I love to listen to my stereo. With this reciever I can listen to my speakers really loud for a very cheap price. It is a great reciever for someone who has 2 speakers. But for a person who has a whole home theater I would not recomend this reciever for them. For a hundered watt reciever you would have to really shop around to find one that is this cheap.

Pretty good FM reception with outdoor antenna.

Selectivity on FM is Fair, Selectivity on AM is Poor,needs
improvement for the radio listener.

The FM reception was remarkable (with a external antenna) normal. But the selectivity was pretty fair. Sound however is OK, not as good with 6 Ohm Awia Speakers, soon I going to have to upgrade to a subwoofer, and 100watt speakers. AM reception is great if you use a TERK AM loop antenna, but wth out it, its not too good. Soon I am going take to
get an upgrade on the ceramic filters, and see what happens. For now I am satisified with the SX-205.

Similar Products Used:

Awia NSX-202, LR-5555 La Fayette

Excellent price, powerful sound

Lack of remote

The SX-205 replaced an older receiver that actually put out more power, and had a built in 5 band EQ. The improvement was amazing. The clarity of the mids and highs wasn't all that was hoped for, but it is more than adequate and is more than I expected. Many people complain that the Super Bass loudness feature adds distortion. They must have weak speakers. The 15" woofers on my main speakers handle the Super Bass effortlessly. The resulting sound is rich, powerful, and smooth. I have compared the sound of this Pioneer to Onkyo and Denon receivers owned by friends, and I honestly feel that I have the better set up. This may be because of the quality of my speakers. But for whatever reason, the sound is so flawless that I have passed up numerous upgrades on my stereo because nothing under $800 sounds better. I expect to be using the SX-205 for many more happy years.

Similar Products Used:

One Panasonic and one Fisher receiver

This is an extremely affordable japanese reciever. It has a bare minimum of functions and an adequate amount of power (100x2).
Of course, it is no Krell amp, but for $129 dollars new, it is a virtual steal. For those uninterested in HT, or those looking for power to drive a subwoofer, it is, in my mind, the ideal entry level product.

If you have a solid pair of mid-fi speakers (JBL, Infinity, Polk, ect, ect) you really don't need anything more.

Dollar for dollar, my rating has to be....

I bought the pioneer sx 205 to replace my aging Heathkit AR1515 amp and sony tuner. I needed the extra inputs for my hifi vcr and I didn't want to spend alot of money. I would say consumer reports rated this about right. It has a really fine FM tuner, a mediocre am tuner, and a decent amp. note:
It took me some time to get used to the 'sound' of this inexpensive receiver.
After I hooked it up and started listening to it, my initial attitude was to take it back! Music sounded good, but it seemed to be, different. Different to my old amp. Less clear, less defined. I decided to sit down and check all my connections, and listen critically to this thing.
After extended listening, I came to the following conclusions( all totally subjective and not supported by any valid tests):
1. This receiver sounds 'different' from my older amp. The sound is not really less distinct or clear. It is different. It is very smooth compared to my heathkit which had a 'rough' midrange sound. Amyway, I have become used to it.
2. The FM tuner is really nice.
3. the AM tuner is really crappy.
4. The mega bass or super bass switch is a cop out. What happened to the loudness switch?
For around $100 bucks, its a good buy..

The SX-205 is not a bad receiver. It does have a "different" sound, my theory is that pioneer boosted the bass and highs in order to make up for the lack of a loudness button, resulting in a very undetecable midrange. However, If you really like bass, this receiver was made for you. It has an s-bass button that delivers. I ended up taking this receiver back because the lack of midrange bothered me.
It also took a long time to actually turn on after I pressed the power button. There was about a two second delay after my finger came off the power button to when sound actually came out of the speakers. Which is a long time if you think about it. Plus, the power button felt like it was made out of paper, the attenna that came with it could only pick up two stations, though all my other FM tuners can pick up at least 10, and it has no audio outputs.

Basically, this reciever did not fit my needs, but for 120$ it not that bad.

I picked up a Pioneer SX-303R used and am interested in some information on it. I think it is rated at 100 watts x 2 per channel but am not sure. How does it differ from the SX-205 or SX-255? I am very satisfied with the sound. I find it very smooth sounding and not near as harsh as the VSX-505S that I had previously. I have also changed from tower speakers to book shelf speakers which has also helped to soften the sound. This receiver is not near as booming sounding as the VSX-505S. Any information would be appreciated.

Price and clarity

construction, Am Reciever, Frequency Response, output connectors

all around i think the sx-303r is a good bassline reciever, my Girlfriend wanted a reciever in the bedroom *better then a 20$ clockradio* i tied it to a pair of Jensen 15's and have had NO problems with it. however whith those speakers they are so colored by themselves they accually made this low end reciever sound somewhat competitive *with the clock radio that is* i attached a pair of Tannoy 600 Reference monitors *my studio reference pair* and about gaged. this amp is VERY coloured however it is very linear in its distortions. if you wanted to waste the time you could EQ around the "Smiley Face" response of this unit but the pure CRUNCH of the audio is horrible... my sugestion is it is good for a NON-audio enthusiast. for basic LOUD sound it is a good rig and i dont regret purchasing one. and i would buy another one for the same application however i would NOT recomend it to the faint of heart audiophyle.

In summary, it is a solid piece of equiptment however you have to tie it to a properly coloured set of speakers to make it sound decient.. as for pioneer quality i must say i am disapointed in its acoustic performance in general but it is not an all bad unit.

however realise i am spoiled, i am used to working in a studio with a pair of tannoy series 600 speakers and a pretty crown amp and a Midas xl 200 console feeding it...

Similar Products Used:

Many Pioneer, Kenweed (kenwood), Sansui and sony models

I bought this low cost Pioneer receiver at Best Buy for under $100 for the purpose of driving some old Signet Electret Headphones in my bedroom. I have found the receiver to be an excellent value. I did find the 75 OHM antenna connection using pin plugs at the back of the receiver very strange, since I am used to a regular coax connection. The amplifier is decent, however the Superbass control adds distortion. The FM tuner (despite the strange antenna connection is good. The AM tuner is not great. Based on the miniscule price, I found this receiver a great buy and would recommend it in a low cost Hi Fi system.

Cheap

Coloured sound, terrible build quality.

I bought this reciever for under £100 but have been very dissapointed with it's performance. What the hell were pioneer thinking with those stupid speaker outputs? The amp feels plasticky and tacky and sounds no better than a cheap mini system, lacking bass weight and having muddled treble.
The tuner wasnt worth bothereing with, almost useless.
Dont buy it, unless you own a big hammer.