Customer Reviews

Pioneer VSX921K 7.1-Channel 3D Ready AV Receiver - Black

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

 

 

I bought this to replace a 3 year old Onkyo that died from a bad HDMI circuit. The most impressive thing about it is how cool it runs while still delivering sound that is every bit as refined (to my ears) as the more expensive and much more power hungry Onkyo.

But the main problem with this thing is the lousy user interface. I know that UI probably isn't your first concern when it comes to a receiver, but companies like Apple have raised the bar on this, and when you get a UI that would have been substandard in 1995 (no exaggeration), it's hard not to be disappointed.

The on-screen display is black-and-white, text-only, all caps and fixed width, and it FLICKERS to boot (on my 1080p display at least). There is no overlay, so no visual feedback when you change the volume, etc. The response time for changing inputs or connecting a camera is up to several seconds. The remote is especially difficult to program (for example, no LED to tell you when it's ready for you to enter a code), and it's missing some of the most useful functions of the TiVo remote. Also, it's far too easy to reconfigure an input's audio port accidentally via the remote.

It features HDMI power off, but no HDMI power on. In fact, if you turn the TV on with this feature enabled, the receiver turns OFF. At least the HDMI audio sync works, and apparently it's always on, so there's no UI for it.

If there's one redeeming feature, it's the available battery-less A2DP Bluetooth option. It's more convenient and versatile than an iPod dock if your player has Bluetooth. You could instead mount the player as a USB drive and control it with the receiver's remote using the on-screen display, but you wouldn't want to.

Having already learned how to use the thing, it works well, and I'm not going to return it. But Pioneer had better step up their game in the UI department if they want to stay in the receiver business.

I bought this as a replacement for my old VSX-D309 and am very happy with it. While not w/out a few flaws... the on-screen UI flickers and is over all meh. The receiver is easy to connect and set up, and the sound quality it puts out as well as features that come with it far outweigh any negatives.

Good enough receiver but I returned it..not because of a problem it was my mistake. I wanted something with more features like my VSX 1018...this one was lacking in the fine audio adjustments..did play with no troubles tho.Easy hookup..good basic receiver for 3D video and has all the sound needed.

Pro:
..Sound is nice
..Automatic setup with included microphone
Con:
..Sound delay adjustment hidden deep in manual -- see page 35.
..Noticeable delay with sound from TV -- lips out of sync.
..Can not convert a composite video signal to component video, which is technically trivial.
..HD control function keeps changing the Pioneer to TV/Sat mode.
Nits:
..Remote doesn't support some old and some new devices. Can not learn.
..Poor choice of functions for the front panel buttons.
..Remote key assignments bury common function behind double shift.

Many other brands advertise the amount of sound delay correction they can do, from 20ms to 800ms. Pioneer doesn't mention this feature except in the fine print of the manual with 13 other settings. With this, I can correct all my devices except for the Panasonic VIERA TC-L37U3 (i.e. OTA digital). Note that the unit of delay is 003.333 ms. Some people can detect amounts less than 3ms.

There is a setting "A-DLY" (Auto Delay) which, for HDMI connected devices, should adjust the lip sync. I see no difference with it on or off. The TV HDMI connection is off just as much as the TV composite connection. The problem varies with station, program, and sometimes within program. It could well be what is being broadcast.

(OTOH, we receive Indianapolis TV which has always been a showcase of TV broadcast technology. RCA's engineering group was here for a very long time. Indy was in the first group to broadcast HD, and is now on the second generation of broadcast equipment. If the problem is with the local broadcasts, not the Panasonic & Pioneer, it's a bit hard to accept the local broadcasters are so sloppy that we have such wildly varying lip sync problems.)

When ever I access the "input" menu on the TV (to choose between OTA, HDMI, and Composite inputs), the TV sends a control signal to the Pioneer which changes to TV/Sat input. I'm only changing directly between HDMI and Composite, never touching/entering/temporarily selecting OTA. I then always have to change the Pioneer back to DVD or BD or DVR input.

In frustration, I disabled HDMI control mode. This also disables ARC (which sends the TV sound down the HDMI cable to the Pioneer) so I had to add an optical Digital Audio Out cable from the TV to the Pioneer to recover the sound from TV programs.

I thought that the Pioneer box would convert analog composite video (1 cable) to analog component (3 cables), but it only converts composite to digital. All other brands I've look at which do upscaling/conversion also process composite to component.

We've still got a lot of VHS tapes, and we like to turn on closed captions. For this to work, an analog signal must be delivered to the TV (which does the actual captioning). Our VCR only produces a composite signal, and if we run it via the HDMI cable, we can't get VHS captions (they are lost in the A to D conversion). We can't run it component video (color is lost if you don't have signal on all three cables). We ended up using the RF output from the VCR for the TV, which is the worst quality possible signal. {frown}

Still need three remotes -- the Pioneer HT, the VCR player, and the DVR.

I haven't yet gotten 2 two more speakers, so I can't speak to the 7.1 experience. But 5.1 rocks!

If I knew then what I know now... I'd have probably ordered the Onkyo HT-RC360 or TX-NR609.

I have been dealing with Pioneer since 1971 in Vietnam. They have stood up against some of the toughest conditions and kept working. I AM A HUGE FAN !!!

This is a great AV receiver and occupies the sweet spot for value in pioneer's line this year. The features and connection settings are plenty for my use. I like the UI for setting up settings including the sound calibration settings for the room. The remote is basic and i wish it could have a night glow feature.