Pioneer VSX-D309 Audio/Video Receiver

by Pioneer

Product Details

Product Manual [1.05mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 15.4 x 16.6 x 6.2 inches ; 18.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 20 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: B00004SD9E
• Item model number: VSX-D309
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #431,456 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

With built-in Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro Logic decoding, Pioneer's VSX-D309 surround receiver lets you take full advantage of today's 5.1-channel movies and music. Dialogue and sound effects come through with great clarity and spaciousness for an excellent home theater experience.

The VSXD309 provides an ample 60 watts of amplifier power to each of its five channels (left/right front, center, and left/right rear). It also offers a subwoofer output for incorporating the ".1" low-frequency effects (LFE) channel encoded on most DVDs and on DTS-mastered surround sound compact discs.

Complete 5.1-channel analog inputs bring welcome flexibility, letting you use the VSX-D309 with a surround-decoding DVD player or a future six-channel surround format.

Ten digital signal processing (DSP) environments transport you to your venue of choice--including hall, jazz club, and stadium--for a customized sonic experience.

The midnight mode compresses dynamic range while slightly increasing the clarity of dialogue for late-night viewing sessions. Midnight mode also dims the VSX-D309's front-panel display.

The VSX-D309 has plenty of standard features as well. Three audio-video inputs accommodate a DVD player, a VCR, and another component, such as a second VCR. Nestled around back are a subwoofer output and two digital audio inputs, one coaxial and one optical. The Pioneer VSX-D309 comes with a remote control and a one-year warranty on parts and labor.

Product Description

Product Features * Audio-video receiver with Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro Logic decoding * 60 watts per channel x 5 * Number of channels (including subwoofer): 6 * Onscreen display (OSD): No * Screen dimmer: Yes * Speaker terminals: Clip-type * Tuner: Yes * Balance adjust: Yes * Mono switch: Yes * Remote control type: Full-function, push buttons, CD * Volume control: Rotary * Automatic station setting: Yes * RF antenna input: Yes * Station presets: 30 * Type: Digital AM/FM * Bass: Yes * Loudness: Yes * Treble: Yes * Current output, peak: N/A * Digital processors: Pioneer DSP * Digital-to-analog audio converter: 44.1 kHz * Frequency response (+/- 3 dB): 5 to 100,000 Hz * Power output (stereo): 60 watts per channel (front speakers); into 8 ohms from 40 to 20,000 Hz with 0.2 percent THD * Power output (surround): 60 watts per channel (front speakers), 60 wpc (surround), 60 wpc (center); into 8 ohms at 1 kHz with 0.8 percent THD * Signal-to-noise ratio (playback): 97 dB * THD (stereo): 0.2 percent * THD (surround, all channels driven): 0.8 percent * Width: 18.00 inches * Height: 6.81 inches * Depth: 18.50 inches * Weight: 22.00 pounds

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good DD/DTS A/V receiver for the price, December 26, 2000

By 

keviny01 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pioneer VSX-D309 Audio/Video Receiver (Electronics)

This affordable A/V receiver does both Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, making it ideal for a DVD home theater setup. It also does a better job of Dolby Prologic decoding than my old Pioneer VSX-455 receiver. Amazon's review above already mentions most of the features of this receiver. In addition, it has one coax digital input and one optical digital input (cable not provided) for your DD/DTS source. It also comes with FM and AM antennae.

The receiver lets you fine-tune your surround sound setup by specifying speaker sizes (setting one to "Large" will send more bass to it if you don't have a subwoofer), set cutoff frequency for the subwoofer, set volumes of individual speakers, and set distances between the speakers and the listener.

As mentioned in the Amazon review, the "Midnight" mode only helps "slightly". There is a separate "Dynamic Range Compression" feature that lets you select MID (middle) or MAX compression; but at either setting it makes barely noticeable difference to loud sounds. Like me, many people sometimes find it hard to hear movies at home -- dialogs too soft, sound effects too loud. The truth is that movies are made to be listened in an ideal accoustic environment like a theater, and most homes simply cannot recreate such an environment. Hence, many receivers include features like "Midnight" mode to make a movie soundtrack less overwhelming. But they often don't work well enough, and they distort the original sound way too much.

The "DSP sound modes", which turn plain stereo sound (such as from CD or radio) into a sort of "fake surround" sound, are OK. They don't do magic, but at least they don't distort the sound into an unrecognizable mess like my old Pioneer VSX-455 did.

One concern is there are not too many A/V inputs on this receiver. Besides the coax and optical digital inputs, there are just 3 video inputs and 4 analog audio inputs. This is barely enough to accommodate a TV, VCR, DVD player, LD Player, and CD Player. And it's definitely not enough if you also have satellite TV, audio cassette deck, turntable, etc.

I find the the receiver's 60 watts of power sufficient, although I often have to turn up the volume to about -30db (0db is max, -94 is min), which is almost 70% above the minimum.

The remote control is typically unexceptional: small buttons, confusing interface, useless as a universal remote.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad receiver, June 20, 2000

By 

Brian Leong (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pioneer VSX-D309 Audio/Video Receiver (Electronics)

This receiver packs a lot of features for home theater that are really great when it comes to playback of your favorite movies. The price is one of the lowest out there for a good-looking and well functioning piece of equipment like this, but you may find yourself a little disappointed if you're the type that likes to crank it because this box only pumps 60 watts per channel. But hey, it's an overall good value for a well built receiver.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Apartment dwellers delight, April 13, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pioneer VSX-D309 Audio/Video Receiver (Electronics)

At this price - entry level for surround sound - I did not expect so many ways to customize the sound to match your speakers and your room conditions. Great flexibility in that regard.

One of these features has turned out to be essential for me, and may be for you as well if you are living in an apartment as opposed to a suburban house. I'll explain: "Midnight Mode" takes the softest parts of the movie (or CD) and elevates it a bit, so you get the full presence of the scene even if you haven't set the volume excessively high. When watching DVDs before I had this unit I'd noticed that many times I needed to turn up the volume during dialogue scenes, and turn it down during "explosion scenes". Midnight Mode (and a couple other methods of compressing the dynamic range) overcomes this problem. You simply put the volume at your favorite level (a level you will enjoy which won't damage your hearing, and which your housemates won't mind) and you will never have to be worried that a softly spoken scene will be inaudible. It will be audible - and sound very good indeed. To a lesser extent, this mode also reduces the excess volume of explosions, but I believe it is weighed more in favor of bringing up the quiet than in reducing the loud - which is why other reviews said they didn't notice it reducing the loud sounds much at all. (It is actually good that people think the effect is subtle -- if it drew attention to itself, it wouldn't be doing the job well, would it?) I think it is more intended to bring out the nuances, and it does so splendidly. Also works great for keeping music CDs sound full when played at background levels. All with a simple one-click change.

Another nice things I've noticed: This unit doesn't get too hot. Maybe because it is only 60 watts per channel (which is double what I grew up with!). Perhaps it costs less to run, as well?

In summary, I was concerned that at this price I'd be making sacrifices, that I'd be stuck with something that sounded one particular way. But it is flexible to your room conditions and your speaker sizes. No sacrifices here, except the lack of S-Video inputs (which might not be a factor for you at all).