Plenty of inputs, lots of useful features, great sound

overloaded twice so far...but at a volume I would not normally listen too.

As others have noted, if you can pick this up at Costco for
$199 DO IT! Setup was fairly straight forward though I still have not been able to get the "universal" remote to do all I need. It does have a good feel to it though. I contacted Pioneer directly about the overloading issue and they responded quite fast. Told me it could be the speaker wires (pos & neg) touching each other or possibly a short in the unit itself. I did have some distortion caused by my old Sony CD changer and I'm thinking that may have caused it? It's only happened at a very high volume so it doesn't seem to be an issue (at least now). Am I happy with the unit? Yes! For the price, it sounds great and has everything I need. Even with the overloading, I still give it 5 stars!

Similar Products Used:

None

GREAT sound in DTS mode, different listening configurations, optical inputs

Manual could be a little more detailed.

GREAT sound in DTS mode, different listening modes, optical inputs

I was set to spend $400-600 on a new receiver, until I read all the reviews on this board regarding the VSX-D509s. Buying this wasn’t an easy decision to make for me, as many times audio equipment that is sold at the Costco’s, Bi-Marts, etc. are put down by various folks. However, after seeing all the 5 star reviews I decided to buy it. GREAT decision. As many others have stated, it isn’t a “top-end” unit, but it is comparable to units costing up to $600. I purchased a DVD player late last year, and wasn’t impressed with the audio quality of the DVDs . After telling my buddy that I was using my old Harmon Kardon Pro Logic unit for the sound, he laughed and told me to upgrade if I wanted to hear REAL audio from the DVDs. Well, after watching “Saving Private Ryan” through the old Harmon Kardon, and then through the VSX-590s…what can I say?! I have an old Echostar C Band satellite unit, and now the HBO movies and music specials sound much better also. I think the AM/FM receiver on the 509 is better than the HK as I am using the same antenna setup.

I will reiterate what others have said regarding the setup. I was at first disappointed with the sound, but you MUST read the manual and set up the speakers as suggested. The hints on this board regarding setting up the speaker size as “small” except for the subwoofer was a great help.

I do know that Costco still has these units, but I’m uncertain as to whether the $20 coupon is still valid. Either way, it is a good buy!

Similar Products Used:

Harmon Kardon AV-25 MKII (Pro Logic)

$199 price tag with DD and DTS. Full of the features you would look for in a $500+ unit. Detailed user manual helps customize the sound for your existing setup.

None at this price.

If you are looking for a new receiver (especially if you are upgrading from Dolby Pro Logic) then get this unit before they are totally out of stock. Pioneer is/has dicontinued this model and for the price, it can't be beat. The sound you get from this unit in the DD, DTS and stereo modes is outstanding. Sure, it may not be as loud as a $1000 unit, but for most of us, paying less than $200 is worth it. Forget the expensive $500-$1000 units and use the money you save to get some CDs and DVDs to enjoy on this receiver.

Buy it from Costco. They have it for $199, but next week will have it for $179. You have to use the coupon sent to you from Costco or go to the store and try to get a hold of a coupon. You can't beat this price/performance combination.

Similar Products Used:

Older Pioneer receiver.

no. of digital inputs, no. of S-Video inputs, front A/V S-Video input, easy setup, design, and PRICE

face display, remote, 100x5? bass and treble, Subwoofer PRE-OUT jack

Very impressed I must say! I've never been a Pioneer fan in my life, a full fledged Sony one at that. This is my first Digital reciever and I'am quite satisfied with the results. There are more than enough inputs to meet my needs, setup only took about 30 mins. The price was one that could not be ignored for the quality recieved. The only problem is that while the remote and LCD display can be put aside... the build of the reciever seems quite fragile and light. I cannot tell the difference between the power of this 500W Pioneer compared to my 200W Sony. When using the pre-out sub jack on the Pioneer, subs pop and thud way too much for anyone to be comfortable with. Using the speaker terminals will solve this problem. Other than that, she's a keeper!

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Sony STR-v2000, RCA (forgot model)

clean sound, no fan

light weight (?), not flexible surround configuration

The first thing I look for in a cheap receiver is whether there is a cooling fan. This usually indicates inadequate heatsink. So the Pioneer met my criteria, but I was a bit skeptical because of the extreme light weight. May be it's magic how they build things nowaday. Or perhaps the receiver does not put out the rated power - who knows. In any case you can't expect too much for an economy audio equipment. I read complaints about how the receiver can't blow down the house despite the 100+ watts rms. Fact is most economy receiver does not have any headroom - the ability to put out short bursts of dynamic power for power-consuming musical passages. For this headroom you'd have to pay many bucks for high-end equipment. 100 watts rms receiver are not all equal.

Similar Products Used:

nad, yamaha, technics

Remote, display

Lack of power

Writing this is the last thing I do before I take this thing back to the shop.

The puny little amplifier has "overloaded" six times on me in the last fifteen minutes. Just for comparison, my (now no longer) previous amplifier was rated at 100W RMS continuous into 8ohms. It ran a 1kHz tone through my dummy load at 100W for 24hrs straight without overheating, and at a THD of <1% the whole time (it even has no fan!).

This piece of j£$% purports to be rated at 120W RMS into 8ohms BUT AT 10% THD!!! (NOT QUOTED ON FRONT PANEL) nor is the level at which the thing decides to shut down due to being "overloaded". My dummy load doesn't even get the chance to warm up before the poor little thing gives up. It definitely isn't an input overload problem as it occurs on the optical input. I used the time to explain the problem to you guys instead of frustrating myself at their customer service department.

I enthusiastically borrowed a whole host of test gear to put this thing through its paces, however it failed miserably.

120W RMS per channel? well.. it won't be listenable anyway at ten percent distortion.

Similar Products Used:

Genexxa STA270 (a far better machine)

Remote, binding posts for front and center speakers, features

clips for surround, manual, DSP, loud cluncking when turning off the power.

Set up was a little challenging, since the manual is really poorly written. Did not help that by default the first optical input is set to CD not a DVD. Plus if you would like to hear the DTS mode make sure your DVD player has DTS out enabled, my (Panasonic) had only Dolby Digital enabled and DTS disabled. I had to read DVD manual to figure out how to get to the place in its menu where DTS can be enabled. After I did that, and selected DTS sound on a DVD 509 automatically picked up the DTS signal.

The remote is plain looking, but its learning features are pretty amazing! You can enter the codes for varios components and fine tune the remote by using its learning mode. Also all but one components of my system accepted codes, had to completely program my Denon CD changer though... With complex component remotes you can feel the deficit in buttons on 509 remote though... Also I have a dual cassette deck from Pioneer and it came with no remote, but Pioneer serial remote. Does any one know how to set up the remote so it controls both decks?

Since I heard so much about how 509 heats up I put it on top of my component rack with nothing above or on the sides of the unit. Listening it for 3 hours at -30 to -20 Db and it is merely warm, no problems with overheating.

Sound is nice and clear, though I would have expected more from Dolby Digital and DTS in terms of surround effects. Some DVD disks sound better than others but in general not too much sound comes out from surround speakers. This is a clear step up from my old Aiwa with its Dolby Pro Logic, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.

I liked that 509 has binding posts for fronts and center, but I wish they used the same for surround connectors.

What I dislike about 509 is a loud clunk when tuning on or off the receiver. DSP effects seem inferior to Aiwa's, manual is hardly helpful, clips for surround speakers.

Setup:
Acoustic Research Stature Series speakers:
S50 - front
SC2 - center
S10 - surround
connected via AR banana plugs on both sides with the except surrond speakers on the receiver side. 16 Gauge AR oxygen free wire.
Denon CD changer
Panasonic DVD/VideoCD/CD player
Sony 27" TV (next to upgrade)

Similar Products Used:

Aiwa AV-X200

DD/DTS decoders, power! Universal remote, clean sound, plenty of user features, plenty of optical/coaxial inputs and even an optical output!

Can't adjust the bass or treble controls when in either soundfields, only in stereo (2 channel).

Well I picked this receiver up at Fry's in Arlington and paid their sell price of $199.00! The primary motivator here was simply upgrading to a receiver that could decode Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround Pro Logic and of course, DTS! I shopped around for a couple of months and did some research such as this board for example! Don't do the research, you only have YOURSELF to blame bud! Anyway I looked primarily at Sony's, nice but buh bye! These receivers just did not sound as warm and they did run a little on the hit side, passed! Next up was the Yamaha. Nice features, more money for less wattage and the digital inputs were limited, passed! Being that my previous receiver was a Kenwood I looked at that, passed! Finally it left what was my first choice, you guessed it, the Pioneer 509S. I found out that Fry's had it on sale even! Being that the sales guy was a complete, utter bone head when I asked about the features about this unit I decided to buy it and give it a whirl!

Setting up the Pioneer 509S
First off READ THE MANUAL COMPLETELY! If your one of those "Real guy's don't read manuals" types stick with an RCA and save the store some real hassles when you bring the receiver back because you do not know what your doing! I will agree that the manual is somewhat lengthy. Most people can figure out how to hook up either the digital or analogue connections and speakers without much hassle but in order to achieve great sound out of this thing you have to READ THE MANUAL on SETTING UP THE SPEAKER SIZE and LABELING THE DIGITAL INPUTS! These are clearly spelled out in the manual and when it is configured correctly the DVD player, CD changer and Satellite receiver will all seemingly sound it beautiful digital quality either optical or coaxial depending on what kinds of connections you have on your other components. My setup is as follows:

Hitachi 32" colour TV-component video in/out-SVHS in
JVC DSR100U DVHS satellite/DVHS recorder-Optical out
Pioneer DVD player model #333 with optical/coaxial outs
Pioneer 509S DD/DTS receiver with 2 optical IN’s, one coaxial out and one optical out
Sony cassette double deck
Sony 200 Mega CD changer with optical out
Yamaha 3 way book shelf speakers (Front), Yamaha (Centre)
Yamaha (Rears) Kenwood 100 watt self powered sub woofer

If you use the optical or coaxial inputs on this receiver you will not have any distortion problems! I have listened to this at high levels and have not once experienced any distortions or amp cutoffs. Of course mine is in a place that gets good air movement which is important! The FM receiver gets good reception and the programmable presets are fairly easy to program, again, READ THE MANUAL!

Finally I have most happy with this Pioneer and enjoy the hell out of it each day.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood Dolby Pro Logic receiver and my first, a Marantz plain ol' stereo receiver!

Very good sound quality, versatile, includes DTS, very easy set-up, enough power.

Does not have 96kHz/24 bit DAC, no phono input, can't set only the Center channel to large, bass & treble controls don't work in all functions

I usually write reviews for pc games and hardware on slottweak.com, but just couldn't resist the opportunity to write about the 509s here on Audio Review.

First I want to point out to beginners that it's very important to set up your sound system with a calibration dvd like Video Essentials or Avia using a db meter. Don't rely on your ears alone. After you've balanced the channels, go to the section that puts sound between the left/center and right/center and fine tune the Center channel loudness (using your ears only this time) to make sure the sound does indeed seem to come from between the speakers. Usually it's only a 1 db change either way, or it may need no further adjustment. (For Home Theater, set up your video as well.)

Explaining the weaknesses: All the things mentioned are common at this price range. Most people now don't seem to care about phono inputs, but I have a high end turntable and tone arm and still enjoy the sound of vinyl once in a while. Phono inputs would be nice so I wouldn't have to purchase a seperate pre-amp for this. As with most av receivers in this price range, it doesn't offer a 96kHz/24bit DAC. This probably shouldn't bother me as the DVD sound quality is excellent. There is no spec given for this, but it may be 20 bit. Finally, there is no way to set only the Center channel to large. You must have the front speakers (L&R) set to large first. Again, I know this is picky, but they included a Center channel pre-amp output and I'd like to use a separate power amp to drive the center (combined with a spare subwoofer) since this channel is used for a huge amount of the movie sound.

I have all the speakers set to small and let my Carver M400 power cube handle all the bass sent to the subwoofer. This gives the 509's amplifier plenty of headroom since it's only driving the midrange and tweeters. The sound quality is, surprisingly, very good and well balanced. Before I purchased this, I tried a few receivers in my house thanks to local merchants. I really thought I'd end up with an Onkyo, Denon, HK, Yamaha, or something else, and almost didn't even try the 509 because, well, it's an inexpensive Pioneer. On a lark, I tried it because of features and price, to see how much better more expensive models sounded, and because I wasn't really happy with the others. What a pleasant surprise. I found the sound I was looking for and paid less than half of what I was prepared to spend. The set-up was easy. The HK used ms to set the speaker distances, but the 509 uses feet. I like that. I also like the fact that the built in pink noise works on the subwoofer. The HK didn't and that bothered me.

My living room is 13' x 23' and half of the length opens up to a 12' x 13' dining room. This receiver fills the area with sound much better than the others did. It took me 20 minutes to program all my DVD, VCR, TV and Cable box functions into the 509's remote. Not bad.

Before you buy another AV receiver, audition the 509s at home. Set it up as described above, forget about specs or the fact that it's a Pioneer and pop in your favorite DVD movie or music (Paul Simon's Paris concert is a good one), sit back and prepare to be amazed at how good an inexpensive receiver can sound. I gave an overall rating of 5 stars not because I think this receiver sounds better that $1200 models, but because 5 stars means "far better than you imagined". And I must say, when I set out to upgrade, I never imagined I'd end up with an inexpensive Pioneer receiver.

Similar Products Used:

HK AV100, Pioneer vsx-5000 (old), and auditioned several others including Onkyo and JVC

Great sound,Features & Remote

NOT ONE !

I Love this reciever,Paired with my Pioneer DV-434...movies can't sound any better than this.I recommend this product 100%.For the people talking about overloads etc ..I'd say its a matter of people with speakers hooked up out of phase (crossed wires etc).Don't blame the product for your own stupidity.As far as not being able to adjust Bass & treble in digital surround mode..I say WTF would you want to.The fewer filters ,alterations made to the digital signal ,the cleaner it will sound.These signals are all mixed the way they are meant to be heard.

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Kenwood 409