Friggin VSX-26TX died again. No audio, plus the remote functions aren''t working right... WTF!! I''m NEVER BUYING A PIONEER AGAIN!

Outstanding sound quality, price/performance ratio,beautiful phono section, great looks, sturdy build

transformer hum

I love this unit. The sound and effortless power are fantastic. Yes, it does run rather warm, probably because it''s 5 amps are biased higher than most. The DAC is top notch. I run both a Toshiba DVD w/HDCD and a Pioneer CD-RW through DH Labs Silver Sonic coaxials. This is top notch stuff, especially for what I paid. The DD and DTS work as advertised. An unexpected plus is the fantastic sounding phono section. I connected my MMF-2.1 w/ Grado Prest. Gold and I was blown away. The sound was so natural...it seemed to flow from the room. I sold my Creek OBH-8SE preamp right away. Believe it or not, there was no comparison. I like the number of inputs, though I wish there was a coaxial digital out. There are binding posts for ALL channels, and it seems like this thing will drive any load ! I''ve got a pair of 3.6 ohm homemades connected to the "B" speaker jacks. It runs them with no sweat. My previous Yamaha DPL receiver could only do it for about 10 minutes. My only qualm is with a persistant transformer hum.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RXV-660 Kenwood A/V rec.

Pioneer Customer Service/Product Reliability.

This is a continuation of my last review. Well, it pays to save your receipts. I went digging and found it. To my surprise I had purchased my receiver in April of 2000, it was my DVD player I bought in December. This is when my repair story starts. I took my receiver to an authorized repair shop here in Anchorage and was told that Pioneer most likely would not honor the warranty since I purchased it online. The repair shop called me back shortly and confirmed that Pioneer would not have my receiver repaired under warranty. I figured I''d call Pioneer Customer Service myself and ask about the warranty. Just like so many of the other reviews on this page, I was told that my warranty would not be honored since I purchased my receiver online. In fact, it seemed as though they didn''t even really want to talk to me. I guess Pioneer''s online customers aren''t as important to them as their traditional brick and mortar customers. I decided to take the course of action that others on this site have and I filed a complaint with the BBB. This included Pioneer''s failure to honor their warranty and Pioneer''s failure to recognize the "No Sound" defect in their VSX-26TX product that so many are experiencing. I was surprised to get a response from Pioneer within a couple of days. They left me a message stating that they had sent me authorization to have the receiver repaired. It''s too bad I had to go to such lengths to have the warranty honored. I am glad that Pioneer is now working with me, but I would be even happier if my receiver never did have these problems to begin with. A top of the line receiver like this one shouldn''t have problems for many years. I''ll keep the value rating at 4 Stars, but I''ll up the Overall Rating to 3 Stars since Pioneer is now finally backing their product.

This is a follow up to my last post for those interested. After third visit, I am told by Bill (technician) that it is "fixed" and arrive to find him feeding the unit audio from a Dolby Digital only DVD. He then tries to tell me Dolby Digital and DTS are the same signal and I should take the unit as it is "fixed". I was forced to bring back my own DVD player and a DTS DVD (they had none in shop) and show them the signal detection failure. After this demo and my refusal to accept the BS line about DD and DTS "being the same", Bill (technician)then tells me he was feeding it with a bootleg Sopranos DVD w/DTS earlier in the week. The legal release is not available in DTS. More BS. I was then informed they would order a new DTS decoder board. They order PD6381A/IC9374. A week later (01/30/02)I am told the unit is fixed only to be told when I arrive it needs 24 hr. testing before release. Okay. Next night (tonight) I arrive and am told it is ready. I see Manager unplugging unit with no DVD player near it, just a vcr. Hmmm. I bring it home and guess what, IT STILL DOESN''T WORK! Now it fails to detect any digital signal! I am so frustrated with both Pioneer and their high quality products and technicians I swear I will never buy another Pioneer product again! I noticed my receiver had some missing screws (nice work)and decided to pull the case top off to see the fine work performed inside. I noticed the decoder card case has a broken retainer clip with missing screw (tech didn''t know how to properly remove) and missing screws along the side of the case (used to ensure wall of case does not touch card) which technician failed to put back. Nice work from Mid America Service in St. Charles MO. I have written to Pioneer and will call them tomorrow. We shall see if they know how they back up their "Elite" products.

Pioneer warranty service.

This is a continuation of my last review. Well, it pays to save your receipts. I went digging and found it. To my surprise I had purchased my receiver in April of 2000, it was my DVD player I bought in December. This is when my repair story starts. I took my receiver to an authorized repair shop here in Anchorage and was told that Pioneer most likely would not honor the warranty since I purchased it online. The repair shop called me back shortly and confirmed that Pioneer would not have my receiver repaired under warranty. I figured I''d call Pioneer Customer Service myself and ask about the warranty. Just like so many of the other reviews on this page, I was told that my warranty would not be honored since I purchased my receiver online. In fact, it seemed as though they didn''t even really want to talk to me. I guess Pioneer''s online customers aren''t as important to them as their traditional brick and mortar customers. I decided to take the course of action that others on this site have and I filed a complaint with the BBB. This included Pioneer''s failure to honor their warranty and Pioneer''s failure to recognize the "No Sound" defect in their VSX-26TX product that so many are experiencing. I was surprised to get a response from Pioneer within a couple of days. They left me a message stating that they had sent me authorization to have the receiver repaired. It''s too bad I had to go to such lengths to have the warranty honored. I am glad that Pioneer is now working with me, but I would be even happier if my receiver never did have these problems to begin with. A top of the line receiver like this one shouldn''t have problems for many years. I''ll keep the value rating at 4 Stars, but I''ll up the Overall Rating to 3 Stars since Pioneer is now finally backing their product.

Too many to list

Music play back didn't have the same punch as my old Carver separates

This is an upgrade from a previous review. I started H.T. by buying a pioneer dvd player with a built in D.D. decoder. I used carver separates for the front channels, and an old yamaha reciever for the rear. The T.V. speakers for the center. No sub W. I was sold on home theater. The sonics were incredible. However with this configuration, I was constantly adjusting volumns, and balances. I decided to do some research on 5-channel amps and preamps. The pricing on these units, (Parasound) my dream unit, is out of my reach. I decided on the Pioneer elite vsx26tx. After owning this unit for a couple of months, and many questions from HI-fi forums, I decided that my front channels need equalizing. My previous unit were EQed. I ran the EQ. from the dvd analog front channel jacks into the external processor in jacks. When listening to music or a D.D. movie I push the ex processor button on the front panel of the 26tx. The other analog out jacks on the dvd player are also connected to the ex processor in jacks of the vsx 26tx. Now the system has the same punch and brilliance of sound as my old carvers. I hope this will help someone because I was told by many "advisors" that an EQ. could not and should not be connected to a home theater system. THEY WERE WRONG. If you are unhappy with your sound EQ it. It works!!!

Similar Products Used:

Carver separates, Pioneer Elite DV-c302d

Warm rich sound, THX certificatiion, Excellent choice of DSP modes

Glossy face

I owned the VSX-79 which I enjoyed but was never floored with. I wanted to move beyond pro logic and after reading several reviews had targeted the Denon 3300. Along the way to purchasing the Denon, (which I am convinced is an excellent product. This is not an either or review) I read a few reviews of this receiver. Quite frankly what convinced me to buy this was a very good local dealer agreeing to match an offer I saw on the internet ($850) out the door. Well after only a few days I am floored. This unit sounds great for stereo and movies. If there is something you don't like about the sound it is very easy to manipulate. My main interest is music and the warmth that this unit provides is awesome. If you can purchase this at this price point buy it. The THX certification insures you cant go wrong.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite VSX-79

THX Ultra rating, assignable digital inputs, great sound!

-none-

I've owned this receiver for about 5 months now. I still don't regret not waiting for a dealer to actually get in stock my other choice - the Denon AVR-3300. The overall smooth sound, abundant inputs and great looks of the 26TX really leave me no choice but to be totally happy with this receiver. I briefly had a Sony 555ES receiver, but the lack of ASSIGNABLE digital inputs and the god-awful remote controll forced me to return it.

The 26TX has been a joy to own. The learning remote is really good enough to be sold on it's own merits, Pioneer took no shortcuts with it at all. It runs my system (Sony DSS, Pioneer Elite PD-F19 jukebox, Pioneer DV-414 DVD player and a Sony Hi-Fi VCR) very well. The setup for the 26TX is about as easy as it could possibly be, and the flexibility is astounding! The THX setting is great if you are temporarily using mismatched speakers, it really seems to make regular TV watching sound better than any of the other DSP modes. I can't really comment on the 5 channel stereo mode - I don't have 5 speakers yet!

I would consider the sound of the 26TX to be very warm, smooth highs and mid-range, very good base. I am currently using Vandersteen 1-B's for mains, but am slowly moving over to an all B&W 600 series setup for home theater. I started with an LCR6s2 center channel speaker, and boy it sounds great with this receiver!

All in all, I would definitely purchase this receiver again if I had to do it all over again. Wonder of all wonders, this baby actually was manufactured in Japan!

I managed to get this receiver for $750 delivered from Uncles Stereo after hearing it demoed locally. I would have bought it locally if the dealer hadn't insisted on asking $1000 for it! I can understand paying $100 more than the going Internet price for a receiver, it would be worth it to buy locally, but $250 more? No way! He wanted $850 for the VSX-24TX!

Similar Products Used:

Sony 555ES Receiver, Denon-DRA-825R Receiver.

Amps run clean and powerful. Build Quality! dependability.

None (if you want weaknesses, go buy a Sony)

Ive had this receiver for about 4 months and I cant believe its taken me this long to post a review. First off, the build quality is excellent and anyone that complains about the plastic tray on the front is an idiot. The urushi finish is gorgeous. Quite elegant in my opinion.

The mosfet amps are indeed powerful, mine doesnt get that warm and even if it does, what amps dont? Its great for cd playback and even better for movies. I have yet to get my hands on a DTS dvd but will soon. I watch movies over and over just to experience them again.

The remote does its job, and there are plenty of ins and outs. I will be using this as a preamp soon, which I hear it accels at as well.

Mids and highs are exceptional, and I have NEVER heard bass like this from a receiver. It is clean, but not overbearing. I have JBL SVA 1800's and 2100's (and the matching sva center) and a psw-d112, the entire system sounds like it was made for eachother!! I am getting the Parasound HCa-2205 to really get things loud but in reality, i dont NEED it, just want it!

So Please, do yourself a favor and get any Elite branded pioneer receiver, you will regret not picking one up sooner :)

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer vsx-605, and 606

This is an update to my previous review.....I wanted to let users and potential buyers of this unit know about some things that may be of importance.First,this unit greatly benifits from a break-in period.I know some audio-philes dont think that solid state recievers need a break-in period.However,do to this models Mosfet amplification I noticed a smoother,open and transparent soundstage after 6 weeks of many hours playing time.Think of Velvet and silk.Both are smooth yet the silk offers a better defined feel..Secondly,the DACs in this model are just fantastic for the price.Meridians premier surround processor uses the same Crystal-semiconductor,Burr-Brown and Motorolas best processing chips.(the cheapest Meridian processor is 3499.99) Also,this Pioneer can fully decode 24/96 audio DVDs from its digital input.HOWEVER,as of this wtiting only Pioneer DVD players can pass the true 24/96 signal via its digital output.,To get full 24/96 resultion using other players you must use the ANALOG outputs on the DVD player to the analog inputs on the Pioneer.Thus,you must use the 24/96 DACS in your DVD player which may or may-not be as good as the Pioneers.Listening to 24/96 music DVDs properly decoded is an awesome improvement over standar CD and even DTS music discs..In conclusion,I can safetly recommend this,or any of the NEW Pioneer Elite models...!