6.1 sound, 7.1 potential

Not a pretty black box.

I was betting that this would be better than my THX certified VSX-07TX because of the newer/better technology and it was!

Setting up was a little frustrating as I don't beleive in RTFM but I had too. After 30 minutes I got it though.

DD was much sharper/clearer than the 07TX.

DTS was excellent, DTS ES was interesting with the additional speaker. Great test DVD is Terminator 2, super duper edition or whatever. Play the DTS/THX the audience is listening part over and over again. Also, Gladiator in 6.1 was impressive.

Dolby ProLogic seemed clearer for cable TV and VCR.

I appreciated the display dimmer. Don't like seeing a bunch of lights when I watch a movie.

All in all, a good system for the price. It justified buying new DVD's to add to my collection as well!

If you scoured the Internet for reviews and came here, look no further, this is a good system!

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite VSX-07TX

Sound and Price

Control

Excellent product for the price. I listened to several receivers and with this one you get more for the price.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 1045

price, quality

takes time to find an optimal settings

It took me an hour to setup my sub.
I should have been read the manual first :)
Good quality sound, a lot of inputs, minimum buttons on the front side.

Outputs, Inputs,Power, 5.1/7.1, Solid build Flexibility,

None so far.

Like many of you visiting this site, I research to the death my future audio/video purchases. After reading the reviews on this site and any magazine articles I could find, I decided to go with the D810S. What a no brainer. It is every thing I could hope for. Is the sound as good as the $1000.00 Onkyo? No. Is that a fair comparision? Definetely not. For $300 you get features most receivers have starting at $500 and up. It has a great learning remote and just plain works great. Music, DVD's, Videotapes all sound great. It does take a while to set up correctly, but take your time and read the manual and you'll greatly benefit.
My system:
Sharp 27" Flat screen (Best Buys)
Pioneer D810S
Pioneer Super Slim DVD
Polk Audio RT35i Front Mains
Polk Audio CS245 Center
Radio Shack Linneaum Tweeter Rear surrounds
Home made Passive 12" Sub
Adcom 545 sub amp ( through D810s sub pre-out w/ Y adapter)
Target/Best Buy supposed high-end cables(Same as or better than Monster in my opinion)
M

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Onkyo

Tons of inputs, switchable component video, non-descript front(some might find that a disadvantage), 6.1 sound

The remote has bad layout, Randomly shuts down by itself???,

I have very little to benchmark this receiver by, but I am extremely satisfied by it.

I have a tv with only one component video input, so without spending Bookoo bucks I settled on this receiver to handle component video switching for me. THis is the only receiver in this entry level class with switchable component video.

I only have a 5.1 setup right now so I can't review the 6.1 quality of the stereo, but I can tell you that I kept the same speakers from my old stereo and they sound significantly more crisp on this stereo than they did on the old one. My old stereo seemed to put out more mid-sound but it could just be that I was never getting the highs.

Value-wise, I couldn't ask for a better product. But I have experienced some negatives. The remote is VERY badly laid out. So, I started shopping for a budget multi remote. I set my price limit for a multi-remote under $100. I went through THREE remotes before I found a universal that could do more than raise and lower the volume of this stereo. I ended up getting the SONY one that's silver and costs about $55. IT is the only FULLY programmable remote in that price-range. I was able to get it to learn all of the Pioneers commands i needed. The all-in-one programmable could not learn anything from the pioneer remote and neither could the zenith learning remote i tried.

Another quirk I have encountered with the stereo that I have been unable to isolate is that it will for no apparent reason shut itself off sometimes. I recently unplugged the DVD player from the pass-through plug on the reciever to see if it is the culprit. No shut-offs yet, but that was only this week.

All in all, a great product that I would only recommend if you need many input options. Otherwise, I would have bought a different brand. Like others have stated though it is a really nice perk that this stereo is upgradable through the preamp outs. That is far in my empty-pocketed future though.

Similar Products Used:

My first DTS receiver. Had only a JVC Dolby 2.0 till now.

Great sound, much better remote then previous Pioneer

No OSD, Component video switching was not what I expected.

This was a big step up from my previous Pioneer, the sound is perfect, I have run Polks and some older KLH (don't knock the KLHs till you tried 'em). With the Polks the sound is beautiful all around, the KLHs with 15" subs bring out great low and mid but the highs leave something to be desired. The clarity is amazing, with optical in's, I couldn't hear even a hint of distortion all the way to the top of the volume range. And the remote is great, previous Pioneer remotes are a nightmare to operate in the dark, this remote is much improved.
MY ONLY GRIPE, and maybe I am stupid for assuming this, but I wanted it to switch ALL input video sources and output them to ALL output sources, I figured this was possible. WRONG, if you come in S-Video you go out S-Video, or component or composite. This is kind of defeating the point of and all in one unit, maybe some other model does this properly??? The price was very nice for all the bells and whistles. Overall I am very happy. Don't forget to look at Sony's ES line, Pioneer Elites and Harmon Kardons, if you got the cash I'd take that step up. But if you want the DTS-ES and lots of bells and have only 1 component input on your monitor this is a great reciever for you. Low price and it excepts lots of inputs and formats.

Similar Products Used:

Older Pioneer Dolby-Pro Logic VSX-D307

see my prior review....

see my prior review....

This is just an update review if you will.

Just wanna say that I have finally tweaked my 810 to death and finally got the sound that I was looking for, utilizing the 810's functions to the hilt.

I got the base I wanted (test dvd is Episode I (Dolby Digital) and Cast Away (DTS-ES)), I got the clarity I wanted (switch to JBL S-Center Studio series center speaker, set it to large and set my x-over @ 200), and the setup (Upgraded to 6.1).

I have recieved a couple of questions concerning setup and I hope I have helped you out (you know who you are!).

So, if any of you are still looking for the receiver that has most if not all the functions that a "high-end" reciever has? Please do not hesitate to give the 810 a chance, coz you'll get your money's worth.

**Also check out the article on www.soundandvisionmag.com here's the link...http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/Equipment/articledisplay.asp?ArticleID=62...it discusses 3 affordable receivers at reasonable prices (all under $1000)and the 850 is one of them...which we all know is just 10W above the 810.

Similar Products Used:

see my prior review....

DTS, DTS ES, Dolby Digital, 100W x 6ch, tons of inputs, price

non so far...but the remote....

I switched to the 810's from the 710's because of the 810's 6.1 capability. I haven't actually tried it as I have yet to acquire a surround back speaker. I have the 810 setup on a 5.1 speaker system (center - JBL, front - bose 201's, surround l & r - JBL, sub - Paradigm) and it sounded great. Tried out Bram Stoker's Dracula in superbit and it sounded amazing!!

Setup was nice and easy. Still tweaking it to get the sound just right. Tweaking is easy, inspite of not having a display right on the tv. The remote is easy to use, but very difficult to program. I tried programming my tv remote buttons into it and I only programmed the digits and the volume and channel buttons. Bass output is decent, considering my 8" sub. Heat is no big issue, the unit gets hot but not too hot to fuzz over. The unit's design is very clean. I just don't like the little door in the front that hides most of the buttons. I like the display dimmer!

All in all it is a very good system for the price. I can compete with most high end units when using it for movies and music. I highly recommend this system to audio enthusiasts or home theater enthusiasts starting out on a budget.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer VSX-D710S

Inputs, switching, sounds great.

None so far.

Big Improvement over my Onkyo. They both sound great but the 810 is so much more flexible; i.e. inputs, 7.1 in's & DTS ES. The true switching is a godsend. My dad would always complain about not knowing how to work all this equipment I had, mostly because of all the remotes. The 810 takes care of all that!

I know this is an entry level unit, but I'm an entry level guy. This is a step up for me in the area of function. This unit sounds well also. Due to the DTS ES I needed another speaker so I went and bought a new center and located the old center (matching satellite, as it was a box set-Infinity HTS10's) to the rear surround. The new center (Infinity Entra) sounds fantastic! The "hybrid" amp, 100 watts per channel RMS, could definately handle even bigger speakers.

The bottom line is this is an extremely affordable reciever that will be in my system for a long time due to it's ability to upgrade. I only give it 4 of 5 on overall because I've heard some higher end stuff and I know there is 'another level'.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo TXDS484 & before that an old Onkyo Pro Logic

lots of I/O options, including component switching (very hard to find in this price range!)

no phono preamp!

I spent all evening hooking this baby up, and tweeking the speakers. (not complaining mind you, I enjoyed it) Then came the turntable. I hooked it up to the AUX as recomended by my friendly salesman. Had to really crank up the volume to hear it ,and it sounded very flat. After calling Pionner's 800 number (waited on hold for about 20 mins, but talked to a real human. pretty happy with suport) I found that a phono preamp would be necessary. Don't really feel like spending another $150 so I guess I'll be returning it today to try something with a phono input. If you dont need a turntable as I suspect most of you wont... then this is a great receiver for the money!