Pioneer 509S Receiver

I spent many hours researching this receiver purchase, due to the large price / quality / feature variations in home theater recievers. The first task was to eliminate units that were merely "Dolby Digital READY". This translates to "DOES NOT HAVE A BUILT IN DECODER", but merely has inputs for decoded discrete channels. I also wanted AC3 optical input (my dvd has AC3 output), DTS decoding and 100+ watts per channel. The D509S fit the bill and was a bargain at $270. Combined with a Klipsch quintet Micro home theatre speaker system ($399 at Sound Advice after haggling), it makes a formidable surround system for small to medium sized rooms. DTS audio titles (like Steely Dan's Gaucho) made me very happy that I held out for a unit with DTS. Each discrete channel is adjustable +- 10 db. Has S-Video input / output and switches video sources automatically (only my vcr was left out, as my cable also has S-Video out). The remote is well done and replaced every other remote I use. If you get this receiver you must have a powered subwoofer, period. Klipsch also sells the Quintet with a powered subwoofer, but I already had one. Note: in the setup, I had to configure the surround Klipsch micro speakers as Large (despite their small size), with a small center channel speaker setting. This eliminated my initial concern that the 509S was not loud enough for my living room, when all speakers had been set to small. If you need a versatile, affordable entry or upgrade into Dolby Digital 5.1 and/or DTS, you won't regret buying this one.