Opinions? Pioneer A/V Receiver: VSX-D509S for $179.99? (1 Viewer)

[David Lambert]

link to Pioneer's web page about this unit
Marketing Text:
Thunder overhead. The man behind you in the alley. A snake in the water, to your left. All of these sounds were placed there by a movie's director, and the VSX-509S faithfully reproduces them in great detail. It also features a learning remote and S-video inputs, plus Midnight Mode, which decreases sound levels system-wide when you don't want your movie to disturb others.

• Dolby Digital / dts Decoder
• 100 Watts x 5
• 5.1 Channel Inputs
• 6+4 DSP Modes
• Pre-Out: Subwoofer + Center
• Expanded Theater
• Midnight Mode
• A/V Inputs: 4A/4V
• Digital Inputs: 3 (1C/2O)
• S-Video Inputs: 4 In/2 Out
• AV Preset/Learning Remote
• Speaker A/B: Independent
• AV Front Inputs

Today (Sunday Jan. 20th) is the last day of a CostCo deal to use a $20-off manufacturer's coupon that they (CostCo) is distributing in one of their member booklets (it's in a booklet, not on a one-page flyer like they hand you at the door). This brings the everyday CostCo price down from $199.99 to a mere $179.99 (check this link, at least on 1/20th). That's a hell of a price on an item MRSPing for $435!!!
I'm definately gonna run by there today and buy it, and maybe some speakers to go with it. The speakers are another matter, as I won't have a chance to install them anytime too soon and I haven't researched THEM at all, and there's no sale price to expire. So I might wait on the speakers, I dunno. Nothing will be installed too soon, as I'll need help in the attic for putting drops down the walls to where the speakers will mount.
So, even if you don't see this until after the sale is off, it will still be boxed and I can still return it if I get feedback that tells me not to mess with this for some reason.
Everything looks awesome about it, though...I can't for the life of me find a better A/V Receiver for the price. You should keep in mind that I've never owned a proper receiver before, not even an audio-only one. I have researched them via the net, books, and magazines as far as "asking the proper questions". The answers seem to point to this puppy for the money, and I know Pioneer is a great brand (though I tend toward the Panasonic brand, but I can make an exception for this! ).
Please let me know what y'all think! Thank you,

 

[Marc S Kessler]

Can't hurt to try it out. Costco has a good return policy. Definitely sounds like good deal though!

 

[Len Cheong]

David, that sounds like a great price. I got a d850s with an added 6th channel of amplification and DTS ES/DDEX capability, though not THX certified. This set me back $250. I've been happy with it except for a terrible remote.

 

[Kevin Peak]

David,

I have the 608, which is the same receiver from the year before, but with a different badge. I felt it was a good choice for an entry mid-fi reciever, and you would be hard pressed to find one you'd be happier with for that price. Good luck.

Also, the MSRP MAY be $435, but that's the nature of retail. Noone ever intended to sell it for that price, low end gear is often given way inflated MSRP's just so that retail chains *cough* Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. *cough* can 'discount' them down to $250 and you think you are getting a deal. You probably already realize this, I just didn't want you to expect $450 worth of quality out of the reciever.

 

[David Lambert]

Kevin, with 13 years of Retail under my belt (10 of them as store manager in two states), I definately know what you mean about how SRP's are handled.

My thanks to each of you for the feedback. Keep it coming! As I stated I would, I ran out and bought the receiver to give it a test run myself. I'll decide whether or not I'm keeping it. But your comments are important to me, so please bring them on! Thanks,

 

[David Susilo]

Somewhat off topic, but Pioneer is about to release 411 (if I'm not mistaken) this coming summer with DPL2 and DTS:NEO capability for around $200 street.

 

[David Lambert]

Ooh...what do those features bring to the party? I can't say I've heard of those terms before.

 

[David Susilo]

DPL2 is a more advanced DPL to interpolate 5.1 sound from any 2.0 source, say when you're watching Buffy (hey, I like the show). DTS:NEO is similar to DPL2 but I personally think that the interpolation is less succesful.
for more info about DPL2, you can go to The Dolby Site

 

[David Lambert]

Thanks! I'll look into it. However, I'm not sure how interested in that I'm gonna be...I'll have to think about it. Hard.

I'm really into Original Theater Presentation. So, if 2.0 is how it showed in the cinema, I'm not sure I want an AI chip to attempt to figure out where in a 5.1 setup a particular sound is supposed to belong. I might end up waiting six months for a feature I'll never use.

In fact, when a show is remixed to 5.1, I tend to be upset if the original version of the soundtrack isn't included as an option on the disc. Superman is a good example of that; I haven't heard the 5.1 mix, but the feedback indicates that most folks would be happier with the original version!

Thanks for the info...food for thought, anyway.

 

[Kyle W]

I bought this receiver at Costco last week, and hooked it up for my parents' house this past weekend.

Overall I'm pleased with its performance, plays cleanly and loudly, especially for a sub-$200 receiver. Has all the goodies like DD/DTS/DPL and some DSP surround options.

What amazed me were the connection options this thing has. Especially digital. Two Toslink inputs for multiple digital components and a coax input if one of them is doesn't support Toslink (like the Time Warner Cable box). Lots of S-Video switching too, and screw down posts for the fronts and center speakers.

What I didn't like was the relatively small display that became completely unreadable from my retired parents' viewing position. Remote was also not the best laid out, but it is much better than that of the VSX 509's replacement, the VSX-510. If your looking for a workhorse HT receiver on the cheap, this is your buy.

Beware, many of the boxes on the pallet showed some surface damage, including a deep puncture in the one I first went to purchase. Look it over carefully!

BTW, I was also intrigued by the $99 Acoustic Research SP108 8" powered sub they had next to the Pioneer. I can't find it online for lest than $160. Anyone has this sub?

 

[Brian Kleinke]

I owned a pioneer 509-S before my Sony ES 9000 T/N combo and For the money it was very nice (I paid about $300 for mine ~2-3 yrs ago) now it is powering a friends system One of the best features of this reciever is the remote, it is a full learning remote that I used to control my whole system before I got a pronto.
It doesn't hold a candle to the Sony ES Pre/Pro and Amp (big shock) but it has plenty of nice features for the $ including a plethora of inputs and nice L/C/R speaker binding posts.
Hope your Parents enjoy it!

 

[Seth T]

Keep it Dave...you can't beat it for the price. Bought my dad one last year, and it's doing great. Friend of mine bought one, and Dinosaurs sounded killer on it. Two people from here went and snagged it on the deal too.