Just purchased my first Home Theater Receiver! (1 Viewer)

We had a receiver before, but it was almost ten years old, so of course it only had Dolby Pro-Logic. It was a Sony, but it was a piece of crap! It was decent when it was new, but after just a few years, several of the input jacks ceased to function, so it got to the point where we had only one device connected. We had to unplug the VCR, CD Player, Tape Deck, etc.

I was finally so fed up that I decided to finally purchase a new Receiver. I purchased the Pioneer DSX-D411, and I love it. I also bought my first Monster Cable. I haven't connected the VCR yet, because the RCA cable was not long enough, but I don't use the VCR too much. The only time I have used it in recent years was when I watched the Star Wars Trilogy (WS) about a year ago. Now that we can connect the VCR to the surround speakers, I will be able to watch it more often. So far I am very happy with this receiver, even though it was a budget component. I think the sound is great. I am not an audiophile, so I am probably not the best one to review the sound quality, but my brother is somewhat of an audiophile, and he thinks the sound is pretty good as well. The setup was a little bit complicate, but then again I have never really connected these before, except for the Sony, but it didn't have hald the input jacks this one does. I am still trying to learn how to set it up. The intructions are a bit hard to understand. If anyone has any links of interest that might help with the settings, I would appreciate it.

I just wanted to post because I am so excited, I actually have a Home Theater System now, instead of just a television set with speakers! I would also like to say how pleased I am with Pioneer. My DVD player is also a Pioneer, and even though it was under $100, I am very happy with it's performance. If anyone else is looking for a good quality budget Receiver, the DSX-D411 is a good choice!

Great I'm happy you've upgraded and you like your new receiver. There's nothing like a new receiver after you've lived with a broken one for quite some time.

But I do have one question for you....where's the construction or interiors topic in this post? I think you may have wanted to post this in the receivers or possibly after hours forum. A administrator may move this for you, so you can get some better responses.

Josh,

Welcome. You have taken the first step into HOME THEATER ADDICTION!

First and foremost! Read that manual. Then read it again. Then begin to understand it. That manual is the KEY to unlocking the receivers secrets and behaviors!

When you get stuck on a certain phrase or subject..do a search/// you will find all you need.

Enjoy

I have read the instruction manual, and I am getting more familiar with it. The only thing I am unsure of is how to get the 5.1 audio to work. When I select Direct Digital as the signal, I hear the audio, but when I change it to Dolby Digital 5.1, I hear no sound. What could be the problem?

nice to hear youre happy with the new component, how much did you get it for? BB had them on clearance. to make room for the new models, or BB is possibly phasing out pioneer models.

I got the receiver for 169 @ Circuit City! It was a great deal in my opinion.

I went into the DVD player setup area, and I selected Dolby Digital and DTS as the output. I still hear no sound when I select DD 5.1 as the "surround mode" and Direct Digital as the signal on the receiver. When I change the "surround mode" to Stero, I do hear the audio.

I don't know what type of DVD player you have, but you must make sure that the DD and DTS outputs are set to 'bitstream' rather than 'PCM' in the DVD player's setup menu.

Also, make sure that you have a toslink or RCA digital cable going from your DVD player to your Receiver's DVD digital input.

Finally, when you're trying to watch a DVD in DD or DTS, make sure that the receiver is either set to Auto-decode, or set it manually to either DD or DTS, depending on the encoding of the movie that you're watching.

Hope this helped somewhat.

I am using digital coax to connect my Pioneer DV-250 to my receiver.

In my player's setup menu, I do not see an option for bitstream. I have set it to DD and DTS, and I have "unchecked" the option marked PCM.