ELECTRONICALLY REPRINTED FROM JULY/AUGUST 2005
(all but the subwoofer, which receives only a level adjustment) to achieve a nice, at frequency response in your room. MOVIE AND MUSIC PERFORMANCE The settings for speaker size, distance, and level balance were essentially what I would have gotten with a careful manual setup, but the auto EQ made the tonal balance of our system too bright. Like other auto-EQ systems Ive played with, Pioneers can do more harm than good with many high-quality speaker systems, but unlike most others, Pioneers lets you either turn it off or manually tweak the results and store them in two custom memories. Of course, being able to easily turn the EQ on and off makes it a cinch to decide whether you like its effect. Happily, the Pioneers audio performance matched its user-friendliness and feature set. The receiver was extremely quiet, and it could play every bit as loud as the Marantz, both in listening tests and in the lab. This allowed all the surround modes to perform their magic without strain or obtrusive noise. Youll be looking for the debris after the Phoenix crash! PRICED BETWEEN THE SONY AND THE MARANTZ, Pioneers VSX-815 is a bargain. Its easy to use, and with its auto-setup feature, you can be condent youre getting the best possible performance out of your speakers.
Auto setup and performance, too

Pioneer

ow Pioneers designers managed to cram all the functions they did into the VSX-815 is beyond me, but Im glad they made the effort. Of course you get Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES decoding along with Dolby Pro Logic IIx and DTS Neo:6, and as with the Marantz, the latter two offer a full range of adjustments. You also get six ambience-synthesis modes that Pioneer recommends you try on music as well as soundtracks and virtual surround processing for two-speaker and headphone listening. The effect level of many of these Advanced Surround modes can be adjusted, which isnt always the case in budget receivers. While this may have little import in the near term, the VSX-815 is also one of the few devices of any kind that can decode signals in the Windows Media Audio 9 format (including its lossless mode) on the y for instance, if you stream a WMA9 song from a computer or portable player into one of the receivers digital audio inputs. To encourage that application, it has an optical connector on the front panel, a rare feature even on agship receivers. Pioneers multicomponent, preprogrammed remote con-
trol neither glows in the dark nor lights up, but it has two things that compensate. An LCD readout tells you which of the programmed components youre operating, and its silver color makes it easy to nd individual buttons even in a fairly dark room (though its hard to read their labeling). SETUP Like the other two receivers in this group, the Pioneer has no onscreen display and counters this with an easy-setup mode where you choose among presets for speaker complement and room size. Here again, the presets will not likely match your setup close enough to give optimal results. But the Pioneer has another card up its sleeve. It offers fully automatic setup a feature that used to be found only in flagship models, though entry-level receivers need it most. You simply connect the supplied microphone to the corresponding front-panel input, place it at your listening position, press a few buttons, and wait for the VSX-815 to do its magic. The receiver sends test tones to each speaker in turn, and these are picked up by the mike and used to make the necessary adjustments for speaker size (based on its bass capability, not on whether its physically large or small), distance compensation, and balance levels. As a bonus, the automatic setup system can also equalize (EQ) your main speakers

The Bottom Line

I cant stress enough the importance of setting up your receiver correctly its the only way to get all the performance youve paid for. As long as you dont ask it to play too loud, a properly set up budget-price receiver can deliver better sound with good speakers than an expensive receiver that hasnt been correctly matched to those speakers.

VSX-815

RATED POWER 100 W x 7 into 8 ohms with maximum 1% THD 78 DIMENSIONS 1658 x 614 x 1578 inches 14 WEIGHT 2214 pounds PRICE $365 or $299? $395 MANUFACTURER Pioneer USA, pioneerelectronics.com, 800-421-1404

soundandvisionmag.com

Auto-setup matches receiver to speakers Good selection of surround modes for movies and music Excellent remote control with LCD
Auto-EQ system might not improve sound
In this test, the SONY STR-DE698 was both the least expensive and the weakest entry, partly for its setup routine but primarily for less-than-robust power output. The MARANTZ SR4500 provided excellent performance and an impressive mix of surround mode options, but youll also need to do a manual speaker setup to get the most from it. Im amazed at what PIONEER managed to pack into the VSX-815 receiver. With its great mix of surround features, LCD-equipped re-
mote, auto-setup routine, and strong sonic performance, its my hands-down favorite here. If youre in the market for a budget receiver and especially if youre recommending one for that home theater neophyte in your life this is denitely the one that you should check out rst. S&V
The effects-laden crash landing in the Flight of the Phoenix DVD helped push these receivers to their limits.
Copyright 2005 Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc. All Rights Reserved.

VSX-815-K/S

DTS-ES DISCRETE/DTS 96/24/WMA9 PRO AUDIO/VIDEO RECEIVER WITH AUTO MCACC
7-Channel Stereo Dialog Enhancement Auto Surround Midnight Listening Mode 5 Digital Inputs (2 Coaxial, 2 Optical, 1 Front Optical) Component Video Terminal (3 Inputs, 1 Output) 7.1-Channel Preamp Output S-Video Terminal (4 Inputs, 2 Outputs) Front A/V Inputs with S-Video Input and Optical Digital Input Audio (Tuner included)/Video Inputs: 4A/4AV Audio/Video Outputs: 1A/1AV+1V SR+ (Smart Remote) Terminal Out Large Banana Speaker Terminal (L/R/C/LS/RS/SBL/SBR) Pre-programmed LCD Remote FL Dimmer Power Requirements: AC 120W/60Hz Standby Power Consumption: 0.45W Dimensions (W x H x D): 16-9/16 x 6-1/4 x 15-13/16 inches/420 x 158 x 402.5mm Weight: 22 lbs. 4 oz./10.2kg
Pioneer Hybrid Amplifier Design Auto MCACC Setup with 5-band EQ Equal High Power for All Seven Channels (100W x 7) Built-in DTS*1-ES Discrete/DTS 96/24/NEO:6/ Dolby*2 Digital EX/Dolby Pro Logic IIx Decoder WMA9 Pro*3 Compatible Virtual Surround Back Mode Double-Precision 48-bit Motorola DSP 5.1-Channel Input (DVD) DVD-Audio/SACD Ready 192kHz/24-bit DAC Advanced Surround (9 Modes)

Setup Microphone

VSX-815-S

VSX-815-K

VSX-815-K/S Rear panel
*1 DTS, DTS-ES, NEO:6 and DTS 96/24 are trademarks of Digital Theater Systems, Inc. *2 Dolby, Pro Logic, Dolby Digital, Surround EX and the double-D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. *3 Windows Media Audio 9 Professional. Microsoft, Windows Media and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Proprietary diriver is required for WMA 9 Pro playback on computer.
Stereo: Continuous average power output of 100 watts at 8 ohms, from 20Hz to 20kHz with no more than 0.2% total harmonic distortion Surround: 100W per channel (8 ohms, 1kHz, 1.0% THD) (front); 100W (8 ohms, 1kHz, 1.0% THD) (center); 100W per channel (8 ohms, 1kHz, 1.0% THD) (surround); 100W per channel (8 ohms, 1kHz, 1.0% THD) (surround back) Measured pursuant to the Federal Trade Commissions Trade Regulation Rule on Power Output Claims for Amplifiers.
The impedances indicated in the specifications are actual values that speakers can present to an amplifier while playing back music. They do not refer to the nominal rated impedances of speakers you use. Specifications and design subject to modification without notice.