Pioneer VSX-D814-S Home Theater A/V Receiver Review

Amazon.com

Designed to give consumers additional control over their home entertainment experience, the Pioneer VSX-D814-S 6.1-channel digital A/V receiver is a great fit for the discriminating movie and music fan. Setup is remarkably simple and intuitive thanks to Pioneer’s multichannel acoustic calibration (MCACC), which lets listeners easily and accurately set up their speakers for optimal performance based on the room environment. MCACC gives users a reference point for their ears, meaning each speaker delivers sound at precisely the same time and at the same level. The room-tuning feature coaches listeners through the setup process in a step-by-step method, ensuring that they enjoy the best possible sound for their tastes and environments.

A straightforward setup is just the start, however. The receiver also powers six channels with an equal 100 watts each–including a channel for a dual surround back speaker–and is equipped with advanced DTS-ES Discrete, DTS 96/24, Dolby Digital EX, and Dolby Pro Logic IIx surround processing. Both Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES surround decoding technologies add sound to a rear center speaker or speaker pair, in addition to creating the left- and right-surround sound through the traditional side speakers. The addition of this new surround channel at the rear center gives the listener true “fly over” and “fly around” effects, which are more accurately placed either directly behind or beside the listener.

Dolby Pro Logic IIx, meanwhile, is an advanced two-channel matrix decoder that derives six and seven-channel surround (left, center, right, left surround, right surround, left surround back, and right surround back) from any two-channel stereo program material. On Dolby-encoded material such as movie soundtracks, the result sounds more like Dolby Digital EX, while with two-channel encoded material such as music CDs, the effect is a wider and more encompassing sound field with more localized vocals.

Internally, the VSX-D814-S boasts a single compact circuit board for all digital signal processing, thus ensuring exceptional purity, plus a double-precision Motorola 48-bit DSP engine that’s similar to the one used in top theaters worldwide. The receiver also offers a discrete configuration along with Pioneer’s hybrid amplification system, which directs the correct amount of bias signal to each transistor for extremely low distortion. This means that Pioneer’s amps are designed to handle the full bandwidth of Dolby Digital, DTS, SACD, and DVD-Audio encoded software. Add that to the 192 kHz/24-bit digital-to-analog audio converter and you have a top-shelf receiver.

Additional features include component and S-video switching, which allows both progressive and interlaced NTSC and HDTV signals to travel to the TV or monitor; eight advanced surround modes; multiple, assignable digital coaxial and optical inputs; and a preset LCD remote control. The VSX-D814-S measures 16.56 by 6.25 by 15.25 inches (W x H x D) and is backed by a one-year warranty on parts and labor.

What’s in the Box
VSX-D814-S receiver, remote control, two AA batteries, AM and FM antennas, user’s manual.