Pioneer VSX-517-K Home Theater Receiver (Black)

• 5-Channel receiver featuring Sound Retriever
• Provides equivalent high power to all five channels
• Built-in Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES, Dolby Pro Logic II, and DTS 96/24 decoders
• Front Stage Surround Advance provides flexibility for speaker placement
• Stream Direct for pure and unprocessed digital sound

Has all the "stuff" you need or want to hook up to your home theater. I set it up to my new Toshiba REGZA HDTV and have unbelievable sound for movies and cable shows. Even makes the local news anchors sound good. Takes some time to get familiar with remote and other operational instructions, but worth the investment in time.

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I bought this from Bestbuy for $109 plus tax. This is a very capable receiver for 5:1 channel systems. The speaker setup is quite easy. The FM station setup takes a while to figure out, but who cares about indoor FM music anyway. The sound is good. The electronics should be the same as those cost three three times more. As an electrical engineer, I think to spend more than $200 for a receiver is a waste of money. Today's high end DAC and amplifier costs about $1 per channel. The total cost for the ICs and other components used should not exceed $50 no matter it is 7:1 or 200W system.

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It's pretty frustrating when you go through the complicated process of connecting up a home theater receiver and then find that it doesn't work. The right front channel was weak and distorted. This was the first Pioneer product I've bought so I can't say how common it is but as the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

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The Pioneer VSX-517 was purchased as a gift for my parents, who had recently bought a new 50" hi-def plasma TV. It was the perfect choice for them, since they are somewhat frugal, but yet wanted surround sound to go with their new display. The Pioneer VSX-517 was the perfect solution, with decent power, a clean look, and adequate connections. I would have preferred another optical input, but worked around this by purchasing a toslink to digi-coaxial converter. The remote is probably one of the worst I've used, with many, many tiny buttons that are hard to distinguish from one another. For the price and performance though, this Pioneer receiver does the job.

I purchased this receiver for my home theater system, and have not been disappointed. It took very little time to set up, and sounded great from the get-go. It has a "quick setup" menu which made it very easy to configure. For a very reasonable price, this is an outstanding receiver that delivers great sound. I also bought one for my dad. Highly recommended.