Pioneer VSX-520-K Receiver First Look

[admin]

Pioneer seems to be pushing the envelope of what we can expect in an entry-level receiver. We really think they have cut the right corners with the Pioneer VSX-520-K. As an entry level receiver goes, this one has a lot of expandability. You can add surround back/height channels, Bluetooth control, and it is ready for 3D. For $229, this may be the new defacto standard for budget receivers.


Discuss "Pioneer VSX-520-K Receiver First Look" here. Read the article.

[Seth=L]

It appears that Pioneer chose to have Sherwood produce the OEM platform again. Some noticeable changes are the removal of the Sirus radio capability and Zone 2, which are things I'd chance most people could care less about having on street price $200-300 receivers. They lost the 6 channel input as well, but this is an HDMI driven market, chances are you aren't going to want to get a receiver in this price range to listen to SACDs or DVD-Audio on your nice speakers. I wish they'd bring back preouts to the 800 series, was such a nice feature to have and it hardly costs that much to put it on there, and just look at all that extra room. They could even gack a few analog inputs if they needed to save those pennies to put preouts on there. I'm cheap, I'll buy a switcher if I need extra inputs, however now most of my sources are HDMI so I might not need the switcher anyway

[Alex2507]

Here we go again with Tom reviewing the budget stuff. Can't wait for Gene to break out the review of the new separates that require a small nuclear reactor to fire up the speakers that can reproduce the shot heard around the world.

It's cool that they are putting this stuff out on the market because it brings in people that would otherwise never get in ... the more, the merrier.

[anamorphic96]

The 1120-k looks to be interesting. I'm curious to see what kind of street prices we will see with this model after its been out for awhile. Scan down the page and the entire new line is shown.

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-11.../dp/B0039XQQXA

[Seth=L]

The 1120-k looks to be interesting. I'm curious to see what kind of street prices we will see with this model after its been out for awhile. Scan down the page and the entire new line is shown.

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-11.../dp/B0039XQQXA

Nice!

[anamorphic96]

The only thing that scares me about this model is the 245 watt power consumption. I'm not very optimistic about its amp section. But at least it has pre-outs.

[Patrick_Wolf]

I'm sure they lie about the wattage, but budgest receivers are meant for budget people and budget setups. People who probably don't have a big enough room for a big screen and thus won't sit very far away from the speakers. Meaning you don't need gobs of power to achieve a desirable volume. It would also be assumed these same people won't be buying expensive power hungry floorstanders, but reasonably efficient bookshelves or even satellites instead. Prime example: me.

People with bigger homes, bigger displays, bigger everything generally aren't budget people who shouldn't even be looking at budget AVR's, let alone criticizing them. At least Pioneer is taking the initiative to satisfy the budget audio enthusiast by cutting the right corners and providing quality products with the most critical features for audio enjoyment.

[bellevegasj]

The iPhone app is pure win! Kudos to Pioneer for doing the obvious. I just checked the iPhone store and didn't see an app for them.

I'm excited to see the 1.4 hdmi ports as well. A friend sent me a link for Batman Asylum 3D to be released 5/11.

P.S., loved the podcast with Dave from Pioneer, Tom. Thanks!

[anamorphic96]

I'm sure they lie about the wattage, but budgest receivers are meant for budget people and budget setups. People who probably don't have a big enough room for a big screen and thus won't sit very far away from the speakers. Meaning you don't need gobs of power to achieve a desirable volume. It would also be assumed these same people won't be buying expensive power hungry floorstanders, but reasonably efficient bookshelves or even satellites instead. Prime example: me.

People with bigger homes, bigger displays, bigger everything generally aren't budget people who shouldn't even be looking at budget AVR's, let alone criticizing them. At least Pioneer is taking the initiative to satisfy the budget audio enthusiast by cutting the right corners and providing quality products with the most critical features for audio enjoyment.

I agree with you to some extent. But the model I'm talking about retails for 750. So I would expect more from these models.

[Kai]

Listened to Tom Andry's AVRant podcast interview with the person from Pioneer yesterday. Great job and some exciting new receivers and features.
Pioneer seems to have leapt ahead of their competition with this line of new receivers.