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TEST Receivers

the video and is delivered at 576p/50 in plain chunky text... unless you’re switched to the Network or USB inputs, when the on-screen display assumed the more sophisticated look used in Pioneer’s more expensive models. But this is still delivered at 576p/50, yet has clearly been generated at 576i/50 — the progres-sive scan conversion was a simple ‘bobbing’ procedure which resulted in a flickery, unstable appearance. The other (chunky) set-up menu didn’t have that flickering.

The remote control provided with the receiver is fairly lightly built, but operated effectively and provided ready access to all the important stuff with dedicated keys. There’s an ‘Audio Parameter’ button which you may need to switch on and off automatic lip-sync, but most of its other functions are replicated on the remote.

This receiver is not one that works with Pioneer’s elaborate iControl AV2012 app for iOS/Android remote. Instead it can be controlled with the much more basic Pioneer ControlApp. This provides only volume, muting, power, input selection and surround mode selection, a good basic range of things to be able to operate anywhere within Wi-Fi reach of your home network. You can switch on a Network Standby function so that the receiver monitors the network even when it’s off, and so it can be switched on with the app.

The other network functions offered (besides AirPlay) are support for DLNA music from storage on your network, and internet radio. But these are hobbled by lousy naviga-tion; it takes ages to get through long lists because there is no accelerator, no page jump or any other shortcut features. The Album-Artist list on my computer music collection has 250 entries, and it took an interminable minute and a quarter of holding down the arrow (releasing it and reapplying it twice because it stopped after about 55 entries) just to get halfway through to Led Zeppelin.Elsewhere in these pages we run one

of Pioneer Electronics’ flagship AV receivers, the SC-LX86, through its paces. Less than one quarter of

that model’s price and half its mass is this VSX-527, the company’s entry-level network receiver. This unit clearly demonstrates that you don’t need to be rich these days to enjoy a fine home theatre experience. And more than that, you get a bunch of cool network abilities, including one that was a somewhat high-end feature last year.

EQUIPMENTAs a budget receiver, Pioneer has culled plenty of non-essentials. You get only get five power amplifiers, but these are proper 100W jobs. And you do get support for 7.1-channel sound because there is a pair of pre-amp outputs. If you have a pair of active speakers (or a separate amplifier to drive passive ones), then you can have rear surround speakers (with either native or Dolby Pro Logic IIx 7.1 sound) or front height speakers (via Dolby Pro Logic IIz).

PIONEER VSX-527

There are no component video nor S-Video inputs, but there’s a bit of legacy support with three composite inputs (one on the front panel, associated with the USB, for iPod video playback). Instead you get six HDMI inputs, all on the back panel. The receiver supports the Audio Return Channel from a TV.

There are only two S/PDIF digital audio inputs, one optical and one coaxial, but in addition to the USB socket you get Ethernet at the back. There is also a proprietary Pioneer adaptor port at the back, into which you can plug the optional Bluetooth adaptor ($119).

The new media support is remarkably strong here, with Apple AirPlay, high resolu-tion audio format support both via USB and DLNA, and internet radio.

PERFORMANCESetting up the receiver is fast and conventional. Fast because there aren’t many connections to be made, and conventional in the sense that new users will need to consult the manual, there being no first-time wizard to guide them through the process.

Not that it’s hard. Once the wiring’s done just hit the ‘Home’ key, select ‘Auto MCACC’, put the microphone where your head will be and plug it in. It runs through a modest selection of test tones and sets speaker distances and levels, and it gathers data for EQ and Pioneer’s ‘Phase Control’ system. This adjusts

for timing delays between different frequency bands that are manifested by many speakers. Both EQ and Phase Control are switched on by default, but can be easily switched on and off using specific keys on the remote.

Unfortunately the receiver set all five of my loudspeakers to ‘Large’, when (good as they are) my surround and centre speakers really ought to be set to ‘Small’ with a crossover of about 50 or 60Hz. This was easy enough to change (the crossover is the same for all ‘Small’ loudspeakers, not independently adjustable, and can be set at several points from 50 to 200Hz). To be safe you should go into the manual speaker settings after Auto MCACC has finished, and check what sizes and crossover frequency it has chosen.

The receiver automatically configured itself for my net-work soon after first switch on (Windows popped up a notification that the receiver was seeking access to media). So I started off playing with the fanciest new feature, Apple AirPlay. And I was a little disappointed with the sound; it sounded somehow unbalanced and a trifle harsh. Exploring the features I found the culprit: Pioneer’s ‘Sound

FIRMWARE: 1.050RATED POWER: 5 x 100W, 8 ohms, 20Hz-20,000Hz, 0.09% THDINPUTS: 6 x HDMI, 0 x component video, 0 x S-Video, 3 x composite video, 3 x analogue stereo, 0 x 7.1 analogue, 1 x optical digital, 1 x coaxial digital, 1 x USB, 1 x Ethernet, 1 x Pioneer Adaptor PortOUTPUTS: 1 x HDMI, 0 x component video, 0 x S-Video, 1 x composite video, 0 x analogue stereo, 1 x subwoofer pre-out, 1 x surround back/front height pre-out, 5 pairs speaker binding posts, 1 x 6.5mm headphoneZONE: NilOTHER: 1 x set-up micDIMENSIONS (whd): 435 x 168 x 383mmWEIGHT: 8.9kgWARRANTY: 12 months

CONTACT: Pioneer Electronics AustraliaTEL: 1800 060 852WEB: www.pioneer.com.au

• Good overall performance• Apple AirPlay• Excellent value for money

• Poor interface design for accessing the available media content

VERDICT

Pioneer VSX-527 networked AV receiverPrice: $699

Retriever’. This is automatically switched on when playing lossily compressed audio, which typically includes AirPlay content (even though AirPlay can play at CD quality). This processor is supposed to undertake the virtually impos-sible task of repairing some of the damage done in lossy compression (it “helps bring CD quality sound back to compressed 2-channel audio by restoring sound pressure and smoothing jagged artifacts left over after compression”, says the manual). Whether or not it does, it also re-EQs the sound, changing its tonal balance substantially for the worse. The processing leaves a typical MP3 sounding less like the original CD than it did before.

I’d suggest that you switch this off whenever it comes on (there’s a button on the remote for this), because that done the sound quality was excellent from this unit, both with stereo and with surround sound. In fact, I watched a couple of rousing Blu-ray movies with this unit and — somewhat surprisingly — found I needed to make no allowances for it with regard to volume levels. In general it would be wise, if you’re purchasing loudspeakers to go with it, to stick with models that are reasonably sensitive and not troublesome impedance-wise (Pioneer specifies a minimum of six-ohm nominal impedance for connected loud-speakers). But that said the receiver seemed quite comfortable even with my less-than-easy reference loudspeakers.

The unit doesn’t do anything with video other than switch it. Which is actually a good thing, because that way you can be confident that it does no harm. Not doing anything means no scaling or deinterlacing, no conversion of analogue inputs to HDMI, no overlaying of a visual volume indicator on the video passing through the receiver. It fully supports frame-packed 3D, but does not pass through 4K video.

There is an on-screen menu, accessed via the ‘Home’ key on the remote. This replaces

Pioneer VSX-527 networked AV receiverPrice: $699

When you do find a specific song that you want you can hit the ‘+Favorite’ key on the remote and add it to a Favorites list for ready later access, but this is on a song by song basis. You can ease this somewhat by assembling playlists in advance in your DLNA server software (typically Windows Media Player).

For internet radio you can use the vTuner web interface to do your searching and setting of ‘Favorites’ for ready access. But do note that these favourites are stored on the same list as any songs that you’ve similarly selected.

Finally, we have the USB input. You can plug in an iPod using a regular cable, or USB storage. The formats supported are MP3, WMA (lossy only), AAC, WAV and FLAC. For the latter two, the support is impressive, including all the way up to 192kHz and 24 bits. No audiophile limitations here!

CONCLUSIONThe Pioneer VSX-527 is an excellent entry-level AV network receiver with a wide choice of features given the price. Why would you buy a ‘home theatre in a box’ when starting with something like this, two loudspeakers and Blu-ray player for the same overall price will give you better beginning performance, and room to expand with future loudspeakers purchases? Stephen Dawson

“This unit clearly demonstrates that

you don’t need to be rich these days to enjoy a fine home theatre experience...”

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