Product description

Pioneer VSX-1017AV - 7.1 ch - Home Cinema Receiver - With HDMI - Silver

Price: £499.54
Average customer rating: 4.0

Binding : Electronics
EAN : 4977729861952
Label : Pioneer
Manufacturer : Pioneer
Publisher : Pioneer
Release date : 2007-07-22
Title : Pioneer VSX-1017AV - 7.1 ch - Home Cinema Receiver - With HDMI - Silver
Studio : Pioneer
Brand : Pioneer
Model : VSX-1017AV-S
MPN : VSX-1017AV-S
Package quantity : 1

Editorial reviews

Product Description
Whether you?re watching afilm or listening to music, the VSX-1017S amplifies signals with nodistortion, providing you with great sound and graphics. The VSX-1017S comes with two HDMI sockets and is compatible with iPod. It also optimisessound depending on the size of your room and the position of your speakers,thanks to the MCACC system. And if you don?t have enough room for severalspeakers, don?t worry! The VSX-1017S surrounds you with sound even whenyou only have two speakers, using Front Stage Surround Advanced technology. Meanwhile,sound Retriever technology improves the quality of compressed files transferredvia the USB port, while its intuitive LCD remote control makes it really easyto use.

Customer reviews

review by: simon9150 date: 2008-06-26 rating:

Excellent AV all rounder
This receiver is a real pleasure to own and quite a pleasant surprise for the price I paid. If you have multiple sources: ipod, PSP, PS3, DVD etc. then this is a good choice. The supplied ipod cable allows full control of your ipod using the remote. Plug in a pen drive into the front USB port and the receiver finds any compatible music files and plays them. Inputs conveniently located on the front panel allow me to plug in my PSP without fiddling around the back of the unit.

Coupled with some quality Monitor Audio speakers I get a powerful tight sound. Amp pre-outs on the back allow a dedicated musical amp and active sub to be used if you're an audiophile. It is also possible to bi-wire and bi-amp using this unit.

As for instructions, pretty good. They don't explain the technical side of AV but they do clearly state what the unit can and can't do.

review by: gadgetman date: 2008-05-07 rating:

Its not that bad....
Just to say that i think the previous review was a little unfair. This amp is not that bad. Yes its got some flaws but for the price its well worth it. Now to clear up some of the gripes from the previous review

1) The amp does not process the HDMI audio as 7.1 not true

Dolby TrueHD/DTS HD decoding: NO But it can play it via a PCM feed. The audio is handled with even greater care. The PS3 takes a Dolby True HD feed and outputs its as lossless PCM.(taken from MAY 2008 HOME CINEMA CHOICE magazine)

3) On the Pioneer Website it states the amp is built for Ipod and using the cable provided you can simply hook it up and play using the on screen display to control the ipod.....If only!

I purchased mine in the UK from Peter Tyson and got a lovely white Ipod cable included. it works on all Ipods very well. also the the USB port will play songs stored on an external hard drive. I'm using a Maxtor one touch 160Gb
It won the MAY 2008 HOME CINEMA CHOICE magazine group test for £500 amps with sayings like Bigger and better. This feature-packed AVR is the real deal with a 5 star rating.
Highs: Cool styling; powerful
performance; great build
and features
Lows: No OSD via HDMI;
damn heavy
see HCC website fro the full review.

review by: Craigy Babes date: 2007-07-21 rating:

Pioneer VS1017AV
First impression was great, this is just the job, 3 hdmi cables, hook up my HD Set Top Box and PS3 to my Samsung LCD and Bose Surround system and bingo, full 7.1 sound, no messy cables and top notch audio and video, simple right....wrong.

Here are my gripes....

1) The amp does not process the HDMI audio as 7.1 and simply passes it to the display - so you have to hook up SPDIF cables to get the digital sound and then obviously you dont get the full uncompressed digital audio, just the standard 5.1, 6.1 DTS and Dolby etc. Not to mention that this means 2 otherwise unnecessary cables as well.

2) Despite the fact this is an AV receiver that supports AV switching and can effectively be used as a HDMI hub, to get the on screen display you have to connect an S-Video or RCA style Video Lead to your monitor. The amp will NOT pass the on screen display through the HDMI out cable connected to your monitor. So another pain in the backside quirk and one more extra cable.

3) On the Pioneer Website it states the amp is built for Ipod and using the cable provided you can simply hook it up and play using the on screen display to control the ipod.....If only! There's no cable in the box - apparently you only get it if you live on mainland Europe. it IS NOT provided with the UK model (depsite the fact there are umpteen instruction books in the box in every European language you can think of-and a few you probably can't) and the cable is not cheap to buy either coming in at around £99.

4) Multi function remote control can be used to control yout TV/Monitor - so you can dispense with the TV remote - The samsung TV I have was manufatured in Feb 2007 its a 40" LCD 1080p top notch jobby, and is backwards compatible with older samsung remotes - I know because when I bought I got a few bob off the list price because Currys couldnt find the remote. Anyhow, using the codes pre-programmed in the Pioneer remote it was NOT possible to control the Samsung TV. So 4 Extra cables and One extra remote so far.

5)Assigning Names to the Sources is not possible....why? My old Sony had this function and it was 5 years older, it just makes life easier, so hence this is probably why it was left off the software for the Pioneer.

6) The instructions are terrible. I pride myself on being a sad chuffer who reads all instructions before battle commences with setting up items such as this. I am not an expert, but then I am no novice either. That said, the layout of the instruction book is terrible, the instructions often refer to front panel buttons without making it clear, so you are left gawping at the remote trying to find them, but never will. The sections refering to assigning sources etc send you off all over the booklet (see page ... refer to page .... see footnote....) rather than in a chronological order, and every single page has at least 2 footnotes in type that you need a microscope to read.

That lot said, it is a great amp, its powerful, very stylish, has a multitude of connectors and a very handy array of front panel connectors - including USB - too. However its let down by some glaring ommissions and diabolical instructions.

Verdict, dont buy this amp if you are expecting to just hook up your PS3 / Blu Ray player with HDMI, it wont do the job. However, if you are looking for a reasonable price AV amp with good sound output, then its up there with the best of them.

Craig Elwell (craigelwell@msn.com)

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