Pioneer VSX-1020-K 7.1 Home Theater Receiver

by Pioneer

Product Features

• Front USB connectivity provide iPod, touch, and iPhone users ultimate plug-and-play integration of their Apple products with their home theater
• Simple connectivity to high-performance HD video, HD audio, portable, internet, wireless, and analog components
• The latest version of HDMI inputs and outputs provide more HD connectivity options with "future-proof" 3-D capability
• 1080p video conversion and upscaling ensures the highest quality video from any source

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 14.9 x 16.6 x 6.2 inches ; 24.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 26 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0039XQQX0
• Item model number: VSX-1020-K
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (246 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,691 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #82 in Electronics > Televisions & Video > AV Receivers & Amplifiers
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 4, 2010

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Key Features are 110 Watts X 7, 7 Channel Configurable Amplifier, Surround Back. Dolby Pro-logic IIz or B Speaker, Dolby True-HD / DTS-HD Master Audio and Advanced MCACC. It has a 9 Band EQ. Auto Crossover Setting, USB to PC Graphs, PQLS – 2 Channel, Auto Level Control – Multi-Channel, Sound Retriever AIR – Multi- channel. It has a Internet radio. iPod Digital USB / USB Memory Audio. Its iPhone Certified, Sirius Satellite Radio, HDMI Repeater (6 In / 1 out), Analog to HDMI Video Conversion, HDMI to HDMI 1080p Scaler, Component Video (2 in / 1 out), Full Color GUI, iControl pioneer AVR iPhone / iTouch “APP” Multi-Zone A/V Pre-out, Preset Remote Control

Product Description

Key Features are 110 Watts X 7, 7 Channel Configurable Amplifier, Surround Back. Dolby Pro-logic IIz or B Speaker, Dolby True-HD / DTS-HD Master Audio and Advanced MCACC. It has a 9 Band EQ. Auto Crossover Setting, USB to PC Graphs, PQLS – 2 Channel, Auto Level Control – Multi-Channel, Sound Retriever AIR – Multi- channel. It has a Internet radio. iPod Digital USB / USB Memory Audio. Its iPhone Certified, Sirius Satellite Radio, HDMI Repeater (6 In / 1 out), Analog to HDMI Video Conversion, HDMI to HDMI 1080p Scaler, Component Video (2 in / 1 out), Full Color GUI, iControl pioneer AVR iPhone / iTouch “APP” Multi-Zone A/V Pre-out, Preset Remote Control

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

209 of 215 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Bang for the Buck, Future Proof (7.1 & 3D), iPhone App is Great, Buy an Airport Express Too May 20, 2010

By P. Colin McGraw VINE™ VOICE

I tend to do a lot of research before making large purchasing decisions and so far this receiver is receiving a pretty rosy reception! Its predecessor, the 1019, was CNET's and Gizmodo's top mid-range receiver. Both reviewers had just as high hopes for the 1020, and Gizmodo already called it the best receiver $550 can buy, saying the 1020 "hit the sweet spot" that gave the most bang for buyer's buck.

The critics I read all raved about the excellent sound quality, but the 1020 brings some new offerings to the table for a mid-range receiver.

In short, the most valuable features you get with this model that you don't get with the next step down are:

1. A fifth HDMI port in back, an extra sixth in front (for digital cameras, computers, etc.).
2. Analog video upscaling (which I don't care too much about since most of my content is HD already or played through an upscaling player).
3. The iContolAV iPhone app. Very cool for controlling volume and switching inputs. Works simply by having your receiver connected to ethernet and your iPhone connected to the network via WiFi. A few times the app has had trouble properly connecting, but it usually works well.
4. Internet radio with programmable stations, which is cool, though you can't currently control the station selections from the iPhone App, unfortunately.
5. A color configuration interface output to your TV via the HDMI output. I can't imagine trying to configure all my speakers without seeing a graphical representation of their location on screen.

That last feature feature, the HDMI 1.4 ports that support 3D, the 7.1 surround capabilities, excellent sound quality and the iPhone App are what made the VSX-1020 the clear choice for me.... I also appreciated the automatic calibration with the included microphone and the included iPod cable/compatibility, but those weren't as strong of selling points.

The only negatives of note for me is that the little front port cover is a little cheap. It's not even a door, simply a little plastic piece that pops out if you push one side. I, like others, have also experienced the issue where the receiver switches to TV/Sat when first turned on, but I've yet to determine whether that's a problem with the receiver itself or my Harmony universal remote (I'll update the review as I get more information).

One last tip to buyers, however. If you're considering listening to your phone's music over Bluetooth by buying the $99 AS-BT100 adapter, I'd consider buying a $99 Apple Airport Express instead (assuming your music is managed through iTunes). It lets you stream music from your computer to the receiver over WiFi and control what's playing via iTunes or Apple's robust "Remote" iPhone app, but more importantly the Airport Express acts as a USB print server and a one port wireless bridge (something that lets you connect wired devices to a wireless network).

That wireless bridge capability is especially valuable, since you'll need it or something similar for internet radio and iControlAV iPhone app support if your VSX-1020 receiver isn't close to your wireless router (mine isn't). Buying the Airport Express kills two birds with one stone.

UPDATE:

A few ideas have been thrown out by other Amazon posters to help alleviate the issue with the receiver switching to TV/Sat when it first turns on. The first idea is to change the receiver's settings thusly:
"1 Press Receiver , then press Home Menu.
2 Select `System Setup', then press ENTER.
3 Select `Other Setup', then press ENTER.
4 Select `HDMI Setup', then press ENTER.
5. Set Control to 'Off'."

The second idea is to adjust your TV settings like so.
"Go into Menu under HDMI-CEC and turn it Off. If the set is a Samsung look for AnyNet+ (default is normally On) and turn it Off."

I'm still having issues going directly to a given HDMI input when the unit first power on (going to "HDMI Input 1" simply toggles the current HDMI input instead of going directly to the one you want), but I've made the quirk tolerable by programming one of the buttons on my universal remote to toggle inputs, so it's easy to fix. Read more ›

167 of 179 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Packed with features but does have some flaws June 10, 2010

By Rich Gold

This thing is loaded with features. My favorite by far is playing internet radio directly from an internet connection. It has an easy way to program and rename stations from an http site. It has a nice glossy front and runs really cool especially compared to my old Onkyo oven. The iphone control is pretty cool although it would be nice if you could turn on the receiver from the iphone app. It plays an ipod well and does display cover art for music although very small. It's pretty cool that you can use a standard USB cable to connect an ipod as well as some other USB devices (Haven't played with that). I do wish the USB input was on the back. I have an ipod dock that i want to leave plugged in and it looks pretty bad plugged into the front.

This thing switches inputs relatively quickly and can scroll through audio settings without long interruptions in sound. Powering up on the other hand is extremely sluggish. I timed 40 seconds from power up to get picture and sound rolling. I really like that you can customize the input names although the method of scrolling through each letter takes a while. It's also nice to be able to hide some inputs so that you don't have to scroll through a bunch of inputs that are never used when scanning through.

The remote is setup like a universal remote. You have to select a specific mode for most inputs. Say you're in ipod mode, you have to go back into receiver mode to use many of the settings buttons. This makes it very difficult to program a universal remote to control the receiver. you have to have a different set of arrow commands programmed for each input. Also, for programming a universal remote. All inputs have a separate button that you can program except of course HDMI inputs which are the ones I use.... To select one of the 5 HDMI inputs you can continually press the HDMI button to get the one you want which is not a good method when you just want to hit one button to get to the correct input. There is a backwards way to reassign the analog input selection to use an HDMI input then rename it, but it takes some work. It is impressive that the included remote can be programmed for other devices and can even learn commands and perform simple macros.

The display on the unit I received has a small thread of some sort hanging down inside the display. This is probably just rare defect but it is annoying when looking at the display.

HDCP ERROR
I see this message flash multiple times on the display every time I power on. This is some kind of copyright nonsense built into HDMI cables. Although all HDMI inputs on my TV are HDCP compliant and I have used the same HDMI cables on a previous receiver without issues I had all kinds of problems getting my receiver to work at all because of this error. Time and time again I would be watching TV and then without touching anything I would see this error, then no inputs would work and it would take a while for anything to come back up. After playing with lots of setting and trying multiple cables and inputs on my TV now I just get the error without losing picture and sound. The manual says this: "Some components that are compatible with HDCP still cause this message to be displayed, but so long as there is no problem with displaying video, this is not a malfunction." Ummm, sorry Pioneer but when an error is displayed incorrectly that is called a bug and IS a problem. I'm sure they are being forced by law to incorporate this HDCP stuff in their unit but they are doing a very poor job.

Zone 2
Buying this receiver I had a plan to wire an adjacent room as a zone 2 so that I could play music in that other room. Unfortunately the zone 2 feature on this unit does not work with any digital inputs. Because I have everything connected via HDMI this makes zone 2 a worthless feature to me. As an alternative I decided to hook up the other room to the Speaker B connection. This won't allow me to listen to two different inputs simultaneously as zone 2 does, but at-least I can listed to digital inputs in the other room when I want. The problem is for some reason the speaker selection cannot be controlled with the remote. So I have to walk to the receiver to select to use Speaker B and then walk back to turn it off That may not sound like much, but part of my plan was to use an RF remote to control the music in the other room while in the other room. There is just no way to really get this unit to perform in such a scenario. Read more ›

93 of 99 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good performance and versatility with a few shortcomings May 10, 2010

By WDH

I picked up a 1020 over the weekend. I have been building custom cabinetry and needed a slimmer (and cooler) receiver for our secondary viewing room and the 1020 seemed to fit the bill in large part based upon a pleasant experience with the 919/1019 and the elite 21.

For reference, the 1020 is replacing an Onkyo 1007, which I really enjoyed, but was a bit big for the cabinet and largely unused with a baby's bedroom nearly adjacent to the area. Keep in mind, the Onkyo weighs 52 lbs and draws nearly 11 amps - not a fair fight between the two.

In comparison to the 1019/919 (which powers my second and third zones), the 1020 looks very similar, but Pioneer removed the blue led power button (they did the same with the bdp-320 from the 51fd last year as well). The front panel buttons have been reconfigured slightly, but overall the two look very similar.

I have the 1020 configured as 5.1 plus wides. The speaker setup was pretty easy, but it appears that setting it up as normal plus wides would prevent you from operating Zone 2 despite the manual saying the contrary.

In terms of audio quality, the receiver sounds very good and similar to the 1019/919. That said, when turned louder (say -5db), it appears to lose its legs a bit sooner than the 1019. I heard a bit more distortion in playing music loudly (i was alternating the same speakers and source via speaker switch before I had the two connected). That said, I would think most folks would not be able to tell a difference at normal volume levels, but the power draw cut from last year does seem to manifest itself at loud levels in my amateurish testing. Please do not try to pull every thread in my comparison - just an average guy comparing the two side by side....

Running MCACC was as simple as other pioneer models, but the system did seem to be a bit too generous as to the speaker size of the speakers in my setup (audyssey classified them as small and set the individual speaker crossovers at 100hz). I have been using the wide listening mode and have found it reasonably effective in providing a broader sound array for the wide room. I will need more critical listening time to compare it to Audyssey DSX's wide presence processing mode. Overall, I am pleased with the sound quality of the 1020, but it could benefit by a bit more power. I would caution about tying to drive large or inefficient speakers with this receiver if your listening preferences are very loud.

The remote is an improvement in that it is learning, but a step back in dark room navigation. Yes the keys glow in the dark, but labels are small and difficult to quickly identify. It is miles ahead of Denon's odd remotes, but lacks some of the simple and easy to identify buttons of Onkyo.

The receiver has run cooly, which is an improvement from the space-heater my Onkyo could be.

The receiver does offer a really good listening experience for a very light (and presumably efficient) unit. That said, I do lament a few things: onscreen osd - at least volume/source/audio codec; a slightly ergonomic remote; and assignable speakers to let you customize presence and zone 2.

Overall, I am happy with the unit and pleasantly surprise how cooly it runs. Read more ›