New member and newbie receiver recommendations

[BESLC]

First off..it is a great site I am happy I found. I am in the process of doing a total make over of my HT. I just purchased a new HT speaker system from Aperion (4 5T's speakers , 5C center and 8D sub), I am now looking at upgrading my current receiver which is a Pioneer VSX-1018AHK to something that will compliment my speakers and video needs.

I would appreciate your help in making a receiver decision. I am limited in the height of what receiver I can buy by the stand my TV and components are in to max 7" (width and depth not an issue). I also am hoping to locate a receiver which is user friendly for setup and has the most desirable features for current and future needs. I would say that system use is broken down to 60% movies and 40% music.

The receivers I have found which would work height wise are the following. Pioneer VSX 21THX, Pioneer 23THX. Denon 3310 and Denon 4310. In terms of features on these, I honestly don't have a clue as to what I should be considering and which reciever would be the best. I know the Pioneer's are less money than the Deon's, I understand price is not always an indication of value. You advise and comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

This past August, I upgraded from a Pioneer VSX-1015 to the Elite VSX-23, and I've been happy with it. The remote isn't as nice as the one on the 1015, but the features are great. I don't use the internal amps, though, so I can't speak to those. My friend recently purchased a VSX-21 and wrote up a review on it here. He likes it.

What is it that you feel is missing from the VSX-1018? In terms of looks and features, I think it's pretty similar to the VSX-21 and VSX-23. The pre-amp outputs let you add external amps if you feel those are needed for your speakers, and it has HDMI. I think that this year's VSX-1019 is a step down from your receiver.

 

[BESLC]

I was told I may want to consider upgrading my receiver is really the only reason I have considered looking at something newer. From a purely newbie perspective, my Pioneer VSX 1018 seems to provide good sound, delivers video from my Blu-ray and games just fine. I know it doesn't have a lot of the fine tuning some others may,I know I don't come close to understanding all of the adjustments one could make. I know how to calibrate my speakers and where to find settings for speakers and crossover adjustment, beyond that I am lost.

I did look at the 1019, and did note that it is a step down from the 1018, especially in weight.

Perhaps my question should be, what would I gain by upgrading and should I ?

 

[Adam]

Perhaps my question should be, what would I gain by upgrading and should I ?

IMO, if you are happy with your system and your receiver, then I'd say don't upgrade. Your receiver is only about a year old, right? It's a nice receiver. Pioneer's 1000-series receivers (until this year) were pretty much the lower end Elites without some of the bells and whistles. If your 1018 has the features that you want right now, and you're happy with the sound quality, then keep it. You can always upgrade later on when you want some new features.

I love the MCACC auto setup routine. The system on the VSX-23 was a bit more sophisticated than the one on my 1015, but I think that's just due to changes over time and not because I bought an Elite (so you might already have that same version in your 1018). I really like how the equalizer makes my system sound.