I love the Pioneer Elite receiver

I have had my Pioneer for long enough time to know that I am very happy with it. First all it has 4 HDMI inputs and that is critical in todays world of digital everything. It also has optical and coaxial digital sound inputs as well.

The remote(s) are also very good and easy to use. It comes with one full featured remote that does everything and one that is just for basic functions.

Another great feature is the auto sound calibration. One simply plugs in the microphone and places it in your typical listening position and then the receiver plays a series of test tones through all 5 speakers (My set up) and then equalizes the system to match what it hears.

It even changes the delay in sound if your listening position is closer left to right and front to back etc. This is required in movies that use prologic to make sure the sound moves around as it should to match the action on the screen.

I also used it to re-equalize the room after I removed the carpet and replaced it with wood floors in my house. It really made a big difference in the audio and without the EQ system I would not have been able to correct for it. Of course you can also fine tune the EQ if you think you want more bass or high end etc. When I let the system 100% set everything it almost sounds a but too sterile to I changed it a bit myself.

The receiver also features pre amp outputs for every channel which I use only for the front speakers. I pre amp out the signal to a external amplifier with substantially more power and then use the Poineer amplifier only to drive the center and rear channels.

Power output is great and the amplifier section is very stable with 4 ohm speakers. I also like the sound modes it offers on non pro logic DVDs such as club, drama, SI Fi movie etc. It tailors the sound of each type to fit the type of movie you are watching and I use it often.

Overall it is a great unit and I looked hard at Onkyo and Denon and Yamaha.