Pioneer VSX 84TXSi 7.1 channel Receiver

This Pioneer is a great bang-for-the-buck. In shopping, the only other models that were close contenders were the wallet-shrinking Denon AVR and the Onkyo TX. The Yamaha RX was a close price match but lacked many features available on this unit. This Pioneer rocks! In my home theater application, it powers an entire Klipsch 7.1 surround built-in theater speaker system. The sound is awesome and I have yet to turn up the volume so loud as to put the amp into clipping mode--it makes more power than is necessary for my 24' x 26' theater room. As a video controller, it processes all video inputs and sends them out over a single cable to the ceiling projector. When paired with a Logitech programable remote, pressing a single button such as "watch tv", "watch DVD", listen to music, etc--instantly turns on all necessary components and automatically switches the source on the receiver--so simple. Another factor that has to be considered is the "learning curve". This unit is almost ready out-of-the-box. Just plug it in and it will auto-adjust the speakers. The learning curve for the Denon is quite a bit different (it will work out of the box, but to utilize all of the features you pay for, requires it to be hooked up to a laptop and be programed.

I gave it an excellent rating--Overall it is an excellent receiver. This is especially true when you compare features and cost. This receiver has features only available on other receivers costing twice as much. Ease of operating is a must as well--I fiddle with electronic gizmos on a daily basis--however, the "acid test" is if my live-in mother-in-law can easily turn on and operate--If she can operate it I am fairly certain users that are not tech-savy will not have any problems with it. Pioneer hits a home run.

UPDATE 13 JAN 09

After having used this receiver for quite some time, it still is meeting all of my expectations. It has functionally performed great. It has since been relocated from my home theater (replaced by another Pioneer Elite receiver, VSX-94THX). It now resides in my master bedroom powering a 7 channel surround system for my 47" Toshiba Regza. The reason for the relocation had nothing to do with the system's performance as it has been awesome. In the theater, I wanted a receiver that had a few more bells and whisles. I have several legacy pieces of equipment that are not digital (VCR, Cassettes, Karaoke, etc that I just can't seem to get rid of) and desired upconversion and only having a single HDMI connection running to the overhead projector. The 94 Pioneer fit the bill with upconversion and multiroom capability. (I will write a review on it later).

It's a great receiver that is the flagship from Pioneer with all the bells and whistles. It was also a great bargain over the retail stores. It has all the connections I need including HDMI that I have switched to.
The only thing I dislike is it don't carry the new HDMI 1.3 format for improved color and higher resolution and it also allows the audio and video signal to be synchronized to external HDMI devices.
Over all it's a great receiver. I have owned four Pioneer receivers in the past and had no problems at all.

This reciever gives you more bang for your buck than any thing out there. 4 hdmi's in with one out ,faquia upconversion,on screen display,lots of THX modes,plus all the other modes and it has a speaker calibration system that really simplifies instalation.I have it hooked up to bose cube speakers and powered sub.The sound is very clean outstanding sound. This reciever gets great reviews google the model number lots of stuff to give more info.I researched this reciever for nearly three months before I settled on this model.If bought on line or wholsale the 2 year manufacture warranty does not apply so you must get a reputable non pioneer warranty company.It is a very hot Item they are hard to find most stores or on line have them backordered.

Great sound, tons of connections (especially HD with 4 HDMI inputs and several component). Can upconvert video signal from any source to 1080i through the HDMI output (would be even better if it could upconvert to 1080p and upgrade via firmware to HDMI version 1.3).

Absolute monster, clean power and connectivity, could use more hdmi inputs but by far the most features for the money.

After doing extensive research on several different makers and models of receivers I decided to stick with a brand I respected as well as that matched what I already use. My plasma is Pioneer as well as a few other audio components so I knew it would all "play well" with each other. Well, the VSX 84TXSi is a beautiful receiver both in appearance and sound quality. It has a room tuning mic that makes set up a breeze and also comes complete with THX processing, multi room capability, ipod integration and HDMI. My only con is that the video display unit must be HDMI ready in order to use the input output HDMI on the receiver. In other words you cannot hook up a component to the receiver using HDMI and then use anything other than HDMI to output the signal. This was the case with my older Pioneer plasma display. Other than that this is one excellent center processing unit.

I have been a big fan of Pioneer's home & car products for years. This is my second Elite receiver. I purchased it because it has 4 HDMI inputs & many other connection options. I have not calibrated it yet, but what I have heard from it so far is very impressive. With 140 watts per channel, it has plenty of power. My other Elite receiver is almost 11 years old & still works flawlessly. If you are looking for reliability, Pioneer is the way to go.

The MACC auto acoustic calibration is a wonderful feature, as well as the ipod integration feature. This receiver has more power than any other receiver on the market (140 watts x 7 channels = 980 total watts!). It also has a superior sound to any receivers made by Onkyo, Sony, Harman Kardon and even Yamaha. If you want the best sounding receiver with all of the bells and whistles, this is the only receiver you should be looking at.

I BOUGHT THIS RECEIVER BECAUSE OF THE I-POD CONNECTION AND THE 7 CHANNELS THAT OFFERS AS WELL AS 4 HDMI