Pioneer VSX-816-K/S
June 6th, 2006 | by Rebecca Day
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Average user rating from 5 users |
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by Latex on Jun 17th, 2008 at 4:05 PM:
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Good reciever.
by Brendan Whalen on May 15th, 2007 at 8:45 AM:
All in all it seems to be a great reciever. A little clunky to get used to at first. I had a previous Pinoeer Home Theatre in a box, and the Sub from that won't connect to this receiver. Nowhere for POS and NEG wires for a sub. Very dissapointing.
Decent Sound - Finally!
by Ean on Apr 15th, 2007 at 4:32 PM:
I've returned two receivers in the past 3 days because the other two were udder crap.
The Pioneer VSX-816 is finally a unit worthy of my time.
I've read the previous review and I think the author hits on the awful truth of buying a receiver these days.
Audio manufacturers have become incredibly unscrupulous when rating wattage outputs. As well, most receivers come set up with the front channels crossed over to allow only 1000Hz and above these days. Selecting anything else requires going into menus and turning off the subwoofer. Even then some units sound like they only push maybe 20 watts. I could have bought a $40 stereo if I wanted that kind of sound.
When consumers put their hard earned cash into a receiver they expect something more than a garbage unit.
This unit is not garbage, and this is where my opinion differs with the previous reviewer.
The 100W sound is as advertised and if you do not use a sub woofer it turns off the crossover.
I have fair bass response from my SONY SS-C260AV front speakers and Kenwood satellites.
My SONY front speakers are rated for twice the wattage this unit puts out and the sound effect is still warm and perfect for music or movie listening.
The dialog setting is an especially attractive feature for me. I hate it when you're listening to a movie and you can barely hear the dialog but the explosion that happens a second later shatters windows in your house.
I don't know why surround sound encodes dialog in such an obviously ludicrous way, but to each their own I suppose. Maybe the audiophiles who create this stuff actually want their house to fall down when something loud happens but for dialog to sound like a whisper. To me that's just stupidly exaggerated dynamic range.
All in all I give this unit top marks and I look forward to enjoying this unit for a significant portion of the rest of my life.
My last receiver lasted me 7 years before I wanted to upgrade to digital inputs...
No Bass and little to no sound control
by Gman on Feb 24th, 2007 at 1:23 AM:
I own the Pioneer VSX-816, and I have to say that it lacks power in bass. Without a sub, an amp should be able to compensate through the other 5-7 speakers. I have owned many amps including Sony and Dennon; I am afraid to say the part numbers because my review may not get published if I do.
The Pioneer VSX-816 has too many highs. I have to turn down the highs, but the levels only go from 0 to 6. 6?! Why not 10? The speaker channels go from 0 to 10, so why not the treble and bass? I am very displeased with the sound in certain movies as well. The voices and sound dynamic is so different from one scene to the next that I find myself turning the volume down at loud parts and turning up to hear the voices. I tried to turn the center up more than the rest of the speakers, but it does not balance it out.
I find myself setting my movies to Dolby Digital instead of my favorite: DTS because the sound is less dynamic in Dolby Digital mode because the bandwidth is less than DTS. It is frustrating.
Movies actually sound better in stereo mode.
I have to say that if I were to buy this amp all over again, I would buy a different brand.
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not a boombox
by Blaine on Jul 13th, 2008 at 6:43 PM: