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OCT15OCT17
Looks like a really good price for a 7.2 Channel Receiver.
VSX-935 is $829.17 with eBay Plus: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/256176656985
Pioneer VSX-834 7.2ch AV Receiver $577.15 Delivered ($563.57 with eBay Plus) @ CHT Solutions eBay
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Pioneer are still good.. this one ..well at this price sounds a bit too good to be true even without looking at the specs ..a 7.2 for sub 600 dollars sounds to good to be true
No. It is a travesty what is happening.
Unfortunately most of the major home theatre brands have been bought by one company. Pioneer, Onkyo, Marantz and Denon are all owned by Sound United, also owned by Massimo who owns a bunch of other audio brands. Quality has taken a dive on all of these since, with build quality and the actual sound produced taking steps back (specs on paper make it look like they are evolving though).
I am a long time Pioneer user. I am still loving my older Pioneer receiver, which recently got a new lease of life thanks to a $40 nifty eARC extractor that really is the only thing I need to push sound to my receiver.
Yamaha is the only brand that Sound United hasn't bought. This will likely be my next purchase, though I am very happy with my setup since I bought the extractor.
I sort of agree and sort of disagree. I do believe that the current crop of mid to lower range receivers are not as good quality wise as their peers from 20 years ago, but todays receivers offer way more features and connectivity.
Again, just my 2 cents, but I think an older receiver like a H&K or Marantz, Denon etc are probably better built and might sound better in stereo with music than the current crop. But they definitely do not sound better in a home theatre environment.
I have had in the past lower high end gear, and while it was good for then, my current budget setup is absolutely better with movies etc. Eg, my current system cost me less than the receiver I had in the early 2000's and it sounds great. My speakers are probably not as nice as the ones I had back then but they sound good to me. The current sub though is way better. Who would have thought that 20 years later a lowly REL HT1003 would destroy a 2 x 8inch sub the size of a coffee table.
The advent of Atmos and DTS.X though, really is a game changer. Although I prefer to set up my system manually, the room correction software these days makes it way easier for just about anyone to have a balanced and good sounding system. Again, another game changer.
In another life, many years ago, I worked for a bit in the audio industry and I think the biggest improvements since then have been with AV receivers, budget speakers and subwoofers. One important factor that a lot of people don't know, or are unaware of, is that the receiver itself has the least impact on the overall sound quality. The speakers themselves are the most important factor. And this includes the sub.
Find speakers you like the sound of, a decent subwoofer and just about any AV receiver will work well. One thing I learnt from my time in the audio industry was the diminishing gains from spending more money. Twice the spend will likely gain you a 10- 20% improvement, double that again and it's another 5-10%. You could literally go broke trying to chase perfection, lol.
So I guess what I am saying is, focus on the speakers and sub first, and buy a receiver that has the feature you want and is within your budget. And know that it will do the job more than adequately.
Like you I agree and disagree with parts of your post.
I agree, the setup of configuration using the tools now are amazing. Dirac is a game changer, however not available on even the mid-end pioneers. This would be one of the only reasons i would currently want to upgrade. I've listened to systems configured as standard and with Dirac and it's miles ahead of MCACC.
So I disagree on the bottom end to mid tier comment. I would say, the lowest version receiver with Dirac is what you would want to start at. Which currently, in the pioneer world, is only available in the LX (premium) range I think, possibly the top end of the non LX range.
Re Atmos, unless you install proper roof mounted speakers for Atmos, which I have no intention in the short term of doing (and I'd guess the majority of people would not), I don't see the point. The upward firing speakers that sit on top of the fronts and are supposed to bounce off the roof and back to your sitting position just don't work as well as the associated marketing from speaker companies would suggest (don't even get me started on Atmos soundbars). They need to be perfectly aligned to where you are sitting, and that means physically moving the speakers to ensure the upward firing speakers are positioned to your lounge. Practically this is difficult. Even if you happen to get it right, the benefit of Atmos is hardly like an enormous jump. Improvement is nominal at best, felt in various scenes with aircraft etc overhead. Atmos is the very last thing I would recommend investing in. The cost to benefit ratio (when doing Atmos properly) just isn't worth it. Bringing us to the other part do your post, speakers and sub are very important. A good high power centre speaker, and two good fronts, and a decent sub are worth spending money on, like you say. They make a much much bigger impact to anything else.
DTS X is something that I do wish I had, as that works much better with existing speakers. But you kind of need Dirac to get the best out of this.
My old receiver does DTS HD, DD HD and DD Plus, the latter is what most streaming services use. With my eARC extractor box (I know I keep going on about it but it's amazing, really) means I get everything, except for Atmos and DTS X.
Re sound quality, I would bet my receiver would sound better than even the top tier pioneer. And louder. (And probably last longer, even from now).
@b2dz: Yes Dirac is something I would like to have a play with but I don't have the space in my room to have rear Atmos speakers so I cant really justify spending another $2k to buy a receiver that has it. If I did I would probably go with an Onyo NR7100 or RZ50 as they are reasonably priced, especially when on sale.
Definitely the lower end receivers correction software isn't the best. I found the Pioneer one in the next receiver down from the one above to have very little effect and got the distances ad crossovers wrong. Same with the Onkyo I now have which is why I just set them up manually using an SPL meter and and a laser measure. But as you say Dirac is supposed to be fantastic.
I have not actually ever heard those upfiring speakers and its not something that I think I would ever consider. I am running a basic 5.1.2 setup with the .2 setup as heights. I have the same speakers as fronts, rears and heights mounted just below the ceiling in the front, all crossed over at the came frequency and it works quite well. Initially I had smaller speakers as heights and I found it a bit underwhelming but changing the heights to match the rest made quite a difference.
After now having had DTS.X and Atmos for over 18 months now I don't think I could ever be happy with just a 5.1 again. There is quite a lot more info going to the height speakers than just the odd effects, there is quite a lot of ambient and more subtle sounds that you really don't notice til its not there. As in switching from DTS.X or Atmos back to 5.1. The sound field just collapses.
I can only imagine that a full 5.1.4 is going to be even better but as I said earlier, I dont have the room layout for it. Just need that lotto win, lol.
You are probably correct in saying that your receiver would sound better in a direct comparison in stereo or 5.1 though. A friend of mine has my old Harmon Kardon from about 2010 and it still works perfectly and sounds great. I had it setup with some B&W DM601 S3 and I always thought this is about as good as it gets for that budget..And it will most likely outlive my current receiver as well.
Anyhow I am happy with what I have now. I am old and have damaged hearing, so I probably can't hear the more subtle differences these days anyway, lol.
looking at the rear panels its not network connected…. so basic unit
are these any good for multi-zone audio? need 3 zones
Don't buy a receiver if your use is more music listening than watching movies. Buy a decent integrated amplifier for music. Receiver can be bought used from market place as an alternative.
Except you will then miss out on modern technologies like Atmos.
I read a review on Amazon that don't connect this unit directly with blue ray players as it can get choppy.
Does this unit support 4k natively? For movies and gamingI have the Onkyo equivalent of this, SR494 and no issues with the 4K blu ray player.They are pretty much the same unit, just different branding and slightly different dimensions.
Also have a 4K Chromecast connected and have had an Apple tv hooked up with no issues at all.
Prior to the Onkyo I had the next model down Pioneer and no issues with it either.
The full specs are on the sellers website. https://www.customht.com.au/products/pioneer-vsx-834-7-2ch-a…
Hope this helps.
Thanks mate. Very insightful.
The 834 specs says Ultra HD Upscaling (1080p to 4K), is this a concern?No worries, happy to be able to help out.
The upscaling means it will upscale a lower resolution up to 4K. Most receivers, 4K blu ray players and a lot of tv's do this too. To my knowledge it doesn't affect a 4k signal.
In practice I find it works pretty well.
@sol3x: Yes. Except the 935 should be better as it has 8k and a higher refresh rate at 4k. I believe this is much better for gaming. I cant say from experience though as I have never used one nor do I have a PS5/ XBOX.
Are pioneer AV receivers still as good as those of the old days? Thinking of either getting a pioneer or yamaha