Pioneer 6.1-Channel VSX-D811S $299@BestBuy

[bennysoultrain]

Down $100 right now. Pretty good review on Cnet.

 

[aldamon]

I have one. It rocks. Buy it!

 

[BigSmooth]

This receiver has an amazing feature set for the price, it gets a lot of positive mentions at AVSForum. It has a few down sides to it (specifically, the relatively high THD [distortion]) but a lot of people like it, especially because it's so cheap.

 

[roncarter]

What speakers do you guys have hooked up to this beast

 

[alm99]

N/M

 

[PDS]

How bout this...

Circuity City has it for $399 with $30 GC by mail. I also have a CC coupon for an instant 10% of purchase GC.

So buy it a CC for $399, use coupon, get GC for $40 and mail in for $30 GC. Then pricematch to BB for $100 back. Get it for $300 plus $70 of giftcards.

PDS

 

[mboy]

I luv mine and the THD is a NON issue, NEVER had a problem with it.

 

[aldamon]

I have my 811s hooked up to a JBL NSP-1 package (Four N24s and an N-CENTER) and the kickass $99 DLS 10" Subwoofer from Parts Express.

The decoding features (DD 5.1 / EX and DTS / DTS-ES / ProLogic II) are not the only impressive thing about this receiver. It also has pre-outs for all channels, supports multiple subs, has mounting posts instead of those crappy clips, has a nice learning remote and has plenty of assignable inputs. The only "bad" thing about this receiver is its relatively high crossover of 100. Oh well It's definitely worth a test drive to see if you like the Pioneer sound.

 

[alm99]

Originally posted by: aldamon
I have my 811s hooked up to a JBL NSP-1 package (Four N24s and an N-CENTER) and the kickass $99 DLS 10" Subwoofer from Parts Express.

The decoding features (DD 5.1 / EX and DTS / DTS-ES / ProLogic II) are not the only impressive thing about this receiver. It also has pre-outs for all channels, supports multiple subs, has mounting posts instead of those crappy clips, has a nice learning remote and has plenty of assignable inputs. The only "bad" thing about this receiver is its relatively high crossover of 100. Oh well It's definitely worth a test drive to see if you like the Pioneer sound.

Is that subwoofer really any good? How does it compare to the Sony SA-WM40?

 

[Apex]

Some pretty good info on comparison between DLS and the Sony here:

Home Theater Forum

 

[T2T III]

The THD will only be an issue when pushing the receiver to it's upper extent. For most people, this should never be a problem. $299 for this receiver -- from a local Brick & Mortar store? That's a steal. $299 is an Internet price. Pre-outs? Yeah, baby! Just think of all the potential with an external amplifier down the road.

 

[underdawg]

I bought mine at circuitcity.com to get the MSN 20% Holiday Reward credit and a $30 gift card by mail from circuit city. Then I printed price from bestbuy.com and went back to circuit city to pricematch.

CC price - 110% PM - 20% MSN - gift card = total
399.99 - 110.00 - 60.00 - 30.00 = 199.99 + tax

MSN adjusted the credit to the price after pricematch, so only $60 MSN money.

 

[Tarobap]

I tried to do in-store pricematch on some speakers bought off the online site, and they told me that they can do it, but they have to void the original order and re-ring the PM . . . which would have voided my MSN dollars . . . so underdawg, how did your transaction take place?

And I have Polk Audio speakers . . . two 800i's, some satelites, and a PSW450 sub . . . anybody know if this receiver will be able to drive them well? Thanks . . .

 

[underdawg]

I did in-store pick-up and they let me pricematch it with original receipt from the in-store pickup.

 

[cremefilled]

Agreed -- preamp out on all channels is absolutely amazing at that price. That's an option that you hope to find (but all too rarely do) in $1,000 and up receivers.

 

[mboy]

Do not forget about Component video switch for you progressive scan/HDTv guys out there. That is the main reason I bought this and sold my Old H/K AVR

 

[NuKe9]

Originally posted by: alm99

Originally posted by: aldamon
I have my 811s hooked up to a JBL NSP-1 package (Four N24s and an N-CENTER) and the kickass $99 DLS 10" Subwoofer from Parts Express.

The decoding features (DD 5.1 / EX and DTS / DTS-ES / ProLogic II) are not the only impressive thing about this receiver. It also has pre-outs for all channels, supports multiple subs, has mounting posts instead of those crappy clips, has a nice learning remote and has plenty of assignable inputs. The only "bad" thing about this receiver is its relatively high crossover of 100. Oh well It's definitely worth a test drive to see if you like the Pioneer sound.

Is that subwoofer really any good? How does it compare to the Sony SA-WM40?

I'm curious about this as well, too good to be true?

 

[Hummercash]

Originally posted by: underdawg
I bought mine at circuitcity.com to get the MSN 20% Holiday Reward credit and a $30 gift card by mail from circuit city. Then I printed price from bestbuy.com and went back to circuit city to pricematch.

CC price - 110% PM - 20% MSN - gift card = total
399.99 - 110.00 - 60.00 - 30.00 = 199.99 + tax

MSN adjusted the credit to the price after pricematch, so only $60 MSN money.

well damn, my friend and i just got back from getting the same thing but without the MSN rewards... might have to return it and redo this to get the xtra $60.


.//chris

 

[Murse]

Just did this deal...thanks for the heads up. I bought it online for store pickup. Picked it up, did some other shopping for about an hour, then came back with the printout from Bestbuy.com. The mgr. checked their website and confirmed. They did the pricematch refund off the original order. You might have to pick it up, then return for the price match to make sure they use the online order and don't ring it up on a new one.

Been looking for a receiver with these specs and expected to pay $5-600. This one doesn't have all the bells and whistles, like onscreen display, but I can trade that off for the great price. I'll put the extra money toward better speakers and some good cables.

 

[777php]

I have this receiver also and I have no complaints. I have Wharfedale Vivendi Modus satellites hooked up to them with a Wharfedale Powercube.

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: NuKe9

Originally posted by: alm99

Originally posted by: aldamon
I have my 811s hooked up to a JBL NSP-1 package (Four N24s and an N-CENTER) and the kickass $99 DLS 10" Subwoofer from Parts Express.

The decoding features (DD 5.1 / EX and DTS / DTS-ES / ProLogic II) are not the only impressive thing about this receiver. It also has pre-outs for all channels, supports multiple subs, has mounting posts instead of those crappy clips, has a nice learning remote and has plenty of assignable inputs. The only "bad" thing about this receiver is its relatively high crossover of 100. Oh well It's definitely worth a test drive to see if you like the Pioneer sound.

Is that subwoofer really any good? How does it compare to the Sony SA-WM40?

I'm curious about this as well, too good to be true?

From what I've read, the 10" DLS subwoofer is *better* than the Sony SA-WM40.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: bigsmooth
This receiver has an amazing feature set for the price, it gets a lot of positive mentions at AVSForum. It has a few down sides to it (specifically, the relatively high THD [distortion]) but a lot of people like it, especially because it's so cheap.

I just checked out a review at CNet. A negative is that it doesn't have a phono input. I admit I don't use my TT often, and I do have a receiver with TT input. Still it's a feature I'd like in a receiver. Is there a place you can go to find out how good the FM tuner section is? My current receiver's FM sucks.

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: bigsmooth
This receiver has an amazing feature set for the price, it gets a lot of positive mentions at AVSForum. It has a few down sides to it (specifically, the relatively high THD [distortion]) but a lot of people like it, especially because it's so cheap.

I just checked out a review at CNet. A negative is that it doesn't have a phono input. I admit I don't use my TT often, and I do have a receiver with TT input. Still it's a feature I'd like in a receiver. Is there a place you can go to find out how good the FM tuner section is? My current receiver's FM sucks.

What's a turntable? (j/k ) - I'm not aware of any sites that break down the FM sections and review them. In my experience, the tuning is only as good as source that's feeding it. Using the simple "T" antenna that gets supplied with a receiver is a joke. Purchasing something that's amplified and can pull in better signals is certainly what's needed. Given the fact that Pioneer developed the "SuperTuner" feature for improved tuner performance in their car stereo line, one would hope that some of this technology was shared with their home receiver market.

 

[Thump553]

Its too bad the sites don't review the FM tuner portions better. Without a doubt, the FM portion of nearly all modern receivers is substantially worse than those manufactured 10-20 years ago. This is one area the manufacturers now cut costs, precisely because its non-sexy "old" technology that gets little interest in reviews. I think most people use the FM portion of their receiver quite a bit (I know we do).

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: wje

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: bigsmooth
This receiver has an amazing feature set for the price, it gets a lot of positive mentions at AVSForum. It has a few down sides to it (specifically, the relatively high THD [distortion]) but a lot of people like it, especially because it's so cheap.

I just checked out a review at CNet. A negative is that it doesn't have a phono input. I admit I don't use my TT often, and I do have a receiver with TT input. Still it's a feature I'd like in a receiver. Is there a place you can go to find out how good the FM tuner section is? My current receiver's FM sucks.

What's a turntable? (j/k ) - I'm not aware of any sites that break down the FM sections and review them. In my experience, the tuning is only as good as source that's feeding it. Using the simple "T" antenna that gets supplied with a receiver is a joke. Purchasing something that's amplified and can pull in better signals is certainly what's needed. Given the fact that Pioneer developed the "SuperTuner" feature for improved tuner performance in their car stereo line, one would hope that some of this technology was shared with their home receiver market.

I have a pretty nice ($400) TT but it's gotten VERY spare use. I have an amplified antenna (Terk, $80), and I somehow talked myself into believing it was doing the job and didn't return it to Circuit City, but I should have. It's a joke, even compared to a T antenna (properly used). In my experience, even some T antennas are more effective than others, very much so. I don't know why, but my car radios do a hell of a lot better than anything I have in the house. It's weird. Well, I don't have anything in the house that wouldn't be considered low end, so that's why, I figure. An electronics engineer I know who specializes in the audio side of things tells me that adequate FM chips have been pretty standard fare in receivers for decades now, but I'm skeptical about my cheapo stuff.