Pioneer VSX-1020-K Reviews

I hate this thing so very much

I've had this thing for over a year now as I wanted a reciever that had 3D pass through. I've had pioneer recievers before and never imagined I would be disappointed with this. Everyday that I use it I hate it a little more and finally today I've ended it's life with a glorious punch to the front. Not suprisingly, one modest punch was all it took...I should've expected it would have a glass jaw. Unfortunatly I'm not sure what the exact problem was...there are several Forum topics with other users experiencing the same problems as me where the reciever for one reason or another will stop transmiting HDMI. Pioneer support is worthless, they're convinced my system isn't incorrectly set-up. Most of the time, litterally 99% of the time, everything works fine. Yet, occasionally this thing decides its just not going to cooperate and will just stop sending video to my Sony LCD TV. Speculation is there is some type of compatibility issue across these brands...I don't know about that, all I know is its the 8th inning of game 4 of the World Series and I'm refreshing my computer to find out what happens. I give this product 1000 negative stars. Tomorrow I go buy a new receiver, probably for another $500, and its going to be the greatest day of the past year. I may even take this diseased piece of evil outside and beat it with a baseball bat, just like in Office Space. My new and better life begins today.

Review by justanything (10/23/2011 21:52).

very frustrating

the product cycles through the channels several times before it syncs with the TV. It usually takes several minutes for everything to come together

Review by elcarimw (03/10/2011 20:40).

Awesome Receiver

This Pioneer receiver is great, it's very powerful. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for 3D pass through and multiple HDMI inputs and outputs. IPOD ready, All you need is your wire.

Review by Toby1TNT (02/05/2011 09:00).

Excellent Mid Range receiver

This receiver is an excellent choice for someone who is looking for a mid range priced receiver with all the bells and whistles. It produces excellent sound. The on screen navigation takes a little geting use to but is still fairly easy to understand.

Review by Eric03 (02/05/2011 01:45).

just ok

drawbacks include no switched outlet on back and unit has to be on to run tv through it. I have owned 4 Pioneer receivers before this one.

Review by jps1 (02/01/2011 11:41).

Great mid-point AVR

Bought this unit to replace my Pioneer Elite VSX 56. The Elite was a dinosaur with no HDMI input/output capibility. Over the years, I came to love the sound of the Elite and was convinced I would splurge for a new model when the time presented itself. But, who am I kidding? The Elites are pricey. I'm not by any means an audio-phile. I just needed a basic receiver to process HD video and audio with a decent return to the audio and visual senses. I set my sites on a less expensive alternative. After reviewing this product online (CNET), I decided the price was right for the features the AVR delivered. I have not been disappointed. The receiver sounds great and delivers high quality video imaging for a fraction of the cost of the Elite. If you are a home theatre snob with abundant cash, I recommend the Elite. If, however, you are just a working stiff like me, this AVR won't disappoint!

Review by Yrag2 (01/31/2011 15:13).

Good receiver if you can get the HDMI to work.

Good value and great features - EXCEPT - I cannot get the cable signal to run through any of the HDMI inputs. The instruction manual says nothing about attaching the cable box through the HDMI inputs, and Pioneer's customer support - both online and by phone - is worthless.

Review by asf25cc (01/31/2011 09:56).

Finally Got A Good One

I picked this VSX-1020-K, because of all the great reveiws. First one I purchased was a lemon, perhaps made on a Monday as they say. Second one actually lit up and partially worked, no center channnel and no subwoofer, at this point I was seriously thinking of just getting a refund, but I am glad I stuck with it. I thought, how could all those great reveiws be wrong. Best Buy was great, they replaced the first two units without any issues, and to think I was thinking about purchasing this online, glad I didn"t. Thiird one was a charm, so far so good. Everything I expected an more in a AV Receiver. Invested alot of time connecting and un-connecting all of my components, now I could get a job as a GEEK SQUAD...Best advice, read everything before you attempt to hook up your receiver, instructions are not the best for a novice.

Review by uticanpioneer (01/30/2011 19:58).

LOVE THIS UNIT

LOVE THIS UNIT, BOUGHT FOR APPLE COMPATABILITY AND IT WORKS SEAMLESSLY . TOOK NO TIME TO SET UP, LOVE THE 2 ZONE FEATURE , THE BLUETOOTH ADAPTER, AND APP TO RUN IT WITH.

Review by BAJASAKEE (01/30/2011 19:16).

Great 3D Home Theater Audio Equipment

I bought this to replace my old audio receiver and for its 3D pass-through capability. It was a WISE decision! The price was reasonable, and the setup was a breeze. It has 5 HDMI ports, an ethernet port, and of course the regular audio-video connections. I didn't care much for wifi connectivity because ethernet is better. I love its iphone/ipod feature! Now, I'm wondering, how is it so different from its Elite version, aside from the price?

Review by Arlu (01/30/2011 16:41).

Great Device for the right Price!

Pros ----------------- Easy to Setup Easy to Use Multiple HDMI inputs (including front) Optional assignable audio inputs for legacy and non-hdmi devcies Optional Bluetooth Add-On is great for quickly adding my iDevices. iDevice Pioneer App that allows control and diagnostics 1080p Upconversion on all HDMI ports (makes the Wii and Mac Mini look great) Cons ----------------- No audio passthrough

Review by TechGenius (01/30/2011 09:09).

All around good

We got a great deal on this receiver, it was easy to set up, and has great features for a receiver in this price range. I would definitely recommend to others! The auto set up feature was pretty cool.

Review by Amylg25 (01/29/2011 21:33).

Worth every penny!

Easy to setup and sounds amazing. HDMI passthrough and video upscaling were main selling points.

Review by JeffInOkC (01/29/2011 20:18).

Great Bang for your buck!

Tons of features, tons of power per channel, 7.1 is awesome. You wont be disappointed. I got it on sale as well, and that never hurts...

Review by Bigj12 (01/28/2011 16:56).

Great product for the price paid

My main reasons for rating it high is 2 fold: 1. The very noticeable improvement in sound quality over my previous receiver (Denon AVR 885) 2. The ease of setup compared to the above referenced Denon receiver

Review by pgdfw (01/28/2011 15:35).

Great Value

The product is a good value for the cost. (on sale 379.00) There are better receivers on the market; however, you must pay the price. This unit will perform well for a small to medium size home theater system. The sound quality is above average for the price range and the power is substantial to push your average to above average quality speaker. The only drawback I can see with this unit is that the initial setup can be overwhelming to the novice operator. With that said, the MCACC works beautifully and once the unit is set-up, the operation itself is a breeze.

Review by Nick4599 (01/26/2011 21:25).

Excellent upgrade

I upgraded my receiver at a Black Friday sale on Best Buy. Good price. I was updating to a current receiver with HDMI, the latest decoding and so on. Went to CNET, and this was highly rated. I really trust CNET. If they say it has 'excellent sound quality' I believe them. This Pioneer replaced my beloved 10-year old Yamaha. Setup of the speakers was trivial with the microphone. Still tweaking the EQ to match my memory of the Yamaha sound. Plenty of inputs. Please just check out the CNET review. Broadcast reception is markedly better. Proof is in the pudding, and the difference in sound is night and day, which will happen if one upgrades from 10 year old technology. It's pretty incredible, actually. I am running the same set of mid-line 5.1 Definitive Technology speakers, so I could test the difference. In my opinion, you just can't go wrong. Price is good. Sound is fantastic. If you want one, this is a solid choice. Enjoy.

Review by Aurickh (01/25/2011 17:51).

I am not sure yet.

I purchased this as a gift for my husbands birthday which isnt until 2/20. He has not seen it yet. I am a bit concerened however because when I pick it up from the store the box was all dinged up. If this unit is not compatable with what we already have I am not sure you will return it for me.

Review by Or1g1nal (01/25/2011 15:20).

Big sound bang for the buck

I bought this amp after it was time to upgrade to HDMI connections. There were many great reviews about this model, so when it went on sale, I made a point to grab one of these amps. Easy to set up, but the remote required a quick read of the very large and in depth manual. This amp works like a charm, and kicks out more than enough sound for the living room. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars, is the lack of the pass through for sound. One huge plus, is that Pioneer includes a cable to connect my iPod to the amp. All other amps in this price range expect you to buy a dock for the iPod at around $100.

Review by CT2AVL (01/22/2011 21:15).

thought I'd have more manual audio control

thought I'd have more manual audio control, everything is a button present configuration.

Review by krahnron (01/22/2011 10:16).

Excellent receiver for the price.

Pros: Multitude of features for the price. I shopped extensively for a receiver in this price range and none came close to the Pioneer. Sound quality is excellent. The auto-detect of surround feature works great. Bluetooth capability is excellent. Easy to hook up. The auto setup for surround is excellent. Sound quality is excellent. Blu-ray DVD audio is excellent. Cons: seems under powered as compared to the specs. The remote is very hard to read and use. The volume control is not easy to use. The switching time between video inputs is slow. Remote is difficult to learn other remote devices. Not too many controls on the receiver face so most need to be controlled from the hard to use remote. Difficult to figure out how to pass non-HD video signals through to TV.

Review by Larry0320 (01/20/2011 22:13).

Good but not perfect

I have had the receiver for about a month now. I've generally been happy with it. One annoyance: I can't get figure out how to set up the B set of receivers so they are "large" (i.e., have low frequency outputs). So the main surround speakers sound great, but the pair connected as a B output in my living room lack bass. It's a bit complicated, and the remote is a mess of small buttons that are hard to configure.

Review by Jayfine (01/20/2011 14:55).

Does everything I want

When I upgraded to an HD TV I needed a receiver that had HDMI connections. After researching several models in my price range I chose the Pioneer. It does everything I could want a receiver to do. It handles the audio for the TV and Blu-ray player and I have it on my network so I can listen to internet streaming music. I'm happy. The only gripe I have is that it can do so much that getting all the settings right took a long time. I kept back over the manual and would find something I needed to do each time I looked. Other than that I have no trouble with it. I think the sound it produces is noticeably clearer and sharper than my old receiver. Overall a great product.

Review by NewtoPioneer (01/20/2011 14:17).

Great Receiver!

I bought this receiver to replace my Sony 6.1 CH receiver (STR-DE895). I wanted a receiver with an HDMI connection and wanted it to at least have 6.1 channel capability. I researched receivers and also looked at the Sony STRDH810 and the Pioneer VSX-1120K. Although it doesn't support Audio Return Channel ( I use the optical audio out on my TV to get audio from the TV to the receiver), I eventually choose this one because of the plethora of options, the cost (it was on sale for $379), Pioneer's reputation for quality products and that it did multi-channel Super Audio CD (SACD). It was easy to setup all the components and use the automatic setup for sound/speaker placement.

Review by TDEZT (01/20/2011 10:42).

Awesome sound for home theatre

This receiver has excellent sound quality and does a great job with home theater movies. Especially like the 3D, HDMI pass through connections.

Review by Paul369 (01/19/2011 17:22).

Amazing surround sound reciever

Best receiver I have ever had def. Worth every penny. Has many great features

Review by CssS (01/19/2011 15:10).

Great A/V until it died after 39 days

Great value at $399 online sale price. I think msrp was $549. Excellent features. The front HDMI was very handy. More than enough other hdmi inputs for my use. Almost a bit too complicated for an average user that just wants to use it as a component switcher. Pulling out the manual is a must for anything more than switching inputs or adjusting the volume. But I guess more is always better. So, the unit failed after a month. One day I tried to turn it off. It clicked but the display stayed lit and the unit quit responding to any adjustments. I had to hold the power button for 10 seconds to turn it off. Then after turning it back on, it had no audio output to the speakers, although the controls all seemed to work. I found the factory reset (hold the 'enter' button while powering on) but that did not help anything. So back to the store to try another one. Fortunately, even though past the 30 day return limit, they let me return it instead of sending out for repair. However, Sorry, none in stock or the warehouse. Choosing an alternative brand or model was not something I was prepared to do on the spot, but the salesman pointed me to the nearly identical Elite version VSX-30 listed at $550. So much for my $150 off sale price but they split the difference and gave me $75 off. So far so good. The front panel hdmi is replaced with a composite input. Bummer. Oh well

Review by BadLuckWithElectronics (01/18/2011 08:03).

Great reciever/amp for entertainment center

I don't have anything negative to say about the unit it surpasses all my expectations in all categories except one feature. The unit is programed to default to TV/SAT when turned on. This input is a standard input. My TV/SAT however is conected to HDMI 1. I cannot get the unit to default to HDMI 1 and therefore have to reset everytime I turn on the TV.

Review by Jim45 (01/17/2011 17:20).

Returned this product

I have returned this product. Sound quality is good at the value for price. It's difficult to hook up 5.1 channel with wired subwoofer. Returned this product and still using old Pioneer 5.1 channel A/V receiver and bought optical audio cable to experience thrilling sound.

Review by Kamin (01/17/2011 10:04).

Amazing for Price

I bought this reciever back in NOvember on Balack Friday for $400. It was an amazing deal. This reciever has so many features from the iPhne control app, internet radio, multizone, 7.1, this has all the features of a reciever priced much much higher. Also this upconverts video to 1080. I think with this reciever you can't go wrong. My only complaint, there is no netflix or any other video service. I have to use my bluray player for that. Another issue is the auto calibration sound. I used it from the start, but it just messed up what I believe was good sound (comparing to old reciever). Then I edited it with the on screen GUI. The automatic sound control doesn't work well for room smaller than 8x8...disappointing. A few of the auto surround decoders don't work very well. The center channel has partial audio of speaking and then sometimes looses it. I prefer Neo or Dolby. They work the best for gaming, music, TV, and movies.

Review by technogeek1995 (01/17/2011 08:43).

excellent receiver

product does all that is advertised. the set up manual is a little cumbersom and remote buttons are too small. it does produce excellent sound and a nice wide range of features and connection ports.

Review by southflyer (01/17/2011 04:58).

Great receiver

I was able to get this on Black Friday at $200 off the regular price. Well worth the money spent. Has alot of features I wanted at such a great price. My wife is happy that she can hook her iPod up to it. Just be sure to have your receiver turned off before you plug in your iPod which hooks in the front. Otherwise it most likely will not read it. Great piece of equipment.

Review by MAS448 (01/15/2011 18:03).

Fine receiver...love internet radio

The sound is good and the overall package has a wide variety of useful features. Includes the ability to configure different types of sound input from almost any type of music source. I love the internet radio feature but would have liked the ability to add more than 24 station sources and would have liked a more natural method of "tuning" the internet radio. Each time I go to select a station it takes me to the "top of the dial". The main problem with the iPod connection is that the receiver takes away the ability to control the iPod using its native interface. In order to make best use of the iPod, I have to turn on the TV to have a display space while selecting my playlist.

Review by OldMoldy (01/14/2011 13:30).

Faulty HDMI Output / Poor GUI

Purchased this receiver to replace a three year old Onkyo - mainly for the Sirius support and GUI. Unfortunately out of the box it had a loose HDMI output and the picture would flicker / flash. Also, I was very disappointed in the poor quality GUI from Pioneer. The unit sounds good but I decided to return it for the Denon AVR3311CI.

Review by cascade159 (01/11/2011 15:18).

Replaced my expensive Rotel amp on a whim..

My ROTEL RSX-1058 needed repair so I needed an inexpensive replacement while I sent it.. I did no research on this amp at all, went in and just grabbed the box off the shelf. I will now be selling my ROTEL because this amp rocks. Setup was simple and the sound is amazing. It pushes my B&W full size speakers with no problems. It just goes to show you don't have to drop a bunch of cash for good sound. Kudos to Pioneer.

Review by jtow (01/10/2011 16:03).

Great product for the price.

I bought this receiver to replace a Sony that was dropping the audio signal. When I purchased this receiver, Best Buy had a special that included the Bluetooth addapter so that was cool. The setup was very easy and the sound is amazing especially watching a bluray disc.

Review by trekrider (01/01/2011 22:00).

Great Receiver!

I bought this receiver to start my new surround sound system. I'm used to Pioneer in regards to car audio, I have bought Pioneer Navigation receivers and they worked great. So I figured they're on top of their game why not keep proving that? Oh, they proved it alright! This thing has a lot of options for those who can appreciate that. Customization for me is key when it comes to sound whether it be car or for the home. You'll be happy with this receiver! Great price. In the store the price is higher but if you tell them you saw it online for cheaper they'll price match it. I saved $200. Stop looking elsewhere for a receiver!

Review by BestBuyer86 (01/01/2011 00:49).

Awesome receiver... until it died.

I gave this a 2 star rating because this receiver is a fantastic deal... if you manage to get one that works. I bought this receiver after finding out BB had it on sale for $379 and that it came with a free bluetooth adapter. Setting it up was easy and the audio was FANTASTIC. For all of the features, plus the free adapter, this receiver was a steal... or so I thought. The receiver worked well the night it was set up. The next day, when I popped in a blu-ray, my TV started flickering and then the receiver "popped". My TV, Blu-ray, and cable box were fine, but the receiver wouldn't even turn on anymore. I returned the receiver, but opted not to exchange it for the same model after reading a few of the negative reviews on other sites from people that have had the same issues.

Review by itsMaggie (12/27/2010 18:39).

Nightmare to set up

I've been putting stuff like this together since the 60's, and though HDMI is supposed to make things easier, with this receiver, it's next to impossible. My answers to the flaws in setting it up, though I've had the reciever for about a month, are still unknown. What I am able to get it to do, it does really well. but It won't let you in to do certain things you're supposed to easily adjust - it's pathetic.It won't play my two DVD changers, you CAN"T do the lip sync adjustment, and the list goes on. If you like a mystery, read a book, don't buy this reciever, because so far, there's no happy ending. .

Review by tonysalad (12/20/2010 23:26).

Great receiver for the money

I bought this after not having surround sound for years. I am very pleased with the unit, the presets are easy to use once you take a few moments read the manual. What a difference 7:1 sound makes over 5:1! The unit is also able to go to 9:1 but so far I can only notice the top speakers working when I am in height mode, the back speakers do nptseem to work durg this mode so I hardly use it in "9:1", but I am still researching this. As for the sound quality, ones sound is only as good as their speakers, I had a set of Boston accoustic front speakers along with a decent middle speaker by BA, they sound great with this receiver, I also had 6 sony surround sound speakers to use for the height, side and back positions,so the sound could be better I am sure but I am please so far. Next will be the subwoofer, which I was surprised to learn you can not connect with speaker cable any mpre, you need another special cable. Movie 7:1 sounds great on this unit as does the game mode. I can highly recommend this unit.... great value for the money!

Review by TechDirector (12/20/2010 10:38).

Great system for the price

After doing substantial research on receivers I selected the VSX-1020-K to replace the receiver in a Sony Home theater system. No issues with the Sony's sound, but it had earlier technology that allowed only video pass thru with its HDMI ports. To accomodate audio I had been using an HDMI control center for audio with digital optical audio cabling. Unfortunately for me, the control center was slowly dying, hence the need for another solution. Among its many features the VSX-1020-K processes video and audio from its 6 HDMI inputs in addition to passing them to the HDMI out. This was exactly what I was looking for and when I saw that it was on sale I "jumped" at the chance to buy it. I am truly glad that I did. This is a high power receiver with many options. My requirements were fairly straightforward: HD TV - source HD Cable DVR with 1080I HDMI and Dolby Digital audio plus streaming video and audio from the internet (more on that later). XBOX 360 with 1080P HDMI and Dolby Digital audio. DVD with 1080I HDMI. Set up in a 5.1 configuration using the speakers and subwoofer from my old Sony system. Set up for my requirements was pretty straightforward. After hooking up the speaker wires and cables, I went into the setup mode. The setup options are displayed on the TV screen. Note that if your normal video processing is via HDMI, you will need to hookup standard video (yellow) cable from the receiver (monitor out) to your TV (video 1) to view the menus. The receiver has an automatic speaker calibration function (Pioneer-exclusive MCACC (Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration) with 9-band EQ. An outboard microphone optimizes receiver output for room acoustics.) I set the microphone on top of my recliner (my listening position) and ran the fully automatic test. On the first run, the setup showed that 2 speakers were out of phase (crossed wires). I flipped the positive and negative wires and reran the test. That was all I had to do. The process recognized my 5.1 speaker configuration and automatically set the levels for the speakers and equalization level. No further speaker setting was required on my part. The audio is great. The setup allows you to name your inputs and how you receive them. One note here. HDMI 1 on the back panel is reserved for the BD (Bluray Disc) input; HDMI 2 is HDMI input 1, HDMI 3 is HDMI input 2 and so on. That was a bit of a head scratcher at first, but once figured out, input setup was simple. BD became my XBOX input. HDMI Input 1 became my Tv/Cable DVR input, and HDMI Input 2 became my DVD input. A niece feature of the setup is the ability to redirect one input to another. I redirected the native DVD input (DVD button on the remote) to the DVD HDMI input and the native cable DVR input to the Cable DVR HDMI input. For these two I set the input to HDMI and audio in to off (coax or optical are the other choices). This was done so I could switch sources without having to cycle thru the HDMI inputs. My biggest concern was how to set the internet streaming to my TV. Solution: Set my TV input up with HDMI off (the internet video goes straight to the TV) and audio in to Optical in 1, with a digital optical audio cable going from my TV's digital audio out to the receiver's optical audio in 1. This worked like a charm. The final step in my setup was to "turn off" or bypass inputs that I am not using now. The nice thing there is that if I decide to expand my system later (internet radio for example) I can turn the appropriate input(s) back on. Bottom line: Audio is very good without any setting tweaking by me after automatic calibration. If I want to expand to 7.1 audio I just need to add the speakers and recalibrate. Video is actually better. This receiver has 1080P upscaling so 1080I input from my cable DVR and DVD player are a little better than before and SD video from my Cable DVR is substantially better. I don't have a 3D TV so I can't speak to the 3D video processing. I just know its there for the future. I am down to two remotes, the Cable DVR remote and the receiver remote. I couldn't program the receiver remote to take over the Cable DVR functions, a minor hassle (why I marked ease of use as 4 vs. 5). I was able to remove two optical digital audio cables and a coax digital audio cable from the configuration because the receiver processes audio from the HDMI inputs and removed the HDMI control center altogether. If you are considering upgrading your home theatre system or purchasing one, I highly recommend you consider this receiver. The instore price is $550 but it is still listed as $379 on Best Buy.com. I convinced the sales staff to sell me the receiver at the internet price (told them I would just go home, order it online with store pickup and come back, but who needs that hassle). I don't know how long the receiver will be available at this price, but if you are interested, I recommend immediately going online, printing off the sales price and using a price match argument at the store. An alternate of course is the next lower model, the VSX-820-K, priced at $299. This is similar in functionality, but is limited to a 5.1 speaker configuration and does not have 1080P upscaling, and a few of the other bells and whistles that the 1020 offers but is still a good choice.

Review by OldNAchy (12/13/2010 09:49).

The Best for the Price!

This receiver is loaded with ton more features than any other in the same price range. ALL the features work great. Great sound bi-amp option with sub-woofer plus allowing bass to towers and sub. FYI: if the speakers are set to small and you have no sub-woofer you get no bass at all. This is true for most receivers. WARNING As this receiver is very easy to control and use it is not that simple to set up. Once all setting are correct this receiver is the best. If you are not fluent in electronics and how the work, I recommended you let the GEEK SQUAD install it. Bashed in some other reviews and were wrong was the feature that passes through the video and audio to the tv when the receiver is off. This work amazing well when SET UP correctly.

Review by ILoveBestBuytoo (12/10/2010 13:17).

hmmm...

Definitely like the sound quality. As well as all the features. Took me a while to figure out I had to change settings in my DVD in order to get sound through the receiver. My problem is is that I can't seem to get my DirecTV DVR programmed in to the remote nor my Insignia dvd player and Samsung LCD. Codes don't work. Manual is not that helpful. I haven't tried lining up the remotes next to each other for programming yet, though. Also, the TV Control option on the remote looks very helpful in getting my DirecTV DVR through the remote but I can't get it programmed in. Any suggestions? Sent email to Pioneer and am waiting to hear back. Should the Pioneer remote be able to handle DirecTV DVR, Insignia DVD player and Samsung LCD TVs?? These are standard items I bought at BB or the like. They are not unique models or brands so I assumed they would be easy to program in. Or maybe I am not programming them correctly. I hold down the R Setup button while pressing the "1" for 3 secs then the red light flashes. Now I punch in the codes via the numeric albeit tiny keys at the bottom of the remote. All I get are continuous flashes after a slight pause when entering the codes. No steady red light on any of the codes. One strange thing occurred when I entered the 1st DTV code. The DTV box shut off. However, I could never get it turned back on again nor could I get it to change channels. So any suggestions are greatly appreciated!! thanks

Review by thomas1010 (12/06/2010 11:47).

Fantastic Buy for a Perfect(ish) Receiver

I have been looking for a new receiver for a while now. I wanted one that could automatically take component inputs and output as HDMI so I don't have to change any settings on my TV. While this doesn't increase the quality or resolution of the input (such as Wii or iPod), it makes it so much more convenient for the whole family. The only thing I would suggest is that they add an iPod input on the back of the receiver like the one on the front. I personally don't like cables sticking out of the front of the unit. Programming is a breeze. Just plug in a USB Keyboard to the front and type away. Renaming your inputs as needed is so easy to do with this feature. The sound quality is wonderful. No complaints at all. In fact, and understand I've been a Sony fan for a very long time, I wish I had gone with Pioneer years ago.

Review by StagePro (11/27/2010 10:18).

All in all, I'm happy!

The Pioneer VSX-1020 meets all of my needs, and then some. Keep in mind, though, that I'm not an audiophile, just a guy who likes to listen to music, watch TV, and enjoy good quality sound. If you are looking for a full fledged technical review don't read any further. Read on if you just want a receiver that has gives your music and movies a nice sound. Simply stated, the VSX-1020 was a good choice for me in almost every respect. It has a lot of great features. You can plug in your iPod (cable provided) and control it by the remote using a menu on your TV screen. Nice! And, if you connect the VSX-1020 to your router you can use the unit to listen to internet radio. Don't get too excited about that. No, you cannot tune in to Pandora (at least I haven't figured out how to do that!), but you can pick up streamed broadcasts by selecting the internet station's URL on you r TV screen. If you don't like the presets provided By Pioneer use your computer to program in the stations you select. There are lots of AM & FM presets, too. An unexpected feature was the ability to see setup (and other) menus on your TV screen and to make choices through the remote. That's pretty cool in my book. So, good quality sound and lots of nice features; what's not to like? For me, set up was very frustrating - even with the on screen menus. It seems like you need a graduate degree to navigate through the manual and get this unit set up the way you want it. But, oh yes, I have a graduate degree and it still took me hours to get the job done. Eventually I achieved my goal, but don't ask me how I did so! It seems to me that Pioneer could write the manual in step by step fashion, leave out the brand name lingo (what is "Control" anyway?) and just keep it simple. All in all, I'm happy with my choice, but would be happier if setup was more straight forward.

Review by AMH (11/22/2010 17:00).

Best Sounding reciever in its class and then some

I've tried Oknyo, Denon and Yamaha. The only one that came close to the music output of Pioneer is the Denon. I would give this six stars if it had the option. I had the Yamaha vs-x2065 ($1299) and this Pioneer 1020 one sounds way better. The Denon has crisp highs, but the Pioneer is able to blend the lows, mids and highs with out effort. You have to have an awful recording for this unit to not sound good. Almost anything you throw at it, sounds great. The sound image is great. You can listen to this reciever for hours and hours and not get tired. You just melt into the music. I've only pushed Polk Monitor 70's and some bookshelf speakers and they all sound outstanding. I wanted to build a complete Yamaha system for the bedroom, but cannot get away from the sound quality of the Pioneer. Looks like I'll have all yamaha speakers but a Pioneer reciever pushing them. The Pioneer simply does everything way above average. This unit sounds better than some way more expensive recievers I've "given a chance". They rest have all gone back and I keep going back to Pioneer. Good luck.

Review by ATCer (11/16/2010 14:47).

Almost

First, I am just an average person, not an audiophile. We just wanted to upgrade and eliminate some of the cable clutter. We have a Samsung 55 LCD, DirecTV, a Wii and a Bose HT speaker system. Thats it! Our old Denon was bought right before the HDMI craze; hence the cable mess. That said, we really wanted to like this receiver but some of the short comings were too much. First the Pros: Sounded great through our speakers. Voices during regular TV play were crisp and easy to understand. Especially when my hearing isn't the greatest to begin with. GUI interface was nice. Easy to navigate. Set up was just OK iPhone/iPod capable. I was able to play audio and video! Even had album art. The included cable was a nice touch. Now the bad and the ugly: Random reboots: We had 4 in the 3 days we had it. Very annoying considering that you loose audio and visual. It does come back up within 10 seconds but it should not be doing that to begin with. Remote: Buttons are small, hard to see and are just all jumbled together in some type of chaos. However, I have yet to see a decent, bundled remote. Remotes are mere afterthoughts for many products. Screen display: Sometimes it was hard to see the icons and what it was saying unless you get up close. My hearing isn't the greatest but I have very sharp eyes. The calibration mic: Felt cheap. If you ever seen the Denon calibration mic, you will know what I am talking about. Pioneer iPhone App: It has a lot of potential but for the moment; gimmicky. If they gave it some limited remote functionality; they would be really on to something. No Standby HDMI passthrough: My fault for not checking further into this. Be as it may, it still isn't there. Sometimes the TV sound is good enough i.e. early morning news, weather etc. Again, we wanted to like this receiver but the above cons were glaring. Especially the random reboots. So we took it back and now trying the Denon 791

Review by wrz0170 (11/11/2010 11:53).

This is a top rated Receiver...

I baught this one two weeks ago, but I did not want to make a review until Best Buy put it on sale. Reason being was becuase Best Buy matched amazon.com's price of $419 when I baught it. Now at the sale price of $429.00 from best buy, you can't go wrong. This receiver has gotten top ratings from c-net and other sources. I did extensive research on it before buying it. One review I read says that Pioneer nearly got this one perfect. I'd have to agree after listening to mine and playing with it for allmost two weeks.

Review by MasterC (11/02/2010 16:09).

Hear sound the way it was suppose to be heard

Picked up this Reciever on SEP, 15th because I needed to take advantage of the new HD audio formats, upgrading from a old Yamaha HTR 5940 which released years before the new HD codecs. The vsx-1020-k has an outstanding auto calibration feature(MCACC) that is pretty spot on in a flat sort of way. You may need to tweek a few things if you're looking for some not so flat pop to your sound. It also can be off a little when it comes to speaker size and reverse phase warnings ect(ignore and move on if you correctly connected the speaking wire. The Surround sound helped with very pronounced and discrete channel sound quality creates a spectacular hometheater experience that will have you more focused on the sound you can't belive you're hearing over the actual movie plot etc. It takes a while to enjoy the movie/music/video games versus being in mind-lock over what you can't believe you're hearing. The vsx-1020-k is packed with features, the Ipod functions are a nice touch and the internet radio is nice as well(when it's working which it does more often then not) The vsx-1020-k is one sexy futuristic looking piece of hardware that will make most hometheaters 21st century. The remote isn't as bad as people make it out to be and the learning curve is greater than average AVRs. The vsx-1020-K sports 3D imaging I've never heard before when watching movies or your favorite music. Things will jump out at you without warning so don't fear being able to target sound from any one speaker if sonically matched(or not this thing is so good) because you can't. You will also hear you music as if new, so it seems like the first time. The HD audio on Blu-ray had everybody in my family and all of my friends jaws on the ground. You won't believe what you've been missing. This AVR makes Ipod music almost CD quality and is the most compatitble with Apple(IPHONE/IPOD) than any other product I've had my hands on. Power is good for most rooms. Manual stinks for those with no clue about the more advanced and new AVR features/terms/Sound field programes/EQ

Review by HomeTheaterPadawan360 (10/17/2010 20:42).

Great midrange receiver!

This product is great middle of the road receiver. The main thing that I noticed among the competition is that some receivers had good sound but lacked a good picture; others had good picture and poor audio; some had good picture and audio but lacked features; this unit has everything you could want, good sound, good picture, and great features. The best part its all for a midrange price point! My set up includes 50" Samsung plasma, Panasonic blu ray player, Verizon Fios, Nintendo Wii, Apple TV 2, Pioneer sub, and sony speakers. All components work great. Sound is crisp and clean. Video is jitter free and smooth. I love the iphone app. Its nice to be 3 rooms away and be able to control the receiver over network and not IR. With all that said I have 4 complaints about this system but all are minor: 1) remote is atrocious - but who really uses the remotes they include; 2) in order to view menu options you must connect receiver via RCA cables to the tv regardless if you have hdmi going to your tv - why they only output menu on analog cable is beyond me. 3) programing of internet radio channels is very difficult and finicky - not worth the hassle for me 4) everytime you turn on cable box the receiver auto tunes to TV/SAT input even if cable box is not plugged into that input. In the end though, I am very happy with my purchase

Review by rendy0212 (10/10/2010 10:40).

Outstanding reciever

Setup is complex. The instruction was as clear as fog. Very vague setup.

Review by stuffit2 (09/15/2010 07:45).

Best for the money

I had to buy a new reciever to accomadate my new 3-D T.V. and actually tried three different brands before this one. I found that all the recievers I tried in the $450-$550 price range sounded about the same. What sets this one apart from the others was its ease of use and many nice extra features. This unit has six H.D.M.I. outs, including one on the front. It also comes with a cable for IPOD hook-up to front of unit that also keeps it charged. The bottom line is between easy set-up, easy use, great extras, and great sound I found this Pioneer to be the best value in this price range.

Review by sal143 (08/28/2010 05:12).

Wow!!

I didn't think that the video upconversion would be useful, but dang, it is awesome. It brings my plasma into a new realm. The sound is powerful, accurately dispersed and uniform when needed. The set-up was a breeze. This truly is a home theater hub!!

Review by AudioStud (08/20/2010 21:33).

The VSX-1020K.... WOW!

This receiver is amazing! The GUI interface really helps a lot to get everything set up. Featuring a ton of HDMI inputs, USB input and being able to connect to the internet and get internet radio are all awesome buying points. The sound is great with the Pioneer with the ability to hook up a to 9 speakers, 2 front, 1 center, 2 surround, 2 surround back, and 2 front height is ridiculous and I need to buy more speakers to test it out. It's really easy to use, it has no problems decoding sound, it also has an Auto Leveling sound mode so that the dialog adjusts appropriately to what you are watching. The auto delay function helps with correcting the sound with the picture. Overall, this is just an amazing receiver that Pioneer rolled out. I'm glad I got it and I would recommend this to anyone who wants a great receiver around $500 bucks.

Review by beansmoker (08/13/2010 12:16).

A Lot of Bang for the Buck!

I was looking to upgrade my 2-year old Pioneer Elite receiver and checking out the specs that would have cost me $1000. Then I looked at the regular Pioneer line and found that I could get most of the same features for about 1/2 of the price with the Pioneer VSX-1020-K! Yes, I know the Elite model has slightly better specs and a better power supply--but at twice the cost??? Others have commented on the great features of this receiver (Internet radio, iPhone support, MCACC, 6 HDMI ports, etc.) But the amazing thing is that you can get all these features for not more than a standard receiver. Installation was simple--connect your speakers and your peripherals and then use the microphone included setup and follow the GUI instructions. Did I mention that the VSX-1020-K has great sound? The rated 110 w/channel provided booming sound in my room. The other bonus is that this receiver offers HDMI 1.4 support in case you want to upgrade to 3-D TV. Although this feature is not really that important in and of itself, it shows how Pioneer wants to be on top of the technology curve. The only negative of this receiver is its remote which is not ergonomic and has 50 small buttons that are hard to figure out in the dark. Check out the Pioneer VSX-1020-K for yourself. On top of the basics, you'll find that it has more options that you can imagine. Pioneer is truly giving you a lot of receiver for a modest amount of cash.

Review by dvdirv (07/25/2010 13:50).

Great Receiver for the $$$$$

I picked this receiver for the price and all of the great features. It makes our Kilipsh Quintet speakers sound great! The features onboard are really awsome. We really love the net radio (hooking it up was really easy and the fact that some of the urls were already pre- programmed was really neat!) Everyone in the family loves the fact that they can plug up their ipod and listen to music! Ease of use is okay but I took the time to read the manual to learn everything that this awsome receiver can do, after that's done if you purchase you'll love everything Pioneer has to offer with this receiver. I recommend buying a Harmony One remote and adding that to your purchase, It just makes life easier (you won't have 4-5 remotes to operate) The only thing that's not so great to me is not having an outlet plug on the back of the receiver but that's no biggie.My Overall experience has truly been great, you can't wrong with this purchase.

Review by TronicGuru (07/25/2010 08:17).

Great replacement AV receiver

I had a JVC RX D702B HDMI AV receiver and had some switching/blanking out issues after using it for 5 years. So it was time for a replacement. This is a new low/mid priced AV solution. It does have 1.4 HDMI capabilities. Plenty of HDMI inputs. Upscales all inputs as needed to 1080P. I am at 1080I and it does a nice job of upscaling on an older 50" Panasonic plasma display. You will benefit by taking time to read the manual, as there was no quick set up sheet in my box. Remote has many controls. I am using a Harmony , so their remote falls way behind on easy of set up and use. Overall I would purchase it again.

Review by AdvanceScan (06/13/2010 06:50).

Very surprised outcome :)

Have this hooked up to my two 6-1/2" Klipsch floor speakers, Klipsch center speaker, two rear Klipsch rear speakers, and the 10" Klipsch subwoofer, and the sound is AMAZING! I thought that the Yamaha receiver would be better, but this Pioneer exceeded my expectations. It's very easy to use with my 55" Samsung 3D TV, 3D Blu-Ray player, and Playstation 3. Price could be a little cheaper, but it definitely works and sounds better than the Yamaha RX-V565 that I purchased previously and then returned. Overall, one of the best cheaper end receivers.

Review by Katie1992 (06/06/2010 22:42).

Great receiver with amazing features, poor sound

I currently have Celestion F2 towers, Polk TSi 100 rears and a Kenwood center channel (don't remember the model number). I'm operating without a subwoofer for the moment, which was never an issue with my Yamaha RX-V461. My Celestion's always produced plenty of bass. Unfortunately my TV has only two HDMI inputs, and I have three HDMI devices. So I decided to upgrade. I narrowed my choices to a Denon AVR-790 and this Pioneer. I chose the Pioneer because of it's vast array of features. The MCACC is simply incredible. Audyssey and YPAO probably do the same thing, but Pioneer shows you and allows you to adjust everything that it measures. I was quite shocked. Also, the remote allows you to cycle up to 6 MCACC profiles with one button press. Also the remote allows you to change the resolution output from the receiver with a single button press. The GUI is beautiful and easy to use. Despite all of this, I just returned this amp for a slightly cheaper Denon AVR-790 on Clearance. The Pioneer just didn't output any low frequencies on my towers. MCACC set them to 'Large' and I adjusted to EQ to turn up lower frequencies. Still, I had to turn it up to 0.0db or more to get any significant bass response. Apart from this problem, the sound was okay. The center channel always seemed way too loud to me, despite being turned down 8db in MCACC. The surround decoding was impressive. I watched "The Return of the King" and the surrounding effects were drastically obvious. Bottom line, if you have smaller speakers or you have a good sub and you don't care about your front L/R speakers outputting bass, then this is probably a great amp for you. The Denon AVR-790 has less features, and less control of what features it does have (and no HDMI 1.4), but it sounds better.

Review by Deusamo (05/30/2010 16:19).

Great AV Receiver

Professional reviews, praised last years model, the 1019-k as the best value for the money. It's a safe bet Pioneer is on track of earning everyone's hard earned money again. This A/V receiver is brimming with features, some of which you may never use. Definately as "future-proof" as receivers come, especially in this price range. Just remember to not let Best-buy or any electronics store sell you an expensive HDMI cable. Do the HDMI research yourself and save.

Review by Leppy (05/17/2010 12:42).

Great receiver, very versatile and amazing sound

I purchased this stereo to go with my new Definitive Technology ProCinema 600 speakers and Panasonic 52" plasma TV. I currently have my HD-DVR, WII, and blu-ray player running through it. The set up was AMAZINGLY easy. run a couple cables to the stereo, 1 cable up to my TV, hook up the speakers, run the audio calibration...viola, amazing sound. I don't use the 3D (yet!) but I like having that option for the future. Otherwise, upconversion on the Wii seems very nice. Blu-ray and HDTV pass through are amazing, and all video sources are routed through the stereo for great sound. I can even hook up my laptop via HDMI and play computer games in surround! This receiver had EVERY option I could ask for, with plenty of inputs and 7.1 surround. You will not regret this stereo purchase.

Review by klwheat (05/15/2010 17:45).

Great Receiver for a Great Price

This receiver is great. Sound quality is amazing, very easy to set up. On screen GUI is great. Coming from a 10 year old Sony Receiver, which I thought was good, I was only upgrading because I wanted HDMI imputs on my receiver and also wanted to upgrade to a receiver that had new HD sound for my Blu-ray and let me tell you how amazing this sounds. It makes my "good" Sony sound awful. My speakers which are also 10 years old sound refreshed and almost new. Guess my Sony was underpowered. Couldnt be happier with my purchase.

Review by frenchie1019 (05/14/2010 04:38).

Great Product with extras

Great Receiver. Hands down, best for its price range. The iPhone app is a great added feature, especially for multi zone use.

Review by CFore (05/12/2010 21:14).

What a reciever should be!!!!

This Reciever is the BOMB!!!!! I replaced my VSX-819H-K with this unit just for the iPhone certification and the new GUI. Took about 5 minutes to hook up and then added my side surround speakers and calibrated the sound. It blows away my 819H-K, the difference in sound is amazing, I did not know Pioneer upgraded so much for the 2010 models. Nobody will be dissapointed, the iPhone video is automatically upconverted to 1080 and the picture is amazing and the sound is almost BD quality, just sick!!!! I was the first one to get this model from my local BB, and I am glad I did. The sound Fields are amazing and finally having more than 3 HDMI ins is great, 6 total, 1 being in front so I can watch movies and look at pictures off my Canon Rebel Ti1 SLR Camera, just awesome!! Good Job Pioneer, A+++ on this one.

Review by SteveOisKing (05/09/2010 21:21).