Pioneer VSX-D409 A/V Receivers

Pioneer VSX-D409 A/V Receivers 

DESCRIPTION

Dolby Digital/dts A/V Receiver - 100 Watts x 5 Channels - A/V Inputs: 4A/3V - Digital Inputs: 2 -

USER REVIEWS

Showing 61-70 of 78  
[Mar 15, 2001]
John Sorenson
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Many features only found on higher-end receivers, such as loudness, midnight mode, and bass+ on sub-preout.

Weakness:

Occasionally weak pro-logic decoding.

I agree with the majority of the positive reviews on this sight. Just two things:

(1) For all those reviewers complaining about a lack of bass, are you using the loudness setting?! This setting is a must for getting a full bass sound. Also, for subwoofer use in non-surround as well as surround mode, select the sub+ option in the menu.
(2) The receiver claimed the input from my CD carousel was 'overloading' when playing a hip-hop CD with very strong bass. The sound was absolutely fine, but the receiver was telling me the signal was being distorted. Probably a result of the strong bass.
(3) The decoding in pro-logic mode sometimes seems weaker than higher-end receivers such as the Technics DA8K.

Otherwise, a very solid reciever.

Similar Products Used:

Technics GX-350, Technics DA8K

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 27, 2001]
Jonathan Alberi
Audiophile

Strength:

HTP-2000, great price, awesome sound

Weakness:

Lacking bass, and bass setting

Great unit, but I was wondering you guy that have the unit and the HTP-2000, what are the best setting that you found work in the setup, eg speaker set to small.vs.large, subwoofer, crossover freq. settings ( I have mine at 150) and I i get bigger front speaker why do i lose bass when the lalrge speakers are set to large and the sub to plus? AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, i find that I'm listening at 40-30db range is this too loud for the system, I don't think so, and why do you not haer anything from 99-60db what a waste, I think this is done so you can listen full volume 00db and not blow the system. Any replys

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 27, 2000]
Matt
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Price, features, power, and ability to cutomize your own surround set up.

Weakness:

Remote is a little confusing. Other than that I am very pleased.

Wow. When I was shopping for a new reciever I tested Sony, Harman/Kardon, JVC, Technics, and Pioneer. Pioneer came out on top. With its unbeatable price, power (100wx5), digital inputs, and RCA inputs I could not find a better deal. This reciever is easy to use and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a 5.1 channel surround system. The only weaknesses I found were that you have to turn the volume pretty far up to listen to soft parts of DVDs and the remote can not switch A/B front speakers. The remote does, however, allow you to program your other A/V components by the brand which appears on the reciever. This makes it easy for those who are not as educated in home audio as some of us.
Pioneer is known for great laser products (DVD player, CD players, and laser disc players) and this reciever will acommodate two laser products (one coaxal, one optical) and also feed you minidisc player with an optical out.
Overall I give this product a rating of 5 for ease of use and making great home audio available at a great price.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 16, 2001]
Haffer
Casual Listener

Strength:

Price, DTS capable, Digital Inputs, 100W/channel, subwoofer pre-amp output.

Weakness:

Manual not always clear, particularly about base and subwoofer operation

Bought for my son for Christmas and helped him set it up with new dvd player, vcr, and TV. Worked out of the box. Going through setup procedure is crucial to successful operation. Speaker distances and sizes need to be input correctly to get full bass. When front and center speakers are set to "Large", bass output will be reduced in analog modes. Advanced theater modes are only operable in DTS or Dolby Digital. Familiar Dolby Surround modes are also available for analog input.

Works best with powered subwoofer off the subwoofer preamp output. Set front speakers to large if using non-powered subwoofer off the speaker wiring. I don't think you will get the Dolby Digital and DTS bass components if you do this, however.

Worked well with six speaker combo in small apartment. Has a "midnight" setting for quiet listening. Lack of receiver S-Video inputs were not a problem since DVD player and TV were relatively close together.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Fisher

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 21, 2001]
spike
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great price, DTS really works, decoder built-in, digital inputs, midnight mode, good bass with subwoofer pre-out.

Weakness:

Haven't found any yet. Backlit remote woulda' been nice.

Took me months to finally find a system/design that worked for me with all my picky preferences without spending a ton of money - I'm cheap I guess. This site was a great help.

I got the 209 package with receiver/sub/center/surrounds included. Couldn't have been any easier. Spent about 2 minutes looking at the instructions to have it set up and working. My considerations with integrating my satellite box, Mitsu 50" TV, Panasonic RV 30 DVD, hi-fi VCR were such that I could even have a few beers while setting it all up -it was that easy. Didn't blow anything up.

Lack of S-video in/out no problem cuz' sat box/DVD both plug into TV anyway.

Optical plug works fine for digital sound. Setting up speakers is easily done from remote - haven't had to touch receiver yet. DSP with DVD 5.1 channel sound is awesome - and receiver automatically senses/switches to digital sound
from source.

Cranks up well - recommend listening to Jurasic Park as first DVD - too cool!!!!!! Only problem is some bass clipping when listening speech on news shows etc.
May be because I keep the loudness button on/+ sub too loud.

After looking at all the packages I think the receiver is worth the package price alone. Buy it - you can always upgrade speakers as needed.

Similar Products Used:

Really old analog receivers.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 13, 2000]
Daniel
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Options, detail in sound and manuals.

Weakness:

Low Bass,cheap remote,baaad distortion,fm radio get mixed in cd mode

Well this reciver was a dissapointment for me. It's the year of 2000 and they can't still make reciever. The bass is bad. The remote is ok, but to weak. I don't wanna change possition to get contact with the reciver. When I use both tv and cd I get real bad distortion. I can only use one couple of rca cables. It doesnt help if it's monster cables. I don't like the radio sound in cd mode when I pull the level to max. And its clipping sound. The options is ok. The speaker out is ok. You can have a lot of speakers. Sub out. It must be much better bass with a sub. It's Dolby Digital with dvd thats ok. I will go for a Yamaha reciever insted.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
2
[May 16, 2000]
Andy Wong
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Price vs its features

Weakness:

Small remote button

Remote is the only weakness I experienced so far. Its small size makes difficult to locate the button. Especially I try the buttons near the bottom rows, it is almost like it is slipping out of my hand and fall. Please provide a bigger remote.

On the other hand, the remote itself is easy to use. I like it, in fact, I can set it to control my VCR, TV, DVD. All these just took me 5 mins to set up. And I have a 2nd universal remote to talk to the system. Also, the remote is sensitive and no sign of failing at all, compared to my Toshiba DVD remote.

Before, I don't like Pioneer receivers from year 1996 to 1999. I found their finishing is cheap and its look is dull. Year 2000 product line is appearing more shinning on its case and its display panel can be adjusted to 4 steps dimmer. I sit about 10 feet away , and I see clearly its display and do my control. Not bad at all.

This machine has better heat control than my sony str-de925. After a DVD movie show, I just feel it warm. Not as hot as my Sony. This should be more reliable in the long run.

Sonic wise, I don't hear hiss from two channel playback. It is as good as I expected. Its midnight/loudness boosts bass up, it is good for me as I don't have a subwoofer in my basement.

For this price, I bought it ($399 plus tax) to replace my 1993 Pioneer stereo and I feel it is a good piece of power.
Although it is not equipped with S-video , front input, better remote, overall I am satisfied with its performance.

Two years ago, I bought my SONY str-de925 for almost $1000.
Nowadays, it is getting so afforable.

Similar Products Used:

Used Sony STR-DE925

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 27, 2000]
Charles
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Sounds great DSP options are good for home theater

Weakness:

Remote / No S-Video

I recently purchased this receiver and I have to say that it sounds great, for 2 channel stereo or for Digital Surround. There are some reviews claiming that it sounds "hissy" in 2 channel stereo? It's possible that other equiptment was the problem in these reveiews because mine and my nephews sounds great. Yes my nephew went out and bought one after he heard how good mine sounded. I really like the midnite feature my family and neighbors wrote thank you letters to Pioneer (just kidding) but this is a good feature if you are like me and like to watch movies in surround at night.

The buttons on the remote are on the small side making it difficult to find the right one in the dark, but it's functionality is good. It controls my tape deck, cd player and satallite box. I also like the DSP options it makes movies sound so much better than just standard surround. I paid $279 at Best Buy and in this price range I feel that this receiver provides you the best value for your dollar.

There is no S-Video or front panel connections but these things are not important to me so I cannot deduct any points for not providing these. At $279 there had to be some features left out and in my opionion these were the best choices to leave out.

I took away one star on overall rating because I feel that bigger buttons on the remote are not a cost issue but a design issue and I feel Pioneer should address this problem in the future. Value rating is 5 stars no doubt.

Similar Products Used:

Technics / Onkyo

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 15, 2000]
Mitti Jallabi
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very good price for the options you get in it. DTS and DD decoders built-in.

Weakness:

None!

Very, very great piece of equipment and i love the DTS decoder. Wow, what a great deal. It's so cheap and good and great and fun and special.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 28, 2000]
Ian Jarvis
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

price, good sound, runs warm not hot, optical and coaxial digital inputs, lots of flexibility in connections

Weakness:

Complicated setup, cheap remote

For the money, this receiver can't be beat. Everything else in the price range either lacks DTS, has inferior power output, or lacks overall sound clarity. Yamaha's are probably better, but cost at least 50% more.

The remote is pretty cheap looking, but the receiver is nice looking and simple. The only thing that frustrated me was the setup, because the LCD display can be confusing to read and setup correctly. However, once you set it up, which is a one time deal, it is an extremely satisfying system. I love listening to my CD's on it, as well as using for movies on DVD and VHS. Both the digital and analog inputs pass through clear sound to your system. The only thing that I found odd is the volume level: if you're listening to DVD's without Range Control turned on, you have to turn the volume up qute high (like about 70-80% of max) but I played at this level for many hours and straight and the receiver and never got hot, always staying nice and warm to the touch, and the sound never distorted or changed, so that is nothing to worry about.

I would recommend this receiver to anyone looking for good value in a home theater setup. However, if you have a really big room you might want to get a preamp as well so you can really crank it.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood, Denon, Yamaha.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 61-70 of 78  

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