it has it all

low on bass

hey everyone if you are looking for a great receiver for music and movies this is it, i am using it with a pioneer
dv626 and hls 820 jbl speaker and 150w jbl subwoofer if you are not trying to prove how brilliant you are about sound
this is great for $300, it does not overheat like the three
sony recievers i sent back. It was a little weak on base
but so are the 820's but with the woofer it will blow you away. I am in the minority but i like the remote, you can do everything from your chair including operate all your other
equipment. if you do not want to spend $1000 you can not touch it.some of you out there need to get a life or start
your own review page so we do not have to read your bias.

price, # of optical ins, video+ S-video ins

seems a little weak for 100W, remote won't work with Echostar sattelite reciever

I've been eyeing this thing for a while and waiting for it to drop below the $400 mark, and ended up getting it for about $300. Several sales people told me that among the similarly priced units (Sony, Yamaha, etc.) this one used the highest amp/lowest voltage to achieve 100W of any competitors. It also has more features for the same price.

Setup was VERY easy and I was watching DVD's in less than an hour after it came out of the box. I noticed right away that it seemed less powerful than my old Pioneer Pro-Logic amp. I didn't compare the two side by side, but I know that on my old amp which was supposed to be 75Wx2 and 30W surround and center, I'd never turn it more than about 1/3 of the way up. 1/2 way up was downright painful. with this one I can listen to the Matrix and Saving Private Ryan - DTS at full volume (00) and its only mildly uncomfortable. At any rate its enough for me. I did notice that the power seemed to increase when I put a sub-woofer on the system, sending the power-eating low frequencies to a self-powered sub, but I still don't buy that its 100Wx5. But hey, most of the competition claims around 75W, and doesn't sound nearly as good. Both DD and DTS decoding work very well.
Using THX-certified coaxial speaker cable REALLY helps.


The remote sucks. Its something you can live with...but there are better-designed remotes out there. Furthermore, it isn't compatable with my Dishnetwork's Echostar 4700 reciever, so its a 2 remote minimum :)

Overall, I'd say its a great product for the price. Its no $1000+ amp for $300 so don't expect it to be one, but I'd say that of the 5 or 6 brands that are out there for the same price this one by far and away the best sounding and feature rich.

If you use good speaker cable, large speakers (none of those little sattelite speaker pieces of crap...my surround speakers have a 2.5" and 5" speaker in them) and a sub, you won't be disappointed.

Features for the money spent.

Not 100 watts.

OK! For the last time now kids... in order to get the proper subwoofer response from this and almost all other home theatre receivers... you have to set all of the speakers to SMALL!!! If you have any of the speakers set to large it pulls part of the bass signal going to the sub and sends it to the speakers that you set to large, thus weakening the subs signal and volume. Set all speakers to small (unless you have a front stage with tens or higher) and adjust the crossover frequency in the receiver appropriately (probably best at 200 unless you have really small speakers, then you should set it lower). I know you want to get a full range signal out of all of your speakers but you just can't do it if you want your sub to perform properly. You shouldn't lose that much sound by setting the fronts, center and surrounds to small and the subs performance will bridge that gap in sound. Understood?!?!
As far as the performance of the receiver goes it is excellent for the money and I highly reccomend it to the average home theatre buff. The independent speaker levels are a big plus with me because I am not fortunate enough to have the perfect home theatre floor plan. What you need to do to set your levels is buy a cheap decibel reader at Radio Shack for about $20-$30. While sitting in the primary listening position (your seat) play the test tone on your receiver and adjust the volume and speaker levels individually until you reach 70 decibels from every speaker (except from the sub). Then you will know that your speaker levels are all matched evenly and none of them are over or under powered.
The only downside to this receiver that I have seen is that it is not truely 100 watts. I'd say it's really about 70 or 80 watts. That's not really a big problem though because I don't listen to music or movies at ear shattering levels. It gets plenty loud enough for me and I'm a 23 year old who likes to dj.
All of you other people complaining about sound quality are probably using Sony or Magnavox periferals. This is not a high-end piece of equipment. The people who are complaining about this receiver are either too picky or have $600 -$2,000 to spend on a high end model. More power to you. But, for the rest of us, this model is perfect.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Technics

DD/DTS,Bunch of inputs,versitile,Price

Not 100Wx5 about 60

For the price you are not going to find a better reciever it has ok sound reproduction and alot of inputs. No phono input but who cares. The power is not 100x5 so you really have to turn it up but it is still a great receiver. If you are looking at buying one in the range of $250-400 this is the one to buy.

Similar Products Used:

Sony ES,Pioneer Elite

Paid $350 for this receiver. For "value" (features / price), this receiver can't be beat. Replaced an Onkyo TSX-SV515Pro as I wanted to upgrade to Dolby Digital (Dish 4000 unit bit the dust; replacement Sony DSS offered Dolby Digital output).
For those who haven't upgraded to DD, you're missing out! Analagous to difference between Dolby Pro Logic vs. "old" Dolby Surround. Yes, it is that dramatic. Using optical digital output from DSS, assign to TV/Sat input, then switch between "digital" and "analog" input on receiver to switch between satellite and TV (VCR and off-air signals). A digital source does complicate things, but improvement in sound quality is worth it.

Looked at Onkyo line, but did not offer S-video switching at comparable price. Not needed now, but will if add DVD player and (future) HDTV adaptor. Currently using S-video direct to TV.

Positives: Value. To date, I haven't seen anything close with respect to switching capabilities and features for price.

Negatives: bass-management. Minimum low-pass frequency is 100 Hz (would like to see 80 Hz). Also, if you are using an additional set of speakers, such as outside (I am), you need to switch the speaker size to "large" when using the outside speakers by themselves. Otherwise, subwoofer INSIDE house stays on.
Onkyo offered multi-room capability, which this unit lacks. Sony offered MR output at comparable price, but you still need an additional amplifier (!).

Remote could also be better for switching BETWEEN sources, but am using this unit 90+% of time with TV/Sat, so this is of minor concern for me.

Also, have noticed occasional, very brief audio "drop-outs" with DD, but this could be a problem with DD source (satellite signal) rather than Pioneer.

Equipment used: Sony SAS-A50D DSS, JVCTDV-531 cassette, dbx-222 NR unit, JVC-XLZ-431 CD, Sony 585HF VCR. Speakers: Boston Acoustics HD-8 (front); 424 (center); A-40 SII (rear), AR SW30 (Subwoofer).

Value: 5. Posting a 4+ star as an incentive to improve remote and bass-management options; could also add multi-room capability for little cost.

For awhile now I have been searching for a good recevier. Originally I had a SONY STR-DE515, I liked this unit because of its great bass response and ability to play your fronts and sub-woofer at the same time. But the downfall was the amp on it was a piece of SH*T!!! I then got a JVC-884 VBK and was severly disappointed and returned it immediatly!! Then in the quest of a good receiver I turned to PIONEER and YAMAHA for my next purchase. I went to best buy to check em out and to compare. I compared the YAMAHA to the PIONEER VSX-D608. The YAMAHA had some neat features and is known for its great amps, though the low end(BASS) response was pretty weak, and with no loudness or bass booster, the bass is just not there even with the bass cranked up. The PIONEER VSX-608 had some really great features for the price. I like the DD-DTS built in feature, front AV's, good power, good bass response, and a great remote, user wise and cosmetically wise. Though the one downfall of the PIONEER is that you cannot use your powered sub woofer in conjunction with your mains in stereo mode unless you set your mains as small speakers which really takes away from you mains bass reproduction. Though you can use your sub in conjunction with mains regarless of speaker size selection in all of the pro logic DSP's and the DSP settings. All in all after doing alot of looking around and comparing, the PIONEER VSX-D608 is the best bang for your buck!!!! Even after the disappointing sub woofer stereo conflict, I still give this receiver a solid 5 stars, hopefully I will still support this rating after extended use!

With the benefit of a coupon for 10 percent off, I purchased this unit at Best Buy for about $360—a phenomenal price considering DD receivers started at $500 only a few short months ago.
The best aspect of this unit is flexibility. Five video and four digital inputs sold me on this system. The other units in this price range have only two optical inputs and one coaxial. The feature protects the unit from pre-mature obsolescence—a satellite, DVD, CD-burner, HDTV and a digital VCR on one system is not out of the realm of possibility in the next couple years. This unit could accommodate them all. The digital output is another plus.

This unit performs magnificently. It took a couple hours to get all of the settings to my taste, but once I got everything set up, it sounds great. No distortion in any of the various sound modes (once adjusted). Some cross talk was noted early on, but was corrected by making additional adjustments.

Only two design issues were noted. First, the need to cycle through the different source modes kind of reminds me of turning the tuner knob on an old TV. The function is smooth, but having to cycle through all the modes to get to the one you want is a bit inefficient. Second, the remote control does not have codes for General Instruments cable boxes (which I have) and cannot fully operate an old Pioneer CD-Changer I have. However, with all the money I saved, I can afford buy a high tech remote (part of my plan anyway).

Based on the price and features, this unit is clearly a five. With any piece of equipment, you can spend as much as you want. However, there are no worries about diminishing returns with this unit. You get what you pay for and much, much more.

Great receiver. It's my first receiver and I'm extremely impressed with it. Sounds great and the S-Video Inputs are a major plus for me. Well worth the $360 I paid for it.

Couldn't agree more with more recent reviews. The unit is a vast improvement over more expensive Yamaha 795 and Denon 2700. And its dirt cheap. Like the DV414, this is Pioneer's bid to secure the mid to bottom of the market. After exhaustive listening in numerous electronics and HT-only shops, this was the winner. All the features and solid electronics. The reviewer at the bottom of this page should, frankly, be disregarded.

I purchased this receiver as my first DD/DTS receiver.Now, I dont have the most elaborate HT setup, but I know crap when I hear it.
This receiver sounds good to me. Please dont compare this receiver to others
costing 2 to even 5 times more. They SHOULD sound better. I was considering
getting a Yamaha rxv 995 or H/K AVR 65, but I got this and the Pioneer 300+1
CD jukebox less! Now that may not be impressive to the DSP-A1 or AVR 5700 DTS
owners, but to a guy w/ a wife who doesn't share his passion for electronics
(that's putting it mildly) that's damn good. I eliminated the more expensive
Sony 925 because it has NO S-video inputs or outputs. The more expensive JVC
1024 doesn't have as many digital inputs or DTS.
This unit does S-video switching, has 3 optical inputs, and 1 coax inputs,
and DTS. Just like the Pioneer DVD 414 NO ONE gives you more for less.
BTW, I dont work for Pioneer, I just thought they offered the most bang
for the buck.