I own a B&K AVR202 ,a Denon 5700 and a Yamaha DSPA1. I just bought a VSX26 receiver. Let me tell you, the VSX26 is a match for any of them. The 5D theater mode is equivalent to Denon's 5ch stereo and sounds sensational. It can be used with an analog signal or DTS. DTS & DD are first rate on this machine. After having owned over one hundred high end machines I can tell you that Pioneer Elite receivers have moved to the head of the class. They have come a long way from the garbage they use to make.

I have both the 27TX and the 24TX. Actually my brother has the 24TX. Pioneer has really done their homework on these units. I did a serious study before I even started my listening test and the 27 & 24TX really were a kcockout on paper. I wondered if they would live up to the writings on the white sheets. I then went to my listening phase. I seriously considered the Yamaha 995 (I have always been partial to Yamaha because I have had a Yamaha since my teens), I also included the Denon 330 in the comparison tests. That test clearly convinced me to go with the Pioneer 24TX receiver. The other 2 units were also very good, a person would be pleased with either. After my brother heard the 24TX he wanted it so bad and didn't want to wait so he (forcefully) bought it from me. I had to one-up him and went out and bought the 27TX. I am very pleased with my purchase. The review by B Stern is unfortunate because it is immature and the feedback is totally unhelpfull in helping a person to make a decision with input from actual owners. I would call his review more of a flame and disregarded it. You will not be disappointed with either the 24TX or the 27TX. I have no experience with the 26TX so I can't comment on it.
I have a question. For those in the know, I have heard that the wattage on the receiver when tested at 6 ohms would really come out 10 to 12 percent less. In other words, the 120 watt rating would really be 102 watts. To further complicate this question, I also read that THX forces the maker to measure the wattage at full spectrum rather than the normal test which is more restricted and the one most other manufacturers use to rate their models. Overall, if tested with the normal test at 8 ohms, the 27TX would indeed be running at 120 watts. I am just curious for bragging rights purposes.

Pete

For adequate amplification the amount of power needed varies greatly according to loudspeaker sensitivity, loudspeaker impedance, room size, room acoustics, and how loudly you like to play music. Loudspeaker sensitivity is by far the biggest determining factor in choosing an appropriate power output. loudspeaker sensitivity specifies how high a sound-pressure level (SPL) the loudspeaker will produce when driven by a certain power input. Each 3db increase in sound-preswure level requires a doubling of amplifier output power. Let's say for musical peaks of 109db, an 88db rated speaker will need 128W to do so. Now for a loudspeaker at 91db rating will only require half the power (64W) to do the job.
If you have a HIGH END Loudspeaker rated between 89db to 91db sensitivity(let's say at 8 ohms) this would work just fine with the 29TX and 27TX.

It was pretty tough for me to make a purchase decision between the Pioneer VSX-27TX and VSX-29TX since I was looking for the optimum result for my investment. I knew both of them have the identical features and power except for the Copper Shielded Chassis, Rosewood Side Panels, gold plated in&out puts and a LCD remote exclusively for the 29TX. However, the price gap was pretty big between the two models for my financial situation. Well, I was curious about the LCD remote and its copper shielded construction on the 29TX so I bought that after the struggle. After I received the unit, I found out that I made the right decision. Actually the receiver was excellent as I expected. I loved the crisp clearness of the midnight mode and all DSP modes. And also, since the Video's signal-to-noise ratio was 65dB, all S-video connections from
my LD, S-video, Playstation etc. were very clear on my TV. Usually, the picture quality gets little bit worse if they were connected via a receiver with Video's signal-to-noise ratio of 55dB. I know the 27TX is the same great receiver as the 29TX but what made the 29TX receiver really different was the LCD remote. Other factors like the 96K/24-bit of Digital-to-Analog converters, Dolby Digital and dts with THX ultra certified also make both 27TX & 29TX exceptional receivers


EXXXXCCCCEEEELLLLEEEENNNNTTTT

Value, Complete home theater "In a box"

For home theater this unit by Pioneer has brought to me perfomance exceeding my expectations in a receiver at this price. Considering this is the only unit in its price range (even close!) to carry the "THX Ultra" logo it is hard to review on comparisons. It cleanly and easily drives a set of "Atlantic Technology 350THX" speakers to exciting volume levels in a 14' by 17' area. Ive have not experienced the slightest glitch or any type of technical problem (nor crosstalk) with it . With ample switching and plenty of digital connections Ive been able to plug in all my components and have room for more. If there was one feature I could add it would be a FM signal indicator, very handy on the fringe areas for those of us with indoor antennas. For me, this unit is packed with value and with what you need. Kudos to Pioneer for bringing to the table a "THX Ultra" rated reciever in a price class by it's self.

Has very comprehesive input and output

cross talk! amp has noise! poor user manual

Guys, I am completely disappointed with this unit. After my 1 month of research, I finally decided to bring this home. I used to own a Denon pro-logic receiver AVR-2000 and with all the DD,DTS stuff, I wanted to buy a latest receiver to take advantage of my DVD player. I had originally wanted to buy a Denon since I was very impressed with the AVR-2000. It is about 6 years old and still produce very warm sounds. Much better than a high-end Sony receiver my parents gave me.

I considered Denon 5700 but the high price got me. My budget is about 1000 dollars so I picked Pioneer based on the reviews here. I am so disappointed after 2 days of listening (I took two days vacation just to do that!). I found the same cross talk the other reviewer is talking about. Try this:

Play a CD (analog input) and also start to play a tape. Now switch to MD and turn the volume up. Using a headphone, even at 0 db level, I can hear the CD and tape sound coming in to the MD channel and got amplified. Go ahead and experimenting yourself. I think some small crosstalk is expected since we are not talking audiophile gears here. But this much of cross talk is definitly NOT right!

Now, I've got other problems with this unit. When I turn the volume up and down, I can hear some samll clicking noises from the speakers. This is especially obvious if I don't play anything but just turn the volume.

The sound quality is also poor. It is not warm and just sucks compare to my 6-year-old Denon AVR-2000. I am going to return it and save for the Denon 5700. Afterall, this is the heart of the system where everything is connected and distributed.

My system now has: SONY TV, JVC SVHS VCR, Panasonic Hifi VCR, Pioneer DVD, Infinity RS-8 speakers for main and matching infinity speakers for center and surrounds.

Please e-mail me at duanrg@erols.com to discuss.

Regards,

Robert Duan

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Sony,

Excellent Remote, Features, THX Ultra, Appearance, Power

I find the receiver to be everything I've read about....
More than enough inputs and outputs for both audio and video. 4 digital inputs that can be assigned to any input source. A remote control that is easy to use and can control everything in my system. The owners manual is good and the on screen set-up walks you through the entire process one step at a time.

Most impressive is the sound. Clearly defined, punchy bass, and absolutely no noise. I've never heard such a clean, realistic sound come from my speakers.

I was concerned about their rating of 120 x 5 into 6 ohms considering I'm running some fairly inefficient NHT speakers but believe me the receiver drives them with more than enough power.

Pioneer Elite has definetly stepped up to the plate with this line of receivers.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, Denon

Overall balanced presentation (No ear bleading), ease of use , styling.

Can't tweak surround channels on the fly (No big deal)

Just wanted to share a recent review of the Elite 29TX, in This month’s Inner Ear (Vol. 12, #1). As many of you know, the 27TX and 29TX are essentially the same unit.

I find it humorous that folks don’t make the connection between dollars spent on advertising and gushing reviews. Denon, for instance, seem to have ads everywhere. Now I don’t doubt they make a decent product, but come on. Do they make the best product?

Pioneer, on the other hand, hardly advertises their Elite line of receivers at all. A shame, because they are superior to just about anything else on the market.

Sound and Vision also thought so highly of the 24TX that they included it on their Editor’s Choice list. I own the 27TX and am thrilled. Do yourself a favor. Buy this reciever. Get some nice single malt. Put your feet up. And just smile like a kid on Christmas morning.

"…the Elite line should be recognized by consumers as the company’s nobility where only the best parts, the tightest tolerances and top engineering and craftsmanship are employed."

"As with all Elite components, the styling is positively striking. Pioneer kept the face plate simple, uncluttered and clean."

"As in earlier models, the VSX-29TX’s most noticeable distinction is the way it handles musical program material in any of it’s many modes…Only this unit is even better! …image precision, as it relates to the film sound-focus, coherency, localization and dimension-can be compared with a stereophonic replica of a live event’s authenticity…we believe that the Elite unit is capable of recreating film sound as it was intended to be heard by the producers….highs, though well extended, never introduced the often apparent glare frequently evident in HT components…midrange was smooth, yet lucent and explicit…bass was determined and robust…the receiver’s tonal balance is up there with expensive separates."

"…provided exemplary resolving caliber, well reproduced staging information and superb compatibility with the Bryston amp. … we believe that the Elite’s 120 watts per channel is quite enough to drive almost any loudspeaker under the sun…its versatility and preamp/processor quality is second to none."

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 2095, Sherwood Newcastle 945, Denon 3300, Kenwood,
B&K.

DD, DTS, THX Ultra certification

crosstalk, setup functions leave a little to be desired,

After reading a lot of reviews here (thanks, by the way :), I decided on the 27tx for several reasons, primarily - 1st: an AC-3 RF input for my laserdiscs, 2nd: plenty of inputs & configuration possibilities, 3rd: power. I'm fairly pleased with this thing - it's got a good amount of features at a semi resonable price. I was looking for an all-in-one unit to replace the hodgepodge of units I had strung together over the years. I had 3 receivers interconnected with a older dolby pro logic preamp and I promised my SO I'd try to make things a little simpler to use. It was kind of insane trying to figure out which units to turn on for which type of use (regular stereo, vs dolby pro logic, vs a mono movie, vs etc, etc).

This piece does have the crosstalk problem that was recently reported, though I'm not sure I want to take it back as I'm not sure I can find something comparable within the price range. I've found lots of DD & DTS receivers in this range, but very, very few with the onboard RF. The crosstalk is certainly an issue, but I can live with it (by turning off other components when not in use, the problem drops off quite a bit - thankfully, the tuner doesn't bleed through when not in use - that would be the kicker since you can't turn it off manually).

I have also heard the clicking sound someone else mentioned, but only when there was no signal being fed to the unit.

The one thing that really does bug me about this is when you're doing the setup for the speaker sound level, the volume is automatically cranked up quite a bit before the white noise signal is started. You can manually turn it back down to do your measurements, but man, the volume knob gets cranked up to about 2'oclock and then BANG. I understand setting a standard volume to make your adjustments, but I nearly had a coronary watching the volume knob keep going up & up & up that first time.

Anyway, overall, for the money I spent, I'm happy with it - I couldn't see the need for jumping up to the 29 since they're mainly the same unit with a few exceptions (most notably, the remote & the better power supply) and the 26 doesn't have the RF input. I'd feel comfortable recommending this to a friend, but I'd want them to come & see/hear mine first, ya know?

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVC700 (though there really isn't much similarity here :)

All the features, plus THX certified. Simple to set up and use.

Not found anything! Works Great with all of my other equipment.

The Pioneer is the heart of a completely new system. I have Atlantic Technology Speakers 350 System with one subwoofer, Sony DVD 650 and JVC 7600 SVHS, Monster Interconnects and MIT Termernator 2&4 speaker cables. This combination is awesome. My friends and family are very pleased with the performance on music and movies. I purchased the Pioneer from sounddistributors.com best price and Service with a Plus. I received my first Receiver and it had hidden damage the next day Sound Distributors (Eric) had a new Receiver shipped to my home, boy do they stand behind what they sell!

Similar Products Used:

I tried a Yahama 2095, Marantz 870, Sherwood 945, but felt that the THX Certification and more features and Great Sound won me over.