The VSX-97 was put into use in 2011. It has never ceased to amaze me. It drives my 4 ohm watt hungry Magneplanars with ease, with plenty of reserve. The soundstage is great, and
spatial imaging is superb. They are extremely rare, and difficult to find. If you ever cross paths with one - do not let it slip away. Where we see many Pioneer amps bearing the "Elite"
insignia, to my knowledge, this is the only one that states "Reference Elite" and rightfully so.
And the power? Simply it is capable of driving any loudspeaker, even those with 2 ohm impedance. That alone tells the story..

Refined sound - Great subbass / mid bass - vocals sound very natural and warm - high end is airy, not harsh at all - BIG slam!! - Beautiful finish - Available at bargain prices.

NONE!!

I am an audio nut who owns very cool "vintage" high end audio products like SONY TA-E90ES / N90ES pre/power combo. NAD S-100-200-300 AND 500. PIONEER ELITE C-M-PD 65 etc. Several SONY "7 series" CD players. SONY P9000ES preamps. POLK AUDIO SRS SDA - SRS SDA 3.2 - SDA 2 etc. and a lot more. I recently won the auction for a PIONEER VSX 97 on Ebay for $165!!!. I am using this receiver as a two channel integrated amp. The sound quality and power of this unit is awesome. If you are looking for the ultimate multichannel home theater experience, You should look a newer more modern HT receiver with the latest processors. If you are looking for a bad ass integrated amp at a bargain prices - GET THIS ONE!!! - Just switch it to "PURE LINE" and you got your self an audiophile quality integrated amp!!! Very high quality parts are used; Rubber coated ELNA caps, Copper plated transformers, legato link dacs etc. You will be suprised by the refined sound and the slam this units is capable of. It is also beatifull to look at. Highly recommended!!!

Similar Products Used:

NAD - SONY - PIONEER ELITE - POLK AUDIO - JBL - QUAD etc.

Looks, power, 4 seperate sound feild settings, quality of build.

None

Bought on ebay for 375n(a steal), and I have been using this VSX-97 for over 3 years now (after my older Pioneer began to have problems), and doubt I will change it out unless it quits.
Ever since I bought it on ebay in about 2004 - already 10 years old - I have always tried to get the best home theater enviroment possible. To that end, I have tried many 5.1, 7.1, Dolby digital receivers, and always came back to this Pioneer.
Most recently, I tried an Onkyo Integra DTR-8.4 THX Select certified - and yes, there was a bit better seperation with the digital dolby input. But other than that, the Pioneer out performed the Onkyo - and all other receivers I have tried - in all other ways. Since most movies / dvd's are not THX digital, there was little gain on these dvd's. Even with Star Wars THX, there was little difference between the digital dolby, and the dolby Pro Logic.
Needless to say, it is still the heart of my a/v system.
For those that claim it needs more power, I suggest more effecient speakers....

Similar Products Used:

Newer Pioneer, Yamaha, up to $800, and Onkyo that sold for $1800, Pioneer vsx-9300, vsx-9700, DS-1, Elite vsx-99,

everyhting, ease of use, very readable sources,remote easy to use

rear surrounds

I realy enjoy this audio video receiver it was ahead of its time, I am kind of a piuoneer nut, I have in my collection the great sx-1980 and sx-1250 those are great receiver so pioneer new what they were doing when they built the vsx97 only if they would of built more power for surrounds, I use a adcom gfa-545 for surround power which is more then enough, the seperation is pretty amazing for surround mode, its worth every penny and the cherry wood veneers give it that touch of class. WOW!

Similar Products Used:

adcom gtp-830 b&k ref 20

Robust construction, high quality, GUI interface, expandability

No modern surround sound capability without an external processor, surround wattage is a bit low at 45 watts

I bought the amplifier in early 1994 seeking the best model that anyone had to offer, bar none. I was directed to this piece by the staff at Laserdisc. In 1994 I do beleive that this was the best A/V receiver available, and it still impresses. Audio reproduction is excellent, the GUI was ahead of its time, and it's build quality will never be surpassed. To say that I am impressed witht he unit is an understatement, as I'm still using it after nearly 10 years. I have still to add a 5.1 outboard processor (which I am about to do) to take care of some strange audio artifact with the old Dolby ProLogic surround. The great thing about the quality receivers built around this time is that they had a full complement of inputs, a set of preamp outs so you could connect to an outboard processor, and a set of amplifier in so you could run it through the onboard power amplifier. In other words, Pioneer knew tht Dolby DIgital was going to be coming out and they built the expandability into the unit. As I mentioned before, the sound is extremely high quality, and to the limit of measurement of things you really don't want to hear. I'm not an audiophile, but I can apprecaite good sound, and I continue to be impressed with the unit (must be if I am loathe to give it up on eBay even after 10 years!). Price was high for me, but I was an early adopter for this unit. Models with the digital 5.1 are now going for a shade over $200 on eBay. If you don't need the 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, etc and are looking for a high quality integrated receiver for music reproduction, this would be a great unit for you if available at a reasonable price (below $400).

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, Denon, Adcom

Everything

Could use more power

This reciever was built way ahead of it's time. It has a huge aray of features and the build quality is unsurpassed.
I obviously got it for a great price (how I can't say) but I am very happy with it. It has alot of features recievers today don't incoorporate. Even though it is only prologic it has pre-amp ins and outs so you can add an external processor which I have done. Yeah this maybe not the cleanest way to do things but it works, and very well. I also think it sounds as good as Pionner's new stuff. If you ask any Elite vendor they'll all say that that was one hell of a piece. It is to me too.
My only gripes are low power to the surrounds, (I'm using an external amp so thats not really a problem for me), and too bad it didn't make the digital age.
If anybody else has one of these post a please post a review and let me know I'm not alone in love. (just kidding)

Very Cool Looking :) and at the time it was one of the only units with On-Screen Programming.

Weak surround sound, it does not seem to process the Surround sound signal from DVD's properly.

Very cool unit especially for when I got it but now I'm noticing how Weak surround sound is as Chris put it, it does not seem to process the Surround sound signal from DVD's properly and it's driving me nutz. I don't really want to buy another AMP so I would appreciate any suggestions from you Chris (or anyone else) on a way to make it better. Feel free to e-mail me at mschick@can-info.net with how you got around this.

Thanks.