Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is what music is supposed to sound like!!!, June 8, 2009
With a stereo receiver, you can't go cheap. You'll find that out right off the bat after upgrading to a piece of quality equipment. I consider the Pioneer VSX-01TXH a piece of quality equipment. My dad's old Pioneer receivers power source eventually failed after like 25 years. So to replace it I bought a Sony. Well the first Sony broke after six months, so I bought a more expensive Sony with DTS capabilities. That one worked ok for movies, but I remembered the old Pioneer having a crisp, clear, encompassing 2ch sound from the vintage Klipsch Heresy IIs. The Sony couldn't deliver that, even after spending $500.
Well I'm not a Best Buy shopper anymore and I stopped drinking the Sony KoolAid, so decided it was time to upgrade but I wanted something a little better this time. I was looking for that lost sound I had with the old 80s Pioneer. I checked out online ratings and found the Pioneer brand has sort of built a great reputation lately, after making some cheaper stuff geared towards the Best Buy bargain shopper. I sold the old Sony and got the Pioneer VSX-01TXH. It was the base Elite Series model, has 7.1 capabilities, and more than adequate power for my setup.
The moment I plugged it in I put in a concert DVD and as I plugged in each additional speaker, I was more and more pleasntly surprised. With the factory default settings, this complemented my speakers perfectly. There was no muffled or drowned out echoey noise. There was no unbalanced sound where I had adjust volume levels for each speaker.
Well I found out that this is only the beginning. The receiver comes with a microphone that you can use to optimize the sound acoustics of your room. I placed the microphone where my fat head usually is positioned while watching a movie or listening to an album. The result is a perfectly set speaker system with each speaker being absolutely right. I'm not one to pay hundreds on having some professional survey my room, but I don't think they could do much better of a job than this microphone and receiver/thinking computer. The screen display from the receiver to the TV looks old but who cares. It's simple and only on there for what, the fraction of time you spend setting it up compared to listening time.
I stream music from my laptop to my XBOX. Sound is 50x better than the Sony. I thought there was a problem with my XBOX before, but now I realized I just had a inferior stereo. I'm sorry did I mention it plays directly from a USB port? Yes you can play IPODs and even Flash Drives right from the front panel. The remote control controls the songs so you don't even have to get up off your backside to change the song.
The features of this thing are abundant and it has 4 HDMI ports. It has basically everything you need. There are so many different listening modes and I've still not managed changing Bass or Treble. But I don't really feel the need to, it sounds just the way I want.
I had no idea what I was missing out on. The sound is indescribable, it's like what the songs were supposed to sound like. The only thing I can compare it to are listening to my Koss PortaPro headphones. You really hear the subtleties that don't show up on your typical equipment. You have options for direct sound with no processing, or the amazingly better procesed sound. I thought tube amps were only capable of 'warm' sound like this. If you are in the market an upgrade, or are just starting with a system, get your act together and buy this! I understand this is very subjective, and I don't spout off specs, but I know good sound when I hear it. This gets a 10/10.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fully featured and great Pioneer quality and value, May 23, 2009
I replaced a Yamaha unit that was just a few years old with this receiver after purchasing a large Pioneer plasma display. My wife is constantly frustrated with audio-video equipment control and after reading about the synergy between Pioneer components I decided to muster up some faith, sell all of my non-Pioneer components (everything but the plasma I'd just purchased) and hope for the best. I have not been completely disappointed, nor completely wowed. The components do seem to work better together, but I am unsure if that would be true for any HDMI interfaced equipment. The common remotes is nice but I already had a good universal remote that does the trick.
The receiver looks nice, has lots of lights that have impressively obscure acronyms for the average owner, and it has large knobs. I'm sure those are great features but I just want it to switch to the right input, have sufficient volume, take advantage of the best sound option from any media I'm using, and generally be easy to operate with a Blu-Ray player and television attached. It is meeting my minimum expectations so far. Could it be better? Absolutely. I'd like to eliminate the input choices that I don't use. I'd like it to remember the volume level for each input. I'd like it to be able to turn on automatically at the same time on weekdays and weekends. But all in all it does the basic job for which it was purchased and I have no major complaints.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Can't be beat, December 30, 2009
Pioneer Elite VSX-01TXH - AV receiver - 7.1 channelI must start off by saying that Pioneer rules; I've tried other receivers such as the Denon 1909 Harmon Kardon 146 and this receiver by far is better sounding. My wife isn't into the whole this receiver that receiver thing, but she is now a pioneer fan. This bad boy does everything:controls ipods,supports all the latest surround sounds and has audio through the HDMI connections(the Harmon doesn't video only). I got mine from B.B (open box)for $425(this is not a miss print); don't get me wrong the other two receivers are built very nicely but they lack in the pure clear sound that pioneer gives you. Please measure the stand or rack that you will be placing this monster on; because this thing is massive. If you can find one get it; you will not be disappointed.
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