Customer Ratings & Reviews

I purchased this upgrade after 10 years of running a Pioneer SC-27. Ten years later Pioneer has just done it much better and simply improved on an already amazing product. I love the Class D3 amps - not enough can be discussed about their efficiency from a 15a 120v socket, especially when it fully powers a 7.2.2 set-up. I run Paradigm Studio 100's (Front), Studio 60's (Rear), CC-590 (Center), with Klipsch R620F Towers (Side Surround) and Klipsch RP-500SA Atmos speakers (Up-firing Front Height). Complimented by two HSU VTF-15 Subwoofers. The Pioneer does an amazing job pushing a L/R subwoofer track blended nicely in the Atmos or DTS-HD tracks. The features are too many to discuss and I am still a kid in a candy store playing with all the goodies this receiver offers. What a beast! I love, love, love this receiver!

I purchased the Pioneer 901 to replace our Onkyo TX-NR5007 that we had been using since 2010. While the movie sound quality was nice with the 5007 the stereo listening sound was lacking. I was already using a class D amp (Wyred 4 Sound ST-1000MKII) in another room and I was happy with efficiency of the amp and heat reduction from my class AB amp it replaced. The Pioneer 901 did not disappoint. Setup was a breeze and sonic quality over Onkyo 5007 was a major improvement. It was like a wet blanket was lifted from my speakers (Mirage OM-5's). I was considering buying new speakers but the 901 saved from doing an unnecessary upgrade.

Ive been waiting forever for people to start making an 11 amp receiver to do a 7.2.4 in ceiling(2sets) atmos system. This does the job! My last receiver was a pioneer SC-55, so very familiar with this one from the get go. Everything works. Sounds great. Watched Transformers AOE in atmos, and my mind was blown away on how great it sounded. The added ceiling speakers were sooo worth it. Sounded amazing, NEVER heard anything like it, the circular above sound from when the ship sucks up everything was so great, you feel like its right above you, better sounding than the theaters!! Would give it 5stars, but noticed this one is not THX certified, which I dont know why, and the listening modes compared to my SC-55 are less in this one, but this one has wifi, and blutooth, and most importantly 11 amps, for 11 individual speakers to all be connected in a 7.2.4 system makes it a great buy!

If you want a good surround sound receiver with some horsepower to it this is the one. It has Several surround sound formats which you can choose to your preference, not 50 of them which it makes it hard to choose from. It does the 4K and Bluetooth which hooks up to any Bluetooth device you have. Plays music from your phone or YouTube, plenty of wattage to push your speakers . Pricey but worth it.

This receiver has tremendous power output. The replacement model has 2/3s less wattage and only a 2 year warranty. The surround sound effects are truly like being at a movie theater. I have it set up with 11 speakers and 2 subs. It will vibrate your clothes at 1/2 volume in a 24 by 24 ft greatroom. Very satisfied.

I decided to upgrade from 1 older $1200 Pioneer AVR for my (Klipsch RC-62 ii and 4 RF-82 ii's) 5.1.4 Atmos theater. The sound quality is way more detailed. The experience is beyond what I ever could have hoped for. Horror movie jump scares are way more effective. Dialogue is easier to hear. Sound effects from gunshots, helicopters, glass breaking are the best I've ever heard. This is mandatory for to get the most out of your speakers.

We had lurched an entry level Pioneer Elite, and when we listened to a Dolby Atmos movie we had to keep the volume down to prevent the receiver from shutting down. Problem solved with this model, operating in 5.1.2 configuration with two base speakers and the sound rocks the house!

Great product, had the geek squad set this up for our home theater. The system sounds incredible and it has been easy to use.

Pioneer Elite Receiver SC-LX901. Installed in 7.1 configuration. Good sound quality. Good video quality.

It was recommended that we get the sc-lx901 because it has even more power. So we returned the sc-lx701.

Amazing sound quality!! Definitely a must for true 4K sound and picture!

Sent it back..got the rec/amp that i ordered in the first place the Marantz 8012!!

You buy this receiver for one thing and on thing only... well, 2 things: 7.1.4 Atmos or 7.2.4 Atmos. Buying this receiver otherwise would not make sense since there are other receivers out there that will handle a 5.1.4 for way less money. I'm a fan of Pioneer Elite receivers. They have a ton of power, d3 amps, and they're so user friendly. Setting up the system using the Graphic user interface is so simple. There's also the AV Control app on your phone to view the status of the input and output, as well as the ability to make adjustments to the channel and distance levels on the fly with media playing. This is helpful when you have an AV closet and need to see if the receiver is decoding properly or if your bluray or media device is outputting bitstream to the receiver. It's also helpful to make adjustments to a movie or song playing rather than the channel level static. That's my opinion; you still have the old fashioned way through the GUI. The hookup is the same as any other receiver, except that you have a ton of HDMI inputs that are HDCP 2.2 compliant. 2 HDMI outputs, helpful for my setup with a Projector and TV. A couple other cool features are that Chromecast is built in, you just need to do a firmware update and the Pioneer Remote app to pair up with other Elite receivers. I think it still needs more development and it's not really that important. I use this in my Theater for a 7.1.4 setup and playing 4K Atmos Blurays sound absolutely incredible. The height dimension above is awesome. I was watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and I had to pause it a couple of times because I thought someone was upstairs doing something and it was the height channels creating the environment around me. I also had to pause it when they are on Planet Ego because I thought water was running somewhere or it started to rain. Again, just the height channels immersing me in the movie. Another cool scene is when Rocket asks Star-Lord to ask if anyone has any tape. Also, another one that just gets to Atmos right off the get go is Kong Skull Island; during the main titles the planes that fly above you shooting at each other is absolutely insane. The way the sound moves diagonally across the top of your head and to the sides is so worth dishing out for this thing. It's just not 4K Atmos sourced blurays either, the Pioneer does a fantastic job of upscaling audio from 5.1 sources to 7.1.4. Watching Spectre, the beginning Helicopter fight scene is a great example from a 5.1 source. The helicopter blades whiz above your head getting you into the scene. I'm driving Bowers and Wilkins speakers and a Martin Logan Subwoofer with the Pioneer, so you know this baby has some juice. The Atmos speakers are Sonance that I picked up at a deep discount from BB and it made this receiver upgrade possible to get Atmos done. I have no problem getting enough power to the B&Ws. Sound is clear, robust and immersive. No audio drops, no heating issues, no HDMI handshaking issues, 4K passes through fine, as well as 3D...this thing just works. I'll use it for a couple movies at a time or long gaming sessions and I've never had any issues. I used my old Pioneer Elite the same way for 7 years and it still works great. If you have the 7.1.4 setup or you are thinking of going that route, I highly recommend this Pioneer. The simplicity, power and reliability of the Pioneer is incredible.

Upgraded from an older Pioneer Elite that didn't have 4K pass through. Love the streaming features. Fantastic quality! I also like the minimalistic approach on the remote.

Did some research, thought the Pioneer 901 was the way to go. Got it home after shipping to the store and the left front channel was dead. Tried 3 sets of speakers, reset system twice and still no left front speaker. Decided to return and move on to a different brand. Thought for this much money it should be good out if the box.

Liking my new home theater experience. Will definitely recommend this product. Great pricing as well.

A little difficult to figure out settings and features.

This is great for people who like to have multiple zones to listen to for different rooms of the house.

Upgraded from Yamaha Aventage 2020 to this Pioneer. The sound is so much better and the surround is way way better. Beautiful, clear, amazing audio! The only negative is no HD radio but even the regular radio sounds HD.

I was in the market for a way to setup an 11.2 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X system in my living room (After having seen Logan w/Atmos at a theater that supported it, I was in love). I have 2 Klipsch R-28F speakers, 4 Klipsch R-26F speakers, and 1 Klipsch center speaker, along with 4 Klipsch RP-140S speakers - my Denon receiver supported Atmos, but only up to 7.2. I didn't want to run a separate amplifier, and wanted one AV receiver to rule them all (For ease of access, and to give a clean look). I went over to my local Best Buy, and was recommended this receiver by an associate there (Who setup a similar Atmos system, but w/a 9.2 Pioneer receiver v. the 11.2 I bought). I ordered the receiver, and waited for it to arrive (Paid for 1-day shipping). Three days later, it arrived! Be warned that this receiver is extremely heavy (Caught the Fedex guy/myself off guard, felt like it'd be easier to carry a palette of bricks), and is probably around 60-70lb. First thing I noticed when taking it out of the box was the build quality - it felt like the $3000 I dropped on a receiver was actually worth $3000. The front panel is beautiful, adorned with a gold "PIONEER ELITE" logo on the front of it (Buttons are hidden behind the panel, which is a nice touch - gives it a very clean look overall). Now, let me tell you right off the bat that this receiver has way more inputs than I'll ever need - I have a Sony UBP-X800 Blu-Ray player, Xbox One S, Playstation 4 Pro, and an Nintendo Switch. The receiver has 7 HDMI ports total, and 5 that support HDCP 2.2 (For 4k content playback). I don't have any other devices at the moment, so that was perfect for me (But if you have a lot of devices to connect, this is the receiver for you). Setup was extremely easy - the speaker plugs in the back have a plastic backing to protect against the wires touching the metal parts of the receiver (Much appreciated feature). It took some work to get the massive thing into place (Being 60+ lb), but it fit like a glove in my media center. Once you turn it on for the first time, it doesn't prompt you to set it up - you have to press the home/setup button on the remote to get to that menu. I haven't tested the mcacc automatic tuning feature, as I calibrated/measured/laser lined everything by hand for precise measurements, but my last experience with Audyssey (On the Denon) was fine. Setup was a breeze, and everything went without a hitch w/calibrating everything. Now, onto the juicy part - the movies. I didn't have an Atmos demo disc on hand, so I opted to use Deadpool on 4k Blu-ray for the first movie I would watch. I put it in my Blu-ray player, pressed play, and went to the scene with (Spoiler alert) Wade jumping off of the bridge to intercept the convoy. I was whelmed - the sound felt a bit muted, and I felt like the speakers were underperforming (W/the back surround speakers not firing at all). I chalked it up to being an okay/buggy receiver, and was going to return it (My Denon sounded better). Then I realized that my Blu-ray player was set to PCM for the audio output - I set it to Bitstream (Let the receiver decode the raw audio), and rewatched the same scene. o m goodness Words cannot describe how amazing Atmos/DTS:X is - it's absolutely mind-blowing (The sound of helicopters flying overhead, bullets flying by, glass hitting the ground, explosions coming from all around) - it caught me off guard. The receiver really shined with the audio being bitstream - the sound was crystal clear - no fuzziness, no distortion at higher volumes (I turned it up to the point that I was worried I was going to lose my hearing, and it was still loud and clear). The bass was tight and clean (Each subwoofer firing independently from each other), but still shook the room (The molding in my kitchen was actually knocked loose, and I had to nail it into place v. gluing it). Each speaker sung in perfect harmony with each other, like a relay race (Where one speaker would hand off the sound to another w/o choppiness/delays) - it was a melting pot of orchestrated chaos, and it was beautiful. Side notes, I love the fact that the receiver is connected w/so many Internet apps (And has the ability to stream from high-resolution services, such as Tidal). I use Spotify when listening to some relaxing music while working in my living room on my laptop, and the ability to control the receiver from the app on my phone/tablet/PC is wonderful. It's a receiver that is designed to truly do everything a home theater needs to do, and it executes that perfectly. If you love music, movies, or games, and want to get a complete Dolby Atmos/DTS:X system in one package, get this receiver. It is absolutely the best receiver I've ever purchased, and is worth every penny - the difference while watching movies/listening to music is night and day.