Trying a New Stereo: Pioneer VSX-80TXV
Friday, February 23rd, 2007
Back before there were many gadgets and gizmos, cool mobile phones and MP3 players, the hot topic of consumer technology centered around audio/video gear. Personally, my first home surround sound setup involved a HiFi VCR and a Dolby Pro Logic receiver. We’ve come a long way from there, with 7.1 (or more) channel digital surround sound, pre- and post-processing, digital filters, and more.
My current stereo is a Sony DA30ES with 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS support. It has a bunch of inputs and outputs, although all are analog. I received a pretty little (well, not-so-little) package in the mail this week with a new Pioneer VSX-80TXV A/V receiver. Oooh, integrated HDMI switch! Ahhh, THX-certified. Ohhh, so many ins and outs. Me likey!
I’m going to make the switch this coming week, although I’m going to have a little ‘guest panel’ come over beforehand so we can do a little comparison testing. It’s a little tricky to test since it’s so subjective and based entirely on short-term memory, but we’ll do our best. Some pictures below, more online here.
