Home > Consumer Reviews > Pioneer VSX-517-K Home Theater Receiver (Black)

I you need a basic 5.1 channels receiver, this receiver is a good option for the price paid. It has a lot of options for an entry level unit. If you want to get the max out of this receiver, you will need to change a lot of the default settings. It can be challenging for someone with no technicall skills, or someone who doesn't read the instructions first. the only negative thing I can think about is the bass output; it is very weak, because it is splitted among all the channels, and bass and treble control works only in stereo mode. The subwoofer line out can power up only a small subwoofer, maybe a 6 1/2 or 8 inch with no more than 100w max. Otherwise, for a bigger subwoofer is better to use the left and right speaker connections running through the subwoofer in order to get a decent bass sound. That is what I did with my 200w subwoofer and it works great. I set the subwoofer output to zero, and the center channel, left-right, and surround speakers to large in order to get all the bass re-routed to all the speakers. I also max out the speakers output to +10db each channel, and spreaded the center channel among all the speakers (it sounds great). It is a good receiver if you have the patience to read the whole manual and spend some time tweaking settings.

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.

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 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.

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.