Pioneer Elite SX-S30 Slim Home Audio and Video Receiver - Black

A lot of reviews from the music gurus online ask "who is the Pioneer SX-s30 good for?" Well... it's good for me.... I fit the profile. I have a 50" flat screen with a pair of Klipsch RVX-54 towers flanking the console underneath the television- and no center channel. However, a sub-woofer snagged from a thrift shop sits off to one side. A DirecTV receiver with HDMI, a Gen IV Apple TV (also HDMI), and iPod with analogue digital converter with RCA out, and a modern Cambridge Audio piano-black TT50 turntable round out the complement. Years ago I got way deep into vintage audio and I wanted something that would deliver 2 channel audio, connect to a sub-woofer, throw in HDMI- at least 4- and offer bluetooth and also a solid Apple Airplay connection. I wanted a built-in phono amp to reduce the mess of wires and cables; I wanted something that would work with my 4-ohm EPI speakers in my garage (once in a while) or even just a great pair of bookshelf speakers down the road....The SX-30 "elite" did all that and it shaved off 8 pounds off the weight of my current AV receiver and so my Denon AV 2316 was retired... The Pioneer Elite fits perfectly above my adcom line-conditioner/surge suppressor and is about the same dimensions height and width- the Elite is less "deep" vs. my Denon and makes connections so much easier. Took a while to get used to the room adjustments and dialing in the phase control with my sub-woofer- but all those controls are there, at least. Some of those music "gurus" whine about the power specs quoted in 4ohm, one channel... Well, the sound is clear; the soundstage is impressive, and the Class D power output (rated 85 watts at 4ohm) powers my 8 ohm Klipsch with ease. I should add my Klipsch RVX-54 feature the super-high sensitivity Klipsch are known for - 98dbi.... so this Elite, armed with it's Class D-based amplifier will make my walls shake... but so would practically a flea-amp tube amp... I'm listening to Diana Krall right now on airplay. Her voice is warm, the piano is crisp and life-like, the soundstage is precise, and the bass is.. well, convincing enough ... might be time to upgrade to a Klipsch sub. Last but not least, my Cambridge Audio TT50 turntable - in need of a few repairs - will run straight off the Elite courtesy of a phono-stage built into the Elite- a rarity in this price range. The Elite also works with a host of internet-based music providers (I use Tune-In - mostly for local radio) The FM tuner is actually pretty good and stronger than I expected. When I purchased The Elite SX-30 there were 10 units on Amazon. I took the plunge early and I don't regret it- I was on the verge of dumping my two-channel towers for a Bose soundbar-based system. I'm glad I didn't. The Elite works perfectly for my gear and my setup. My only gripe would be my direcTV and apple TV remotes cannot drive the unit completely; DirecTV doesn't seem to have the model plugged in, yet, and my apple TV can work the volume but it used to turn on my whole wall before I swiped out the Denon. Still, no regrets.

This product fills a niche that has been overlooked for quite sometime now, an AVR for the small room. I searched for a few years for a product that offered 2.0/2.1 with HDMI inputs and saw nothing until this and the Onkyo TX-8270 came out last year. I sat for a few days going back and forth between this and the Onkyo unit but ultimately decided on the Pioneer. My main reasoning is the Pioneer has the ability to decode Dolby whereas the Onkyo does PCM only. With the Onkyo, you have to rely on the source to convert Dolby to PCM prior to passing it on to the receiver. Not that this is a huge issue, but I prefer that sort of conversion on the component end and not the source. The SX-S30 takes up residency in my small living room (14 x 14) and fills it with great sound powering a pair of vintage Electro Voice coaxials. These speakers are ~100dB @ 1W/m, plenty efficient enough to handle the small power of this Pioneer. I once ran those speakers on 2W SET vacuum tube monoblocks and they could get to ear splitting volumes easily, this Pioneer is more than powerful enough for them. After saying all of that, this receiver isn't for everybody. This is is for the person that needs to fill a small room with sound and also needs HDMI switching. It's perfect for smaller living rooms, bedrooms, dorm rooms, or part of a desktop computer stereo system.

Don't bother to buy a sucky soundbar for your TV. This is a much better solution. I literally tried every soundbar. The problem with soundbars (even the more expensive ones) is you can't adjust the tone. You would have to spend $4000 on a bose soundbar system with 5 speakers in the room to get the same quality of sound as one of these receivers and 2 bluetooth speakers. I also love that it's not gargantuan. People wanting the sleek look of a sound bar would be satisfied with the look of this receiver. I've had it for 2 weeks. Oh, the remote is good too. Lightweight, works perfectly. The whole thing was plug and play. We also use it for music. Great bluetooth reach.

I have mine matched with Elac UniFi U5. They unit sounds great and I like having bass & treble controls on the unit itself. Also, the size it great as you can put a record player on top. It runs at 4ohms without a problem and stays cool. Two issues, Apple Airplay worked perfectly right away, now there is a 20 second lag when connecting. Hoping that firmware can correct that. Connects with Spotify Connect instantly. Second, the Phono preamp needs help. It is quiet. If you are playing a lot of vinyl, ehhh. If you are streaming... this is a winner.

This is a great feature packed 2 channel receiver. Works perfect in my living room and is adequate for music and absolutly astounding for TV, the perfect solution for my situation; 2 channel audio with HDMI inputs. Plenty of power to spare driving 2 Martin Logan Motion LX16 bookshelf speakers and a powered sub through the sub out. Easy set-up with so many modern features. Thank you Pioneer for producing a 2 channel HTR while the other manufactures are missing out on this opportunity.

Was mainly drawn to the Pioneer Elite Slim SXS30 due to space limitations. I realize that class D efficiency is found in very compact designs (e.g., the Fiio series and SMSL AD18), but I desired equipment from a well established brand. The more robust design of the Pioneer Elite Slim and the Elite branding fit the bill. Unfortunately, the power in this particular Elite unit is so poor it failed to sufficiently drive my mini bookshelf speakers (Box 5, 4-8 ohm, rated 10-150rms). I was surprised to hear how my soundbar sounded much more lively and louder. I tried my Box 5 with another amp (100 watts per 2 channel) and they came alive again. From unboxing to set-up took 20 minutes; listened attentively for 30 minutes; careful repackaging and automated return request, 15 minutes. We had a snow storm where I live, so I held on to the repackaged unit for the night. Today, the Pioneer Elite Slim gets returned!

I decided to replace my TEAC A-H01 (which will move to a back bedroom in the future) with this very capable Pioneer unit; stacked with the ELITE LX-500 Universal 4K player. I am very used to the top-notch performance of the TEAC so I can tell you I find very little difference in audio quality (driven by 2.1 Polk Audio speakers). I'm not a fan of pesky set-ups but I followed along the procedure and it actually was just a few minutes of simple instruction. Don't need a big satellite surround system because the living room is very small so this perfectly fit my needs. Very, very happy with this purchase.

I purchased this through Amazon from "Electronics Expo" in July of 2018. It died as of March 1, 2019 with the exact same symptoms as Dave the "AV Installer" wrote on March 11, 2018 (see his comments here as well). Electronics Expo: Said they didn't care what happened beyond 30 days. I was really hoping for better support from these guys; a product swap would have been nice. Pioneer begrudgingly said it was within warranty (which they claim is 1 year, not the 3 years they say Elite products are warrantied for) and that I should mail it to some shop in LA. (Pioneer doesn't fix them). Instead of being like "We're really sorry for your experience" the Pioneer support guy tried to tell me my Circa 1999 speakers somehow weren't compatible and thus is was my fault the amp died. If you're looking for world class customer support, this don't buy Pioneer. The speakers are within the spec of what the amplifier can drive. The shop in LA said to expect a 3 week turnaround. It was the "Go to our website and submit a form" kinda thing. Before all of this, the amp itself is nice, while perhaps a bit under powered. The setup wasn't easy, but the convenience after setup was worth the extra manual reading. I really liked the size of the unit, and appreciated two channel simplicity. What most struck me in this entire experience was just how horrible Pioneer's support is, especially for their "Elite" products. Given that I had the same exact problem Dave had, it seems like some sort of quality or engineering flaw. Or perhaps we both had speakers that weren't compatible.... :eye roll

El equipo es casi todo lo que pensaba. Muy funcional y fácil de usar. No es necesario utilizar la pantalla para operarlo pero sí es indispensable el control remoto. Otra cosa importante a tener en cuenta es que toda la conectividad wireless es únicamente para audio (al menos con el último firmware a Mayo 28 de 2018). El video sólo reproduce los inputs de HDMI, por lo que seguramente Tendré que conectar un Apple TV o similar para poder transmitir video desde mi celular o tablet. Por último, si bien la construcción es buena, no es tan sólida y de calidad como aparenta. El sonido está muy bien y suficientemente potente para un living, incluso se puede limitar (lo cual hice) y, además, este amplificador clase D, prácticamente, no calienta.

Out of the box the amp sounds great. After a few weeks of operation the unit started switching source on its own. I turn it off in the evening & when I get up in the morning its on. Still within 30 days, Amazon returned the unit for me. I added a star because I think the unit was acting up due to one of our phones trying to connect blutooth without being asked to. I decided to keep the amp despite not getting any response from the seller to try & figure out the issue.

Produto chegou super rápido e antes do prazo informado no momento da compra. Muito satisfeito.