For the money, you will not find anything better.

None at this price

Great digital A/V receiver:
I have it combined to JBL S-center Channel, Cerwin Vega Sub, a pair JBL TLX 181 and a pair of Lanzar BX548 Surround Speakers in my Family room and running a pair of Sony MF315 in my living room on the b-output. Awesome 5.1 sounding system for a small budget.

Price, plenty of inputs, great sound, good power, front panel a/v input, very versitle. Remote is outstanding.

Restricted use of tone controls, no phono input, Lacks in the high frequency range.

I figured it was time to upgrade to a DTS receiver. My Pioneer VSX-D557 was also an excellent receiver and a great buy, but it did not have DTS. So, I looked for a new Pioneer at Frys. The new Model in the $250 range did not have any A/V inputs in the front like my old one and I kept on looking. I remember my friend buying his 509 and how much he liked it. I search several places and as luck would have it, it was discontinued. AAHHH!!

I finally got one on ebay as a last resort, hooked it up, which was pretty straight forward. It took me about a week to finally dial everything in. I find that it has plenty of power and tone but less than the 557 but for the life of me, I don't know why they made this thing with limited use of the tone controlls. The 557's tone controlls are right on the front panel, seperate and independent. They should have left well enough alone. But ohhh nooo!!

The remote has replaced all the others in the house. I knew it came with a remote but a learning one? What a deal! I just wish they put as much thought with the tone controlls. Ok enough on that.
It does sound awesome in DTS and DD with no problem with the sub. It has no problem powering my 15" JBLs. It sounds killer!! There is a slight distortion factor as others have mentioned but it can be adjusted out. And thanks for all those shared info on what to do to get the most out of this unit. I agree that the 100 watt figure is over rated and that you really have to play with it in order to get the right sound that pleases you. (sound is personel preference) It doesn't have the tone like the 557 but for the money it can't be beat. I just hope nothing goes wrong with it because of the warrenty issue and where I got it. Too bad they discontinued this. Who wants a unit without front A/V inuputs?? Great buy!!

VSX-D509S Receiver
Toshiba SD2200 DVD Player
Old Sony CD Player
Echostar Satellite Receiver
Toshiba 27" Television (looking for a bigger one)
JBL CF150 Front Speakers
JBL Center Speaker
JBL AR C30 Rear Speakers
JBL Powered Sub

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer VSX-D557 Receiver

great sound ,nice amount of connections, DTS big plus when I bought it.

none

I bought this reciever in Oct 2000 and havent had a single problem yet, no over heating, no clipping and no distortion unless I force it to go higher than - 20 which is really pushing it and really shouldnt be played at that level anyway.

It is in a tv stand behind glass doors and doesnt overheat its been a good performer for the money

I think I paid a little too much at circuit city where I bought it but dont have any complaints I dont know if it was a new model when I bought it?

the rest of my system is

Velodyne CT 150
Bose 301's for the left and right
Bose acoustimass 7 for center and rears
Proscan DVD player

Similar Products Used:

previous pioneer vsx-503s, Pioneer rack system

Graet Price for a reciever with all the options.

OVERLOAD! I hate it whaen this happens. It has sufficient space for cooling, yet at high volumes it dies in 30 minutes.

I bought this reciever to run a pair of cerwin vega D9's that my father-in-law gave me. Its been a great receiver, but when the volume is way up it tends to overload once in a while. I always leave my cabinet open to get air circulation in there, and I even took the board off the back of my cabinet to help out. It still gets too hot and overloads. This is the only problem I have had. Other than that, it has great clean power, and lots of settings and options to use.
I would recommend this to anyone just getting into home theater, but would go with something better if you are a serious enthusiast.

Similar Products Used:

JVC, Sony

Power, DTS/Dolby Digital, S-Video inputs/outputs, Speaker connections, remote control.

None that I can tell so far

I paid $230 (plus $20 shipping) At first I was disappointed because the receiver would "overload" at low volumes on DVDs. Then, after contacting Pioneer, I re-hooked all speaker wires—paying close attention to not mixing up the positives and negatives. Now, I’m happy to say that it works flawlessly. If you have problems with it overloading, try out the solution that worked for me.

I will not waste your time with a long evaluation. I will just say that now that I corrected the overload problem, I am very happy with this receiver. The one real neat feature I like is that when you want to control another component (vcr, cd, etc.) with the remote, once you hit the corresponding button, the receiver will also switch to that component. The last model I had would only control the component, but the sound would remain on whatever I was listening to. Not this one—if you are listening to a CD and want to play a DVD, simply press DVD and "play" and you are there. That’s a nice touch. If you want to spend less than $300 on a nice receiver and jump into the world of Dolby Digital and DTS, and if S-video inputs are imortant—I would recommend this receiver

Similar Products Used:

4 previous Pioneers (starting in 1977) and one Sansui

convinience, features, digital inputs, front A/V inputs, lots of inputs

Gets rather hot

I love my Pioneer! I got it at Circuit City through a price match from Costco. I wanted a Yamaha HTR-5250 or RXV496, but for $250 who was I kidding. For the price, it rocks. Power is in excess of what I need, but you will need to crank it WAY up on DVD's to get sound you're used to. With two channel music, don't expect to be impressed, it is ok with big bass music, but with classical and jazz, it is not close to audiophile quality, but it is cheap. The only thing about this reciever is that since I crank it up so high, 80%, it gets VERY HOT! and there is no fan, but everything seems to be working fine. I was a bit worried about Pioneer's build quality, but it is fine. Nothing seems cheapy on this receiver. I am using it with ADS tower speakers, and Definitive rears and Center. My system impresses me everytime. Give this receiver a try at Circuit City. But whatever you do, don't pay more than $279 for it, although the list price is $435. I love it, you should try it!

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Onkyo

All the bells and whistles!

Donsn't broadcast on-screen with S-video out

I can't believe how good this reciever is for the money! I have been casually looking to get a DTS reciever to go with my Awia Sub and speakers, Toshiba DVD and lg screen TV and found this one mis-marked on sale ( with a nice set of KLH surrounds included for free!) for $199 instead of the advertized price of $299.
Once I figured why the sub wouldn't work (you have to switch one set of speakers to small so it will pass thru the low Hz signals to the sub out) it sounded truly amazing! I've listened to the Eagles and Peter Frampton DVD's and it's amazing what I missed hearing with my old stereo system.
The unit runs very cool like the other reviewers said and there is so much adjustibility it's almost too confusing at times but I wouldn't trade it for the world!

It does the job well in almost all aspects (given the price). However, the analogue pre-amp in this model is TERRIBLE. Digital inputs work very well, but the analogue pre-amp overloads and distorts all the time. Even when the source gain is reduced and the overload light isn't falshing, the analogue sources still distort at low volume. Returning it and got a PIONEER VSX709 instead. This is a 38 pound unit but the same thing is happening!! Gonna return that one, too... Now I cannot use my parametric eq unit to adjust room response at all! Had an old JVC receiver and this never happend.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer VSX709, JVC, Amps: QSC, Crown

loads of inputs/outputs, including 3 digital in and 1 out

FLAT, HORRIBLE SOUND, CANT ADJUST TREBLE AND BASS IN SURROUND MODES, NO PHONO INPUTS...I COULD GO ON AND ON

This thing is a 300 dollar piece of crap. I demoed the unit in the store, the clerk had it through Jensen speakers so I wasnt too converned about the flat sound I was hearing. Then I got it home....This is the worst sounding unit Ive EVER heard in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It actually sounds WORSE than my 5 year old Sony!!! Bass and treble are virtually non-existent entities on this unit. You can only adjust bass/treble in 2CH mode (???????). Needless to say it sounds like absolute garbage with the surround on (or off, for that matter). My DVD player actually sounded better throught the analog inputs on my Sony Pro-Logic receiver. The remote is confusing as hell to read and the manual is about as good as squat. There's actually a button on the remote that does NOTHING...its not labeled and has no function. There are also no Phono jacks either. I picked this unit because I thought the sound from my Sony was mediocre and i wanted DTS and DD 5.1 . However, after hearing this collosal piece of trash I suddenly realized how good a receiver my Sony actually was. This is a horribel product. What kind of a company makes a receiver that you cant adjust bass and treble? Hell for this kind of sound I'd get better results running my equipment through my television speakers. Yes this review is harsh as I now have wasted 270 dollars on this garbage and have to drag this monster back to Sears and exchange it for a brand new Sony STR-DE445. At least that has phono inputs and i can...DUH...adjust bass and treble!! What a concept!!!! I cant say oe nice thing about this heap except that it has loads of inputs and outputs, but whats the point with this horrble sound? This is my first experience with Pioneer and DEFINITELY MY LAST. Pioneer, you make lousy products.

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-D665

Terrific Sound, Loads of inputs/outputs, Easy to configure

Bass is a little weak when not using a subwoofer

I picked this receiver up the other night and I am highly impressed thus far. Pioneer has done an outstanding job with this reciever.

The sound through all modes is crisp and clear. Both DTS and DD5.1 come through with great clarity and channel isolation. I could not detect any channel bleed-through at all.

I did have to spend a fair amount of time to tweak everything to my tastes, but doing so is pretty easy to do.
The manual, in my opinion is relatively well-written and easy to understand. There were a few things that could have used more clarification, but most people should be able to figure it out.

The only weakness I have found is the ability to push enough bass through the front speakers. This is not an issue when using a subwoofer (I do not use mine very often since I live in an apartment). With the subwoofer there is plenty of overall bass, however, I would prefer a bit more bass out of my front speakers. Even telling the unit that you don't have a sub (thus supposedly routing the LFE channel through the front speakers) seems to make no difference in the bass output.

Some people have complained about the remote. I actually have no problems with it and think it is quite good. The learning ability makes it excel among remotes that typically come with lower-end receivers. I have it controlling TV, VCR, DVD Player, and even many functions on my TiVO!

Beyond the issue with the bass, this receiver is a pure bargain at $299 or cheaper (as some have found). You will be very hard pressed to find a receiver in this price range that will give you 1) S-Video Inputs/Switching/Out 2)Dolby Digital & DTS decoding 3)Superb sound 4)A LEARNING universal remote 5)100Watts/Ch. I would give it 6 stars for value if I could.

I would have no problem recommending this receiver to anyone. It's inexpensive, sounds awesome, and is packed with features. You simply cannot go wrong, IMHO with this reciver.