Customer Reviews

Pioneer Elite VSX-03TXH 7.1-Channel A/V Receiver

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My father tasked me with specing out his home entertainment system. I just got back from installing this receiver with the following components:

Samsung 67" DLP TV
PlayStation 3 (BluRay player)
Wii
DirecTV HD-DVR
SVS subwoofer/speakers (5.1)
This receiver (purchased new from Amazon)

First of all allow me to correct a previous review that stated that the subwoofer will only turn on for BluRay. That is not correct. It will turn on for any digital source that is X.1. For instance, I set the DirecTV DVR to output Dolbey digital and it happily powered up the subwoofer. It won't turn on for analog sources, at least not that I can figure out, but it didn't matter for our uses.

The setup using the included microphone was very simple, anybody can do it. The input renaming is simple also, considering how flexible it can be. The remote isn't that confusing really, it just takes a bit of study and it makes sense. Reading the manual really actually helps here. The "BD" button stands for "BluRay Disk" and is the industry standard abbreviation for BluRay, so I'm not sure why that confused one of the reviewers.

If most or all of your devices are HDMI, you're in for a treat because it couldn't be easier. The only non-HDMI device I connected was the Wii, using component video and analog stereo audio connections. I chose the "DVD" input for that, renamed it to "Wii", and it outputs to the TV over the single HDMI output cable. Incidentally, that's the only cable running to the TV. That's it! I plugged the PlayStation into the sort-of dedicated BluRay HDMI input (directly below the output HDMI connection), and the DVR to "Assignable HDMI 1", leaving one more HDMI connection for future use. The HDMI switching is seamless and smooth. It takes about 3 seconds to switch between DVR/BluRay/Wii. The DirecTV remote easily programmed the receiver for volume/power (the first code on the programming screen for Panasonic worked!), so my father won't have to use the receiver's remote unless he want's to do something more esoteric.

There are a ton of audio modes to choose from, and you can really go to town customizing this receiver. But with just a quick auto-learn session, we got great sound and were very pleased. We watched two BluRay movies, 'Star Trek' and 'Angels and Demons' and were blown away by the great sound.

What was equally impressive is that I ordered everything on December 14th (Monday afternoon) and it was at my father's house on Thursday, even the SVS speakers (purachased separately from SVS directly from their website). It was the SVS-01(M) speaker package with cylindrical subwoofer. Unfortunately, although I orded the cylindrical one, SVS shipped the box-shaped version. Oh well, Dad liked it OK and it was the same price so we just kept it. This has nothing to do with Amazon, they came through like champs as always.

This receiver is absolutely wonderful. I am a bit of an audiophile and I needed a 2nd receiver for a new setup. I compared this side by side with a few offerings from Denon, Marantz, Onkyo, and Yamaha. While all sounded quite good, the pioneer matched best with my NHT speakers. The signal is clean and it generates plenty of power. It will get plenty loud before you hear any noise, especially if you are using speakers with a 90+ efficiency. The digital signals all worked well with no fuss, including the HD audio from my bluray player. The remote works OK, although the menu set up isnt the greatest. I take audio quality over this though any day, and this Pioneer delivers that well.

I bought one of these (VSX-03TXH) in August 2008. In June 2009, it failed. (Unit "shuts down" - possibly due to some faulty power or temp sensor.) I took it to an authorized repair place, and it took them FOREVER (10-12 weeks) to repair the unit. They replaced "the main assembly", which I took to mean the main PCB.

OK, I can forgive one failure, and now it is fixed.

Except, now one more year has passed, and the unit is DOING THE SAME THING again.

Now it is out of warranty, and Pioneer accepts no responsibility for this.

I'm not buying Pioneer again, and I would suggest other not do so either.

BTW, I also have a Pioneer Blu-Ray player (BDP-51FD) which I also don't much care for. It takes a long time to start up, and I've upgraded FW many times to correct various problems.

I have owned 15 Pioneer auto and home products since the early 80's. Not one of them has ever disappointed in quality, longevity or function. Excluding longevity (to new), the VSX-03TXH receiver would appear to be no exception. As usual, Pioneer packs a lot of features unheard of in other products at the same price point. In my humble opinion, the sound quality of this receiver is the best your going to get for under $2,000. For better audio warmth with this or any comparable brand, one would probably need to move up to a tube/valve amp.
As expected from previous experience, It will take some time to learn the remote and all function possibilities. The ergonomics of the main remote (comes with 2) and lack of a learn feature are somewhat bothersome compared to previous Pioneer remotes but overall, it's a small sacrifice.

i just received the vsx-03thx and let me tell you....i dont know how to mess with the settings to much but i let my brother do that....but it sounds amazing i had a yamaha receiver before and i get extremely good sounds out of this.....bottom line, definitely your bang for the buck

The 03 Elite packs a punch. Tried the Onkyo 607,Denon and even the new Pioneer non-elite's. None of them sounded as full as this elite. The power rating appears to be accurate as many are not. This receiver brought my speakers to life. Very pleased.

First off the good, great sound, conections and set up was a snap, owners manual was a little daunting at first but after reading 2 or 3 times it all made sense, preset surround modes sound great, My Klipsch RF-7's came alive. big improvement over my old Yamaha HTR-5460 (big disapointment).
Now the bad I hook it all up then I am looking for a blu-ray player button or DVD I find nothing so i press HDMI nothing, Now I am wondering if there is something wrong on a hunch I press BD and now it works (BD???) whatever it works then I try to hook up my new Marantz CD changer no CD hook up no CD button on reciever or remote, so again dig through manual, have to hook it up to an assignable digital input (optical) I have the cable and that is what I was going to use but why not a spicific input!!! Why not call the Blu-ray input Blu-ray or DVD, why some code!!!

I have had suround sound since my $799.00 Hi-Fi VCR back in 1985. Been hooking this stuff up for 25 years, should not be this difficult..

More bad The Subwoofer does not turn on for music (Tuner, CD, Ipod) or TV/DVR only on Blu-ray. Also if I hook up DVR via HDMI thru Reciever I can only watch TV with reciever on. Most cable does not sound that great so the TV speaker is all I want, so it is all or nothing. So I just go from DVR to TV via HDMI and hooked the DVR to reciever with an optical cable but with it hooked up this way it seems to reduce volume

All in all when I am watching a Blu-ray or a standard DVD it is fantastic, music from CD has depth and clarity I only remember from vinyl (processor in Marantz CD changer I suspect) like I said fantastic sound. Found mine on E-bay, turned out the guy was a local distributer, home theater installer operating out of a small wherehouse for $575.00