To start with, I did an evaluation with a computer aided A/B switching device. I used the Pioneer Elite DV-05 DVD/CD player. I used Martin Logan Aerius i speakers. All receivers used the digital input to take as much cable interaction out of the audition. I also level matched within 1 db on the volume knobs. I auditioned in stereo mode because music holds a higher priority to me.

To start, I was very disappointed in the Denon AVR 4800s sound. The midrange was mushy, and unclear. This was a very large and noticable difference. Fortunately, that seemed to be the only area that was affected. This sound was just unacceptable to me, and I couldn't recommend this receiver to anyone.

The Denon AVR-3300 had a much better sound. It had a very good sound. I was disappointed in it though. I've read how it's suppose to sound as good as the AVR-5700. I would hope the 5700 didn't sound like this. The 3300 just lacked detail(perhaps higher midrange and lower treble had a bit of compression, but still very good overall) that the Denon AVR-4800 and Yamaha RX-V2095 had. Granted, the 3300 is a lower price unit, but when you consider what you get on the 2095 for only $300 more, the 3300 seems like a bad deal.

Completely surprising was that the Pioneer Elite VSX-27tx and the Yamaha RX-V2095 sounded almost identical. This was a real shocker, considering the price differences.


For the review I would rank each as such:

Pioneer Elite VSX-27TX: value 5 stars, overall 5 stars

Denon AVR-3300: value 2 stars, overall 1 stars

Denon AVR-4800: value 1 stars, overall 2 stars

Yamaha RX-V2095: value 5 stars, overall 5 stars

My choice of these in order:

1)Pioneer Elite VSX-27TX

2) RX-V2095

3)Denon AVR-4800

4)Denon AVR-3300

Finally Pioneer amps that actually have some guts. Terrific selection of digital inputs, outputs. Excellent DTS,AC3

Tons of Video "ergonomic" weaknesses. Rec Select, Video Select, Yadda, yadda is all missing.Onscreen display, remote.

Boy, what I'd give to have the remote and other video features of my Pioneer VSX D901S coupled with the decoders and power amps of the 27TX. This receiver can probably cleanly drive most speakers to more than acceptable levels with solid bass levels.When watching movies in DTS or AC3 you've gotta love this unit.It's unbelievable the interesting video editing features which were on earlier top-line Pioneer A/V Receivers that are missing today. You can't turn the Direct function on from the remote nor can you listen to one source while viewing another...which also tied into the video editing features on the older Pioneer. It's amazing the features that were part of the older units that just aren't considered important features anymore. I'm guessing they can't afford to put all these decoders in nowadays and still have the A/V fluff.

Does the Pioneer 27TX sound good? You bet! But it's shocking the little nicities that are missing. Oh well there amps were so bad in the past you had to pre-out to other equipment so I guess you just have tyo live with the qualities a unit possesses.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer VSX D901S

Wonderful flexibility, ease of use, warm sound, good power output, good display, easy set-up, awesome 2 year factory warranty.

Generates lots of heat (CMOS), horrible instruction manual, mediocre remote, RCA jacks tightly packed, speakers terminals incredibly tightly packed.

All I can say is thank God I bought this receiver from a reputable Pioneer dealer and thank God for the 2 year factory warranty! I had (note the word "had") the receiver for just over a year, and life was good. The performance this receiver offered was wonderful. Just turn the knob to select an input, press play and you're off! The drawback (until total failure) was the heat. This puppy generates an incredible amount of heat.
Then, one day my wife turned it on to watch some digital cable. It played for about a minute then there was a very loud "POP", and the audio was gone!
Well, to make a very long story short, after four trips to Jerry's Audio/Video repair station (who's service is totally awesome - they were turning the repair on my unit around in 2 days!), the receiver would not decode Dolby Digital (AC-3) or DTS; everything played as Dolby Prologic.
Jerry's offered to swap my '27 for a new one. So I ended up with a '37TX (this model was already obsolete). And again, life is good.
Would I buy another Pioneer Elite product? Probably not. Do I blame the retailer? Absolutely NOT. They offered me every level of service under the sun!
Do I blame Pioneer? You betcha! I purchase quality products with the expectations to buy them once and to enjoy them for a long time (or at least until technology changes enough to warrant another investment). And I guess that's the key word here, "Investment". Sorry Pioneer - may be you should go back to your roots; like when you offered reliable products like the old SA9100 amplifier (which I STILL have and STILL kicks ass!).

Similar Products Used:

None.

superb sound

none

setup was very easy. just follow the instructions. great manual. sound is fantastic. music is great, movie? my goodness! that system sounds like the real thing. with my jamo speakers: center 7.2, main 7.4, surround 300 it's like being in a theatre.
i recommand this unit to anyone looking for great sound.
pioneer is still the best.

Similar Products Used:

yamaha, denon 3300, marantz 8000

multiple inputs/Power watts/THX/DTS/DOLBY5.1

?

After much deliberation on my choice of recievers I chose the elite27tx model. I couldnt see spending the extra on the 29tx for the few extra frills when this one has everything a human could want.The purity of sound that this bad boy produces just cant be matched.There are multiple choices as to your source of audio(rca and digital) and video(rca and svideo). The frond jacks make quick set up for my dreamcast and the banana plugs in the back make hooking up speakers an easy chore. Pioneer customer service is great. I initially had problems with my reciever shutting off when the sound level increased only to find it was my outet that was under voltaged.In the process of finding that out pioneer helped me troubleshoot and even exchanged it for another when the shop(paid for by pioneer) couldnt find anything wrong with it. This thing is very heavy pointing to its quality of construction.Highly reccomended!!

Great functionality, good value, great appearance, THX Ultra.

The buyer (I did not buy it the first time)

My saga starts with the first receiver I lugged home, the Denon AVR-3300.

I was very anxious to bring home the Denon AVR-3300 A/V Receiver and use it with my Klipsch Reference speakers. It took a while to hook it up as the manual is somewhat confusing and I don't hook up a receiver every day. Once I had it hooked up I fired it up. It sounded fine. The Klipsch speakers are very responsive, and the 3300 was a good audio match. I tuned up the system and sat down with the wife and kids to enjoy the new toy. Halfway through the Top Gun DVD, the center channel started crackling. Uh oh. About two minutes later we heard a click and the whole system shut down. Luckily I had known about potential thermal issues with this unit, so I immediately suspected that the unit reached thermal overload. Correct. Once the unit cooled down, everything worked again. After reviewing the reviews on this site, I convinced myself that I had made a poor choice in selecting the Denon 3300.

I could have purchased the Denon cheaper through mail order, but the reviews I had read from this site convinced me to be careful and buy this from a repuatble local dealer. Thank goodness I followed my instincts. I took the unit back and received a full refund. The very nice associate asked me if I wanted a different new Denon, and I said no. The store had another open 3300 on display where customers could look at the innards. I was shocked when I noticed the very poor soldering job on many of the manually soldered joints. The PCB solder joints looked acceptable, but my kids could solder better than what I saw on the many connectors. Can you say "cold solder joint". Based on what I have read and what I have seen, I am very glad to get rid of that ticking time bomb.

The Sales associate felt bad that I did not have a good experience and offered to give a good price on the Pioneer Elite VSX27TX (with THX Ultra). I was very hesitant, so I told him I had to read the reviews posted on this site before I would just jump in and buy it (after listening to it at their store, of course). I researched the reviews, and I felt that the Pioneer would be a good match for my Klipsch Reference Speakers. I ended up buying the Pioneer for $75 more than the Denon.

I found the Pioneer to be much easier to set up. It is much more intuitive, and the remote control is designed much better. It also has A/B selections for additional speakers that the Denon did not have. This was much appreciated. When I powered up the Pioneer, I was amazed at the sound. The sound (to me) was very close to the Denon. I think that the Pioneer has a slightly mellower sound, which matches well with my horn speakers. I like it! We tried the family thing again, this time to a Mulan DVD with THX. Awesome. This unit meets my needs perfectly. And the THX Ultra can only be a plus over the Denon 3300. It is a very long unit, though, and barely fits on my open shelf system.

I am very curious to know where the Denon is designed and manufactured. Something is seriously wrong with their worksmanship and quality control. I would stay away from the Denon and look at the Marantz SR7000 and SR800, and of course the Pioneer VSX27TX. Even if the Denon works today, the failure rate over time is not likely to be impressive. I for one tend to keep my receivers for many years.

My ratings for the Denon: 4 stars for value, as you do get a lot of functionalty for the price. Overall rating 1 star, as a unit isn't any good if it does not work, or if you are always wondering when it will go down in flames (almost literally).

My rating on the Pioneer: 5 stars for value (I certainly don't need component viodeo switching on my receiver, and the value for the THX Ultra is superb) and 5 stars overall.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-3300

Quality craftsmanship, Simple & Uncluttered faceplate, Wonderful remote, Ease of use.

Some of the DSP modes are a little hard to take.

Well, the first unit I purchased arrived dead right out of the box! I waited a week for it to arrive and after spending a good hour hooking everything up....dead. I tried to turn the unit on and all that happened was a "click" as if it were trying to turn on, but all that lit up was the standby power light. Just a fluke I would say. Neither the dealer or anyone else on this site has reported any similar problem, so I think it was isolated. I called the dealer I purchased it from and had another unit overnighted to my home. Viola! It worked. Aaaahhhh!! The joy of a beautifuly crafted piece of equipment! What a world appart from the competition this seems to be. It's simplicity and ease of use is astonishing! The remote, compared to my Yamaha was like a breath of fresh air. I owned the Yamaha for eight months and still didn't know how to use the darn thing correctly! This remote is very simpley laid out. The faceplate on the receiver is also a delight. Very well thought out and handsomely crafted in Urushi finish. I think it's the best looking receiver on the market. When I first saw the Urushi finish, I thought....Yuck! After seeing one in person, my opinion changed. The sound is incredible. Tremendous power. Very smooth and warm as previous entries state. I can't say enough good things about this piece. If you have looked at Onkyo and Sony ES as I did before purchasing this one, do yourself a favor and give it a test drive. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

VSX27TX Pioneer Elite Receiver
DVF07 Pioneer Elite DVD/CD
Acoustic Research AR5 fronts
Acoustic Research AR2C Center
Acoustic Research AR17 rears

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RV-1105

Good feature set, good control layout

sound quality and price

To start with, I did an evaluation with a computer aided A/B switching device. I used the Pioneer Elite DV-05 DVD/CD player. I used Martin Logan Aerius i speakers. All receivers used the digital input to take as much cable interaction out of the audition. I also level matched within 1 db on the volume knobs. I auditioned in stereo mode because music holds a higher priority to me.

To start, I was very disappointed in the Pioneer Elite VSX-27TX's sound. The midrange was mushy, and unclear. This was a very large and noticable difference. Fortunately, that seemed to be the only area that was affected. This sound was just unacceptable to me, and I couldn't recommend this receiver to anyone.

The Denon AVR-3300 had a much better sound. It had a very good sound. I was disappointed in it though. I've read how it's suppose to sound as good as the AVR-5700. I would hope the 5700 didn't sound like this. The 3300 just lacked detail(perhaps higher midrange and lower treble had a bit of compression, but still very good overall) that the Denon AVR-4800 and Yamaha RX-V2095 had. Granted, the 3300 is a lower price unit, but when you consider what you get on the 2095 for only $300 more, the 3300 seems like a bad deal.

Completely surprising was that the Denon AVR-4800 and the Yamaha RX-V2095 sounded almost identical. This was a real shocker, considering the price differences. Granted, you get more power and a lot more extras on the Denon AVR-4800. Both these units had great detail and dynamics. Although I heard a very, very, VERY slight difference in sound, I could not pinpoint it or describe it. It most likely was just differences(under 1 db) in volume loudness.

I have a medium sized living and I doubt I'd ever use DD/DTS 6.1/THX-EX/DTS-ES so that function was not a concern. In fact, I doubt I'll use the 2 front effect channels on the 2095 because of space limitations. If I find I need 6.1 DD/DTS, I can always buy a decoder, since both the 2095 and 4800 would need additional amplification for that channel(s). For $700 more, the Denon 4800 seems to offer $700 worth of features. At this point I don't need the extra power or features, and $700 is a lot for something I didn't need. I think they both represent awesome value. In fact, although the 4800 is rated at only 125, from Sound and Vision's lab report, it seems to meet or exceed the Denon AVR-5700 power output. It also looks to have more features. The 5700 could sound better though.

For the review I would rank each as such:

Pioneer Elite VSX-27TX: value 2 stars, overall 3 stars

Denon AVR-3300: value 4 stars, overall 4 stars

Denon AVR-4800: value 5 stars, overall 5 stars

Yamaha RX-V2095: value 5 stars, overall 5 stars

My choice of these in order:

1) RX-V2095

2)Denon AVR-4800

3)Denon AVR-3300

4)Pioneer Elite VSX-27TX

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR 3300 & AVR 4800, and Yamaha RX-V2095

Great power supply, THX rating, build quality.

Speaker banana plugs too close together.
Remote control backlight does not stay on long enough.
DSP modes sound too 'phony'

I've had this unit just over a week and I really like it.
It produces an honest & smooth cinematic sound which is
exactly what I was looking for. I don't care for the
DSP modes since they produce what I think is an
artificial sound. I'm using various M&K's speakers and the M&K MX-125 MK II subwoofer. Of all the receivers & speakers I auditioned, IMHO this is the best sounding combination for the money. Setting it up was a bit of a chore until I decided to actually read and pay attention to the manual. Unless you have very small hands, I highly recommend getting banana plug to speaker wire adapters to connect
the speakers to the receiver. I don't understand why
they positioned them so close together.

FYI - When I auditioned various receivers and speakers, I used the following DVD's. Super Speedway, The Matrix & Fifth Element.

System:
Sony KP-46S17 Rear Video Projector
Pioneer Elite VSX-27TX Receiver
Pioneer Elite DV-05 DVD Player
Sony SLV 790HF VCR
M&K LCR 750THX Front Speakers
M&K Center 750THX Center Speaker
M&K SS-55 Tripole Surrounds
M&K MX-125 MKII Subwoofer
Tributaries 12g Speaker Cables
Interconnects by Ultralink & Acoustic Research
TechCraft Audio Rack (made in Canada) (model BE-H38)

Smooth balanced sound, THX, Auto input select(digital vs analog)

Can't select Direct from the remote, no Component video switching

This is a really fine receiver.

I looked, studied and listened to most of the $1000 dollar recievers out there. I spent most of my budget on speakers (see below) and was trying to squeeze the most out of the reciever dollars. Initially I was impressed by, and bought a 26TX. It had better features and a better remote than the Denon, but with a similar sound through my B&W 805's. The Yamaha choices were much too bright for my taste.

After a month with the 26, I decided that the extra 20 watts was needed and upgraded to the 27TX. The improvement is subtantial. The extra power is most noticable in the bass. More punch. The highs are more seperated. Much cleaner and more accurate. It is just a better sound overall. It really opened up the sound stage. The 26 is a nice piece, but if you can afford the extra, get the 27TX.

The 5.1 and DTS are outstanding. The THX selection works very well in my room. For music it sounds great. There are other recievers that will beat it for music , but without the surround (THX) section of the Pioneer. I don't use the DSP modes, so no comment there.

The remote is good. The light could stay on longer and the ability to select Direct would be nice additions. I'm being picky here.

Cross Talk: The 26TX was a Dec 99 build and it had the cross talk problem. It didn't bother me. I just never turned on more than one source on at a time. But since I had read about it, I did check for cross talk. The 27TX is a May 99 build and it has no cross talk at all. Total silence. Just info, but the build date may not be the best way to discriminate for cross talk.

Other nits: The binding post are rather close together. But you really should have quality cables with bananas, so this shouldn't be a biggy. No component video switching. Not a problem for now, but as your system and technology change it could matter.

I paid $1199 locally for the 27TX on sale. The 26 was $899, also on sale. I am a believer in mail order, but after all the effort and assistance I got locally, I just couldn't cheat them. I spent around 20 hours in the store making my choices. Different recivers, speakers, music etc. And they let me trade up with no hassel. You really do get a huge benefit from a good local shop. And if you track the local sales, you can come close to mail order prices.

System:

Front: B&W 805's
Center:B&W HTM2
Sub: B&W ASW1000
Rear: B&W 601's
DVD: Toshiba 3901

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer 26TX, Rotel, Denon, Yamaha