My initial response upon finding out that Pioneer offered a such fully featured receiver was that it was too good to be true. Unfortunately, full featured and full sounding are not necessarily the same thing. I agree with a previous review that the center-voice channel left something to be desired. I can only compare the sound from the center channel to that of the speaker of an old worn out mono speaker of a tv. The rest of the channels sounded fine, and once again evidence the outstanding quality of 5.1 audio. Plain old vanilla stereo sound was lacking too. Soundstage was unclear. Seemed muffled. Also, the stereo setting didn't output to the subwoofer. The only way to get subwoofer sound from CD music would have been to select one of the DSP settings. This product is fantastic on features, but lacking on quality. Hoping to upgrade from my Yamaha 5.1 ready receiver, I was disappointed and choose to return the receiver. The disparity was evident even on my full set of DCM KX2's (12"/10"/center) and my 8" Energy sub. However, all this said. This Pioneer would probably satisfy anyone who isn't upgrading from Yamaha, Onkyo, or similar quality receivers.

I have owned the VSX-D608 for a month now and really like it. Unlike previous reviewers, I am not using this somewhat entry-level home theater receiver with over $1,500 worth of speakers and I don't nitpick every single sound flaw. I would if I owned a Pioneer Elite unit or a nice Yamaha DSP-A1 or Denon 5700, but remember - the 608 is only priced at $399 or below. It is not made top compete with better-quality components. I think the target market is for those upgrading from DPL to Dolby Digital, not for seasoned home theater veterans. This receiver is really loaded like some higher-end units, but I am sure the construction inside isn't the best (IT'S $399).
I use this receiver with Cerwin Vega loudspeakers all around:

Front Left and Right speakers = Cerwin Vega RE-30 (12" 3-way floor)
Rear Left and Right speakers = Cerwin Vega RE-25 (10" 3-way floor)
Center speaker = Cerwin Vega HT-CTR (dual 6.5" drivers with dedicated neodymium tweeter)
Subwoofer = Cerwin Vega HT-S15 (15" dedicated "LFE" subwoofer at 30 Hz-80 Hz)

With about $1200 in speakers, the 608 sounds excellent IMO. I hear no crosstalk on any DD or DTS DVDs I have watched, and the digital input and output configuration is excellent, as well as the S-video switching.

Gripes - could have a better ALL BUTTONS BACKLIT remote, one-touch source keys (the "Select" source idea saves space but can be annoying) and OSD (which I miss from an earlier Elite VSX-99 I owned previously).

All in all I rate this receiver a 5 for value and 4 for great (but not "unbelievable") performance - a 5 rating overall. For my 22"x17" home theater room, it does quite well with Dolby Digital from DVDs and LaserDiscs (yes, I still buy them occasionally). Since I don't listen to that much music in my home, I save most critical music listening for my car audio system - but that's another review.

I replaced an Onkyo Tx-DS 747 with this receiver a couple of days ago...for several reasons. First this receiver provided complete bass management, allowing me to set the low freqs that are passed to the sub at 100 Hz (150 & 200 are also available, thereby matching quiute well with my Take 5 HT speakers (which bottom out at 90 Hz.). I'm very pleased with the performance, and particularly the three decoders (DPL, DD & DTS). 100 Watts to each channel, plenty of s-video ins, and 5 digital inputs. AT this price point it is loaded. The performance is pretty good, but I don't see much use for the DSP inherent in it. It's nothing to write home about, so using the standard, non-dsp enhanced capabilities provides plenty of punch, and a great sound field with my speakers. It's a solid receiver, loaded to tht gills, particularly for $399. A great stop gap until one can afford the super receivers that are out there, but no real need for a small to medium HT setup.
Some things I don't like about it, but can live with it....Cheap speaker connections for center & rear (Spring clip), only one coax input (four otheres are optical), FM frequency response seems limited on the upper end, inability to select audio/video sources directly from the remote (you press one button and cycle thru until you get the one you want....makes it hard for macros on a Universal Remote, remote is funky, but I have a Universal (Marantz RC 2000 Mk II), so I'll deal with it. A couple of functions can only be selected from the unit, not the remote (e.g. Speakers A. B or A&B)

There are alot of good things about this receiver, including performance and the multitude of inputs, and decoders, and they outweigh most of the things I don't like....but it's a keeper for now...

this is a good product by any standard. Recommended!

It doesn't have binding posts for all five main channels

I've lived with Pioneer receivers, on and off, for much of my adult life and have a healthy respect for the company's achievements in this product genre. And I've followed with interest the quick infiltration of digital surround -- Dolby Digital and even DTS -- into the mid-three-figure price range represented by the Pioneer VSX-D608. Even so, the excellent sound that came out of this audio/video receiver took me by surprise. I'd always wondered when manufacturers would catch up with the considerable demands of building five channels of amplification and a lot of sensitive digital guts into cheap receivers. It seems they caught up sooner rather than later. For consumers, this is great news.

Features:

Dolby Digital/Pro-Logic surround decoding
four advanced theater modes
six digital signal processing (DSP) modes
100 watts x 5 channels (surround)
100 watts x 2 (stereo)
AM/FM tuner with 30 presets
preprogrammed remote control
16-9/16 x 6-1/4 x 18-3/4 inches (HWD)
21 lbs, 10 oz
The VSX-D608 is the only one in Pioneer's line to have DTS (Digital Theater Systems) surround. Whether the trickle of DTS CDs and DVDs ever grows to a flood remains to be seen, but the D608 also has a number of "advanced theater" modes absent from all other Pioneer receivers. They include musical, drama and action, all with nine levels of effects for the ultimate in digital signal processing (DSP), manipulation, fine-tuning and pathological tweaking. There is also a mode called Digital 5-D Theater, shared with the lower-priced VSX-D458 (which does not have Dolby Digital decoding).

Other available modes include six DSP modes -- jazz, dance, hall 1, hall 2, theater 1, theater 2 -- and a "midnight listening mode," which reduces the dynamic range of ballistic movie soundtracks to avoid disturbing the neighbors. Also present is Dolby 3 stereo, which adds the center channel to stereo mode. A Direct switch bypasses the tone and balance controls, which operate only in stereo. A minor feature unique to the D608 is DNR (digital noise reduction), which cleans up hiss in noisy audio signal sources.

Without any notable frills or omissions, the D608's rating for Features is 70 points, which signifies average.

Features Rating: 70

Connectivity:

four A/V inputs (S-video, composite)
front-panel A/V inputs (S-video, composite)
two A/V outputs (S-video, composite)
three audio-only inputs
two audio-only outputs
5.1-channel inputs for outboard decoder
center/sub preamp outs
three digital optical inputs
one digital coaxial input
one digital optical output
binding-post speaker terminals for front L/R channels (two sets)
wire-clip speaker terminals for the rest
No component? No problem -- at this price. There is plenty of S-video, however, plus enough inputs and outputs to accommodate four recording devices (two audio/video and two audio-only). For future expansion, the DVD switch setting has a full complement of 5.1-channel inputs to accommodate, say, a DVD-Audio player. That's a smart move worth five extra points.

Unfortunately, although the center and sub pre-outs could be augmented with front left/right output from one of the tape loop jacks, there are no rear-surround left/right outs, which means that you can't use this receiver as a preamp with a separate surround amp. (At this price, I wouldn't expect that kind of flexibility anyway.) Pioneer provides the center pre-out to route the center channel to a TV speaker, which is a nice touch. I won't deduct points for the absence of a phono input, though this might trip up a few vinyl enthusiasts.

I would love to knock off a few points for the mixed speaker terminals -- binding posts for the front left/right (doubled so you can connect two sets of stereo speakers) and wire clips for center and surround. Among other things, this means your center-channel speaker is subject to a bottleneck that doesn't affect the left and right channels. When comparing this Pioneer to comparably priced receivers, I found a Sony receiver does the same thing, whereas Harman/Kardon provides binding posts for all channels (hooray!) and Technics provides wire clips for all channels (boo!).

Pioneer does, however, beat the three competitors mentioned above in the area of digital connectivity, with three optical inputs, plus a coaxial in -- that's a total of four digital ins, more than anyone else -- and an optical output. Sony comes close with three digital inputs, all optical, plus an optical out but no coaxial jacks. All have fewer digital ins than the D608. Pioneer wins a few extra points for allowing you to plug in, say, a DVD player, a satellite dish and a CD recorder (both input and output), all with digital cables.

Connectivity Rating: 80

Look & Feel: I'll never forget the brushed aluminum front panel of my first Pioneer receiver, a 15-watts-per-channel stereo model from the mid-1970s with a beautiful blue-on-black AM/FM tuning dial. By the late 1980s, when Pioneer's first Dolby Pro-Logic receiver spent several years in my surround system, its cosmetics had gone black with an attractive amber-on-black display that still survives in this 1999 model. The inch-high characters spelling out the input source are visible across the room -- a good thing, as there are no on-screen menus (I hate 'em anyway) and you need that display to calibrate the speakers for surround levels, among numerous other things. Kudos (and five points) to Pioneer for not caving into fashion and sticking with a distinctive color scheme that happens to work well.

My colleague Stewart Wolpin, who is considering buying the D608, tells me the front panel's row of input buttons helped spark his interest. As Stewart says, you can walk up to the receiver and punch, say, DVD -- rather than turn a dial to cycle through several inputs to find the one you want. This is also a commendable throwback of at least a decade, and it's worth five points more.

The remote is preprogrammed with control codes from other manufacturers. It's already set up to control Pioneer DVD players and a DirecTV Satellite System. It's short and thick and probably won't be very stable when placed on a soft upholstered chair arm. Transport (play, rewind, etc) and menu-oriented arrow (up, down, left, right) keys are arranged in a circular canyon near the top, with the "enter" key in the middle.

After using the receiver for a week, Stewart reported a few remote-related problems: The remote is not preprogrammed for his Panasonic VCR or General Instrument cable box, both common-as-dirt products that should have been included. The remote makes him scroll to find the right input. The keys chosen for backlighting do not include the ones he uses most often, such as the input controls. My own pet peeve is that the volume up/down keys, located below the canyon, are not easy to find in the dark. Channel up/down functions are assigned a much more prominent rocker control immediately below the Volume control, where they could be mistaken for the volume controls.

The front panel's amber display and row of input buttons win extra points, compensating for problems with the remote. The end result is average.

Look & Feel Rating: 70

Performance: The Pioneer VSX-D608 was reviewed with NHT's VT-1.2 tower speakers in the front left/rightpositions and the smaller VT-1.2a for center and rear-surround use. Since each of the big VT-1.2s has a built-in side-firing 8-inch woofer, in addition to dual 4.5-inch midranges and a 1-inch tweeter, no other subwoofers were added to the system. Cables included the usual assortment of MIT (speaker cable) and Monster (interconnects) plus a generic fiber-optic cable for the DVD. I quickly saw the absurdity of reviewing a $550 receiver with cables costing even more, so I swapped out the cool MITerminator 2 for 14-gauge generic speaker wire with transparent sheathing, purchased for 16 cents a foot on Canal Street in New York City. Signal sources included the Denon DVD-5000 DVD player plus the Marantz DR-700 CD recorder (to play our CD-R/-RW test discs, which most DVD players can't read).

Surround and stereo results were both superb. I used to consider receivers that performed equally well in either mode to be rare gems with four-figure price tags; after listening in amazement to this mid-three-figure Pioneer, I'm not so sure. Favorite singing voices on CDs maintained distinct sonic signatures, complete with the ambience of each recording studio and concert hall. The built-in digital-to-analog converter (DAC), accessible via direct digital input, was a little more trebly than the Marantz, but not harsh. (Pioneer digital is usually good digital.)

Surround panning on our reference DVD, "Dances with Wolves" in DTS, was vivid, both side to side and front to back. Switching to the Dolby Pro-Logic track of "Dances," I heard the familiar softness of that format, but with a reasonable amount of detail (kind of like the difference between good audiocassette and bad audiocassette).

Only at blistering volumes -- well in excess of normal listening levels -- did the Pioneer begin to distort uncomfortably. This is so theoretical a disadvantage that it is hardly a disadvantage at all. This receiver sounds more bulletproof than any mid-three-figure product has a right to.

To distinguish the D608 from similarly priced receivers, Pioneer includes the digital noise reduction circuit, which I naturally had to try. Because it does not work when Dolby Digital, DTS or any of the DSP modes are switched in, I tried it first on a stereo CD with the player feeding the analog inputs. It seemed to make little audible difference, for good or ill. Then I selected a messy FM station and finally identified what the circuit does. It's a digitally driven dynamic noise filter.

As the radio signal level drops, which ordinarily would make noise more prominent, the circuit cuts hiss. As the signal level rises, masking the hiss with an increase in volume, the circuit leaves more of the signal intact. You can hear the level of hiss rising and falling with the signal -- there's a little pumping audible -- but most of the noise is masked by the signal as the signal gets louder. If your diet includes noisy FM, cassettes or videotapes, you'll like this noise reduction circuit a lot, especially since it doesn't require any special encoding in the signal source (unlike the Dolby noise reduction built into cassette decks).

The strong surround performance and stereo performances are worth five points each. I was a little bothered by the distortion that set in at high (albeit abusive) volumes -- it wasn't as much of a problem with a less costly Technics SA-DX930 reviewed at the same time -- but my reservations are offset by that useful digital noise reduction circuit. The high Performance rating below is well earned.

Performance Rating: 80

Value: The intrinsic value of mid-priced receivers such as this one has risen swiftly in recent years. I was amazed that the new average performance standards established by the D608 Pioneer and its low- to mid-priced competitors by HK, Sony and Technics are so high. Unfortunately, our rating system focuses on relative value -- how good a product stacks up compared to similarly priced items -- rather than on intrinsic value. As a result, the D608's Value rating doesn't fully reflect my enthusiasm. Even so, it is definitely better than average, especially in performance.

Value Rating: 75

Let's see, what's wrong with this receiver? It doesn't have binding posts for all five main channels or include a coffee grinder. Somehow, I think those who buy it will survive these little heartbreaks. In this instance, our rule-bound rating numbers are depressed by the category's overall strength -- this is a good product by any standard. Recommended!

Overall Rating: 75

Similar Products Used:

low- to mid-priced competitors by HK, Sony and Technics

Ease of setup, ease of use, Remote works with everything but my satelite

NONE

Just bought this about two weeks ago. Got it for $329 with 5 year extended parts and labor warranty locally.

Got it home and was listening to it in about two hours. This included running some new wires for my Boston Micro 90 package speakers.

The setup was plain and simple, no reading the manual two or more times as other people have mentioned.

The system is great. For the money, you won't find anything better as far as I know. The JVC was close but Pioneer had more features. The power level is probably a bit off, but you wouldn't really know because at that loud, it is not enjoyable listening anyway.

The back panel was awesome for layout and ease of connection for everything. The S-video switching is really nice since my TV only has one S-Video in.

The Remote works rather well too. The design fits right in my hand and is very comfortable. The only thing it would not operate is my Dishnet Satelite with UHF remote. If there is a drawback involved, it would be you have to go through all devices to get to the one you want to listen to.

My brother stopped by to check out my installation and could not believe the sound coming from the entire package. He has a very high end system and even comparing to it, could not believe the sound I was achieving.

Had it set up correctly the first time through and being the type that has always relied on other people to help me with stereos in the past, I felt pretty good about this installation.

GREAT JOB PIONEER.

If you can get this product for $400 or less, BUY it. At $600 or less, I would still be comparing it to those systems. I did and still bought this one.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer (Have owned three now)
Kenwood
Sony835 (tested)
JVC888 (Tested)
Yamaha 1105 (Tested)

Very rich and detailed sound stage for DD reproduction.

Remote, power is very overated.

This unit is definatley one of the best I have heard for the price. For a receiver under $400.00 the dd and dts reproduction are simply amazing. This receiver is much better then my older 606s in that respect. My d606s kicked the hell out of it for overall music power yet was rated very close to the same power wise. For anyone that wants a receiver that totaly rocks for surround and music you are going to pay at least $1,000.00 or better. I basicaly run two differnet systems, I have my 608 on JBL hls surround speakers and an advent 15" floor sub. For music I have a Carver M1.0t magnetice field amp, Yamaha pre-amp on a pair of Cerwin Vega AT 15's. If you want loud that's the way to go. The Cerwins are not the greatist for surround reproduction but they sure scream at 400 watts a peice. All in all if you want an awesome surround receiver for under $400 the 608 is the way to go. If you are looking at something for loud music I suggest looking elseware.

Similar Products Used:

pioneer d606s

Price, Features, Performance, Doesnt get as hot as the Sony ones

Remote and the reciever is really ~85w per channel.

It is a decent reciever for those on a budget. Tonsa inputs, good DD and DTS and midnight mode is great when you wanna enjoy a movie and not wake the kid, dog, neighbors, etc.

For the price, nothing comes close. Only a frikkin idiot would compare this $350 reciever to one that costs a lot more.

Joe, you forgot to add your email address. As far as the surround levels go, I used Video Essentials and a radio shack SPL meter and set up my system and the rears are at the perfect level. Bear in mind that no 2 movie's sountrack mixes are the same so some movies have more rear sounds than others (take "baked beans and you - a study in bodily sounds" for example :^). As far as the sound level from the DVD player and digital cable box, I noticed that the sound level is about 5db softer from the rca inputs than my optical input from the DVD player or the coax input from the digital cable. Of course that is the difference between analog DPL VS digital AC3 so the comparison is proabably moot.

All in all, I have heard a number of recievers in the same price range (~$350 and most with less features than the 608) and I have yet to hear anything that sounded better.

Price and Feature's

Power

I can't believe all the negative review's.What did you expect for $300.00 George Lucas in your living room. One reviewer said he went out after and bought a NAK-av10, give me a break compare apples to apples. Pioneer got into the ac-3 and dts at an affordable price just like technics and sony did thats comparing apples to apples. However i do have one question for somebody, should you use the sub as a cross over or your receiver. i'm running infinity rs5's for fronts cc-2 center channel and rs1's for rears, my sub is a dps-12 jbl does anybody know how my setting's should be in my sub and my receiver.e-mail me at neilm@btmtooling.com

Very versatile for the price

Power

I have used this receiver for about 6 months now and it has performed extremely well. The only thing I have noticed is that it doesn't seem to have quite 100W per channel.

Follow up: I've decided to bite the bullet and return the 608 for an elite vsx-27tx. I still think the 608 is great for features but a little short on performance. But you can't compare a $400 reciever to a $1500 reciever ;)