Home > Consumer Reviews > Pioneer VSX-516-K 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver, Black

In fact I did to try it out, got it for $220 at a retailer. I'm not one of those people that can tell huge a deference from one receiver to another with the same speakers. This receiver has all the bells and whistles you would expect in today's electronics (see pioneer web site and amazon product description). So fare I've driven a wide range of size, power and brand speakers though it and seems to do well with them all. Currently I'm using a set of the pioneer S-HF41-LR speakers and it drives them loud and clear no problem on any channel/setting. I won't dive into it's features as they will make any speaker sound better for a given apllicaiton, just the facts...

Pros:
At 100 watts per channel it has plenty of power to drive reasonable 8" speakers. This receiver can handle loud sounds well (gun shots, yelling and all kinds of high impact sounds).

It has a core and coil transformer witch I know from years of messing around with electrical things are vary tough and can handle over heating quite well (provided the rest of the electronics can take it...).

It has a cooling fan (looks to be about 3"-80mm), that I would place at about 27 CFM or so just buy looking at it witch is an adequate size for auxiliary cooling if need be.

It has a remote control with nearly all the functions that the receiver has on it.

User friendly, once you figure it out it's quite simple to get the sound you want.

Cons:
It's not vary efficient power consumption wise thou all pioneers I've had are like this. It gets pretty warm even with no speakers going meaning it`s wasting some power.

Not a lot of venting, most of the venting is tords the front (and may explain the fan and larg open heat-sink)

Complicated, for those used to just turning it on and messing with the treble and bass your in for a good amount of deferent settings, set ups and tweaking adjustments you can make. It's a bit much if your just after a quality 2.0 set up.

Tone (treble/bass) is not vary adjustable, though through deferent settings can probly get the sound you want.

LR balance is not quickly adjustable, you have to dig out the balance on the remote and is inconvenient if going buy the receiver.

The remote control seems too busy and might have a few to many bottons on it for those not use to it or those that are just concerned with adjusting the volume.

All and all I gave it 4 stars, once your use to it and can work your way around what you want to get out of it it's a killer deal for those that want to upgrade from your basic 2.0 system.

This receiver was worth every penny. I upgraded from an RCA 2300 receiver and let me tell you that more power gives better sound. I always had to turn the volume up on the RCA but the Pioneer has Dialogue Enhancement and that makes a huge difference. The language for operating the receiver takes some time to get used to. This is not something you can just plug in and play. It has a quick setup option which helps a little but does no justice. When I did that for mine I noticed that the audio was not matching the visual. It took a little bit of time to tweak it and now I love the overall results. One thing however is that the manual spoke of an Dolby Digital EX display option, but it did not say that it only pertained to 6.1 EX and not 5.1. I was freaking out because I was watching Episode I which had DD 5.1 EX and the EX icon that the manual spoke of didn't light up so I had to call Pioneer up, which by the way was not a bad experience, and was told that. I wish the remote was backlit and was a little bigger. I'm just excited now I have DTS options which are a whole lot better than DD. Before this receiver my sound was ok. With the receiver...I my sound is fantastic and I wan't to get everything DTS now and 6.1 if possible. I compared Blade 2 in 5.1 DD and 6.1 DTS and of course 6.1 rocked. My guests kept looking around them to see where the sound was coming from and the dialogue enhancement feature worked like a charm. Never asked to rewind or "What did they just say?" I think it is worth every penny.

I purchased this receiver several months ago and set it up as the focus of our home theater system. The receiver does everything that it is supposed to do. The receiver makes music and movies sound vibrant; as a result, I have rediscovered the joy of watching movies. People need to understand this is an entry-level receiver. It will not have all the features that even older models made by other brands have. Pioneer has more receivers in this line that are more powerful; but for a modest home theater, this receiver is more than adequate.

If you aren't looking to spend a lot, this is a great deal. Sounds great; and where can you find 7.1 receiver for $170??? Plus I got $30 off for signing up for the Amazon credit card.... so I got it for $140, which is less than what I payed for the older generation 5.1 Pioneer I used to have!

This is a great entry level receiver. It is listed as a 6.1
channel. But it is also 7.1 capable. A good amount of power and features. Dolby Digital,Pro-logicII,DTS, and 5.1 inputs.
Bottom line great unit for any beginner.
The only flaw I see is the small crowded remote.