Pioneer VSX-520-K 5.1 Home Theater Receiver
Review by just_listen : great value!

My primary purpose for buying this receiver is to listen to mp3 music directly from my computer. The computer speaker systems being offered these days really don't provide the sound output I desire, and since I already owned some extra speakers, all i needed was an amp to bridge the gap. I looked at "stereo" amps, but figured I might as well go ahead and get something that i could possibly build a second home theater around, so I chose to get an "entry level" AVR. With these Klipsch B-2 Synergy Bookshelf Loudspeaker (Pair) and this BIC PL-200 Acoustech Platinum Series Subwoofer i get a very satisfactory listening experience. Granted, it is not audiophile quality, but this is not what most of us are after, and anyone that expects this at this price range is fooling themselves. HOWEVER, for those of us that like good music and appreciate above average quality at moderate to even higher volumes, this receiver will DO THE JOB.

Keep in mind, my set up is simplistic, but from what I have experienced, set up is easy and very intuitive. I ran a 3mm jack out of my computer speaker output into an RCA cable, then connected it the the CD input on the receiver. Then I performed the speaker setup by setting the front speakers on "small", set the crossover at 80Hz, selected yes on the subwoofer, and I was ready for business. An additional setting I like is the Advanced Sound Retriever that really fills out the sound of mp3's to a near CD quality. It really does work!

Again, i can't speak for how it works within a "home theater" set up, but I imagine it would do a fine job. I know it meets my needs - and for less than $200 - I am very satisfied. I highly recommend this product!

Pioneer VSX-520-K 5.1 Home Theater Receiver
Review by Ronald P. Smith II : Great receiver once settings are adjusted

Well, let me start by saying that I selected this receiver due to its specs and features being among the best for this price range. Pioneer's reputation for providing solid products was also a factor. With support for the latest audio codecs from Dolby and DTS, as well as HDMI 1.4 support, this receiver is a great buy.

Prior to purchase, some of the other reviews that I saw had me afraid that I may be returning this product. However, upon setting up my receiver, I realised that some of the complaints that people noted regarding sound quality probably had to do with the receiver's default settings being optimized for satellite/subwoofer 5.1 speaker packages with small satellites used for front, surround, and center speakers. Therefore, the receiver attenuates low frequenies prior to them being sent to these speakers, as they can't typically reproduce them anyway.

This pioneer receiver lets you set a speaker size setting, which in turn adjusts the frequency range that will be sent to each speaker accordingly. If you have large speakers, the setting will need to adjusted to "large" from the default of "small". This will allow for lower frequencies to be passed to the speakers in question (front, surround, center, etc).

This receiver also has a "xover" or crossover setting, which sets a frequency cutoff between your main speakers and subwoofer. In a 5.1 channel setting, this allows your subwoofer to output the frequencies below the frequency threshold that you set. Frequencies above this threshold will be handled by the other channels in your setup. If you do not have a subwoofer, and have main speakers that are capable of producing low frequencies effectively, you should set the "xover" setting to its lowest frequency setting so you are not removing this range of frequencies from your audio.

This really is a solid receiver for the price. It produces more than enough power for the average listener, with lower total harmonic distortion than comparably priced counterparts from Denon, Yamaha, and Onkyo. I am an electrical engineer whose studies were emphasized on audio, so this was a big draw for me.

I hope this review clears some things up for those looking for a solid value-priced receiver, as well as for those who had complaints about sound quality.

Pioneer VSX-520-K 5.1 Home Theater Receiver
Review by A. Khan : Great!

Just replaced my 10 year old Sony Receiver with this guy.. great price! and has everything a home theater needs... maybe not for an extreme enthusiast.. but 3 HDMI ports, 5.1, 110 w speaker out put.. its great.. hooked up to my PS3 and Dish HD DVR... simple set up.. controllable with my Harmony 680 remote... and its 3D ready.. for when I am.. in 2-3 years...

its running my bose floor standing front speakers, and bose surround as well... for the price.. i absolutely love it.

Pioneer VSX-520-K 5.1 Home Theater Receiver
Review by Chuck : Home theater noob.

So I bought a nice 46EX700 tv. The sound from flat panels is awful as everyone knows. I had 4 Bose bookshelf speakers that my parents bought and never used. So i decided to piece together a 5 channel setup. Im in an apartment so i dont want to p!ss off the neighbors with a sub. I picked up this received because Amazon kept jerking the price around on the 820 and then decided to keep it at $280. The 520 is going to give the same sound quality as the 720 and 920 as it has the same decoders and converters. The 520 and 820 differences are the OSD, 4 hdmi inputs, ipod and sirius connectivity, and the MCACC. Not worth an extra $100. IMO the bananna plugs are a pain as they are in very close proximity; the push connectors work fine. Using the remote and the display on the receiver to set it up is not difficult at all. I would prefer to use my sense of hearing and setup the speakers myself anyhow. The manual is not hard to read. Yes there are a lot of foot notes. READ THEM. It will clarify some issues such as the lag in video and sounds when modifying sources. The unit was not initially detecting the HD source. I was not showing Dolby HD or DTS HD as active. I read my bluray player's manual and had to change a setting for this to work. As for the sound, it is excellent. I can't see being able to hear any difference from this to a $1000 unit. I think speaker quality and placement will have more of an impact once you have a decent receiver with HD decoders. As for speaker wire, use lamp cord! Copper wire at 14 or 16 gauge is all you need and white matches my walls! No need to pay extraordinary amounts of $$$ for Monster cable. When installing this receiver, try to leave some space above it to increase heat dissipation. I have experience with Pioneer DJ equipment and it is all help very highly in the club scene. I figured this receiver would share equal quality and it does. Buy this one NOW. NO firmware or hdmi compatibility issues, such as the Onkyo's.

Pioneer VSX-520-K 5.1 Home Theater Receiver
Review by Tony : Couldn't ask for more at the price.

I bought this reciever to replace an Onkyo 605. The Onkyo I believe packed a bit more punch and seemed to have a better overall sound quality than this pioneer. However it was about 3 times the cost and quit working after about a year. Onkyo makes good stuff if you don't mind replacing it annually. I will never recommend an Onkyo device to anyone again after all the trouble I have had with their subs and reciever. But back to the topic. There are better recievers to buy out there and the features are not abundant on this pioneer, but I gave it 4 stars because I think you would have a really difficult time trying to find a better reciever for the price of this one. I really would rate it 4.5 if I could. Great purchase so far.

Pioneer VSX-520-K 5.1 Home Theater Receiver
Review by J-Mo Chicago : THE BEST receiver for price!!!

Needed a budget receiver to compliment a 47" LG in my bedroom. Found it at a local retailer open box and had to buy it. Center Channel went out the 1st nite - darned open box! Returned that and found it on Amazon + free shipping - Hallelujah! Ordered Monday got it Friday - 4 days! Center channel (and all other channels) work fine. Really wanted a good receiver that decoded both Dolby TruHD and DTS-HD Master Audio,100W RMS per CH @ .09 thd, 3D READY!!, 3 HDMI In/1 out, HDMI upconvert, and this had it all - for under 2 BILLS! I use this in my bedroom to drive a Magnavox Blu Ray player w/ HDMI 1.4 cables, JBL N-Center, 2 Aiwa 50W rms bookshelf spkrs L+R fronts on stands (6" woofer, 2"Midbass, 1-1/2" tweeters), 2 Aiwa cubes (L+R surrounds) and a JBL PB10 150W rms 10" sub (.1 LFE). Fronts at +2, Ctr 0, SRs +2, Sub +5, x.over 150, Phase on Auto, DRC ON and the set up friggin Sounds F A B U L O U S!!! Wife told me she thinks she's sleeping inside a movie theater. I have huge system in my LR and did not want to spend alot for a 5.1 set up in the bedroom - this receiver brought decent components together to make it sound top notch. Most Blu Ray movies audio incl DOlby TrueHD and DTS HD Mast Audio - AND IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN CLARITY. The Pioneer 520 receiver decodes it perfectly! Even regular DVD movies look AWESOME! Not sure if it's because of the upconvert on this Pioneer receiver or Blu Ray player or the HDMI 1.4 cables - I'm sure it's the combo of all of them. THE BEST RECEIVER w/ THE best features of any receiver for the under 2 bills!!!