Pioneer VSX-D850S 6.1 Channels Receiver
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- Surround Sound: Dolby Digital® DTS® DTS ES® Dolby Pro Logic II
- THX Certification: No
- Number of Channels: 6.1 Channels
- Type: Receiver
- Surround Mode Power: 110 Watt @ 8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD: 0.2%
- Stereo Mode Power: 110 Watt @ 8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD: 0.2%
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Good Value
Pros
DTS 6.1, Dimming display, overall good experience, component inputs/outputs, good support
Cons
Low power, 1 sub out, no on-screen display
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Hard to beat for the price, esp. since the recent price drop to around $350.
It was finally time to retire my Dolby Pro-Logic Sony ES receiver in June 2001. Since having some slight problems with recent Sony purchases I decided to go with Pioneer, I have not been disappointed. I also upgraded my TV, DVD Player and speakers. I went from a Sony ES, Sony 5-disc changer, Infinity SM122 speakers to the Pioneer VSX-D850S, Toshiba progressive scan DVD, Audiotron MP3 player, Toshiba 43" HDTV projection TV.
My current speakers are two velodyne CT-100s, and 3 NHT SuperZeros. Everything is connected using Monster Cable connects and gold plated banana plugs. The sound is terrific for the price, very open, enough bass to feel action movies and very accurate reproduction of sound. I do have to do some more calibration (esp the TV since it is past its burn-in period now), but everything sounds and looks pretty good out of the box. The only complaint is that compared with the very efficient Infinities, the NHT's require a lot of power, and the Pioneer doesn't produce a lot of power. Depending on the source, it is enough to wake up the immediate neighbors, but that is mostly due to the Velodynes, but on lower output sources (VCR, Cable Box) it is only just above adequate. The good news is that it has never clipped and distortion is incredibly low. The volume is enough for most sane people.
My biggest pet peeve is the fact that the receiver is rather complex and has many options, but there is no onscreen display and the manual is rather skimpy (and a combined 3 model one at that). The sheer number of outputs and inputs is more than adequate for home theaters that are in this price range, the only problem maybe that there is only one coax digital input in the back. The great news is the three inputs at the front of the unit. This is especially useful if you have a camcorder or other mobile input and your tv or vcr doesn't have front inputs. I would also like 2 sub outs as many people now have multiple subs (but this is easily remedied with a quality splitter).
The main problem with the setup is the sheer number of cords going everywhere (always been a problem). Including my VCR and my Cable box I have around 10 cords and currently, 3 sets of speaker wire. This is not a unique problem to Pioneer, I almost went separates, and probably should have to reduce all the cords going in and out of the receiver.
I hookup everything through the receiver, even though there can be some downsides for component video, etc., this makes the connections a little easier and the control a little easier. It would be nice if I could just hookup the TV with component video and the pioneer take SVideo and standard video inputs and upgrade them to component video (no line doubling, etc.), that way there would only be one TV connection and I wouldn't have to change TV inputs. But I don't know if any other units do that either.
My current speakers are two velodyne CT-100s, and 3 NHT SuperZeros. Everything is connected using Monster Cable connects and gold plated banana plugs. The sound is terrific for the price, very open, enough bass to feel action movies and very accurate reproduction of sound. I do have to do some more calibration (esp the TV since it is past its burn-in period now), but everything sounds and looks pretty good out of the box. The only complaint is that compared with the very efficient Infinities, the NHT's require a lot of power, and the Pioneer doesn't produce a lot of power. Depending on the source, it is enough to wake up the immediate neighbors, but that is mostly due to the Velodynes, but on lower output sources (VCR, Cable Box) it is only just above adequate. The good news is that it has never clipped and distortion is incredibly low. The volume is enough for most sane people.
My biggest pet peeve is the fact that the receiver is rather complex and has many options, but there is no onscreen display and the manual is rather skimpy (and a combined 3 model one at that). The sheer number of outputs and inputs is more than adequate for home theaters that are in this price range, the only problem maybe that there is only one coax digital input in the back. The great news is the three inputs at the front of the unit. This is especially useful if you have a camcorder or other mobile input and your tv or vcr doesn't have front inputs. I would also like 2 sub outs as many people now have multiple subs (but this is easily remedied with a quality splitter).
The main problem with the setup is the sheer number of cords going everywhere (always been a problem). Including my VCR and my Cable box I have around 10 cords and currently, 3 sets of speaker wire. This is not a unique problem to Pioneer, I almost went separates, and probably should have to reduce all the cords going in and out of the receiver.
I hookup everything through the receiver, even though there can be some downsides for component video, etc., this makes the connections a little easier and the control a little easier. It would be nice if I could just hookup the TV with component video and the pioneer take SVideo and standard video inputs and upgrade them to component video (no line doubling, etc.), that way there would only be one TV connection and I wouldn't have to change TV inputs. But I don't know if any other units do that either.
