Pioneer VSX-D514-S Home Cinema AV Receiver
Whilst trialing some AV equipment recently I got a chance to test one of Pioneer's entry level AV receivers, the Pioneer VSX-D514-S Home Cinema AV Receiver. It always amazes me how Far Eastern manufacturers manage to cram so much functionality and features into one package for a sub £200 price tag. In fact this model has just been superseded by the Pioneer VSX-D515-S Home Cinema AV Receiver, so shop around and you could pick one up for around £100-£120.
So what do you get for your money - well pretty much everything you could want. The only thing I found missing was a dedicated pre-amp out in case you wanted to upgrade but most people will be pretty satisfied with what they get.
The Pioneer VSX-D514-S boasts 5.1 output, 3 digital inputs (1 optical, the other two programmable), AC3, DTS, a multiude of surround modes, Am/FM tuner and a generous 80 watts per channel not to mention fairly heavy duty binding posts at the rear.
Initial sound quality testings were quite impressive, bass was good, treble was good, not to harsh and the mid range and stereo imagery were not too bad between the front speakers although no where near true audiophile quality, it was perfectly acceptable for the price tag. The main criticism of the cheaper home receivers is that they tend to be a little bass light, lacking weight and authority although I did not find this one too bad. The analogue output section also features a tone control bypass facility which is a nice touch if you wish to use the receiver for two channel sources as well.
The receiver was very straight forward to set up and configure and the fully featured remote control makes it a joy to live with.
To sum up I was very impressed with the Pioneer VSX-D514-S Home Cinema AV Receiver, and I can see why these types of products at the sub £200 mark are so popular with customers because you really get a lot for your money. if you are not bothered about true audiophile sound quality and have a limited budget, I can whole heartledly recommend this product.
More details can be found at Pioneer's Website
This entry was posted on Wednesday February 15th, 2006 at 12:12 AM and is filed under Amplifiers, Home Cinema. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
Leave a Reply
Hi-Fi-Insight News and Reviews
