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Pioneer VSX-1020-K vs. Denon AVR-1611

IndyColtsFan

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
I'm still looking at receivers to purchase and had almost settled on the Denon AVR-1611 when I decided to hold off a bit. Well, I'm looking again and the Pioneer VSX-1020-K receiver has entered the discussion. I can get it for about $380. Some questions I have:

1. The Denon has Audyssey MultEQ. Does the Pioneer have an equivalent (still researching and haven't found the answer yet)? How important is this?
2. In your opinion, which brand has the better history or are they fairly equivalent?

Here are some quick specs pulled from Amazon. For the sake of this question, ignore the speakers I will be using. I have some cheap speakers I'll be using but fully intend to upgrade them within the next year to 18 months. If you guys have a recommendation on a decent, low profile center channel speaker that is reasonable, I'll listen to that too. 🙂

Pioneer
Channels: 7.1 surround sound
Power: 110x7 watts
HDMI Specification: v. 1.4, 3D, Deep Color and X.V. Color
HDMI Ports: 6 in (including 1 front in), 1 out
Component Ports: 2 in, 1 out
Audio Codecs Supported: Dolby® TrueHD, Dolby Pro Logic IIz, Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD® Master Audio, DTS® 96/24, DTS Neo:6, DTS Express
Video Modes Supported: 1080p and below
Audio Modes Supported: Multi-zone (7.1, 5.1 + 2)
Digital Formats Supported: JPEG, MP3, WAV, WMA
"Works with iPhone"-certified

Denon
The AVR-1611's 75 watt x 7 channel amplifier section can be configured for 7.1 systems or a 5.1 system with powered second zone
Decodes Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital Surround EX, Dolby Pro Logic IIz, DTS-HD Master Audio
HDMI 1.4a Repeater Inputs (4) and Output (1) support 1080p/24, 3D (All formats), 7.1 Uncompressed Audio, DVD-Audio
Audyssey MultEQ automatic room acoustic measuring and correction system, Dynamic Volume and Dynamic EQ audio processing
iPod/iPhone compatible via optional Denon iPod/iPhone docks. Compressed Audio Enhancer for iPod, MP3 devices and satillite radio

What would you guys do? I'd especially appreciate hearing from owners of each.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Pioneer uses Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration system (MCACC) which works well and people like, it has a better GUI, more inputs and can be networked

its the better of those 2.

I own a Denon my next receiver wont be a Denon
 
Despite the listed ratings, the Denon has a lot more power -- probably around the rated spec with 5 channels driven, while the Pioneer is (from previous similar models) more like 1/3 or 1/4 of its rating (yes, the previous year's model couldn't even hit 30W with 5 channels driven). The Pioneer's room correction is their "regular" MCACC, which is basically an automatic parametric EQ. For time-domain correction comparable to Audyssey you need "Advanced MCACC" which is only on the Elite models. (Pio tries to confuse you by calling their regular MCACC an "advanced" technology.)

Bottom line: only consider Pioneer at their Elite level.
 
Ok, so one vote for Denon and one vote for Pioneer.

Let me ask a different question then. Is there a better receiver under $400 than these two?
 
Thanks Anubis, I will check it out. Amazon shows it for $399. Any other recommended receivers? I had heard before that Onkyo had QA issues (at least I think it was them that I heard that about). Is that a concern with the newer models?
 
Any low profile AV receiver will not have enough room to move the heat even if it is using a form of class-D amplifier. You have to just have to stay away from low profile if you want a good deal. I recommend increase your budget to at least $800 because it will bring in quality and more wattage output.

I recommend buy from authorized dealers or check if you have to for the warranty to work. Buying from an unauthorized dealers will void the warranty, so the repairs is taken for your wallet instead of the brand. For example, newegg.com is not authorized, so you will need to be careful.

To be a smart buyer, check the wattage that can be consumed and then calculate the amount of watts per channel. Next compare AV receiver or power audio amplifiers on the actual wattage output.
 
Personally if it were me and i knew i would be upgrading speakers in a year to 18 months i'd hold off buying a receiver. By the time you buy the speakers next years model will be out which means this years will be cheap. For the time being if you'd needed something i would pick up a cheaper model (like onkyo 308 or something). Then when you go to get the speakers you can see what you really need/want and have more up to date receiver. Then you can just toss the old speakers and receiver in the bedroom 🙂

Just tossing that out there.
 
electroju said:
Any low profile AV receiver will not have enough room to move the heat even if it is using a form of class-D amplifier. You have to just have to stay away from low profile if you want a good deal. I recommend increase your budget to at least $800 because it will bring in quality and more wattage output.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but there is zero chance that I would spend $800 on a receiver given the anticipated usage. Budget is $400 and I might be willing to edge that up to $500 if a $500 unit had some extraordinary feature that I would definitely use.
 
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