Link to Pioneer's product page.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/AV-Receivers/Pioneer+Receivers/VSX-1022-K

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-1022-K-7-Channel-Receiver-Network/dp/B007O5ATC8

3/5 stars and $299.95 on Amazon. The reviews don't make it sound very good.

I don't watch a lot of movies so 7.1 and 3D aren't important to me. Honestly the important thing here for me is the HDMI standby through that runs the HDMI signal through into your output devices even when the receiver is off. These things are becoming the brains of our living rooms, it's nice when they're smart like that.

Bought this last go around. Have been happy with it, but we don't use any of the cutsie features. Love all the HDMI hookups, sounds good, winner for me.

Sounds great, & network airplay is great. The display & user interface are Terrible. I would return it if I had a bit more time & effort. Pioneer clearly had not tried to use this themselves before releasing it.

I'm interested in a receiver to perform the sound card functions of my PC. I imagine this would do it, but I don't know enough about it to tell, like, would I be able to game using the receiver for surround sound in-game? Or is it only for music files?

doomtothee wrote:I don't watch a lot of movies so 7.1 and 3D aren't important to me. Honestly the important thing here for me is the HDMI standby through that runs the HDMI signal through into your output devices even when the receiver is off. These things are becoming the brains of our living rooms, it's nice when they're smart like that.

It's best to buy a TV with an HDMI out port. Run your devices to the TV HDMI inputs then 1 cable from the TV HDMI out to the Receiver. Then you only need to turn the receiver on when you want surround sound.

colbytitus wrote:It's best to buy a TV with an HDMI out port. Run your devices to the TV HDMI inputs then 1 cable from the TV HDMI out to the Receiver. Then you only need to turn the receiver on when you want surround sound.

Except this makes remote programming hard. Say you're watching tv without the receiver then want to watch TV with the receiver. If you switch to receiver, now the sound button controls the receiver, but you still have sound coming from the tv, which you don't want.

This may come with a 1 year warranty, but I don't think Pioneer is going to honor it because woot isn't an authorized internet dealer.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Where-To-Buy/Pioneer+Home+Audio+Video+Authorized+Internet+Dealers?appInstanceName=default

The 1022 is a great receiver at this price. I spec and install Home Theaters on the side, and frequently use Pioneer Receivers as the anchors. I have a 1021 powering my own home theater and have had no issues with it. If you need a receiver that can handle two zones and do it well, you're not going to do for much less cost than this.

shin984 wrote:This may come with a 1 year warranty, but I don't think Pioneer is going to honor it because woot isn't an authorized internet dealer.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Where-To-Buy/Pioneer+Home+Audio+Video+Authorized+Internet+Dealers?appInstanceName=default

Interesting. Amazon isn't on that list either, so it's not like you can fall back on them as Woot's parent company.

I wonder if a Squaretrade warranty would work

Best Buy carries this and I think it runs with the same issues as the 1021 - runs very hot and that's bad for electronics. Well, MOST electronics.

trog69 wrote:I'm interested in a receiver to perform the sound card functions of my PC. I imagine this would do it, but I don't know enough about it to tell, like, would I be able to game using the receiver for surround sound in-game? Or is it only for music files?

You could run a cable from the line-out jack on your computer to an input on the receiver. Depending on the spec's of your PC you could use HDMI if it's available. I hook my PC (and everything else) up to my TV through HDMI, then go from the TV output to receiver. Someone mentioned this same setup in an earlier post.

trog69 wrote:I'm interested in a receiver to perform the sound card functions of my PC. I imagine this would do it, but I don't know enough about it to tell, like, would I be able to game using the receiver for surround sound in-game? Or is it only for music files?

Yes, depending on your soundcard. If you have a digital output on your computer, you can use an optical TOSLINK cable to output your sound. If you use a stereo to RCA cable, I don't know if the surround data will be passed correctly, as you may have to do the processing in the receiver for that.

Anyone know if this will do 1080i out through component video. I have an older huge TV w/o HDMI. Thinking of picking up a Roku/Apple TV but I'd only be interested if I could get 1080i. Thanks.

I just bought this last week from Amazon for $250 and set it up Friday. First impressions are that it's not bad for the price.
The good:

Sound quality is good; initially had an annoying popping sound when using my cable / DVR, but that was resolved by lowering the audio output volume from the cable box to 85 from 100. I'm not sure why this mattered, though, I'd assume is was sending a pure digital signal and letting the receiver do the amplification.

number of HDMI ports is great.

up-converting from component to HDMI works.

HDMI audio return worked better than expected (audio from the Netflix / Hulu Apps built in to my Vizio TV played out through the 1022 with no extra setup required

Airplay works (for audio) is you've got the thing plugged into your network.

The not so good:
Switching sources as a slight delay of a second or two.

Whenever the resolution something changes, the things blanks out for a second while readjusting. This is particularly annoying when I just want to bring up my cable guide or DVR saved list. I've got the cable theoretically outputing 1080p only, but obviously it's not.

The problems:
The interface to set up Pandora sucks. To enter your username and password, it's like an old school arcade game (not an on screen keyboard), only the choice of characters goes: Upper case letters, some symbols, lower case letters, numbers, then more symbols; and the scroll speed is slow (like 1/2 second per character). I spent nearly 10 minutes just entering my account information (email address is 23 characters long, password is required 8 with mixed characters / symbols). After it rejected my password and I went back, it erased my username as well. I haven't bothered trying to enter it again.

Maybe there is someone here smarter than me that can answer a question. If this amplifier will deliver 140W per channel @6 ohms (my Infinity RS2.5 speakers have a 6 ohm impedance), and there are 7 channels, that means this will deliver 980 watts total. How is that possible when it only consumes 520 watts?? Inflated specs? If they ARE inflated, wouldn't the other specs be inflated as well?

Ringo4422 wrote:Maybe there is someone here smarter than me that can answer a question. If this amplifier will deliver 140W per channel @6 ohms (my Infinity RS2.5 speakers have a 6 ohm impedance), and there are 7 channels, that means this will deliver 980 watts total. How is that possible when it only consumes 520 watts??

I'm no expert and not smarter than you, but perhaps you are looking at the wrong spec.

The true audiophile power spec listed is:
80W per channel (20 Hz - 20 kHz, 0.08% THD @ 8 ohms).

This is an indication of power consumption across the hearing spectrum with very low THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Total_harmonic_distortion&oldid=517328297

Only 7 of the channels are full audio range power channels. One channel is the subwoofer channel, which has a restricted low bass frequency range and doesn't reproduce all of the audio range. 7 channels x 80 watts = 560 watts. However, unless you're constantly running full spectrum white noise through all 7 channels, you will not hit 560 watts of power consumption. The 1 bass subwoofer channel is restricted in it's power output as it's not reproducing audio above 100 Hz or so.

The other two specs:
110W per channel (1 kHz @ 8 ohm)
140W per channel (1 kHz @ 6 ohms)
show the power consumption if you run a single 1000 Hz tone at either 8 or 6 ohms. Obviously, it takes less power to produce a single 1000 Hz tone than it does to produce audio across the nominal hearing range of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. There is also no indication of the THD at that rating. It's a useless spec, just included to make the receiver seem more powerful.

There is a pretty good article on the Wiki describing the various methods of measuring and describing amp power specs at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Audio_power&oldid=522137844

If I'm incorrect, I'm sure someone will chime in (no 1K tone pun intended.)

So what if you're old, like me, and all you want is something to connect your old turntable, cassette deck and 5-disc CD player to? I see it has 3 analog inputs, so that should cover me, yeah?

And can someone give some more detail on what's wrong with the interface?
thx!

I hope this isn't like the 1021 that I have and only compatible HDMI products on both ends will work with the HDMI throughput. My PS3 will go through it and connect with my Mitsubishi TV, but my U-verse cable box will not; now I'm stuck turning the stereo on just to watch the news.

I also liked my Harman Kardon receiver it replaced, but wasn't compatible with the HDMI updates. It seemed to have much more power than the Pioneer and more user friendly interface at times.

Ugh! Bought one of these a few months ago and the HDMI ports croaked on me in the first hour.

Also, the on-screen interface was ghastly.

Returned it for a Yamaha and have never looked back. The Yammy onscreen interface and android app is also VERY classy looking.

BarbieGee wrote:So what if you're old, like me, and all you want is something to connect your old turntable, cassette deck and 5-disc CD player to? I see it has 3 analog inputs, so that should cover me, yeah?

And can someone give some more detail on what's wrong with the interface?
thx!

Don't forget, you are probably going to need an outboard amplifier for your turntable - I don't think this one has a phono input.

I was about to the pull the trigger until I read reviews at Best Buy. From all of the reliability and heat issues it sounds like its not a good solution for those who like to hide away their AV equipment (even in a ventilated cabinet).

Bought this a few months ago, last time it was on Woot. HDMI board is already going out I'm going to have to send it in for repair.

kcitrenbaum wrote:
The problems:
The interface to set up Pandora sucks. To enter your username and password, it's like an old school arcade game (not an on screen keyboard), only the choice of characters goes: Upper case letters, some symbols, lower case letters, numbers, then more symbols; and the scroll speed is slow (like 1/2 second per character). I spent nearly 10 minutes just entering my account information (email address is 23 characters long, password is required 8 with mixed characters / symbols). After it rejected my password and I went back, it erased my username as well. I haven't bothered trying to enter it again.

Did you try plugging a standard USB keyboard into the USB socket and just typing? As I recall, that worked with my Pioneer 1021K, the predecessor model. I think it also worked for renaming the inputs.

kcitrenbaum wrote:

The problems:
The interface to set up Pandora sucks. To enter your username and password, it's like an old school arcade game (not an on screen keyboard), only the choice of characters goes: Upper case letters, some symbols, lower case letters, numbers, then more symbols; and the scroll speed is slow (like 1/2 second per character). I spent nearly 10 minutes just entering my account information (email address is 23 characters long, password is required 8 with mixed characters / symbols). After it rejected my password and I went back, it erased my username as well. I haven't bothered trying to enter it again.

There's a web interface you can access from your computer to enter your pandora info.

unarsu wrote:Anyone know if this will do 1080i out through component video. I have an older huge TV w/o HDMI. Thinking of picking up a Roku/Apple TV but I'd only be interested if I could get 1080i. Thanks.

It doesn't look like there is component out, only a component in; it looks like you are limited to HDMI out or single video monitor out.

I have the 1021 version. My HDMI pass through doesn't work. The other thing I do not like about it is I can't watch sports and listen to music at the same time. At least I haven't figured out an easy way to do this. I have PS3, TimeWarner STB, HTPC hooked into the 1021. I like to watch sports but listen to music. I can get airplay working and then HMG takes over the screen and I can't switch the screen back to the STB. I don't want to hook up a bunch of different cables so bypassing the video to the TV is not an option. I just wish I could select different audio sources while watching a different video source. Other than that, I love being able to turn my receiver on with my iphone or ipad, air playing to it and it sounds and looks good. Just some small annoyances. Also I hope that the newer version fixes the HDMI Passthrough, but from what I read the Pass through. The only thing I've heard is the TV, STB and can be causing the passthrough to not work as all aspects have to have passthrough. So if you're on an older LCD or STB those might be causing the issue with the passthrough.

You can find these for two forty nine on a regular basis. You are saving only five dollars.

I have actually been looking at receivers the last few days, and came across this same model on Newegg for $299.

Even at $60 cheaper (but not really because I have to pay sales tax at Woot) I'm going to pass. There are just way too many reviews of the HDMI ports going out or the unit failing in some other way within the first year or two for me to ignore.

For now I'll just make do with my Denon AVR-3200. It doesn't have HDMI but it sounds great and has been 100% reliable for years.

foxtj24 wrote:You can find these for two forty nine on a regular basis. You are saving only five dollars.

In my book, if 249 is a good deal, 239 is better by 10 bucks.

Question is - what about the warranty question that someone raised. If this has as many HDMI port issues as the reviews seem to indicate, I don't want to buy something with NO WARRANTY. Return freight on these things will be really high.

Can anyone from the woot side respond??

danielm wrote:One channel is the subwoofer channel, which has a restricted low bass frequency range and doesn't reproduce all of the audio range.

Actually the subwoofer channel is a line-level out, which means there is NO amplification of that channel. That function is performed by the sub.

In any case, the Pioneer outputs (for most home listening, unless you're reproducing a rock concert at realistic levels) around 1-2 watts per channel. And that's true for almost any receiver. So most of the power consumption is to keep the amp circuits toasty warm until needed for sudden transients.

According to the specs listed on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-1022-K-7-Channel-Receiver-Network/dp/B007O5ATC8 as well as on the Pioneer site, there is no AV Navigator on this model.

However, woot has a video for AV Navigator on this item's main page at the bottom of the "Features" section which might confuse some potential buyers of this unit. :-)

I had the 1021 version, and there are only a few changes from what I can see. My few notes are:

Pros.

Airplay, when it works, is really fun. Operating the receiver from my iPhone's app was fantastic, and having my music playlists available was great. It did often lose the connection to the Apple devices and I had to fiddle with them to get back online.

The auto-calibration worked well. Sound was balanced among my speakers and it was a quick process.

Upscaling from analog video formats worked as promised. DVDs and older video like my Series 2 TiVo displayed fine in 720P (resolution of my Panasonic plasma).

Cons.

The back panel is a logistical mess and the pre-existing labels might not match your components. They should have labeled the inputs Source 1, 2, 3, etc. instead of DVD, CD, Satellite, and such. If you have an oddball piece like a turntable, where do you plug it in? It's like you must draw a map of your wiring just to program the sources.

The subwoofer output wasn't always strong enough for my sub's amp to see, so it went to sleep. I had to keep the sub on continuously for it to notice signals during quiet playing.

The programming is a pain and the manual is written by non-English-speakers. Good luck understanding what to do.

The audio profile choices are bewildering and most don't make music sound any better. I stuck to Stereo over most of the fake surround formats Pioneer offered.

The middle.

The internet radio access was okay, though web music is usually compressed noticeably and so doesn't really sound that good. Unfortunately, you can't choose web favorites for fast access.

I'm spoiled by higher-end audio gear, and the Pioneer, while pretty decent, doesn't SOUND that great. It performs better for movies, since the amps do have punch, but it's not very open or natural sounding. If you appreciate music more than movies, a Denon or Onkyo receiver would be a better choice.

I wound up selling my Pioneer and bought a lower-end model by audiophile brand NAD. It doesn't have the 3D or Airplay features, but it does sound appreciably better, and that was enough for me.

unarsu wrote:Anyone know if this will do 1080i out through component video. I have an older huge TV w/o HDMI. Thinking of picking up a Roku/Apple TV but I'd only be interested if I could get 1080i. Thanks.

I got this last time. There is no component out. Only HDMI and RCA video. The conversion to the HDMI link works great though (but does not help you).

chrisautrey wrote:I got this last time. There is no component out. Only HDMI and RCA video. The conversion to the HDMI link works great though (but does not help you).

The OP may want this or something similar to this. It takes HDMI input and outputs Component with audio.

http://www.amazon.com/Lenkeng-LKV384-Component-Stereo-Converter/dp/B009C4R6PW/

redcantelope wrote:There's a web interface you can access from your computer to enter your pandora info.

Thanks, that worked.

danielm wrote:I'm no expert and not smarter than you, but perhaps you are looking at the wrong spec.

The true audiophile power spec listed is:
80W per channel (20 Hz - 20 kHz, 0.08% THD @ 8 ohms).

This is an indication of power consumption across the hearing spectrum with very low THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Total_harmonic_distortion&oldid=517328297

Only 7 of the channels are full audio range power channels. One channel is the subwoofer channel, which has a restricted low bass frequency range and doesn't reproduce all of the audio range. 7 channels x 80 watts = 560 watts. However, unless you're constantly running full spectrum white noise through all 7 channels, you will not hit 560 watts of power consumption. The 1 bass subwoofer channel is restricted in it's power output as it's not reproducing audio above 100 Hz or so.

The other two specs:
110W per channel (1 kHz @ 8 ohm)
140W per channel (1 kHz @ 6 ohms)
show the power consumption if you run a single 1000 Hz tone at either 8 or 6 ohms. Obviously, it takes less power to produce a single 1000 Hz tone than it does to produce audio across the nominal hearing range of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. There is also no indication of the THD at that rating. It's a useless spec, just included to make the receiver seem more powerful.

There is a pretty good article on the Wiki describing the various methods of measuring and describing amp power specs at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Audio_power&oldid=522137844

If I'm incorrect, I'm sure someone will chime in (no 1K tone pun intended.)

Good overview! :-)

There are a couple of mis-conceptions here with the specs however.

1. Typically with A/V Receivers like this, the power spec is valid for only TWO channels driven. I seriously doubt the 80watts per channel is for 7 channels. It's for the receiver in Stereo mode driving the two main channels. Even my $1500 Onkyo rates output to two channels as do $2500 A/V receiver. :-) When they drive all 7 channels, the power goes way down as they share the amp power. At this price point, you are not getting 7 discreet amplifiers.

2. Sub-woofer outputs are not amplified. They are line-level. It means you will need to purchase a powered subwoofer. You use a RCA cable to the input of the subwoofers power amp.

You are absolutely correct with the THD. The specs are next to useless if THD is missing. I'm guessing those figures are typical for a low-cost receiver for the surround channels as most people using a receiver in this range tend to not use full-range surround speakers.