Pioneer VSX-1019-AHK Receiver Reviews

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By Timothy L. Raab

I have had this receiver for three weeks and find it a great receiver. I have had tens of different receivers since the late 1960’s and this one was no more difficult to set up than any others. I have a Panasonic Blu-ray player and a Pani DVD Recorder with VCR and 80gb hard drive, plus a Direct TV HD receiver, Sony 50″ Bravia LCD, and excellent 5.1 speakers. I watch a lot of Blu-ray and HD tv plus listen to a lot of FM radio. I connected everything and had it running fine in 10 minutes (that’s why HDMI exists). Everything, from the remote to all of the options functioned correctly. If some of the buyers choose not to invest some time in educating themselves on home theater knowledge or in the receiver’s manual, they should expect some confusion–but not much! This is not difficult to get players and satellite to function. I live 20 miles outside of a large city and connected a Terk antenna and got excellent sound. The Blu-rays and recorded DVD’s looked and sounded great and operating the remote was intuitive for anyone who has operated a remote in the last 10 years. This is a modern receiver with a lot of power, looks really great in my shelf with the other components (I love to see what I pay for and the blue lights of the Pioneer provides a lot of info across the room), and EASY to operate. Prospective buyers should not hesitate to invest their hard-earned money in this receiver if within or even close to their budgets. It’s a lot of fun to use and I expect to have this one around for many years.

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By R. Smith

Overall I am very pleased with the product.I used the store card to get 6 months same as cash.I have had no problems with the hookup of my bose speaker system. Like other reviewers have noted you have to use video cables to access the receiver menu.Sound sounds great to me.
I like the ability to rename all the HDMI inputs.The auto sound calibration worked great. I am updating from a 10+ year old Kenwood receiver.Technology has changed quite a bit.I have everything hooked up through HDMI cables.
Other receivers might be cheaper but I like this one and have no intention of returning it.I have not noted any heat problem with the receiver. I have it in an open cabinet and can put my hand on the top of the unit after a couple of hours of use without it feeling real hot.
The remote is not that bad. The buttons are small and the remote appears to be busy and I probably will try to get a better multiple remote for ease of use in the future.

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By Cat “tengo”

My only regret is that I didn’t buy it sooner. Had a Kenwwood (then top of the line reciever) for a number of years and thought i was pleased with the sound. About a month ago it died. Looked at reviews for recievers in my price range and this offered the most bang for the buck. ipod cable and a host of features. The manual is the worst part of the product. The remote; not so bad when you get to know it. Heat, not an issue. Any equipment with this kind of power will porduce heat. My setup include a PS3 and Toshiba hddvd player and a Kenwood CD changer and a Samsung Lcd. Here’s the fun part. I hooked it up (reciever menu works fine via hdmi cable). Ran MCACC and finally listened to a sounce. WOW. I didn’t know my Bose speakers were capable of such good treble. Midrange is awesome and for deep bass I have an exta Polk 505 subwoofer. In short im now listening to movies, music and games like i’ve never heard them before.
Tips: Set your front and center speakers to small (sound will come through louder plus deeper bass; When connected to a CD player or USB device, turn “S.RTRV” on for beter music reproduction. Also i have found that when PS3 is connected to the reciever via hdmi make sure to go in your video settings and set your bd/dvd audio output to bitstream and go to your audio output settings and configure hdmi format manually. Remove unnecessary decoders such as PCM 7.1 and PCM 5.1. Reason being that I found that when they are enabled and you are playing a game anything but Dolby Digital and Dts will be selected. Blu- rays discs seem to select the best format without any problems. Thanks for listening.

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By J. Hope

Awesome receiver at a great price. I am very happy with it. For some reason I was under the impression it would upscale HDMI video, but it only does analog video (composite and component), which makes sense. But the upscaling I tried on component works pretty well.

Setup is easy, but you can make it very complicated and get into some cool deeper settings if wanted.

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By Alan D. Greenwell

The Pioneer receiver is just what we wanted. The manual is difficult to understand but after several attempts we figured out how to connect everything. Our receiver is on an open shelf so we have no issues with overheating.

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By Joseph Hardee

First let me clarify my high rating by equating it to the price + purpose = value equation. Price was considerably less than high-end equipment (Mac / Martin Logan / Theta / Quick Silver). The purpose of this review is not to compare a $500 (all in one) A/V device with component devices costing $2,000 to $20,000. I was looking for a “do it all” box for $500 or less and compared it to receivers in the same price and category. I will say that I steered away from the Onyko brand due to the fact that Onyko has seemed to have a rash of loosing HDMI ports on their receivers(Onyko seems to have a chipset issue). I was amazed at what you could do with the set up on the Panasonic. I only wish there was a password protect to lock people (kids)out once you have is configured to your liking. While it is simple to set up and use out of the box I was not impressed with this unit until I spent a day reading the manual and adjusting the settings. One of the most impressive abilities of this unit is the up-scaling. I plugged in an old VHS deck and dropped in a tape. Played the same movie on Blue Ray and switched back and forth on the video input to compare. The BR won hands down but the VHS was a close second for a 10 year old dusty deck with the help of the 1080i up-scaling from the Panasonic receiver. If you have a 1080p TV this receiver is a must for non-1080 stations / dvd’s / and even old VHS.

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By Digman

My system is set up in a small 13′x18′ family room that is open on one side to a kitchen. I’ve had my Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K up and running for about a week now. I still haven’t been able too explore all its functions or options. So far, I’m impressed! I love the sound. My music is clear and crisp. Our movies and TV shows rock with special effects. I’m not an audiophile by any means. This is my 3rd stereo/home theater system in 36 years. My first system in 1973 was a Phillips turntable, Marantz 2225 Receiver, and Marantz Imperial 6G speakers (wish I still had it). I used it for 22 years until purchasing in 1995 a Technics SA GX490 receiver, Boston Accoustic CR6 and CR1 speakers, Technics CD player and Sony DVD player. My new system consists of:

* Sony Bravia KDL 40V2500 LCD TV
* Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K receiver
* Energy Take Classic 5.0 speakers
* BIC V1020 subwoofer
* Panasonic BPM BD60 bluray player
* Comcast DVR
* 14 year old Technics CD player.

Everything positive that previous reviewers had to say about this receiver’s performance is true. I’m just adding my opinion to some of the drawbacks that had been previously posted.

The set up was a little more challenging than previous installations but not too difficult. The manual is very thorough but technical and requires much cross referencing to various sections, which I found annoying.

The KURO LINK(more hype than function) does not work with any of my other components but the HDMI works fine.

The remote does everything it is supposed to do but it just not synchronized at all. Every component must be turned on individually. I plan to buy a more user friendly remote, probably Harmony.

When using an IPOD the GUI is a bit slow but tolerable, it allows you to switch control between the receiver`s remote and the IPOD. I love the GUI display on the TV. I usually turn it off after I select my songs and view the selections on the receiver’s display. “UPDATE” – My IPOD freezes if I leave it attached to the receiver and use any of the receivers other functions. I must detach the IPOD after each use or risk it freezing and having to reset it. I don’t know if this is a Pioneer or an IPOD problem.

The MCACC set up amazed me. After set up I did have to change my subwoofer crossover from the selected 80hz to 100hz. It still leaves a 10kz gap between my bass and the 110hz my Energy speakers perform at. This is the biggest fault I’ve found so far.

Heat Dissipation – This receiver does generate more heat that my previous receivers. But, more of today’s components generate heat. My Cable TV/DVR and Bluray player also generate heat. So, I have them installed in a credenza cabinet with a two speed 120cm fan with a thermostat that turns the fan off when not needed. I found it on EBAY for $53 w/ shipping and was able to install it myself. It works great.
Now, to reiterate, I LOVE THIS RECEIVER!!!!

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By Anthony N. James “tjtull”

I’ve had this receiver for a month now and it is by far the best receiver I’ve ever owned and I’ve had many over the years. For some reason, I’ve always thought of Pioneer as a substandard brand. I know they’ve been around forever but I avoided them. So, this is the first Pioneer component I’ve ever purchased. I can’t be happier with this product. For years I’ve felt like a victim of in-store sound systems that just don’t sound the same when I get them home and set them up. I’ve been through several receivers over the years; JVC, Marantz, Kenwood, and Sony. I was disappointed by them all.

I chose this receiver on the advice of two close friends who swore by it. Still, I was apprehensive when it arrived and I unpacked it. After being letdown by so many other receivers, I was expecting the same disappointment. I spent one Saturday morning setting the entire system up, including running the MCACC. Setup went very smoothly and easily. There are enough HDMI and optical audio connections on this to allow for many different configurations. I’ve made several changes to the setup over the past few weeks and I think I’ve found the right combination for me. Some people have complained about the manual but I found the manual very helpful and I was able to work through a couple of setup problems with ease.

Immediately after setting things up I put in Batman Returns and was totally blown away by the sound. This receiver gives me the sound I’ve been searching for all of these years. I figured I’d need to replace my old Advent speakers and JBL subwoofer but this receiver brings those speakers to life. The speakers now sound like they sounded in the showroom when I bought them. The MCACC gave me the perfect balance between all channels and I only needed to run it one time.

Not only do movies sound fantastic in surround but music also sounds amazing in just stereo. I don’t have a 7.1 setup, I’m using 5.1 and it completely fills my large family room with incredible highs and booming lows. The dynamic range is like I’ve never heard before.

I can’t recommend this receiver highly enough. It is a truly exceptional receiver and hard to pass up at this price!!

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By J. Raridan

This receivers combination of features and price are incredible. It took me less then an hour to set it up from start to finnish and I’m very happy with the results. I had no idea Blu Rays could sound this good. I also can just plug in my iPhone and listen or watch videos with the included cable without buying an expensive dock. It runs hot so make sure you give it plenty of room to breath.

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By Roy Ledochowski

The VSX-1019AH-K got Cnet’s 2009 editor’s choice award and I agree. I have a fairly simple setup – Tivo HD, Wii, PS3 & DVD with a 32″ Sony KV30HS420. I have a set of relatively cheap 5.1 Polk speakers with a powered sub. The system is in a fairly well-ventilated cabinet and contrary to other reviews, I do not find that the unit runs overly hot.

The manual is a bit confusing as others have noted but since I expected it, it wasn’t a problem. The auto speaker calibration works very well and is simple. The included mic has nice long cable (approx 8 feet).

Sound is outstanding. The auto surround detection is a nice feature as is the iPod connection (iPod cable is included!) .