Customer Reviews

Pioneer VSX-918V 5.1-Channel AV Receiver

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I guess I went into the purchase of this receiver with expectations set far too high.I have owned Pioneer receivers for years and was saddened by the death of my Pioneer vsx-608D.I really liked that unit alot.It came out in 1999.It did have Dolby Digital 5.1 sound with DTS.When I got this new 918 hooked up I was very happy with the sound of Dolby Digital and DTS movies.They sounded fabulous.I do however like to listen to music alot.When I switched to the cd input I thought my powered subwoofer had stopped working.I tried everything I could think of to get the bass level up.I made sure the Plus setting was turned on.This setting makes sure that bass signals sent to the large front left and right speakers are also sent to the subwoofer.I ran the auto set-up where you hook a microphone up to the system and it goes through a series of test tones to determine the best set-up for your room.Well,after going through this, all I heard was a trace of bass.I turned on the midnight setting and noticed a positive result.I tried the loud setting and it too made a more noticeable difference in the output of my subwoofer.The midnight setting however was better to my ears.It sounded like the subwoofer was putting out very little bass.I finally called Pioneer customer support and they ran me through a bunch of settings trying to get to an answer to my problem.Nobody was able to tell me anything that could explain the cd input's lack of bass.Finally I was told to take the unit back and exchange it because I had probably gotten a defective unit.After getting my new 918,I was saddened to find out that I was stuck with the exact same problem.I again called tech support and this time was told that the 918 was not designed to play cd's with stereo sound.I was told that it just wasn't capable of outputting a good bass signal to the subwoofer.I couldn't beieve my ears!!He said that this model is designed as a home theater receiver to decode 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS.It is "not designed for 2 channel music".I just don't understand why this unit can't do both.Why did they bother to even put a cd input on the amp?I ended up taking the 918 back and trying a Yamaha model RX-V463.What a difference.I can hear my 5.1 and DTS movies with plenty of bass but more importantly,the Yamaha puts out great bass to the subwoofer for great sounding music cds recorded in stereo.I'm through with Pioneer although in all honesty it had fantastic Dolby Digital and DTS sound.This one issue over music cds ruined the Pioneer experience for me.Pioneer 120 Watts X 5 Hybrid Receiver

I'd have given it five stars but for the difficulty I had attaching my speaker wires. Very little room to work and I had to back the screws almost all the way out before I could get the wires inserted. Other than that I love it. It sounds good and the controls are very user friendly. The remote actually looks like it was designed for normal human beings.

I've never had a receiver before so this is my first purchase of something like this. The price was right ($270 at time of purchase and then amazon adjusted it down to like around $260) and it's this year's model. There are nice blue lights and the receiver is very easy to set up. I connected the speakers to it and followed the instructions in the manual to go through setting up the auto calibration. It went through and tested all 5 channels for me in just a few minutes. Connecting the HDMI cable, digital coaxial, optical cable, etc was easy. It's been a month and I'm very satisfied with the receiver!

I bought this for a secondary system to drive my mirage nanosats and it runs great. I have only owned Onkyo receivers in the past but for less than 250 decided to try the pioneer.

Setup was easy and the sound is very clear. The remote is typical however I am using my harmony one instead to control it. The MCACC speaker setup worked well although I still had to tweak it manually to my liking particuarly to increase the base level but everything else including the sourrounds are great.

Bottom line...If you don't need more than 2 HDMI inputs and only need power for 5 channels, this will do a great job on all but the most demanding floor standing speakers.

We connected a Bose Accoustimass 6 surround sound system/Sony HD TV/Sony Blu-Ray player/X-Box 360 to this receiver and the results have been superb. The Pioneer VSX-918V-K has 2 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output. The built-in setup program used with the supplied microphone balanced all the speakers and alerted us about a misconnected subwoofer. Lower-end receivers only have video HDMI, but this one has both audio and video. Pioneer's remote control has enough buttons to launch a NASA space shuttle, but there is a smart logic about it.

You can connect an iPod directly to the front of the receiver. If you connect the receiver to a TV or computer monitor using the monitor-out port, there is a menu screen that appears on the TV/monitor to control the iPod or the setup program. Kudos to Pioneer. Pioneer VSX-918V 5.1-Channel AV Receiver

I am in the business of entertainment and the management and setup of sound equipment. I know what good equipment should sound like. I'm also old enough to have owned a few home systems. Compared to older systems I've owned, this receiver is a POS straight out of the box. I'm not sure how anyone could think otherwise. The sound quality is mediocre at best. The low and mid-range frequencies are absolutely lame.

As for setting up the unit to try and get that desired sound, it takes forever if you don't use the microphone and auto-setup. If you ask me, that thing is for the idiot who can't figure out how to determine his own speaker distances, or set an equalizer. But wait, with this machine all those things take forever to gage because you have to navigate down a long trail of menus to get to the desired setup functions. If you are trying to set up the equalizer, you get the pleasure of listening to static noise as you attempt to determine the frequency range that suits you. You may have to go in and out a 1000 times just to see if you've reached your goal.

Now as I mentioned, bass and midrange are at best poor with this unit. I've got the bass jacked to the hilt and yet the system sounds like all I've got is midrange sound. I've got excellent full-range speakers with 12" woofers that can shake pictures from the wall, given the right amp. This thing barley creates vibration. Either my unit is faulty, or it just sucks. Listening to CDs or watching a movie, the depth just isn't there. The manual will tell you that if you aren't using a sub, to adjust the crossover so that all bass is directed to the front speakers. I've done that too and nothing changes. In fact, regardless of what I set the crossover to, the sound remains unchanged. For $400 bucks, I expect a lot better than this.

This receiver has a lot of bells and whistles but was not easy to use. Unfortunately the unit was also defective and I was unable to get surround sound working. Amazon handled the return with care but I can't say the same for UPS. Lastly, a call to Pioneer was utterly useless. The CSR rep there told me that I'd have to get the brand new unit repaired and that Amazon would not take it back. He was uniformed to say the very least!

I bought new from Amazon and in less than 2 years was cracking loudly thru speakers. The repair facility the Pioneer website directed me to said they no longer worked on A/V receivers. I then spoke with someone at Pioneer customer service who gave me a address over 100 miles away with a snotty attitude. Anyway, I took to Best Buy and paid $35 to find out that it needed a $440 repair. The DSP board was faulty. So now with a one year warranty I am out the entire purchase plus alot of aggravation..I will not ever buy Pioneer again..I pulled up the Pioneer webste again and they still listed the same repair facilty in Reno, NV . In other words they did not correct their faulty information even though they were aware of it....Several people there should be fired....

I really like this addition to my set up, especially the price! The only negative seems to be the speaker connections. They had a habit of coming loose. Other than that, much better deal than the "big box" guys.

This is an extremely nice receiver for the money. You can expect Pioneer quality in this receiver. I've owned 2 other Pioneer receivers and was sold on their quality and power. I also have a Pioneer A/V unit and speakers in my automobile. So as you can see I'm a Pioneer fan. There are better receivers out there but if you want a basic 5.1 receiver that has a few bells and whistles then this receiver is the one for you.

I wanted a basic receiver with HDMI functionality that would work with my PS3. I looked at the newer VSX919 and was set on that one but it was a little more expensive since it had a few more bells and whistles; more than I would actually use. The VSX918 still runs the newer codecs via PCM or "pass through" from my PS3. The price was also a big "plus". This receiver is extremely powerful and has a lot of options that can be configured if desired. It can be used as is out of the box with your speakers but the configuration will allow you to fine tune the sound.

The reciever is nicely built and is pretty heavy compared to the other Pioneer receivers I've owned. The sound quality paired with the Boston Acoustic MCS100 surround system is more than I could have dreamed. I'm throughly pleased with the purchase from 6ave. I do recommend this unit for anyone looking for a basic receiver or for one who is looking for a receiver that has HDMI capability along with many user defineable settings. This receiver definitely fit my needs as well as my budget. I can't recommend this receiver enough. If you're unsure about it please research it. I did and was pleased to find that I could save myself some money and still have a nice powerful receiver that met and exceeded my demands and expectations. Thumbs up Pioneer on the VSX918.