Customer Reviews

Pioneer VSX-1015TXK 7.1 Channel Surround Sound THX Select AM/FM Audio-Video Receiver

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For the money, there is no comparable receiver. I've been an audiophile for some 20+ years and this is one of the best values I've ever seen.

I have a relatively complex HDTV system and this receiver works perfectly.

Some of the highlights:

- Switches 3 component video inputs. This is great for HDTV setups.

- Onscreen setup. It makes setup *much* easier.

- Dynamic adjustment to the setup through the use of a microphone. Although I have a sound pressure meter and had gone through a system setup, the auto setup made an obvious improvement to the sound quality.

- Clean, simple looks. Unless you love to see lots of buttons and knobs, it looks good.

- Upconversion from composite and S-video to component. This can dramatically simplify the use of your system.

I highly recommend this receiver. I give it 5 stars because it does exactly what it should for a great price.

The VSX-1015TXK is an excellent home theater receiver. Automatic speaker calibration makes set up easy. Lots of power for detailed, clean sound at THX Select 2 certified levels. 3 component video inputs and video upconversion to component video makes switching between multiple sources seamless. Well worth the purchase.

This reciever is amazing. It does almost everything the Pioneer Elite recievers do. If you dont have a palace of a room you dont need the THX ultra certification that the Elite recievers have. The THX select2 certification is made for mid sized to small theaters wich in most peoples cases is a large room in their house. Before this reciever I had a Kenwood Vr-309, right away my new pioneer blew me away. The speaker calibration was great. My front left and right speakers are different from my center speaker and my surround left, right, surround back L,R, are different from the front, but the sound calibration voice matched all of them perfectly. The best quality in this reciever is its ability to make the sounds rich and deep but not high pitched. Before with my Kenwood things like gunfights in movies would sond nice but be to blairing. THX mixes everything to sound smooth, loud, and comforitable in a room setting. I am very satisfied....

(if you get this you must try jurrasic park!)

I replaced a new JVC RX-8040 with this unit. This Pioneer model is fantastic! It took about 90 minutes to set-up with a set of JBL SCS300.7 speakers. Sound quality at low, mid, and high volume is excellent. A/V switching works perfectly. The "AVD SUR" button that toggles through a variety of different sound distributions is exciting. I used the THX button while watching Saving Private Ryan and I thought the tank was coming through my house.

The audio set-up was the easiest I've ever used. The unit comes with a microphone that you plug in the front. Place the microphone in the center of the room and choose "set-up." The receiver plays tones through each speaker, measures the direction, sound, etc. through the microphone, then adjusts the receiver for optiumum quality. My set-up worked perfectly the first time.

My teenage son then played his music at high volume, high enough to hurt my ears, and it was crystal clear, clean, and distortion free.

I then played some classical music at low volume and promptly fell asleep.

I have the system configured in a 18x26 room with 7 speakers and the subwoofer.

I would recommend this receiver to my family and friends.

I've had the reciever now for 2 weeks. This will be my final choice in a multi-month long search for the perfect reciever in my budget range. With a street/net price of 350-400, you cant find anything else to compare it with.
Though THX is hardly the final word, it does give credit to processing power and quality. The digital and THX surround modes are stunning and fairly well disected. The 120 wpc is a little overated, i'd say closer to a true 95, which is quite loud in itself, I have a 2000 sq. foot loft and it will crank my neighbors out. but does seem to lack that added ooommmph in the low end.
Dont get me wrong, it delivers plenty of deep powerful engolfing bass with a subwoofer, but doesnt quite push my hybrid-planars as well by themselves.
Believe it or not, I had an old school JVC flagship from the mid 90's, and it was able to produce the most stunning impressive lows i've ever heard just with these speakers, no subs. And the channel seperation in surround was unbeatable so far. But that was then and I needed to upgrade to new decoding formats.
I tried an HK-520 first, It was about the same cranked volume as the Pioneer, but did offer more detail and dynamics. Though the HK produced slgihtly better bass response out of my hybrids over the Pioneer, it didnt impress me with the subwoofer LFE. The Pioneer makes my sub sound incredible as it should. Better then any of the other 7 recievers i've had recently.
The remote is layed out fine for me, and the system is easy to configure pretty much. The auto macc wasnt impressive, it failed a bit so I had to tweak it properly. Again, the THX is a plus, though personally, I think it just looks good on the front to with my home theater. Alot of audioholics agree that THX is overrated, finding severe flaws in thier limiting factors and lack of true customization. THX sound similiar to Digital2, but it seems to have a more muted and less dynamic effect, kind of similiar to actually being in a theater, listing to large speakers in the distance. Personally I found the THX to be lacking in quality sound. Again, making it sound a little distance, and making my speakers sound "commercial", rather than High End. I prefer digital for this matter.
The unit is heavy, which again goes to show quality and power.
It has built in 5 channel Eq's for all channels. Quite usefull in tayloring your sound, though personally, I'd rather it be a regular graphic display EQ, it's not, it list seperate frequencies and you have to taylor it to the sound of static. You cant taylor the EQ with sound on so you can hear the difference, you hear octive changes in static noise, but it's difficult to guestimate how that will effect sound, you have to keep switching back and fourth, quite bothersome...
Though the EQ does offer front allign, which is quite benneficial, it allows you to taylor the sound of your center channel to match your fronts. This I found usefull, but not the regular eq in it's present format.
I was originally looking at the 600 dollar Onkyo's because of reviews, but personally, thier lack of EQ is what sold me on the Pioneer. I dont see why any reciever over 200 dollars wouldnt have an EQ built in these days. Basic bass and trebble controls are far too limiting.
Overall, i'd say this reciever in my opinion with it's options and sound quality, would be a good educated consumers choice over the 600 dollar other models. Also, if you research the 1015, as i'm sure others have said, it's an Elite clone, it uses the same amplifiers, circuits, boards, etc. as the Elite lines. So you know your getting your moneys worth...

This receiver is an excellent product; Pioneer really got most things right with this one.

After having several problems with Sony Receivers I decided to go against my loyalties and look at other manufactures. I trusted the Amazon.com reviews, and the resulting rankings - and I was not disappointed. The other reviews are spot on, and the Pioneer VSX-1015TXK is an excellent receiver; easy setup, good manual, excellent features, well designed and made product.

After giving up on Sony I also considered the Harman Kardon AVR 240; however, this Pioneer has been the best choice for my needs, and I am very satisfied.

I bought this to replace an Onkyo TX DS797- which was twice the cost of this one. Hooked everything up- used the MCCAC automatic set up with microphone- which worked flawlessly. I was
immediately blown away by the far superior sound I was hearing from my same speakers. The sound was crystal clear- for music and movies. The dolby pro logic 11x sound fields made everything sound as if it were a "dolby digitial movie".

The sound was great even at lower levels. Of course you can manually adjust settings- but the automatic settings were perfect.

THIS IS WELL WORTH THE MONEY- EVEN IF IT WERE HIGHER PRICED.

Purchased this reciever as the audio cornerstone to my Home Theatre project. Having not bought a reciever in many years I found myself thrilled by the easy to use features. Once a video output is hooked up to your TV you can easily configure your speaker system with a simple on screen menu. This unit easily allows for individual speaker adjustments from volume to frequency range. The unit provides audio feedback for every adjustment made. Also will do this automatically using the enclosed microphone but I found the manual adjustment easy to use and can configure your home theatre to any room or speaker layout. The sound is crisp, clear, you do not have to crank up the volume to get the full richness of sound this unit provides. I am looking forward to reading the owners manual to find out what else this beauty can do. I found one slight need, the unit only has two optical inputs could have used four. Pioneer cannot be beat for audio, I will never buy Sony again.

I did a lot fo resarch like many others. I originally decided to purchase a Sony 1000ES because Sony has a good, long warranty, but heard of some of its limited inputs, then I found many good reviews on the pioneer. At the end, I decided on this pioneer and so far, I am not disappointed. It's setup in simple, the auto MDACC for seting up surround speakers is easy, and learning its features and settings has not been hard to figure out. The sound is great and better than my previous old Denon.

For the money, features, and sound quality, this one is hard to beat.

This receiver is an amazing value.
I was using a Sony Str-de575 5.1 channel receiver before and thaught I liked sony until I got this. This receiver produces clean clear sound like my old techniks did from '75 and it even has a loudness button I thought those were no longer being used, it made my front JBL E80's soud terriffic i hardly even have my sub on anymore!! This is the best receiver for the price all great reviews on this product is what sold me and I couldent be happier with my purchase.