and the other for a flat average response. The USB connection to my Apple PowerBook G4 worked like a charm, and music sounded much better on the Pioneer than it ever did on the Yamaha RSX-V2400 I was auditioning. My impression with my B$W 602 S2 mains is that the Pioneer is a very neutral device, not warm like a Denon or icy like the Yamaha. I don't feel as if there is much being imparted to the music but the music. I'm surprised at how much I enjoy the Neo6 and ProLogic II modes when listening to music. I usually avoid trickery like that like the plague, but when combined with the levels set by the MCACC calibration, the illusion of depth is a nice change of pace. None of my video sources are attached to the Pioneer, so I can't speak to that. I haven't done much yet to audition the usual suspects in the DVD department as this receiver has shown how wanting my current sub is. SVS is shipping the cure my way, so once that sub is installed, I'll throw The Fellowship of the Ring and Das Boot at it to see how it does. As far as ease of use goes, I am very impressed with the remote control. It is the first "universal" remote that has been easy to integrate my Dish 508 PVR into the mix with. The NetCommand stuff from MItsubishi (which is great for my wife) does not have a learning capacity, so while I could change channels and navigate the box as if it was the pre-programmed Dish6000, I had to jump through hoops to pause and play TV. With the 55txi's remote it was quite simple to program all the play and pause functions to the appropriate keys and then remap the sound on the receiver to use an optical port remapped to DVR/VCR1. Combine that with using the learning function of the remote to program the NetCommand codes to the appropriate buttons for the TV input and I tihnk I have found the best solution yet for controlling my system. On the FireWire front, receiver and the TV see each other when they are attached, but as far as I can tell, they don't have much to say to each other. I'll post a follow-up to this review once I get a chance to hook up an iPod via FireWire. On first impressions, though, this receiver is an extremely good choice for a music lover interested in doing the best reproduction possible of MP3s or AAC files from some sort of portable digital jukebox, be it something like an iPod or a PC or Mac laptop plugged in via USB. So, I like it so far. I was happy with the sound of my old Sony DA30ES, so was looking for a replacement that didn't go backwards sonically, but added a more contemporary set of features with connectivity options for the future. And that's what I have so far.

Strengths:
Neutral sound; terrific remote control; ample connectivity options; automatic calibration that works; all the surround optiosn you'd expect from a receiver in this price range

Weaknesses:
Lack of a switch to turn on the light on the remote; long-winded manual that could be organized more logically; heavy and deep - make sure your furniture can accomodate it; optical and coax inputs could be labelled more clearly both on the back of the receiver, the manual and the onscreen display to ease the process of remapping them to the appropriate function (eg: my TV has has coax out for HDTV; the DVD is optical. It was difficult to do the remap of the optical TV hookup to DVD and vice versa without a number of trips to the back of the receiver

Similar Products Used:
Sony DA30ES, Yamaha RSX-V2400