Pioneer VSX-D309 Audio/Video Receiver
Pioneer VSX-D309 Audio/Video Receiver
Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
With built-in Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro Logic decoding, Pioneer's VSX-D309 surround receiver lets you take full advantage of today's 5.1-channel movies and music. Dialogue and sound effects come through with great clarity and spaciousness for an excellent home theater experience.
The VSXD309 provides an ample 60 watts of amplifier power to each of its five channels (left/right front, center, and left/right rear). It also offers a subwoofer output for incorporating the ".1" low-frequency effects (LFE) channel encoded on most DVDs and on DTS-mastered surround sound compact discs.
Complete 5.1-channel analog inputs bring welcome flexibility, letting you use the VSX-D309 with a surround-decoding DVD player or a future six-channel surround format.
Ten digital signal processing (DSP) environments transport you to your venue of choice--including hall, jazz club, and stadium--for a customized sonic experience.
The midnight mode compresses dynamic range while slightly increasing the clarity of dialogue for late-night viewing sessions. Midnight mode also dims the VSX-D309's front-panel display.
The VSX-D309 has plenty of standard features as well. Three audio-video inputs accommodate a DVD player, a VCR, and another component, such as a second VCR. Nestled around back are a subwoofer output and two digital audio inputs, one coaxial and one optical. The Pioneer VSX-D309 comes with a remote control and a one-year warranty on parts and labor.
Average customer rating: 
|
Pioneer VSX-D309 Audio/Video Receiver
Manufacturer: Pioneer ProductGroup: CE Binding: Electronics  Stereo Receivers
| Receivers & Amplifiers
| Audio & Video
| Categories
| Electronics
Audio & Video
| Refurbished & Used
| Special Features
| Electronics Features
| Electronics
Accessories:
Product Features:
ASIN: B00004SD9E |
Amazon.com Product Description
With built-in Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro Logic decoding, Pioneer's VSX-D309 surround receiver lets you take full advantage of today's 5.1-channel movies and music. Dialogue and sound effects come through with great clarity and spaciousness for an excellent home theater experience.The VSXD309 provides an ample 60 watts of amplifier power to each of its five channels (left/right front, center, and left/right rear). It also offers a subwoofer output for incorporating the ".1" low-frequency effects (LFE) channel encoded on most DVDs and on DTS-mastered surround sound compact discs.
Complete 5.1-channel analog inputs bring welcome flexibility, letting you use the VSX-D309 with a surround-decoding DVD player or a future six-channel surround format.
Ten digital signal processing (DSP) environments transport you to your venue of choice--including hall, jazz club, and stadium--for a customized sonic experience.
The midnight mode compresses dynamic range while slightly increasing the clarity of dialogue for late-night viewing sessions. Midnight mode also dims the VSX-D309's front-panel display.
The VSX-D309 has plenty of standard features as well. Three audio-video inputs accommodate a DVD player, a VCR, and another component, such as a second VCR. Nestled around back are a subwoofer output and two digital audio inputs, one coaxial and one optical. The Pioneer VSX-D309 comes with a remote control and a one-year warranty on parts and labor.
Customer Reviews:
Take the good with the Bad........2002-12-16
Apartment dwellers delight.......2001-04-14
One of these features has turned out to be essential for me, and may be for you as well if you are living in an apartment as opposed to a suburban house. I'll explain: "Midnight Mode" takes the softest parts of the movie (or CD) and elevates it a bit, so you get the full presence of the scene even if you haven't set the volume excessively high. When watching DVDs before I had this unit I'd noticed that many times I needed to turn up the volume during dialogue scenes, and turn it down during "explosion scenes". Midnight Mode (and a couple other methods of compressing the dynamic range) overcomes this problem. You simply put the volume at your favorite level (a level you will enjoy which won't damage your hearing, and which your housemates won't mind) and you will never have to be worried that a softly spoken scene will be inaudible. It will be audible - and sound very good indeed. To a lesser extent, this mode also reduces the excess volume of explosions, but I believe it is weighed more in favor of bringing up the quiet than in reducing the loud - which is why other reviews said they didn't notice it reducing the loud sounds much at all. (It is actually good that people think the effect is subtle -- if it drew attention to itself, it wouldn't be doing the job well, would it?) I think it is more intended to bring out the nuances, and it does so splendidly. Also works great for keeping music CDs sound full when played at background levels. All with a simple one-click change.
Another nice things I've noticed: This unit doesn't get too hot. Maybe because it is only 60 watts per channel (which is double what I grew up with!). Perhaps it costs less to run, as well?
In summary, I was concerned that at this price I'd be making sacrifices, that I'd be stuck with something that sounded one particular way. But it is flexible to your room conditions and your speaker sizes. No sacrifices here, except the lack of S-Video inputs (which might not be a factor for you at all).
Good DD/DTS A/V receiver for the price.......2000-12-27
The receiver lets you fine-tune your surround sound setup by specifying speaker sizes (setting one to "Large" will send more bass to it if you don't have a subwoofer), set cutoff frequency for the subwoofer, set volumes of individual speakers, and set distances between the speakers and the listener.
As mentioned in the Amazon review, the "Midnight" mode only helps "slightly". There is a separate "Dynamic Range Compression" feature that lets you select MID (middle) or MAX compression; but at either setting it makes barely noticeable difference to loud sounds. Like me, many people sometimes find it hard to hear movies at home -- dialogs too soft, sound effects too loud. The truth is that movies are made to be listened in an ideal accoustic environment like a theater, and most homes simply cannot recreate such an environment. Hence, many receivers include features like "Midnight" mode to make a movie soundtrack less overwhelming. But they often don't work well enough, and they distort the original sound way too much.
The "DSP sound modes", which turn plain stereo sound (such as from CD or radio) into a sort of "fake surround" sound, are OK. They don't do magic, but at least they don't distort the sound into an unrecognizable mess like my old Pioneer VSX-455 did.
One concern is there are not too many A/V inputs on this receiver. Besides the coax and optical digital inputs, there are just 3 video inputs and 4 analog audio inputs. This is barely enough to accommodate a TV, VCR, DVD player, LD Player, and CD Player. And it's definitely not enough if you also have satellite TV, audio cassette deck, turntable, etc.
I find the the receiver's 60 watts of power sufficient, although I often have to turn up the volume to about -30db (0db is max, -94 is min), which is almost 70% above the minimum.
The remote control is typically unexceptional: small buttons, confusing interface, useless as a universal remote.
best of the small ones.......2000-07-05
super.......2000-06-22
Electronics:
Recommended Consumer Electronics:
Suprema Flowers 35mm Camera Kit - Lilac
HP LaserJet 8150N Monochrome Printer
Stylus Photo R300M Digital Inkjet Photo Printer
Yamaha CRW4416S Internal SCSI 4x CDR/CD-RW Drive
Motorola Plug in HandsFree Speaker - silver/blue (CDMA Only) for Motorola Phones
Bell&Howell 6338 DUPLEX W/ACE 42PPM ( 0101295 )
cheapconsumerelectronics.com Electronics: 5GB Zen Micro MP3 Player USB 2.0 Pink
SONY DCR-HC40E MiniDV PAL Handycam(R) Camcorder
Rocket Power Beach Bandits for Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Philips Value Pack - 100 x DVD+R 4.7 GB 16x - spindle - storage media