See Post Below

See Post Below

This is a follow-up post. Thanks to all who instructed me on how to get my subwoofer signal for non-DVD sources (cable music, CD's, receiver). The problem turned out to be improper speaker setup. In order to get a subwoofer signal, you must set it as "Plus" or set the fronts to small. Either way will direct low crossover frequencies to the sub. If you keep the fronts to large and the sub to plus, the fronts will also receiver the lower frequencies. This is the setup I am using.

Thanks to all.

Looks, Smooth & clear sound, macro remote, easy setup, variable sub crossover.

90 watts per channel surround and 100 in stereo. Might be only my room size is to large cause I feel I have to turn in up to much to get into the movie at times. Also the blue or black background when programming instead of an overlay.

I listened to all of these receivers and found the Pioneer to have the smoothest, clearest sound. The macro remote is a treat to use after the extensive programming, but I'm not going to complain about that cause I was able to program ever button right where I wanted it to be for my Satillite & TV controls. The speaker setup was very easy and fun especially the bass cut off point so I won't ruin the subs. I was shacking the heck out of the house. I really wanted the Elite 37TX, but got this one on an excellent deal after reading about it on pioneers web site. This receiver is intended for use in a room of 2000 cu sq ft or less and mine is a tad over that. This would explain the need for me to turn the volume up to between -15db & -10db. I see that others on here have said the same thing about the volume in the same range. Just seems really high. Even at that high of a setting there wasn't even a hair of distortion, I've taken it to 0db before with no distortion, but that is loud and I feel as though that would be working the amp too hard.

The surround sound was and is still out of this world. I love the different sound stages. They can really inhance a movie and drop you right into it. Needless to say I will be waiting for the movies to come to me on DVD rather then go to the theater. I get sucked right into them and feel like I'm part of the movie. Saving Private Ryan and Gladiator, U-571 are 3 excellent movies to take for a run. You'll be jumping at each war scene or depth charge!! UNBELEIVEABLE!!! Guarrenteed.

Overall I would have to say that this is an awesome receiver. I would get it again in a heart beat at the price I paid or less. It's a steal!! The high gloss finish is classy and the clean look of the front were both great positives. In other words it sounds as good as it looks.

My Setup:
Receiver: Elite VSX-35TX
CD: Elite PDF-17
DVD: Pioneer 434
TV: Sony 27" flat screen(soon to be Elite 53")
Center: Paradigm CC-370 v.2
Fronts: Paradigm Legend v.2
Rears: Paradigm ADP- 170 v.2
Subs: Legends built-in amped subs
After having this receiver I'm really thinking about going to 7 channel cause if 5 channel is this good 7 got to be, well, AWESOME!!!!

Similar Products Used:

onkyo 787, marantz 7000, yamaha 5840, denon 3801

great learning remote, 7.1 channel input for dvd audio, 7 pre outs for surround ex and dts es, lots of inputs, THX certified

NONE

This really is a well rounded out receiver. First of all it can decode all of the current formats and it is ready for future ones. I cant beleive how much of a difference a receiver could make to existing gear. Everything from CD's to DVD's sound great with it.

I currently have bose main speakers and a sony center but it even makes those sound good. Dolby Digital and DTS sound especially good. The surround effects are really defined and the imaging is great. There really is no better reciever I have tested that combines tons of features with great sound for the price.

Similar Products Used:

several from sony, denon, other pioneer and yamaha

5/7 stereo, nice sound quality, great setup fuction that let end user fine turn a lot of setting, DTS EX and THX surrounding, component video 2in/1out

no amp for surround back, DSP cycle is not very good (once u change, all the cycle need to start over, don't remember the last DSP model)

This is actually my 2nd review for this reciver. First of all, I get to say something bad~~~~~ my reciver burn off by no reason~ beside that, I am still in love with this toy. I think the 7 stereo surround sound is kind of great; however, it require fine turn after the main system set up. I think it should be my speakers placement since I don' thave too much space to put my 7 speakers. So I recommand who love music as well as movie and willing to use 7 stereo have to check the sound level. otherwise, the sound stage will become very awful~ This is how I set up my system, F & R - 0db, C -2 db, all the surround - 4db. After all, CDs are actually 2 channel only and I don't think the DSP can really fit every single CD. So if I use the sound level as my surrounding set up, the sound satge will fly around, which means suck, because the surround chennal will be too lound. I think the sound of this reciver is really gerat. For DVD-A and SACD play back, the sound is cool, too. Although the frequnce is up to 20k only, which means it can't respond the higher frequnce from SACD and DVD-A. However, not a lot of speaker can respond over 20k, either. And I doubt how many people can hear the frequnce over 18k. So, it is not a big deal.
I actullay can't talk much about its DSP since I only use 7 stereo, DTS, and AC3 only. by the way, I still kind of dislike it's low S/N for analog.
by the way, it is a nice toy~~~

system setup

Front speakers - Pioneer Elite TZ-F700
Center Speaker - Pioneer S-DC1-K
Surround speakers - Pioneer Elite TZ-S700
Back S. speakers - Pioneer S-DS1-H
EQ - Yamaha EQ 70
DVD - Panasonic DVD-A7
MD - Sony MDS-JE440
CD - Technics SL-MC7
Phono - Technics SL-BD20D
Display - Mitsubishi WT 46805

Similar Products Used:

technics SA-AX7

Clean and clear power, subwoofer crossover settings, thx certifed, component video switching, and many more.

Switching from dts to dsp modes requires you to cycle through all of the setting to get back to where you were.

This is my first serious receiver and I am still fine tuning all the settings. A month ago I upgraded my speakers to PSB Image series and they really allow the Pioneer to shine. One great feature is the subwoofer crossover settings. Using the "plus" mode allows you to set your front and center to large and sends lower frequencies to both the mains and a sub. Listen to HT is amazing. Details and R/L distinction is fantastic and power is more amble for my room.

Music is a real treat and depending on the type 5 channel stereo is a great feature. Multi-room/multi-source is also a welcome feature as I like to listen to the outdoor speakers while the wife or kids watch TV. Over all I am very pleased with the 35 tx and would recomend it to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

Compared denon 3800, Sony 777ES, Marantz 8000

Plenty of clean power with lots of overhead. Crystal clear sound with very easy to use controls. HDTV ready with component outs. Very clean and attractive appearance.

Can't manually select recording source. Even though it does it automatically I'd rather be in control to be sure. Remote control is intuitive but old fashion in layout and appearance. Needs balance and level for rear speakers on remote without having to go through the on screen setup like my old Elite did. Would prefer to have smaller door over the front audio/video inputs. Large door could be easily damaged if a wire gets tripped over or accidentally pulled.

Overall I am throroughly satisfied with this receiver. The cons are very minor and are heavily outweighed by the pros. It's the perfect priced amp for the power and features available and simply blew away the Yamaha AV receiver the salesman was trying to push on me. I like clean clear sound with boomy bass ONLY when boomy bass is warranted. The Yamaha "Natural Sound" AV receiver was boomy no matter what. This is my second "serious" receiver for my home theater and it has transformed it into nothing short of miraculous sounding. I'll easily be able to use this for 10 years or more.

Get one.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer VSX 95 ProLogic AV receiver
Optimus Surround Sound receiver (many moons ago)

7.1 decoding, many good DSP modes, 2-channel bypass mode, THX (Select) certification, very good looking, plenty of power and easy setup

There is a recall on this product! Sbl and Sbr (the sixth and seventh channels) require and external amp. Could use an extra coaxial input. FM Broadcast sensitivity is very poor. Remote is very clunky but functional.

First off, this is the URL for the recall:

With that taken care of, here are my thoughts on the the VSX-35TX after about 6 months of very heavy daily use for TV viewing, home theatre watching and some CD-music listening.

Setup took about 2 hours to complete and should best be done with the assistance of a sound pressure level meter, which can be purchased from Radio Shack relatively inexpensively (hint: put a fresh 9V battery into the SPL meter before starting off!). I also chose to solder my speaker wires (garden-variety 10AWG fine-stranded zip-cord) to Banana plugs for the 5 main speakers. This is optional but a good idea. You will also need a tape measure to get the distances from each speaker to your listening spot.

I found the manual rather confusing in parts, especially in detailing how to program the remote to handle non-standard commands for other devices. I will give the manual high marks for describing the DSP sound fields, the advantages of THX settings and the technology behind dts and Dolby Digital. As a former projectionist and sound technician, I have a fairly good understanding of these terms and greatly appreciated how they were handled and presented for novices.

This unit is extremely elegantly styled with an ultra-shiny black faceplate and amber and red display items. Many front panel controls have been hidden behind a fold-away door, although you can access just about all of them from the remote as well. I think I played with the actual controls on the unit exactly twice in the 6 months I've owned it.

Power is more than adequate for a typical living room, and I find that I need to keep the fader down to about -15dB (at the loudest) for all but the biggest, boldest in-your-face event movies. I have a Paradigm PDR-10 100W powered subwoofer connected that gives me (an my nearest neighbours) a goodly kick on loud bass passages.

I can't tell you how the timbre of the amp's sound is because frankly, I don't have anything against whch to compare it. What I can tell you is that it sounds very good, extremely clean, excellent channel separation can be observed when you're listening for it and it has never gone into overload with anything I've thrown at it. When cranked, it can make the cats scamper and my wife run and hide :-). I have no doubt that if I left it at these levels I would become very good friends with the boys and girls of the 104th precinct of the NYPD--but I would not require a corresponding call from the local hook-and-ladder company (i.e. it runs pretty cool and the smoke won't likely leak out except possibly if that recall isn't attended-to post-haste).

The rear-panel connections are numerous and well labled, and the manual makes understanding the connections relatively easy.


Now for the negatives.

I was very disappointed that the two surround-back speakers require an outboard amplifier (and its corresponding additional setup and matching). For me this is no big deal, but it might make a budget-conscious Home Theatre enthusiast look elsewhere.

I have one serious dislike about this product. I like to switch between different sound fields and modes to find the optimal setting for each type of program material. When switching between settings there's a 1-second delay that makes A/B-ing very difficult to judge accurately. Also, when selecting through sound fields in each mode you must cycle through them in a predetermined order, not from where you left off the last time you were in that mode. What I mean is simply this: Let's say that you are in the "Action" setting withing the DSP mode. You momentarily switch into to THX mode, then back to DSP. You are NOT back in the "Action" setting where you left off, but rather you must cycle through the settings until you find "Action" again. This can really P.O. a spouse who doesn't like you fiddling around when watching a movie :-).

Next complaint is the remote. It's huge, clunky, boxy and very uncomfortable to hold. It is, on the other hand, extremely useful and tremendously versatile. Many buttons can be programmed to control other devices, although I do wish I could re-program the TV-channel up/down buttons to control that function on my Scientific Atlanta DTV box.

Also on the topic of the remote, there's a little plastic catch on the battery cover that breaks off just by looking at it funny.

None of these are deal-breakers, but I do wish that they weren't issued to begin with. Now if only I culd find a way to make the volume control on my Sci. Atlanta box control the volume on the receiver while the channel buttons changed the converter chanels I'd be a happy man!

I strongly recommend this receiver and I don't think you'll find one much better for anywhere near this price point--especially one that is THX-certified!

Similar Products Used:

Earlier Sony "5.1 ready" Dolby-Surround-only unit

only a note:
anyone who has a jan/feb 2001 33tx, or 35tx, or d709s =
they have a free modification because 1 in 300 units will shut down and fry a circuit when you try to turn it back on.
this is no big deal and i intend to keep my new 33 even tho i got it the day this warning came out. bottom line is they will send you to the nearest service center when they make the new units without the malfunction, you take yours in and swap it. only downside is i don't want to hook everything up for 3 weeks and re hook later, so i'm in limbo for now. you can call pioneer about this at 800-421-1607. or... http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/Common/ArticleDetails/0,1484,1788,00.html
AGAIN, i'm not saying anything about the unit good or bad, just an fyi.

7.1, assignable optical in's,easy to use, componet video switching

no 7.1 movies, chose a sony to power the rear speakers

Set up
50" toshiba hdtv /w center channel input
sony s530d dvd player /w optical out
JBL front nd-30 towers
JBL bookshelf sides
KLH cube rears (soon to be JBL)
no sub (live in apartment)

I love it!!! When i watch movies anywhere else i am so disappointed. I have a few friends with 5.1 both on pioneer non-elite recievers and when is comes to processing the surround i can actually hear what speaker the sound comes out of instead of blending in with the enviroment. The added 2 speakers make it so much smoother. the speakers are not THX cert. but they sound damn good. It could have a little more power but for my room size (14x24) it works great. I beleive that a rectangular room is best suited for the 7.1. I can deffinitly tell the difference in sound placement between DTS and prologic. Most of the time i have it set in standard 7.1 just to give the rear some output in 5.1 movies. Out of the 89 DVD's i have Se7en and Gladiator are the best. A Sony amp is powering the rears and once in a while you can detect a hiss from them. I recommend a pioneer to power a pioneer for best results. Anyways it was a great deal and your neighbors will love you for the 3am Gladiator battle scenes.

Similar Products Used:

3 older pioneer recievers

Elegant, well formated versital receiver with crisp sounds At an entry level. The Price of the Elite series beats its predecessors in full.

Do not be deceived by its secondary name, but try, and you will find this Elite AVR will tempt you pocket.

Warm sound, tempting style, and menos plata all to consider.
A must for the average consumer not willing to go into debt for rapidly changing technology that will greatly improve by each season.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz sr18, sr19 & Harmon Kardon AVR7000