Pioneer VSX-821-K 5.1 Home Theater Receiver, Glossy Black

by Pioneer

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 14.3 x 17.2 x 6.6 inches ; 20.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 24 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B004M8RPB8
• Item model number: VSX-821-K
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,262 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #13 in Electronics > Televisions & Video > AV Receivers & Amplifiers
  • #19 in Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Stereo Components > Receivers & Amplifiers > Component Receivers

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Popular Receiver Options

	Pioneer VSX-821	Yamaha RX-V471 Check out the Yamaha RX-V471	Denon AVR-1612 Check out the Denon AVR-1612	Onkyo TX-NR509 Check out the Onkyo TX-NR509	Sony STR-DH720 Check out the Sony STR-DH720
Watts/Channel	110 x 5	105 x 5	75 x 5	80 x 5	105 x 7
Manufacturer Warranty	1 year	2 years	2 years	2 years	2 years
3D Pass-through Ready?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Remote Included	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Subwoofer Pre-Out	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Radio Antenna (FM/AM) Input	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
GUI/Onscreen Display	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Auto Calibration Microphone	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Video Upconversion	No	No	No	No	No
Smartphone App Control	No	No	No	iPod/iPhone	No
Network Connected	No	No	No	Yes	No
Zone Control	No	No	No	No	No
Advanced Audio Formats:	Dolby: Digital, Digital Plus, Digital EX, Pro Logic II DTS: ES, Neo:6	Dolby: TrueHD, Digital, Digital Plus, Pro Logic II DTS: HD Master Audio, HD High Resolution, Express, Neo:6, ES Discrete, ES Matrix Yamaha CINEMA DSP	Dolby: TrueHD, Digital, Digital Plus, Pro Logic II, EX DTS: HD Master Audio, HD High Resolution, Express, ES, Neo:6	Dolby: TrueHD, Digital, Digital Plus, Pro Logic II DTS: HD Master Audio, ES Discrete, ES Marrix, Neo:6 Onkyo Original DSP	Dolby: Digital, Digital Plus, Pro Logic II, EX DTS: HD Master Audio, ES Discrete, ES Marrix, Neo:6
HDMI Inputs	4	4	4	4	4
Composite AV Inputs	5	5	3	5	3
Component Video Inputs	2	2	1	2	2
Analog Audio Inputs	3	4	4	6	2
Digital Optical Audio Inputs	2	2	1	2	2
Digital Coaxial Audio Inputs	1	2	1	2	1
Stereo Mini Jack Input	0	1	0	0	0
USB Inputs	1	1	1	1	1
Headphone Jack Output	1	1	1	1	1

Product Description

The Pioneer VSX-821 features a Bluetooth wireless audio option with 550 watts of high powered 5.1 home theater audio playback. Other features include 4 HDMI 1.4a 3-D ready inputs, hi-resolution Dolby and dts multi-channel audio playback from Blu-Ray discs, iPad / iPhone AV playback with battery charger.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars VSX-821 - Slightly Deceptive Features but Good Sound, July 3, 2011

By 

Angel_Pen "angel_rising" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pioneer VSX-821-K 5.1 Home Theater Receiver, Glossy Black (Electronics)

The sound is excellent, slightly better than my old Yamaha receiver. Let's call it "more realistic" but the menu interface is miserable.
Pioneer flat out distorts information on their advertisements. For instance, they claim the VSX-821 is compatible with iPod's Audio AND Video. This is not entirely true. For starters you need to be a geek to figure out the connections and which iPod is compatible with what. It is not a plug and play thing they are selling you here. I finally got it to play video but if I had to explain it here, I wouldn't know where to start. Furthermore, the iPod video and images are presented as analogue video through the RCA connector on the front, both, photos and video look mediocre at such low resolution. Black bars all around. I blame "Apple" for most of these quality issues, but it is Pioneer's fault too for hidding these facts in their ads and manuals.
The most offending advertised "feature" is the so called "on-screen" menu which it is just a pixelated text only retro menu and get this, it does not work via HDMI. Yes, that is right, to see the menu you need to hook up a second cable and even then you get very limited on-screen menu choices.
The remote is a mess but I think all the new receivers have similar issues. The most frustrating thing is that the remote did not accept any of the Sony TV codes included in the instructions, and inputing the code is a complex task, more than it should be. As of now I cannot control any other devices with this remote and I resent the excessive steps compared to other remotes..
On the remote you have to keep pressing certain buttons over and over again to stay on a certain modes that time out after a couple of seconds for no reason. If you don't know what I mean, don't worry, is because no one else has built a remote that times out.
Good news, the "sync-mode" works with some Sony Bravia TVs.
The blue LED display on the front does not tell you much, and some of the icons are too small to be read by human eyes. So, I never know if I am listening to a Dolby source, or DTS.
There is no real HDMI pass-through despite what they advertise. The receiver needs to be turned on to pass the signal.

So, what is the advantage of owning this receiver? Well, if you manage to decipher the remote and the hidden menus, you will get pretty decent realistic sound for a reasonable price. Better than what you would get from a Sony receiver for sure.
My opinion? It is a good deal if you are very familiar with electronics and it works better if you never use the HDMI ports.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Adequate, June 12, 2011

By 

JAMES BARTON (SAN DIEGO, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pioneer VSX-821-K 5.1 Home Theater Receiver, Glossy Black (Electronics)

I bought the VSX821 as a budget way to get HDMI switching for my system(AppleTV.Bluray,cable box).Performs this function well.However, when you first activate the receiver you must perform some setup functions.Unfortunately you cannot do the setup thru a HDMI connection. It can only do the setup over a composite connection to see the onscreen menus.So I had to dig out a old cable to do this .Moderately irritating.The picture quality is outstanding over HDMI to my Panasonic plasma.Easy to plug a Ipod Nano into the front of the receiver with the supplied cable.Sound was very goog thru my Monitor Audio speakers.Overall, I'm satisfied with the unit.Just don't expect too much as this is a low/mid level product.

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Value, April 20, 2011

By 

Shawn Browne - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pioneer VSX-821-K 5.1 Home Theater Receiver, Glossy Black (Electronics)

I was looking for a midrange receiver with features and functions that are useful but not so many that I don't know what to do with them all. At the price this unit has enough HDMI ports for me to connect my PS3, Xbox, and cable box. The onscreen setup is easy enough and the instruction booklet is actually very helpful. It is nice to be able to connect my iPod and use an onscreen interface to select songs and playlists; however, it is not very nice to look at and I expected a bit more from the interface - it looks like an old MSDOS screen. I also wish the little cover for the iPod connects in the front didnt pop-off, I wish it slid so I don't have to worry about losing it. The banana connectors in the back seem quite sturdy and were easy to connect with the speaker wire. Over all I am very happy with the purchase and it is up to date enough that I will be using it for many years to come.