Pioneer VSX-523 - Just purchased! - Blu-ray Forum

Blu Myers · 05-27-2013, 10:13 PM

Just purchased the Pioneer VSX-523. Got it for $200 at Best Buy during the Memorial Day Sale. I've only played around with it for a few hours and so far I am HIGHLY impressed. Really easy setup...just make sure you read through the manual for any fine tuning, which I'm still doing. There are quite a few presets on this baby. It looks beautiful with the rest of my gear...PS3, Toshiba DVD player, LG 3D LED HDTV. One of the presets that really stands out so far is the ext. stereo. It seems to boost the volume substantially.

Of course I'm no expert on this model yet. One question I have it which preset do you guys use for BD playback? I would assume Direct, but let me know otherwise.

Blu Myers · 05-28-2013, 04:41 PM

Update...after a day, I am thoroughly impressed with this baby. It packs quite a punch for such a low cost. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of Pioneer's flagship models, but if network connectivity isn't a must, I highly recommend this unit guys.

One issue I was having was that the display wasn't showing dolby digital or dts when playing from my PS3...then I realized it was because I didn't have my PS3 set to bitstream. Easy fix after a little reading.

solarrdadd · 05-28-2013, 05:16 PM

congrats. sounds like you picked a winner for yourself.

glad you like the new toy, we wait to hear a full review after you've had some time using it and enjoying the features.

Blu Myers · 05-28-2013, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

congrats. sounds like you picked a winner for yourself.

glad you like the new toy, we wait to hear a full review after you've had some time using it and enjoying the features.

Will do...thanks. One thing that's pretty cool about it is the auto MCACC room calibration which automatically calibrates your speaker setup through a sensor.

I also like the USB input on the front. I plugged my Ipad in and had Spotify playing on my receiver, with the artist/track info displaying right on the LED display. You can also plug a regular USB drive loaded with mp3s. Really cool.

gibbsy24 · 06-10-2013, 02:40 AM

I was just looking at these earlier, good to hear you're liking yours. I'll probably have to go for it then.

Pistons · 06-13-2013, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leem6453

Will do...thanks. One thing that's pretty cool about it is the auto MCACC room calibration which automatically calibrates your speaker setup through a sensor.

I also like the USB input on the front. I plugged my Ipad in and had Spotify playing on my receiver, with the artist/track info displaying right on the LED display. You can also plug a regular USB drive loaded with mp3s. Really cool.

I was reading a review on this receiver and the guy bashed it, saying that the on screen video setup guide won't work through an HDMI connection and you must use a composite cable.....any truth to this?

Blu Myers · 06-17-2013, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pistons

I was reading a review on this receiver and the guy bashed it, saying that the on screen video setup guide won't work through an HDMI connection and you must use a composite cable.....any truth to this?

Yes you do have to use composite for the on-screen setup. Other than that though, the unit sings on my setup.

05-27-2013, 10:13 PM	#1
Blu Myers Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Sep 2007 Location:Haddonfield, IL Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:37 Blu-ray collection:655 Digital collection:10 Blu-ray reviews:3 Trading Score:108	Pioneer VSX-523 - Just purchased! Just purchased the Pioneer VSX-523. Got it for $200 at Best Buy during the Memorial Day Sale. I've only played around with it for a few hours and so far I am HIGHLY impressed. Really easy setup...just make sure you read through the manual for any fine tuning, which I'm still doing. There are quite a few presets on this baby. It looks beautiful with the rest of my gear...PS3, Toshiba DVD player, LG 3D LED HDTV. One of the presets that really stands out so far is the ext. stereo. It seems to boost the volume substantially. Of course I'm no expert on this model yet. One question I have it which preset do you guys use for BD playback? I would assume Direct, but let me know otherwise.

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05-28-2013, 04:41 PM	#2
Blu Myers Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Sep 2007 Location:Haddonfield, IL Home Theater Gallery:17 4K collection:37 Blu-ray collection:655 Digital collection:10 Blu-ray reviews:3 Trading Score:108	Update...after a day, I am thoroughly impressed with this baby. It packs quite a punch for such a low cost. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of Pioneer's flagship models, but if network connectivity isn't a must, I highly recommend this unit guys. One issue I was having was that the display wasn't showing dolby digital or dts when playing from my PS3...then I realized it was because I didn't have my PS3 set to bitstream. Easy fix after a little reading.

05-28-2013, 05:16 PM	#3
solarrdadd Blu-ray Prince Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Jul 2008 Location:Virginia Home Theater Gallery:255 4K collection:209 Blu-ray collection:1344 DVD collection:4 Blu-ray reviews: 42 Trading Score:316	congrats. sounds like you picked a winner for yourself. glad you like the new toy, we wait to hear a full review after you've had some time using it and enjoying the features.

06-10-2013, 02:40 AM	#5
gibbsy24 Member Member since:Jan 2013 Location:Traverse City, MI Home Theater Gallery:3 4K collection:20 Blu-ray collection:217 Trading Score:1	I was just looking at these earlier, good to hear you're liking yours. I'll probably have to go for it then.

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